Dayman's Karate Class- from SAS’ed Taco, bouncer, IFS 4Runner, and now a Jeep!

They’re pretty gappy, but it’ll work for me haha wish I had a better way to trace the shape. Just eyeballing the thickness of the pen and hoping for the best haha

 

Great build and great bouncer.

Came to your build by way of your fuel cell thread (which I'm about to ask a question in as well). Starting a back half/4 link build in a couple weeks on my 2007 double cab. Similar in ways to yours, but a good bit different as well. running 18" kings. I know you had 16s, but when you were still IFS, do you recall what your rear drop/compression numbers were at ride height?

 

I don’t have anything written down, but I think it was a 7 up 9 down split. Looking through my photos that seems right.

 

Thank you. That's about the ratio I was planning for with the 18s. Good to hear my goal is at least reasonable.

 

Are you keeping the bed?

 

Nope, chopping the frame off just behind the cab. Plating up the frame, and the back half will be all tube.

 

Nice. Long travel or SAS up front?

 

Long Travel. just haven't picked a brand yet. or i may grab some CVs and build my own. will depend on if i go with an aftermarket front diff or keep the stock one. got a bit of time to think about it all as i build the rear.

 

That’d be rad. Would be cool to see someone do taller dual rate coilovers in the front. Cut down on the weird leverage differences between ifs and a plush linked rear. Will probably still need a sway bar to make the front do work though. Crawling or blasting?

 

Think KOH, so a bit of both! I love technical crawling, but have had the pleasure of living a number of places around the country that also exposed me to go fast, which is addicting. photos are 11 and 13 years old respectively, so I'm excited to refresh the photo album with the new build and entirely different level of performance. been on mid travel front and back at stock ride height with 35s since 2010, which has done great, but it certainly has its limits.

 

Very cool. I’m always impressed at what stock and mid travel does. Low expectations usually makes for less disappointment. I think my build peaked at 35’s, front locker, shock relocate and LT front. Streetable and still able to wheel decent stuff at the off-road parks. I feel like it was a whole heap of shit and compromises after that point that never left me satisfied lol

 

Stock ride height on a good mid travel setup was the key. Handles leaps and bounds better than everyone cranked to 3 inches of lift, and the lowered COG makes a massive difference on the off camber rocks.

I'll actually still be towing a 4000 lb boat with this. We're only a couple miles from the ramp, but I'm taking ques from a couple guys on pirate 4x4 who use air shocks for towing. 5 minutes, 4 bolts and a quick hit with the nitrogen tank and you can be as supported and stable as a leaf spring truck. Pull the shocks off after the weekend and you're back to a squishy 4 link.

 

I like that idea. I wonder if JD fabs free bleed bypasses could make that a full time addition and one twist of a screw for fun vs play? I don’t know anything about bypasses but maybe they can work like that haha

 

Took me a bit to find the photos, but here are the two that gave me the idea/solution for towing.
Red one is a kibbetech truck with the air shocks bolted to the axle. Shot of the empty spare tire carrier is an SS Built truck I believe, and shows the air shocks bled of nitrogen, and then pivoted up to secure it along the frame when not in use.

This would literally be the last part of the build since they have to of course clear everything and are only used for a few miles at a time on the weekend. Guessing a 10" or so travel shock is all you'd need.

 

That’s a pretty sweet idea. Should give you some confidence towing. Can air shocks hold up to heavier weights at higher speeds? I had heard that don’t do too well like that, but that’s zero knowledge on my end, just hearsay. Since they aren’t supporting the weight of the truck it may not matter.

 

I've generally heard the same. Aside from ORIs, i've always thought of the smaller diameter king/fox/etc air shocks as a budget alternative to coilovers. with the tongue weight of my boat only around 250 lbs, i should really only see an inch and a half or so of sag. my concern is that even with an antirock, that id see significant body roll. So really their purpose is sway control more than weight support.

 

I think that’s a solid move. You’ve got the coilovers supporting the weight anyways, air shocks are just stiffening things up a bit. I’m interested to see it all come together. Are you making a build thread?

 

Just going to use my old build thread from years ago. I put a link at the top of the first post in the thread that brings you to the start of this new iteration so you don't have to search through 300 pages. Link to the build in my sig.

 

Very cool. Excited to see it happen. I’m not very smart, but if there’s anything you run into that stumps you maybe I ran into it too and can help lol

 

I truly appreciate that.