Long Travel BS Thread

Totally, called TC and they gave me some pointers to tell the shop. Pressing from both directions etc. Turns out they didn't even go above 20 tons lol. This whole thing is a bit of a mess. Really wish I just bought complete axles from CVJ or something

 

Drill the axles out with a 1” drill bit and the snap ring will fall out.

Subjecting the star to a 50ton press is really hard on it and not necessary. When you drill the axle out you are putting zero force on the star

 

Thank you!! I will let my shop know tomorrow.

 

Gomna regret not going 3.5 or 4.5

do a JD slide rack too.

 

I learned this the hard way.

 

@81Trekker has the best solution and method for separating axle stubs from the Star using a big ass drill bit. BUt if you can't or the shop cant find or have access to a drill bit of that size.. just pump that press up untill you feel you have maxed it out. Let it set under pressure/load and wait for that pesky snap ring to pop. It takes a few minutes but, eventually that sucker bust through..

 

You guys are life savers. Thank you guys

 

It’s a third gen so no slide rack. I might do a tundra rack at some point, though.

I do a lot of technical crawling and thin trails out here in NorCal so the 2.25” felt more appropriate. Is there that much benefit going wider? Looks to be about 1" of travel?

Optimally I’d be hitting these at 40. And then the next day hit the Rubicon.

 

From a visual perspective and how you’d fit on the trail
A 4.5 kit
Will be as wide as your mirrors are

 

God damn she's huge. What's the plan with that truck?

 

I actually really dislike the look of the extra width and optimally I'd run stock flares but aesthetics isn't a primary concern for me, just interested in performance for my situation. It seems like the tradeoff for an extra 4" of width is extra stability and 1" more of travel (on the JD kit) vs potential lack of fit for some trails.

I guess I would probably _just_ fit in Barret Lake with a 4":

 

I’m 95” wide
So
I wouldn’t even fit in that gate
But I have 18” of front travel in 4WD
So maybe I’d just crawl over it? (Jk)

 

Haha, right out my backyard is Rubicon, Fordyce, Barret Lake which are all pretty tight rocky trails. Travel is important but I think the width might hurt me more than the extra travel would help me (talking specifically about the JD Fab 2.25 vs 4 which is 13" vs 14" travel per their specs).

 

Yeah
I heavily considered that since I had plans to drive it to Alaska just for shits and giggles but then building motors on YouTube academy became an obsession and tight trails went out the window

 

Being norcal and Rubicon the 2.25 or a 2.5 kit may be best. I'm 3.5 and some of the tighter trails up her I struggle. As well as those 'jeep' cliff edge trails, I have to hang a wheel off the edge and that isn't fun. My buddy build a 2.5 Chaos kit and it handles really really good in the desert. It's all about shock set up.

 

Turns out they already got the outter joint out on one side after pressing from both sides. I told them to use a 1" drill Incase it doesn't work for the other side tho

 

Keep in mind a lot of jeeps/crawlers with full size axles and 40’s are pushing 90” or more nowadays. My truck is 89” in the front with a 3.5” kit, wheels with 3.5” bs and 12.5” tires. It feels wide in spots but made it through the rubicon and a bunch of trails in sand hollow and Moab without being too wide.

Difference between a 2.25” and 3.5” kit is 2.5” or 4.5” with a 4.5” kit. Wider kit will have a better motion ratio for the shocks as well to allow better tuning.

 

Good to know, appreciate it. Yeah, the only reason I'm not as keen is because JD Fab's numbers for their 2.25 kit vs their 4 kit are 13" vs 14" of travel and so even their 2.25" kit is a half inch more travel than e.g., TC's 3.5" kit (12.5") and only a half inch less than DRT's 3.5" kit (13.5"). Seems like a decent trade.

If their specs are to be believed, anyways.