Long Travel BS Thread

Congratulations!

 

Congrats! That's very rad!

Looks like a great time in the dirt

TOTAL CHAOS
WWW.CHAOSFAB.COM

 

People that do a lot of slow rock crawling won't see a lot of added performance

Most everyone else will

 

Will you be developing one for your +3.5” race kit?

 

My brother did on his ranger and it worked pretty well, might try and do it on my truck when I feel like diving into the rear of it again

 

So you just want something that rotates the shackle in it's arch no articulation? Alcan makes a pivot bushing but it allows the springs to articulate more and not bind when one wheel is a full stuff and the other is full droop that way the shackles and springs can still rotate and not bind.

 

We did it for a friends ranger using giant link killer springs..the inverted shackle was like 12" long...he races the truck alot...racing u dont want that thing flopping around all over the place...leaf springs move every which way bad enough as it is

 

I thought @alexplb is running the +3.5 kit, so perhaps that sway isn't on their site yet. I'm curious about it too.

 

Guess it depends on what you are doing. I agree that leafs do move quite a bit under load. Some drag racers down here would run a single ladder bar and a track bar with their leaf sprung cars to help get better traction at launches and keep the axle from moving side to side. They were looking for every advantage they could get in that series. Pretty ingenious what they were doing in the grey areas of the rules.

 

He's running +2.

 

Correct I’m running the baby LT. With 3.5+ didn’t want the glass fenders and too wide for my needs.

 

ah ok makes sense now. I was banging my head looking for the 3.5 sway

 

Flex is what the rubber bushings on the leafs are for lol

 

I have the +3.5 chaos kit and a dmz SUA with 16's and a low profile bedcage. I have had this setup since 2012. I have replaced my uniballs and bushings twice for the chaos kit, and bushings once for the dmz kit. Overall, the longevity has been terrific. I mainly use the truck for exploring remote areas of utah and wheeling now. I used to desert bash when I was in so-cal. Honestly, the travel numbers dont really matter when you talk about 1" or so. The shock valving is key. Now if you are talking about kits that get 16-18" up front and linking in the rear, that will be more noticeable. But then again, you will be wanting to drive faster and should have a cage. For the majority of people that go long travel, the standard kits from TC, camburg, will suffice normal weekend warrior duties.

Also, I feel like the +2 kits are a waste of money. People are afraid of fiberglass for no reason. If you are going to do it, go big or go home.

 

How can you say it’s a waste of money? I could argue that unless you cage your truck it’s a waste of money as well since you can’t really push the truck that hard without one. In my opinion 2+ is a huge improvement over stock, in fact tc owner is running that kit on his own truck. Numerous reasons why 2+ has a place under the sun one being able to fit on trails that are too narrow for 3.5 as an example. They are different kits and shouldn’t be compared to each other.

 

I view it as a waste when comparing function/ to price. It is an improvement over stock. Believe me, I dealt with this question back in 2012 when I long traveled my truck. The +2 kits were just offered by chaos. I came to the conclusion that if I am going to be spending $5k on my front suspension, I want to get the most travel I can for the money. A +3.5 isn't for everyone, I understand that. The addition of Glass is a no-go for many but I think you still need it for running a +2 kit from a legal standpoint (ie. tires sticking out from body). But from a $/amount of travel, it makes more sense to get a +3.5.

You are ultimately in control on how fast you drive your truck. You don't need to cage it if you have a +3.5 kit. If you are cruising over many miles of whoops/ rough terrain, the extra amount of travel helps.

Also, if 3" of track width difference is keeping you from being on a trail, then you probably shouldn't be on that trail. I am right at 84" of track width (outside tire to outside tire) in the front. And I fit on plenty of narrow trails here in Utah.

 

Yea a 3.5 kit puts your width about the same as a typical 1 ton solid axle setup...just sayin

When I had mine narrow trails really wernt an issue the wheelbase is more of an issue than the width...even with my current +6 setup front and +4 rear the wheelbase is more of an issue than anything yes I've rubbed trees on both sides but it's the wheelbase turning around an object that you run into a pickle...its not the width most of the time.

My experience anyway...I've only gone thru just about every suspension setup you can put on one of these trucks cept a SAS....which ive contemplated doing lol.

 

I have much experience making a 30 pt turns on narrow shelf trails... or even having the wife, guide me as I back down a trail that is too narrow to turn around. LOL. Wheel base is definitely an issue. Glad I don't have the Long bed version!

 

Let me check with the team. We're currently closed for our shop vacation. I should have an answer for you early next week

 

You've never wheeled the SE