Long Travel BS Thread

Been on this forum for a while and even though I sold my truck I still love reading and seeing all the cool fabrication that people are doing.

That being said, who‘s gonna sell their project this year and just start ripping a UTV?!

 

90% of this thread should just go buy a UTV and stop complaining about travel but nobody wants to hear that. We're all here to make bad choices.

 

Seems like every SUA kit out there has something wrong with it. If that's the case, then it should be really easy to make one that's all done perfect.... Not like these shops have been doing this for the last 20 years or something.

 

The problem lies in the fact that some genuinely put everything they have into making things as perfect as possible. It’s all a balance act of give and take.

Then there are others that build kick ass looking parts but their obvious influence is the dollar.

R&D isn’t so much R&D anymore. It’s sit at a computer, draw something up, cycle it and send.

I’m here to tell you, and I’m sure actual engineers will as well. The computer isn’t always right when it comes to the real thing.

This market is full of inflated numbers. Numbers that are metal to metal cycling etc. Give it to us real. Cycles 18” metal to metal but you’re looking at 17 strapped. It’s not effin hard to be transparent.

 

Haha love it.

When I sold my taco I purchased a 95 subaru legacy sedan. I still drive that car today and with new shocks on it, it rallies better than my truck. AWD + light weight + close ratio 5 speed = really fun on dirt roads.

It‘s never going to be good at whoops, but we don‘t have many of those in CO

 

I just got done talking on the phone to the Deaver dudes, specifically I talked to the main guy who was also the one who hooked me up with a spare set of Ubolts and Centering Pins a few weeks ago to keep in my spare parts boxes.

18 - 19" is where it's at as long as the Spring Pack is not going too far into the Negative Arch, too far would be 2" or more..and that's straight from our conversation which I brought up some if the discussion here in this thread. His own opinion and this was straight from his mouth is that JDFab has a really good understanding of Shackle Angles that works for the Tacoma 2ndGen and up platform.

 

Well, Deaver has always told me. Along with others that the h70 packs are good for around 17. And that negative arch greatly reduces the life of a pack

So I guess there is no clarity anywhere on anything lol.

 

Seems to be pretty clear - you're wrong

Did you ever actually talk to Jesse about any of the problems you are having ? You have a long list of items that you are pretty vocal about with that kit but nobody else seems to have the same probs...also seems like your opinion of angles etc with the JD is based on what could potentially be and installation error. You've talked about your 2" wheel base issue multiple times...now I'm not a rocket scientist but if your kit is set up with a hangar 2" out of place it really seems like that would affect pretty much everything you are saying is wrong with the JD kit ?

 

How does one BOLT on a kit in the wrong position. All I wanna know. It literally bolts into the factory location. It’s plain as day looking at it from the side and has been called out numerous times by others. I ALSO had to have my driveshaft shortened. Seems pretty indicative that something wasn’t right considering nobody else has ever spoken of needing to shorten shafts.

All of this has been brought up. From day one when I ran into the shaft issue.

 

I assume you mean that the shackle hangers are bolted on since the shock towers and the spring perches are welded.

Huh, I missed where you had to have your driveshaft shortened. That's fucking weird. I truly don't know what's up with your truck but that's... atypical. I think a more common install nowadays is to use their frame brace kit which replaces the front spring hangers too.

 

It’s something with the front hanger. What I don’t know. But it’s pretty hard to eff up locating it when it bolts into the factory rivet holes.

I believe we had to take just over an inch out of my shaft to have enough slip remaining.

 

I’ve honestly beat this rear end like a dead horse. I’ve gone over it over and over again. I’ve talked with harry I’ve talked with Jesse. Both will confirm I was chasing an issue the entire time I’ve owned it.

The other issue I was chasing is I hit an absolute wall in my uptravel. I could dump ALL pressure out of my bumps and all it would do is tap the pad and it was done. When I say wall, I mean a spine crushing wall.

Pack broken down everything cycled as it should. Zero bind zero indication of any issue. Put the pack back together and WALL.

To this day, I cannot explain it.

I’m washing my hands of it and not looking back.

 

All I know is my JD fab SUA LT(H70HD pack @ 15+ inches w/shackle in top hanger hole) is working very well, and yes I have roughly 500++ LBS in extra bed weight not counting a full tank of gas or tools in the back cab.
Once we figured out the steering/drifting issues its been rock solid, this vid was the previous weekend and my 4th trip since fixing the issue(s), other than torque checking the bolts I haven't had to go back to the Truck shop and visit James or Harry. The Truck shop and Crew really know their shit! And yes the truck does exactly what I need it to do on the trails plus some fun in the desert. I understand I could go more travel at the cost of killing my leaf pack early. So 2-3 inch more wont make a difference for my needs.
https://youtu.be/4xTmdYF6zmA?si=Kx7E3N6QBxDo3fY4

 

Have you ever been 100% sure that you have the correct leaf pack ? If your front hangar is in the right spot and your wheel base is off by 2" basic deductive reasoning would point to the leaf pack itself being the culprit

 

I went over dimensions with Jesse. Everything with the pack checks.

 

Have you opened up the shocks/bypass (I don't know what you're running) to see what valving is in there?

Mine were opened up prior to install and was pleased to see the healthy stack of Face Shims. Which is why I chose the 3.0 option for the rear. I also ordered a pair 3.0's for the front for that exact same reason.

 

Yup. I do lots of shock tuning for customers even.

I went as far as adding bleed holes in the piston to no avail. The rear was flat dialed, until it hit the wall. I was running 35psi in my bumps last year and never once used more than maybe 1/4”.

 

Oem shaft or reman/ 3rd party? Might be nothing but I got a non-oem shaft that was specific to my truck but was in fact 1” too long

 

Original shaft to the truck. Then replaced last year with a used OEM and had to shorten that one too.