Going back to a Full Size for my Overlanding
- Thread starter tjZ06
- Start date
Advocate I
Got the camper back on and took it and my RV to the Mint 400 for a shakedown (@orange01z28 for scale):
The top of the FWC popped up is nearly as high as the RV. I’m going to bring the front back down an inch or two, then set the rear air to match which will get the four link bars perfectly horizontal.
Overall it drives much better now, more stable and less sway.
-TJ
The top of the FWC popped up is nearly as high as the RV. I’m going to bring the front back down an inch or two, then set the rear air to match which will get the four link bars perfectly horizontal.
Overall it drives much better now, more stable and less sway.
-TJ
I drove it down there, and it drove just as easy as my Gladiator for being close to 5 digits of weight.
I passed a couple semis and was looking eye to eye at the driver
Advocate I
I drove the truck from Vegas to Palo Alto on Monday (with the FWC still on the back). Honestly I'm super impressed with how smooth and stable the ride is now with the whole new rear suspension. I'm sure it's some combination of flaws in the previous setup (factory leaf/Deaver pack starting to break down, no rear sway bar, pretty "basic" upgrade shock) and improvements in the new setup (Kelderman air-suspended 4-link with track bar, high-end 3-way adjustable shocks, sway bar) but it really was night and day. The 40"s run quiet and smooth too (we did use Centramatic balancers, I have them on my RV too and am a big fan). The truck cruised ~77 MPH very happily even in some pretty high winds and I did push 90+ a few times (for the sake of science, of course). I really can't believe how effin' good it is. The ~8.5hr drive went by like nothing, whereas before the truck was a bit tiring to drive that far (it felt like the rear was "loose" and any directional input would cause a feeling of the whole truck/camper moving over the axle before the suspension took a load, accompanied with a good lean). To be fair, it wasn't "bad" before and I had plenty of 8+ hr drives in it as it was before the rear change. Now it's just damn good. Overall, I'm very happy.
Of course, I still have some hiccups and things to work out:
Of course, I still have some hiccups and things to work out:
- need to do BCM programming to get rid of "Hyperflash" with the LED turn signals we put in
- the front left TPMS isn't working properly so I get dash warnings
- we have longer front limit-straps on order, so right now I'm not running limit straps (darn, no jumps ;) )
- we are going to order longer 12" stroke coil overs for the front (for now we used a longer lower "eye" or whatever you call it to get the height in the front)
- might need to go a bit further with the trimming at the front of the rear wheel openings, we cycled it with a forklift but things are always different "in the wild"
- once we have the right coil over I think we'll actually bring the front back down about 1", which will match the rear when I set it with the 4-link bars perfectly horizontal
- still need to actually mount/hardwire my radio
- full custom camper-friendly bed build? j/k... maybe
Advocate I
Not much to report here, other than a great trip to Moab to run White Rim back in Nov:
-TJ
-TJ
Advocate I
Thanks! I have a few things to do on the rig, but hopefully many more trips this year.
-TJ
Advocate I
I guess it's time for an update, though not much has changed. As with all rigs, there's always room for refinement and sometimes things do break. To the later point, I thought the original turbo was going out. The VGT actuator is a common failure on these rigs, and my entire turbo and VGT solenoid are all original with 150k+ *hard* miles. I also had a couple leaks to address. The first was the trans cooler up behind the bumper. At some point (probably during install of bumper/winch, or one of the times it came off for other things) the cooler got bent at one of the inlet/outlet fittings and developed a small crack. I also had to replace my t-case which has an aftermarket clocking ring to work with the SAS. It seemed there was a leak somewhere between the t-case, clocking ring, and trans (hard to tell which mating surface, or both was leaking in the "stack").
Me being me decided I might as well make a small upgrade while addressing the issue. For the turbo, I chose this:
It's proven to spool better than stock, might produce a little more power with the existing tune, and will provide lower EGTs under load (and with the weight/lack of aero of my setup it's basically always under load going down the road).
Of course, it turned out my stock turbo was totally fine, even the VGT solenoid I just had a boost leak. To address that, and "while we're in there" I went with all WCT hot/cold pipes and a big Mishimoto intercooler. To address the leaking trans cooler we went with On the "while we're in there" list I went with a big double stack cooler with fan. Ever since the bumper/winch my trans temps have been higher, not at all dangerous and still pretty "cool" by most standards, but still up about 20 degrees so I wanted the fan. Also, when crawling slow where there's little/no natural airflow across the trans cooler the fan is a big upgrade IMHO. Once again on the "while we're in there" list is a big Mishimoto radiator, Mishimoto molded silicon hoses, etc. etc.
Next on the upgrade list is steering. At ~11k lbs loaded out for a trip with 40" tires steering when aired down and not moving is pretty tough. Being as big of a rig as it is, it becomes an issue if I have to turn around on the trail or in a tight camp spot as I pretty much have to be rolling to steer, which just reduces the space I'm working with. Also, ever since it got the SAS it's had a good bit of bump steer. Most of you probably know bump steer on a solid front axle rig is generally caused by a trackbar and tierod that are different lengths and/or aren't parallel with each other. Those disparities cause them to travel different arcs. I've always thought the dual stabilizers hung way too low too. So we decided to do a 'high steer' conversion on it and hydraulic assist, while also relocating the trackbar. That meant new knuckles and all the associated parts (like a new ported steering box), and some fab.
While up front, we're finally ordering the correct length coil overs. When we did the Kelderman and 40"s and lifted the truck more the front c/os were clearly going to be too short. I was in a rush to make a trip, so we just put extended lower "forks" on the shocks to make up the space. However, this means I'm giving up a ton of travel and it's really not the right fix. So, new c/os are on order in the proper length. And once all the new front end parts are in we'll cycle everything and adjust bump stops, limit straps, etc. for max travel/articulation without anything crashing into anything else.
Finally, in the rear I've been SUPER happy with the Kelderman air suspension, however there has always been one big issue: the location of the sway bar and the U-bolts on the axle for the brackets. Everything hung a little low, the U-bolts pointed down, and the bar itself contacted my aftermarket diff cover. Even the lower shock mounts are a bit susceptible to damage (but those are in the OEM location, not a "Kelderman problem"). This fix will be a bit more complicated, as it'll mean a good bit of custom fab and reengineering a bit of the system.
So, that's the scoop. The truck is still in the shop but hopefully will be back on the trail in the next couple weeks.
-TJ
Me being me decided I might as well make a small upgrade while addressing the issue. For the turbo, I chose this:
It's proven to spool better than stock, might produce a little more power with the existing tune, and will provide lower EGTs under load (and with the weight/lack of aero of my setup it's basically always under load going down the road).
Of course, it turned out my stock turbo was totally fine, even the VGT solenoid I just had a boost leak. To address that, and "while we're in there" I went with all WCT hot/cold pipes and a big Mishimoto intercooler. To address the leaking trans cooler we went with On the "while we're in there" list I went with a big double stack cooler with fan. Ever since the bumper/winch my trans temps have been higher, not at all dangerous and still pretty "cool" by most standards, but still up about 20 degrees so I wanted the fan. Also, when crawling slow where there's little/no natural airflow across the trans cooler the fan is a big upgrade IMHO. Once again on the "while we're in there" list is a big Mishimoto radiator, Mishimoto molded silicon hoses, etc. etc.
Next on the upgrade list is steering. At ~11k lbs loaded out for a trip with 40" tires steering when aired down and not moving is pretty tough. Being as big of a rig as it is, it becomes an issue if I have to turn around on the trail or in a tight camp spot as I pretty much have to be rolling to steer, which just reduces the space I'm working with. Also, ever since it got the SAS it's had a good bit of bump steer. Most of you probably know bump steer on a solid front axle rig is generally caused by a trackbar and tierod that are different lengths and/or aren't parallel with each other. Those disparities cause them to travel different arcs. I've always thought the dual stabilizers hung way too low too. So we decided to do a 'high steer' conversion on it and hydraulic assist, while also relocating the trackbar. That meant new knuckles and all the associated parts (like a new ported steering box), and some fab.
While up front, we're finally ordering the correct length coil overs. When we did the Kelderman and 40"s and lifted the truck more the front c/os were clearly going to be too short. I was in a rush to make a trip, so we just put extended lower "forks" on the shocks to make up the space. However, this means I'm giving up a ton of travel and it's really not the right fix. So, new c/os are on order in the proper length. And once all the new front end parts are in we'll cycle everything and adjust bump stops, limit straps, etc. for max travel/articulation without anything crashing into anything else.
Finally, in the rear I've been SUPER happy with the Kelderman air suspension, however there has always been one big issue: the location of the sway bar and the U-bolts on the axle for the brackets. Everything hung a little low, the U-bolts pointed down, and the bar itself contacted my aftermarket diff cover. Even the lower shock mounts are a bit susceptible to damage (but those are in the OEM location, not a "Kelderman problem"). This fix will be a bit more complicated, as it'll mean a good bit of custom fab and reengineering a bit of the system.
So, that's the scoop. The truck is still in the shop but hopefully will be back on the trail in the next couple weeks.
-TJ
