NYCO's '06 Boosted Blue Betty

I beat the hell out of my rig in a Rock Garden Saturday. Got high centered countless times and need numerous ledge climbs that I couldn't even get up locked front and rear without some big bumps and such. I followed a Solid axled pathfinder up on 34's. I was worried about my leafs the whole way, but by the time all was said and done and I made it to the top. I checked everything out and I never touched the leaf pack at all. I drug the hell out of my front and rear bumpers plus all of my skids, sliders and frame, but didn't touch the leafs or the u-bolt plates underneath.

When we installed the DMZ kit with the new hangers it pushed the leaf packs about an inch further out on each side, so they are even closer to the wheels now so most things the tire just climbs before they u-bolt plates have a chance to make contact.

 

when you get the truck up on the lift, you can disconnect the shocks..i would imagine the shackles to go near vertical...i think the shocks limiting the down travel is limiting the shackle movement..

the amount of travel is why i'm contemplating going with the stock length shackles, lower my rear and run the coilovers at zero preload...it'll drop the whole ride down..but the front will still be able to droop down fully and the rears might still be able to droop enough to use up the full travel..

will also mean less neg. arch on compression

think i'll wait till the c/o are on tho to make any adjustments to the rear again...

 

hmmm, keep me posted on those BAMF LCA skids!!!

 

i don't disagree..it's definitely a double edged sword when flipping the shackle...

for jberry designs factory replacement hangers

 

m y understanding is when the shckle is stright up and down there is now spring rate change on the spring.... this is the only photo i could find during a quick search. but these shackle angles are what i think are desirable. at ride height they would sit just a little past vertical.... and are able to swing both forward for droop and backwards for compression

 

I thought you never want your shackles to look like they do in that picture? Doesn't that then simply act like an extension of the spring?

Check out 5:15s into this video, granted it is for a trailer, but they explain the basics of a shackel and how it works.

http://youtu.be/3FBf9yF6n4s


Edit: I am going to go back to reading and not contributing....

 

Oh yeah. 1 thing I forgot to mention here is is about the shackle hangers. While they do have lower and I have drug them a lot more (there was no paint left on the bottom of them after only 2 weeks of having them on) but they have handled the abuse great unlike my OEM ones that were starting to get deformed.

I doubt the DMZ kit is for you, it isn't handling my weight well it seems and I don't have a tent on the back. But maybe you cab pick up a 50T pack or a custom Alcan or Deaver pack that can hold your weight and give you lots of travel. I am liking all the extra uptravel. My rig stays a lot more level while crawling.

 

Bob, I am in the same spot as you. SUA or not? giving up the clearance is a concern but the up-travel gain is desirable. I talked to Tim at DMZ about it and with all the weight its a tough one, might work with a custom spring pack.
The tapered frame geometry on the second gens are tough to deal with because moving hangers etc to go to a longer SOA spring setup throws off the centerline geometry for the axle location, from center, left to right.
I like my setup for the most part but would like the additional up-travel for when traveling at speed. The hydro bumps help but not as much as another 4-5" of travel would.
Why can we have best of both worlds?

 

4 link? haha

 

Yes, a coilover in the rear would be a nice fix. Its actually a consideration, along with the front. Its the 6 months and 20K thats making me hesitate. Believe it or not the wife is pushing for it.

 

I dont have the skill to design a linked setup to do what I would like nor the money to pay someone to build it on top of having to relocate the fuel tank/buy a fuel cell and such...

So SUA will get me by until I can afford to have it linked, assuming that time ever comes. Haha.

 

I like the idea of a SFA rig done right but its a huge deal to do, mind as well do the rear at the same time.

My wife likes the hi-speed stuff as much as the crawling so shes more on board with the long travel idea. Her argument is you can get almost as much travel with a good long travel setup as a SFA and still be able to haul ass.
She wants the Solo Motorsports 19" Travel kit in the front and the Giant 64" SUA rear.
I had her convinced to do straight axle and then last weekend Jason (Jberry) took her for a few hot laps and she was sold on the long travel.

It all sounds great but I still gotta make the house payment

 

up until this point i have been trying to keep a lower budget suspension build staying with the OME setup...$$ is always the problem when trying to figure out a good setup..

there's some great options out there, but time and money are sacrificed to get that setup...

i think a talk with alcan is in the future to see what they can do about a spring that works better with the shackle flip...maybe there is a good in between that will work better.

 

I want the Solo LT kit as well, but that is a while out... I was told by several people to stay away from the Giant 64" SUA kit. Even mjp2 who has the kit himself said he wouldn't buy it again.

 

That discussion has been had with Alcan and you will be seeing the results of that soon on Noah's rig. We discussed it at length with Alcan and Noah finally got his leaf packs a couple of weeks ago. Alcan did set them up to work with a regular shackle not inverted. Also lengthened them to hopefully allow proper cycling. Keep in mind he is also doing a taller shock tower from BAMF, with the longer spring from Alcan, and the shackle flip all in this set up that RTI is installing.

Based on his results I will be looking at Alcan's as my replacement for the EXPO's. But it will be interesting to see how his set up performs. My EXPO's continue to run strong so I am not in a hurry.

I am like Bob though in the fact that mine is a bit more Expedition and not a full out rock crawler that needs to completely flex. If I was solely after crawling and flex it would be linked and coiled. So it is a matter of finding the balance of flex, ride, and weight capabilities. I have had my shackle flip on my EXPOS from AP for almost 2 years now and they are still functioning great. Even with just factory bumps on them and negative arch happening when I get flexy.

 

Nice to hear opinions on both of those kits, I dont know anybody who has dealt with either, they look impressive on paper, beyond that I have not dug too deep. I hadn't really considered LT until you took Satin for a ride so thanks asshole