Thoughts on 37s

It always seems like never enough

 

It never is. Gonna have to cut out A LOT. Something in the neighborhood of a square foot I think. Maybe not quite that much, but a lot.

Fortunately I know a guy that can do that sort of thing.

 

Hopefully you'll get yours done before I start my re-tub. What are you running for your rear setup?

 

As far as rear suspension?, just some 5150bilsteins and Allpro Expos. I want to relocate my shock mounts and run 14" Fox's next. Probably be smooth bodies. I don't know that my uses really make remote resivour shocks advantageous

 

hows the steering and Ifs with 37s,
I can definitely notice a difference in response with 35s

 

Not bad. At a stop on dry pavement it's a little stiff, after that it's fine. I'm sure off road it will be a little stiff but nothing I would complain about

 

Turned out badass man. What do you think of those tires? I think they are the identical compound to KM2's myself, pretty grippy for something that lasts so long.

 

Thank you I'm loving it so far.

The BEGs ride much better than I expected. It's more like a super aggressive AT than a MT like I was expecting. I put the Equal bags in the tires to help balance them but as I understand it they take a while to bust open so I have some wobble in the steering but I think it will go away. If not, it's not that bad.

I'm really impressed by how well it rides and the overall drivability of it. The 4.56s give me plenty of power without feeling overgeared. I can still skip shift 1-2-4-6 like I always have.

The little bit of flexing I got to do impressed my too. The tires grab well and hang on. I really couldn't ask for more at the price point I paid.

There's still some cutting, welding and beating to do but I couldn't be more pleased overall. I think getting my black flares back on will really make it look complete.

I haven't decided if beadlocks are in my future budget but I really would like some as not to worry about losing a bead. I also think black wheels with tan rock rings would look sick on the truck. For now I think I'm going to rig up the Cheetahs as an OBA tank so that if I do lose a bead I have an easy way to reseat it. I already have a masterflow compressor, spare battery and the tank, so why not?

 

Eh, you have a spare. Drop them down to 15psi and go for a cruise around the block. I think you will be surprised how well the bead holds. It might get sketchy at single digit PSI, but 15 is as low as I ever need to go with the BFG's. You get side lug engagement and a nice footprint with enough air left to keep the rims out of the rocks. The sidewalls are not as stiff as the goodyears. Those things were so stiff I could drive down the highway with the valve stems out.

Long story short beadlocks are over rated unless you really need single digit PSI and have axles strong enough to survive that much traction.

 

I have dropped my Red letter's down to single digits without loosing a bead.... but.. I'm on a narrowish rim

 

I'm not gonna lie, I fear for my rear diffs safety. Mostly cause I don't trust the Damn elocker. It's slow to engage and even when it says it's locked in I don't trust that it's 100% engaged. I may look for someone that wants to swap rears for a non elocker and some cash and throw an ARB back there.

 

Glad I didn't blow a grand on beadlocks then. I rather put that money toward a crawl box or diamond axle

 

Ya. I got them because they withstand more abuse at speed, but with the weld on rock rings you can get now a days you can get a set of steelies pretty bomb proof. That said, the TWF beadlocks have survived massive amounts of abuse that I know that normal aluminum wheels grenade under.

 

You're worried about the e-locker? I thought when you blew your factory gears the locker was fine? I always thought for some reason just the teeth on the ring go and the locker survives...

 

The locker itself is fine. I think it may contribute to people blown reagents though. Just a theory

 

From my experience with 37's and the factory rear, I would suggest having a track bar or "axle anti wrap" bar fabbed. I bought the kit from Rough Stuff and hope to have it welded in this weekend. I'm no suspension expert, but when we use lift springs for these light weight trucks, it allows the rear end to twist easier. The leaf spring bends slightly from the force of acceleration and the pinion is forced upward. When the trans shifts and momentarily unloads the force, the leaf springs unload and shock the pinion angle back and it starts all over again. In my case it was much worse with the manual trans and lag between shifting, when I pushed in the clutch I could feel and hear the rear end bang down. I broke two ring gears on 4.88's in approx. 18K miles with the factory rear, this last time blew apart the side carrier bearing, I found the bearing cage laying in the housing. The e-locker portion was fine and mine has always worked well after the anytime mod was done. I got pissed off and spent big $$ on a Currie 9+ rear end before really looking into what was happening, I think the stock rear can handle the abuse of daily driving and moderate speeds of wheeling if you set it up properly.
If you fear the e-locker actuator, you could carry a second one or change to a manual operated setup. One positive thing about them, if its not locking you can remove the actuator and move the side gear with a screw driver or pocket knife. If your thinking about changing and feel comfortable driving your truck in all conditions, it's hard to beat a Detroit locker. They don't fail.

 

The last time I lost a factory rear end it was during a full throttle 2-3 shift (manual trans). At the 1-2 shift, I hit the locker button but it still wasn't fully engaged, causing the side gear to break and taking out the axle (stripped splines) when the third locked up. In ten years and 100K miles, that was the first time that happened and it was entirely my fault for not being patient, lifting off the throttle, and allowing the E-locker to fully engage. I also got frustrated and built a bomb proof Diamond rear end with a detroit locker, but in all honesty it's overkill. The nice thing about running Spring Under Axle (SUA) is that it resists axle wrap so well that anti-wrap bars aren't needed. SUA also gives you more anti-squat, so the rear end really bites in when you get into the throttle. It's really nice on hill climbs. We have one here called the "widowmaker" that was supposedly unclimbable for over twenty years, and only a handful of trucks have ever made it over the top. I took one of the guys who has climbed it in a locked bronco over the top and he said "that's the fastest I've ever been up that hill!" and I laughed and said "we should try it in 4wd". He was dumbfounded we made it in 2wd.

 

Agreed! There are a few things I would have done different from the start of this swap, SUA is the biggest one. I may buy new rear springs and make that change at some point, but the next big $$ drop for me will be SAS.

 

Mine failed.... bolts backed out of the locker and got caught in the ring gear. It was quite interesting

 

They don't fail