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
Advocate I
Update time...
The latest round of mods for this rig focused mostly on the FWC itself, but the truck got some work too... and now the truck is under the knife again. So, here's where we are:
On the FWC the batteries finally died-died earlier this year and I threw in some cheapie Amazon lithium batteries. They actually worked really well, however I didn't update/change any of the things like DC charger, solar controller etc. to fully take advantage of the lithiums. Even though the el-cheapo lithiums worked great I've always wanted to do lithium right. Another goal of going lithium was fully deleting propane from the camper.
I worked with Las Vegas Overlanding Co. and we went a little crazy. We ended up over 1200Ah batteries, over 800W of mounted solar (and a 200W external panel), a 3000W inverter etc. for the electrical system. It's all top-notch stuff, mostly Victron, and all controlled through either a panel in the camper or Victron's app. With all that power we were able to upgrade all the "systems" in the camper, including adding a 12V DC AC/heat pump on the roof. Obviously the AC is a big upgrade in-and-of-itself (keep in mind I live in Vegas), but going with the heat pump style unit meant we could delete the propane heater. The water heater was swapped to 12V as well. Finally, the propane cooktop was fully deleted and replaced with a portable induction cooktop.
The cooktop delete itself also had a secondary goal. I never liked that FWC put the sink forward towards the bed, and the cooktop behind it. When I'm solo and use the bed in the side-to-side config it's no big deal. However, when my better half comes along we like to slide the bed out to the King config. This requires closing down the sink, which means you can't use the sink once the bed is made (but the cooktop was of course accessible). This never made any sense to me. If "nature calls" in the middle of the night, it's nice to be able to wash your hands inside with hot water (vs. using my outside rotopax), but I've yet to need my cooktop at 4am lol. Rather than hard-mount a new cooktop I just wanted the portable induction so it's easy to use outside (I prefer to cook outside unless it's dumping rain or freezing cold) and to create more usable counter space.
The batteries ended up where the water tank was, the water tank in the cabinets under the sink/prior cooktop area,
and obviously it got a new countertop and the cabinets were reworked accordingly. I did lose most of my "kitchen" side drawers and cabinets, but I still have plenty of space for all those things in the remaining ones as well as under the dinette seat and above the fridge. A ton of other little things were done like exterior outlets, lighting under the rear tire swing/step, reworking the struts for the top, rewiring nearly everything (higher quality, heavier gauge), a massive DC to DC charger etc.
On the truck side we added a second alternator (even though my truck is a diesel, it didn't have the factory second alternator option), specific lithium starting batteries (most lithium batteries cannot supply the amperage spike of starting a diesel), upgraded all under-hood charge and ground wires as well as the power wires back to the camper etc. We also added a WolfBox rearview mirror/camera and 3 external cameras (in addition to the native camera on the Wolfbox itself). Ever since I did the FWC I haven't had a backup camera, which isn't ideal in this rig. We went for two rear cameras, one up high on the camper, and one down below the tire swing. Since I have a larger head unit in the truck already I get the high and low views at the same time between the HU and the WB. I also have two forward cameras now, the integrated one in the WB and one under the front bumper so I can see what's in front of the truck on the trail (particularly when cresting things).
Speaking of space, I had LVOC do a rear seat delete on the truck. I've owned this truck since new, and very early on I did a pretty extensive stereo system in it, including a sub box under the rear seats. While I loved the system, and it's been bulletproof for ~15 years now (all Hertz stuff) it was weight and space that didn't fit the use of the truck anymore. To replace the big box we did a JL stealthbox that goes under the center console which takes no interior space away, and weighs a lot less than the big underseat box. LVOC also removed the door panels and made flat aluminum panels (powder coated black) to replace them. My era truck has a much shorter rear door than the newer full size quad cabs, and the doors didn't open very wide so the sculpted door panels always made loading things in/out of the rear seat area tougher. In the back, LVOC built delete panels with L-track for the rear floor and rear wall so I can easily secure stuff in the back. I'll probably get some Front Runner boxes to pack/organize. I'm excited to be able to ratchet strap everything down... no more bouncing/rattling gear in the back. Also, the load height is way lower now, which is a big deal with how tall this truck is.
I'm certainly forgetting other details LVOC did, but it was certainly a major project. And that is what is done...
...the next stage that is currently underway focuses on the truck itself. There have been a few things I've wanted to change in the suspension/steering of the truck for years. Ever since the SAS it's had a decent amount of bump steer. It mostly shows up on the highway when you hit a dip where the whole front end of the truck moves (vs. a bump just on one side). I've learned to "drive around it" but as we all know a lot of Overlanding is putting down long highway pulls to get to the trail so I really wanted to improve the on road manners. Wreckdit Fab here in Vegas is entirely reworking the front end to fix/improve the geometry. We're doing high steer with new knuckles and completely redoing the trackbar, tie-rod, etc. While we're at it, it's also going to hydro assist... with the weight of the truck and 40x13.5" tires aired down, steering can be tough to impossible when not rolling. Sometimes that can be a real problem if I need to turn around in a tight spot.
Another thing that has been "on the list" for a long time is longer front coil overs. When we did the rear Kelderman and lifted the truck more we couldn't source longer C/Os (it was during all the Covid madness) so we just did longer bottom forks on the shocks. It worked, but it meant we were giving up travel/articulation we could otherwise use. Finally, out back the Kelderman rear suspension has been great, but the sway bar setup isn't ideal for off road use (keep in mind the Kelderman kit is more aimed at heavy towing/hauling use vs. Overlanding). The sway bar mounts to the axle pretty low and is pretty susceptible to damage (particularly the mounting u-bolts). It also contacts my aftermarket rear diff cover when the suspension is dumped. The lower shock mounts (stock location) are also pretty low and can catch rocks. So Wreckdit will rework the sway situation (with the sway up on the chassis vs. on the axle) and build lower shock mount skids.
I'm looking forward to a full test of everything soon, hopefully a big Utah run in Feb.
-TJ
The latest round of mods for this rig focused mostly on the FWC itself, but the truck got some work too... and now the truck is under the knife again. So, here's where we are:
On the FWC the batteries finally died-died earlier this year and I threw in some cheapie Amazon lithium batteries. They actually worked really well, however I didn't update/change any of the things like DC charger, solar controller etc. to fully take advantage of the lithiums. Even though the el-cheapo lithiums worked great I've always wanted to do lithium right. Another goal of going lithium was fully deleting propane from the camper.
I worked with Las Vegas Overlanding Co. and we went a little crazy. We ended up over 1200Ah batteries, over 800W of mounted solar (and a 200W external panel), a 3000W inverter etc. for the electrical system. It's all top-notch stuff, mostly Victron, and all controlled through either a panel in the camper or Victron's app. With all that power we were able to upgrade all the "systems" in the camper, including adding a 12V DC AC/heat pump on the roof. Obviously the AC is a big upgrade in-and-of-itself (keep in mind I live in Vegas), but going with the heat pump style unit meant we could delete the propane heater. The water heater was swapped to 12V as well. Finally, the propane cooktop was fully deleted and replaced with a portable induction cooktop.
The cooktop delete itself also had a secondary goal. I never liked that FWC put the sink forward towards the bed, and the cooktop behind it. When I'm solo and use the bed in the side-to-side config it's no big deal. However, when my better half comes along we like to slide the bed out to the King config. This requires closing down the sink, which means you can't use the sink once the bed is made (but the cooktop was of course accessible). This never made any sense to me. If "nature calls" in the middle of the night, it's nice to be able to wash your hands inside with hot water (vs. using my outside rotopax), but I've yet to need my cooktop at 4am lol. Rather than hard-mount a new cooktop I just wanted the portable induction so it's easy to use outside (I prefer to cook outside unless it's dumping rain or freezing cold) and to create more usable counter space.
The batteries ended up where the water tank was, the water tank in the cabinets under the sink/prior cooktop area,
and obviously it got a new countertop and the cabinets were reworked accordingly. I did lose most of my "kitchen" side drawers and cabinets, but I still have plenty of space for all those things in the remaining ones as well as under the dinette seat and above the fridge. A ton of other little things were done like exterior outlets, lighting under the rear tire swing/step, reworking the struts for the top, rewiring nearly everything (higher quality, heavier gauge), a massive DC to DC charger etc.
On the truck side we added a second alternator (even though my truck is a diesel, it didn't have the factory second alternator option), specific lithium starting batteries (most lithium batteries cannot supply the amperage spike of starting a diesel), upgraded all under-hood charge and ground wires as well as the power wires back to the camper etc. We also added a WolfBox rearview mirror/camera and 3 external cameras (in addition to the native camera on the Wolfbox itself). Ever since I did the FWC I haven't had a backup camera, which isn't ideal in this rig. We went for two rear cameras, one up high on the camper, and one down below the tire swing. Since I have a larger head unit in the truck already I get the high and low views at the same time between the HU and the WB. I also have two forward cameras now, the integrated one in the WB and one under the front bumper so I can see what's in front of the truck on the trail (particularly when cresting things).
Speaking of space, I had LVOC do a rear seat delete on the truck. I've owned this truck since new, and very early on I did a pretty extensive stereo system in it, including a sub box under the rear seats. While I loved the system, and it's been bulletproof for ~15 years now (all Hertz stuff) it was weight and space that didn't fit the use of the truck anymore. To replace the big box we did a JL stealthbox that goes under the center console which takes no interior space away, and weighs a lot less than the big underseat box. LVOC also removed the door panels and made flat aluminum panels (powder coated black) to replace them. My era truck has a much shorter rear door than the newer full size quad cabs, and the doors didn't open very wide so the sculpted door panels always made loading things in/out of the rear seat area tougher. In the back, LVOC built delete panels with L-track for the rear floor and rear wall so I can easily secure stuff in the back. I'll probably get some Front Runner boxes to pack/organize. I'm excited to be able to ratchet strap everything down... no more bouncing/rattling gear in the back. Also, the load height is way lower now, which is a big deal with how tall this truck is.
I'm certainly forgetting other details LVOC did, but it was certainly a major project. And that is what is done...
...the next stage that is currently underway focuses on the truck itself. There have been a few things I've wanted to change in the suspension/steering of the truck for years. Ever since the SAS it's had a decent amount of bump steer. It mostly shows up on the highway when you hit a dip where the whole front end of the truck moves (vs. a bump just on one side). I've learned to "drive around it" but as we all know a lot of Overlanding is putting down long highway pulls to get to the trail so I really wanted to improve the on road manners. Wreckdit Fab here in Vegas is entirely reworking the front end to fix/improve the geometry. We're doing high steer with new knuckles and completely redoing the trackbar, tie-rod, etc. While we're at it, it's also going to hydro assist... with the weight of the truck and 40x13.5" tires aired down, steering can be tough to impossible when not rolling. Sometimes that can be a real problem if I need to turn around in a tight spot.
Another thing that has been "on the list" for a long time is longer front coil overs. When we did the rear Kelderman and lifted the truck more we couldn't source longer C/Os (it was during all the Covid madness) so we just did longer bottom forks on the shocks. It worked, but it meant we were giving up travel/articulation we could otherwise use. Finally, out back the Kelderman rear suspension has been great, but the sway bar setup isn't ideal for off road use (keep in mind the Kelderman kit is more aimed at heavy towing/hauling use vs. Overlanding). The sway bar mounts to the axle pretty low and is pretty susceptible to damage (particularly the mounting u-bolts). It also contacts my aftermarket rear diff cover when the suspension is dumped. The lower shock mounts (stock location) are also pretty low and can catch rocks. So Wreckdit will rework the sway situation (with the sway up on the chassis vs. on the axle) and build lower shock mount skids.
I'm looking forward to a full test of everything soon, hopefully a big Utah run in Feb.
-TJ
Advocate I
So, where did we leave off...
I got the truck back from the steering/trackbar upgrades and it's night and day better. It really was what I had hoped for, and makes freeway driving much more relaxing than it's been in years (since the SAS happened). The skid setup for the Kelderman is also awesome and should do the job and give me more piece of mind wheeling it hard. We also added back a front trans cooler (just an OEM one) and that has been great.
The AC and power changes in the camper also came out great. I have a ton of power (and solar), no more propane, and obviously the capacity to camp in higher temps.
Of course, it's not all sunshine and roses. I tracked down an issue with the degass bottle being hooked up wrong (it's prob been that way since sometime last summer when all the turbo/intercooler/radiator upgrades were done). I also ran into some weirdness with the head unit, sPod, Wolfbox, and tuner/gauges staying on at all times. That was also resolved, it came down to how things were wired (obviously) along with a faulty adapter module for the head unit (the box that integrates it into the stock wiring, and allows the steering wheel controls and such to work). That box wasn't ever powering down, and that was back-feeding the other items, so now that's fixed. The longer/more adjustable coil overs also didn't come in until just a day or two ago, so those are finally on the truck.
Of course, I decided on some more changes.
One thing I've been holding off on with this truck is real sliders. But the more I push it, the more I'm risking the rockers/doors. I had held off because the Amp power steps are really nice with how tall this truck is. I'm about 6' (on a really good day, prob more like 5' 11" but "leg tall") and it's still a decent step up to the Amps as-is. Sliders obviously can provide a step, but it would generally be a few inches higher than the Amps when they are down. Besides just getting in the truck, the Amps are very useful for getting to the latches on the camper. All of that said, I decided it was time for sliders, especially with an upcoming Moab trip with some "real" trail work I just want the protection. The sliders will be a pretty typical design. They will extend back to just in front of the rear tires with a kick out to help keep the bed/camper off trees/rocks and stuff too, and they'll have an added bolt-on step to make getting up onto the sliders easier, but I will pull it for technical trails.
The other thing that has always been a liability in the rocks is the LCA bracket for the Kelderman. They hang the lowest in that section of the truck, and they are perfectly vertical:
I was thinking of having the shop I work with just triangulate the mount forward, adding strength and creating more of a "ramp" to the LCA. They had a much better idea, they're going to extend the front LCA pickup point forward to where the frame starts to kick up (arrow).
Here's the start of the new LCA mounts:
I have a trip at the end of the month, so hopefully my next report will be with all of this stuff complete, and some actual dirt under the tires!
-TJ
I got the truck back from the steering/trackbar upgrades and it's night and day better. It really was what I had hoped for, and makes freeway driving much more relaxing than it's been in years (since the SAS happened). The skid setup for the Kelderman is also awesome and should do the job and give me more piece of mind wheeling it hard. We also added back a front trans cooler (just an OEM one) and that has been great.
The AC and power changes in the camper also came out great. I have a ton of power (and solar), no more propane, and obviously the capacity to camp in higher temps.
Of course, it's not all sunshine and roses. I tracked down an issue with the degass bottle being hooked up wrong (it's prob been that way since sometime last summer when all the turbo/intercooler/radiator upgrades were done). I also ran into some weirdness with the head unit, sPod, Wolfbox, and tuner/gauges staying on at all times. That was also resolved, it came down to how things were wired (obviously) along with a faulty adapter module for the head unit (the box that integrates it into the stock wiring, and allows the steering wheel controls and such to work). That box wasn't ever powering down, and that was back-feeding the other items, so now that's fixed. The longer/more adjustable coil overs also didn't come in until just a day or two ago, so those are finally on the truck.
Of course, I decided on some more changes.
One thing I've been holding off on with this truck is real sliders. But the more I push it, the more I'm risking the rockers/doors. I had held off because the Amp power steps are really nice with how tall this truck is. I'm about 6' (on a really good day, prob more like 5' 11" but "leg tall") and it's still a decent step up to the Amps as-is. Sliders obviously can provide a step, but it would generally be a few inches higher than the Amps when they are down. Besides just getting in the truck, the Amps are very useful for getting to the latches on the camper. All of that said, I decided it was time for sliders, especially with an upcoming Moab trip with some "real" trail work I just want the protection. The sliders will be a pretty typical design. They will extend back to just in front of the rear tires with a kick out to help keep the bed/camper off trees/rocks and stuff too, and they'll have an added bolt-on step to make getting up onto the sliders easier, but I will pull it for technical trails.
The other thing that has always been a liability in the rocks is the LCA bracket for the Kelderman. They hang the lowest in that section of the truck, and they are perfectly vertical:
I was thinking of having the shop I work with just triangulate the mount forward, adding strength and creating more of a "ramp" to the LCA. They had a much better idea, they're going to extend the front LCA pickup point forward to where the frame starts to kick up (arrow).
Here's the start of the new LCA mounts:
I have a trip at the end of the month, so hopefully my next report will be with all of this stuff complete, and some actual dirt under the tires!
-TJ
Advocate I
Advocate I
Slider Start
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There will be two more supports reward. The supports are "open" now to allow full welding of each plate to the frame, but they will be capped of course. These are just the "foundation" of the sliders, obviously they will extend out further.
-TJ
Pathfinder III
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Advocate I
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Advocate I
I finally got the truck back out, though not before a little drama. I headed out for a 3 night trip with Colorado Mall Crawlers in Moab. The first day was meant to be Metal Masher, which I was really excited to run with the big girl... though a bit apprehensive about clearance for the camper in one spot. Unfortunately, on the way out of Vegas my (new, OEM) trans cooler line had other ideas:
Luckily we were able to tow it back and get it fixed that night/the next morning, so I headed up to Moab a day behind. I was able to meet with the group and do some wheeling and camping for the next 3 days/2 nights:
Overall the truck performed amazingly. We ran some trails that folks were pretty surprised I was doing with a truck this big/heavy. The first day I accidently only had one hub locked (the passenger axle had come out to fix a leak, and I guess that hub was left locked... so when I locked hubs for the trail I just twisted both to the opposite position they were in, not paying attention, and ending up with one locked, one unlocked) which meant I was basically in 2WD all day other than the few times I hit the front locker (when I was in "3WD"). Still, it climbed everything I asked it to, and only took a 2nd or 3rd try once or twice (those were the spots I locked up). Had I been in true 4wd I doubt I would have even had to lock it. I did notice I wasn't getting any front drive in 4wd without the locker, so when I got to camp I looked around and noticed the hub "issue." To be sure that was all it was, I jacked up each side individually with the hubs now properly locked, the truck in 4wd, and the front locker on... sure 'nough both were locked in properly. Everything just felt easier the 2nd and 3rd days on the trail, and I didn't ever "need" to lock up - but still did over a few technical spots.
I did run into two issues:
First the new long, rear lower-links contact the old link bracket when I air-down at camp. That will be an easy fix (we can cut and scallop the brackets a lot higher, they are only mounting the upper control arms now so we have room to work with).
Second, the passenger side clam-shell mount on the front sway bar came loose. I suspect the bolt actually snapped, as it was under crazy load when the truck tried to articulate. Between the sway bar setup, and the limitations of the radius rod front susp I don't have much down-travel. I'd like to get more droop, but I'm at the limit of driveline angle where the limit straps are set. Going to a 3/4 link could remedy that, but I don't think this truck "needs" to go that far. I think I'll ditch the front sway bar for now (the truck drove home with effectively no front sway really great, actually) and see if we can sit the truck 1-2" lower, giving me 1-2" more down-travel.
As you can see, it did its best impression of the Toyota Wave:
-TJ
Luckily we were able to tow it back and get it fixed that night/the next morning, so I headed up to Moab a day behind. I was able to meet with the group and do some wheeling and camping for the next 3 days/2 nights:
Overall the truck performed amazingly. We ran some trails that folks were pretty surprised I was doing with a truck this big/heavy. The first day I accidently only had one hub locked (the passenger axle had come out to fix a leak, and I guess that hub was left locked... so when I locked hubs for the trail I just twisted both to the opposite position they were in, not paying attention, and ending up with one locked, one unlocked) which meant I was basically in 2WD all day other than the few times I hit the front locker (when I was in "3WD"). Still, it climbed everything I asked it to, and only took a 2nd or 3rd try once or twice (those were the spots I locked up). Had I been in true 4wd I doubt I would have even had to lock it. I did notice I wasn't getting any front drive in 4wd without the locker, so when I got to camp I looked around and noticed the hub "issue." To be sure that was all it was, I jacked up each side individually with the hubs now properly locked, the truck in 4wd, and the front locker on... sure 'nough both were locked in properly. Everything just felt easier the 2nd and 3rd days on the trail, and I didn't ever "need" to lock up - but still did over a few technical spots.
I did run into two issues:
First the new long, rear lower-links contact the old link bracket when I air-down at camp. That will be an easy fix (we can cut and scallop the brackets a lot higher, they are only mounting the upper control arms now so we have room to work with).
Second, the passenger side clam-shell mount on the front sway bar came loose. I suspect the bolt actually snapped, as it was under crazy load when the truck tried to articulate. Between the sway bar setup, and the limitations of the radius rod front susp I don't have much down-travel. I'd like to get more droop, but I'm at the limit of driveline angle where the limit straps are set. Going to a 3/4 link could remedy that, but I don't think this truck "needs" to go that far. I think I'll ditch the front sway bar for now (the truck drove home with effectively no front sway really great, actually) and see if we can sit the truck 1-2" lower, giving me 1-2" more down-travel.
As you can see, it did its best impression of the Toyota Wave:
-TJ
