Long Travel BS Thread

From talks with Tim at DMZ, his kit pulls 17” of “clean” travel. So not letting the springs go too negative and not letting them separate at droop. I’ll trust that Dirt King has good geometry unlike giant, but I would be skeptical of how far negative the springs go with the frame notch at bump and of leaf separation at droop in order to claim those travel numbers.

As for the front numbers saying 15”, that’s just not true. I recently put some RCV axles in which allow for much more angle than their axles and am now limiting their kit at 14” due to the misalignments hitting the uniball cup. Still damn good for a +3.5” 4x4 kit.

 

@snowsk8air2 / @Dalandser Out of curiosity, what is the proper way to measure travel? I'm just asking because on Monday I'll be dropping off my truck to get all my front components put on. After bumping and strapping I want to be able to measure the front travel correctly.

 

For the front, pull the spring off the coil over and measure a vertical difference from somewhere on the tire/ hub at fill droop to full compression.

For the rear, if lag sprung, droop it out and pull the spring pack a part as much as possible and again measure vertically from somewhere on the axle from droop to conoression

 

I dont even care about the travel numbers, some of the trucks that come up on RDC for $35000 are incredible or tubsisland old truck. For 35,000 I want a tacoma that doesnt have 200,000 miles and has a cage.

 

Ok, cool. I'll remember that. Thanks.

 

Isn’t this truck 2wd? I don’t think he has to worry about axle bind. Not sure about uniball optimization. Also has lift spindles, so maybe allows for another inch in compression before tires hit?

 

With the RCV’s I’m not limited by axle bind anymore. Purely limited by the uniball misalignments and shocks being at full compression/ extension. The lift spindles only effect his ride height and don’t do anything with the geometry of the kit.

 

Yeah as far as +3.5 kits go, I don't think any are capable of pulling over 14" unless they're a double shear setup at the spindle-UCA pivot.

 

Do you bind the upper or lower uniball in compression? Knowing the spindles don’t change geometry, they do allow for more compression travel before the tires hit. With all the clearancing you’ve done, you probably have maxed out your up travel?

edit: I see you’re saying the shocks are the limiting factor for compression

 

Yes, shocks are limiting factor for compression and uniballs for droop.

 

Can you estimate how much more droop you'd pick up if didn't have to worry about the uniball? Is it even worth it on 4WD and 8" shocks to look at swapping that joint out with a Ballistic uniball? Or should just be happy with the prospect of 14"

 

On my old front kit that used a horizontal uniball in the upper it was the uniball cup on the upper hitting the spindle that limited droop, not the actual uniball.

 

I'd say go 650lbs.

Over priced for sure.

I'd say it's possible too. I'm getting 18 with no notch. I had the option too but deiced I'd rather not drag over rocks at full bump.

I've got some separation at full droop. nothing crazy though.

 

So I started ripping into my rear leaf hangers that were bent after getting new bushings and realized just above the current mounts there is rust in the frame. Like I can stick my screwdriver through it. Nothing major, but it looks as though it rusted a bit, then cracked from stress. Its only on the inside frame rail and maybe a dime size on either side of the truck. One more stress cracked than the other.

*FRONT hanger mounts.

Question: I have a few options of course. Would you
1. remove old hangers completely, then build ones that tie all the way up the frame and basically box the frame.
2. bend back existing hangers then clean up rust and box frame.
3. remove existing hangers, replace with new hangers but the same design.(total chaos) then box frame.

It seems as though the hangers prob bent slightly then slowly destroyed the bushings which kicked them inboard super far rubbing the leaf on the hanger.

Does anyone have photos of some ideas maybe you guys have mounted or built? Thanks.

 

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whats up with those Bilstein resis? Those valves on the side?

 

That’s some top secret stuff since he works for them

 

I guess that proves the basic components of the LT system I've been designing. I'm glad I got my drawing done before I realized I was copying something TC already built

 

Yeah if you're starting from scratch most kits ditch the stock uca mount for a set of even mounts lower and closer to the frame.