Actual Moderator with a Tacoma...But Definitely Not a Build Thread

Gotcha. Bump/droop is the limits for the leaf pack, which straps and bumps must respect. Based on that shock length is set and hub articulation is derived.

Thank you sir.

 

Gimme a break, man. Do you read any of this or just type it out?

 

here for the gang bang

 

bummer on those 4x shackles. even with better bushings I wonder if that bend is a good idea over time. Was hoping these would be a nice addition to the new hangers that may be coming... I do like the lube port, but that is one of three.

 

You have a point on the bypasses with a Tacoma at stock height and with springs over axle, there is only 3" of bump travel on a stock 2nd/3rd gen, which is extremely poor.
You would need atleast 5-6" of bump travel for a bypass to be practical. So spring under or a higher lift is needed with bypasses.
My kit has a lower axle mount that can rotate down pretty far to allow a gain in bump travel for spring under conversion, about 7" with Deaver U539/540's 1" SUA springs and stock hanger, putting the shock piston in the middle of the travel.
A lot of Tacoma owners are using 12" travel and most of that is droop, 14" would allow same droop and add more bump travel.

 

You should SAS it​

 

Double sub'd for SAS

 

An empty comment box with a blinking cursor is irresistible?

 

I was agreeing with you. Sorry, I was tagged, I did not try to pedal anything, just responding to your claim that 14" is pointless. Maybe it will become the new standard, we'll see. Leaving now

 

Dont go..... ​

 

Eww, you made me think of blue waffle.

 

So hungry rn

 

My apologies Jason. I posted mobile, I think the auto correct got me on your name, or it was just too early in the morning for me.

Thanks for clarifying on how your measuring, I'm going to point out that you didn't answer my question on what your calling your measurement but that's okay.

It's important to ask because as you know, suspension topic can be very complex and sharing a common vocabulary is important to try and reduce or eliminate confusion.

When I wrote that my wheel travel was 13.75", it was true. However I neglected to state that it was done under forced articulation. My bad! I have no formal training or education in anything automotive related, just a passionate hobby similar to yourself, I think. But I've gone through great lengths and thousands of hours to try and scientifically understand the construction and configuration of my truck and how changes to things like suspension would translate to performance / comfort, etc.

After you cautioned me in the overland thread, which I do appreciate, I took your direction and read the links, which led to questions, and then I do what I always do and did some research because I am interested.

Please let me share a little of what I've learned and offer a comment or two down below. I hope this is interesting.

The only written reference I could find to an established method to measure wheel travel was in Billavista's most excellent coilover Bible. It is arguably one of the best resources on the net for gaining knowledge about suspensions. My friend Ken, directed me there a while ago when we were discussing leverage theory / and coil springs on the front a-arms.

Anyways, in there Bill speaks to different modes of travel:

• Ride travel,
• flex travel,
• roll travel,

He draws an important distinction between wheel travel, and suspension travel.

I'll quote some of it here:

And his writings on wheel travel:
​

This piece of information was vital to my understanding of the topic. When measuring actual wheel travel, I think it's critical to specify which mode of travel is being measured. And by definition the wheels, or at the very least one wheel should be attached.

Now for my comment and thoughts, which I hope you can appreciate.

I will illustrate my thoughts through a problem/resolution I recently experienced.

When a spring is drooped all the way out, the wheel, axle, and all the attached unsprung weight will pull on the spring, helping stretch it out some. For reference my tire/wheel is like 84 lb when it was new. I'm guessing yours are probably 100lbs+ So what I did was I drooped out my suspension with force (flex), and I noted the shackle angle and measured. The angle was like only 16° forward (problem!). I loosened the shackle nut and watched the shackle rotate forward, and noted the new shackle angle of 30° forward. I got about 1.25" more travel this way. I was a victim of self-inflicted over torquing the shackle nut on one side of my truck. Understanding this phenomenon is what reignited my desire to banish the rubber shackle bushing. I was halfway through a stalled out shackle refurbish project, I so picked that back up...

At this point I then wondered how a heavier tire/wheel combo would affect the spring, so I applied 200lb downward pressure on the tire. I think I got 6° more forward on the shackle and maybe .5" to 1" more travel at the wheel. I removed the extra 200lb from the wheel, the springs rebounded slightly, and shackle returned to 30° forward. Before I forget to mention it, I had pulled the shock out entirely for this exercise.

And for the sake of completeness, when doing all my measuring, I used the center wheel hub, to fender lip. As we both know, there are some real problems using fender lip for a reference point. For example, the fender lip is not a flat surface to begin with so whatever reference point is chosen on the lip, it must remain constant. When I did this, I instantly saw the problem, so to keep myself honest, I used a flat metal ruler with a bubble level attached and chose to inboard the ruler 0.25"

So what does this all mean?

Just my opinion, I think wheel travel is relative to each vehicle. I think it should mean actual measured wheel travel with wheels attached, and with travel mode listed with measurements.

For me it was "flex travel", and yours in "ride travel" although I'm not sure you measured with wheels attached.

So what does this mean with respect to the fabricators and vendors in the market place? There is a lot of truck parts out there for sale with travel numbers attached. What does it mean?

Well I checked around some. I talked to Tim at DMZ fab, Total Chaos, and Scott at Deaver. I wanted to learn more about SUA which is why I chose them. First of all complements; they are are extremely knowledgeable and very helpful. They are eager to help with truck building, and I am grateful. In a short time, I learned quite a bit. But to the point, based on my conversations, they all seem to use the terms "wheel travel" and "suspension travel" interchangeably. When I specifically asked how to measure wheel travel. None of them said anything about wheels actually being attached. TC and DMZ instructed me to do it essentially the same way as yourself. That is to say, lift up back end of truck from frame with both sides drooped, then both sides compressed, measure frame to bump, or bump to u-bolt plate depending on how truck is setup. All of it was in reference to measuring in "ride mode." Deaver gave me several options for measuring as long as the reference point was good when measuring bump to droop.

Sorry for the long post. I hope I didn't write anything too wrong, that happens with long posts sometimes. I just thought you would find this interesting. I realize I know only a little.

Thank you Jason, for inspiration to lean and grow knowledge.
Now for those product images.

I know you didn't put them all there, shenanigans and all, that's the thing with build threads, you have no control of what people put in them.

So here is my contribution:

Swimsuit:

Canserin Women Sexy Push-up Bandage Swimsuit (L, Black)

https://www.amazon.com/Canserin-Women-Push-up-Bandage-Swimsuit/dp/B01K4TT2A0/

 

Just here to copy you....

 

You forgot semen recipes in the title.

Just trying to help.