Fitting 35’s with minimal trimming NOW ADDING LONG TRAVEL AND 934 CV’s

That's why I put the won't be a DD in there. You can still do a 1 piece with a DD depending on your gearing you'll just have to jump up in size like to something yuge like the big trucks have to keep the speed down. That's 100% correct you have to take DS speed into consideration for the length, dia, tube thickness, and u-joint sizing.

 

Yup. I have a one piece in mine. With the 6 speed 4.88’s and 37’s I’m speed limited at about 70/75 Much faster and my critical shaft speed is too high and the shaft will literally try to turn into a jump rope.

 

Maybe that’s the source of my vibe once I get above 75 with 4.88/manual/35s. I’m spinning 2900 rpm at 70mph anyways so that’s my cruising limit.

 

I can feel when mine starts to get out of balance and it’s right around 70/75. So if that’s when you’re vibe is coming on and you have a one piece that’s likely the culprit.

 

No one piece, just a dented ass driveshaft so I’m sure it’s out of balance to some degree.

 

The two piece is going to have a much higher critical speed due to the fact it’s two short pieces supported in the middle. So it’s likely from the dent.

 

This is from attempting the going on the Rubicon solo at night. Made it from Tahoe to Cadillac hill. Then had to drive 3 hours home to the bay area. Couldn't go above 60. Lol
https://youtu.be/56iDAunQCg4

 

If that ever happens again you can pull the driveshaft, put it in 4wd and drive home in front wheel drive. I’ve had to do that once, cruised at 70 for 5 hours to get home.

 

I can second that. I had to take mine off after putting a dent in it on the trail and then had to drive it in 4x for a week while the shop did the repair because I couldn't source a replacement locally.

 

From my understanding, that greatly differs from the general consensus . SUA will absolutely net you more travel, specifically in regards to up travel but you loose ground clearance from the leafs and shackle (depending on the kit you go with). The JD kit obviously eliminates the shackle concern. Most people go SUA for high speed driving as you net more bump travel which is where these trucks REALLY suffer.

Not saying SUA isn't a great option for crawling, just find your comments to differ from most. You can fully cycle 13" of shock travel with an Archive kit and SOA, maybe more if you try hard enough, but that setup won't keep up with an LT front in the desert.

 

I think we’re all on the same page here. What Cory was getting at is if crawling is the only goal, a nice SOA setup shouldn’t be ignored because it’ll still give you a decent amount of travel for the cost and effort involved, which I would agree with. It’s suited my needs really well.

but SUA does get more travel overall because you can bump higher and run a longer shock, good for crawling and fast stuff with the trade off being the ground clearance of the leaf pack and slightly higher cost. How much that matters in the rocks, I don’t know because I don’t have any first hand experience with it.

soa with 12” shocks

 

To be 100% honest with you, I think I’m cycling probably 16” +. I’ve never measured it but I am using every bit of the 14” shock with the archive relocate and hammer hangers with Deaver U402’s. The drop out is actually pretty crazy.

 

As far as wheel travel, probably. I was referring to shock travel so our numbers align. I guess that's my point, if you're only crawling you can make an SOA have some travel with minimal costs and effort.

SUA will always be superior as far as travel goes but is the effort and cost worth it? That largely depends on the use.

 

Only reason I’m switching over is because the rear can’t keep up with higher speed stuff. Otherwise I would have no reason whatsoever to switch things over. Overall I’m very happy with how it’s setup now. I just find the bumps too easily.

 

That tends to be the consensus. I experience the same with my setup. The rear was struggling when I had a stock length kit. Now that I'm on the 2.25" kit up front the rear is REALLY going to suffer. I haven't had the opportunity to really put it to the test though.

 

After I did the lower pivots and slide rack my front was able to handle a whole lot more. That’s when I noticed the rear was starting to lack. I cut my bump mounts down and was able to gain a little over an inch of bump travel. It helped substantially but still isn’t fully keeping up. There are lots of little things one can do to improve SOA. But the bump travel thing just can’t be corrected a whole lot. I guess the biggest perk of SUA is you can keep a low center of gravity which obviously helps with crawling. Downfall is you lose clearance under the axle, but with a little driver mod I think it would be completely fine.

 

If the SUA pack didn’t hang lower than the diff it probably wouldn’t be an issue, just the front arc of the pack. But I’m doing a minimum of 37’s and that difference will be moot. May want a bit more uptravel with a larger tire? Don’t want to drag the belly though. Curious what actual travel numbers SUA gets compared to links, 63s or some sort of missing link set up if that’s even an option to make work. Im pulling 14” out of shitty dakars and 12” Archive set up. I’m not going through the trouble of redoing things and not getting at least 2” out of it. Really hoping for more.

 

With 37’s and SUA you will be cutting the bed to clear the tires. So once again, more work added in.

 

That's not entirely true. You haven't been to the east coast and seen some of the crazy shit with missing link shackle systems or eliptical springs and bigger arched springs etc. There's an old yota with an eliptical set up that's cycling as much as 4 linked trucks around here. He's pushing the limits of 16" shocks. With that set up he can run super light springs so that they aren't super stiff and harsh.

If you take your time and actually put in the effort to get a good properly made spring or research all the different specs of springs vs just throwing shit at it from the junk yard or that's how so and so did it then you can easily net what SUA can with travel #s including bump. That's why SUA compared to 99% of the SOA seem so much better is that time was take to do the suspension right vs junk yard diving for some 63s.

What I won't argue with is the definitive advantage SUA has in regards to higher speed stuff.

 

Ditching the bed, so no problem.