Those who are sporting 8" how low do you hang?

Im figuring things out for my long arm 4 link and I want to know what I should set the maximum droop to. A few days ago there were comments on how some guys have had to use limiting straps so that they may climb better due to the massive amount of droop a long arm setup allows. With the 4 link I can set the limits without a strap by means of triangulation but I want to know what the recommended limit is. Thanks

XJguy

so are you gonna wheel this thing or what?

seriously, look, I could care less either way, have it be an 8" street cruiser, or go hit the rocks.....I'll be the last guy to try to pass judgement.....


however, it would really help to know what your SERIOUS plans are in order to give good advice!

not long ago you said this was a rig you were building to achieve some kind of corporate identity, and it would be relegated for street use only, but then you are asking questions that seasoned and experienced off-road drivers would be asking.....

I really hope you don't misunderstand my tone. I am NOT trying to make any judgements, what you do with your own jeep is none of my damn business......

but if you are gonna get any good advice from any of us, it sure would be nice to know FOR REAL what you plan to do to this thing.....

if you are gonna wheel it, I have to plead with you once again, not to keep building this thing as you are UNTIL YOU GAIN OFFROAD DRIVING EXPERIENCE!

XJGUY, you've been banging around the jeep boards for quite sometime, and you've achieved a level of credibility as far as your performance experiences go, and I respect what you've done with your previous projects, just so you know that......I just don't wanna see you go nutz building something that is gonna sent you hurtling off a ledge, or put you on your roof the first time you leave the pavement.....

are you coming to moab? if so, PU-LEEZE show up in a rig no more than 6" high..........okay?

I think I misunderstood that tone?

Lol..aww Beezil you do care...I love ya man!

Look, Xnowyte, as she is affectionately called, will spend most of her life on the street since it will be a daily driver and since I am not geographically situated such that I can just drive 15min and be in a rock quarry. But as you correctly indicated it is a stage for many of the wares I will be introducing in the coming months. The motto that I try to live by is that anything worth doing is worth doing right..this is why my projects seem to take a lifetime, but when they are done I am truly proud. I cannot stand the idea of having a supposed highly capable offroad Jeep with beadlocks and 35" tires that is all show and no go!! With the Warrior, every vent, every modification was put there for function and not soley for looks, I try to do things that way always. I see trucks setup to look tough all over the place and I when I take a closer look and see how poorly put together they are..they make me smirk and nod my head ruefully. I will be taking Xnowyte offroad and I will be in Moab to finally meet you all. What I will NOT be doing is taking the most difficult trials like you, Goatman and a few other of the stars take. I realize full well its 95% experience and not hardware. So even though I will be caged up as tight as a prostock racer I still will try my best to avoid situations that may force me to test just how good my cage really is.

I have spent a lot of time and a significant amount of cash already on this Jeep, what I do not want is the have to keep raising her every year and spending even more $$$. This week I have spent over $500 (ouch!) on a massive 4130 custom steering setup. From what I see on my Jeep at 5.5" and what I see on other with 8" sporting 35" tires, the 8" seems optimal. Right now the tires are REALLY close to the flares for any serious trail use IMHO. Problem with me is I have lots of offroad knowledge but its book smarts not rock smarts, so I can think things up, design ways to fix problems others experience and come up with new ideas but it may not mean I can use it to its maximum extent like you can. Now to what degree I can actually use my overkill designs..well we'll just have to see. Look at me as the guy who designs the basketball shoe but never touched a basketball. You know me Im a speed demon at heart so this whole rock crawling thing is all new, but I am excited about trying it out. Dont worry Im a fast learner.

So the question stands, what droop do you recommend?

XJguy

XJguy said:

Lol..aww Beezil you do care...I love ya man!

Look, Xnowyte, as she is affectionately called, will spend most of her life on the street since it will be a daily driver and since I am not geographically situated such that I can just drive 15min and be in a rock quarry. But as you correctly indicated it is a stage for many of the wares I will be introducing in the coming months. The motto that I try to live by is that anything worth doing is worth doing right..this is why my projects seem to take a lifetime, but when they are done I am truly proud. I cannot stand the idea of having a supposed highly capable offroad Jeep with beadlocks and 35" tires that is all show and no go!! With the Warrior, every vent, every modification was put there for function and not soley for looks, I try to do things that way always. I see trucks setup to look tough all over the place and I when I take a closer look and see how poorly put together they are..they make me smirk and nod my head ruefully. I will be taking Xnowyte offroad and I will be in Moab to finally meet you all. What I will NOT be doing is taking the most difficult trials like you, Goatman and a few other of the stars take. I realize full well its 95% experience and not hardware. So even though I will be caged up as tight as a prostock racer I still will try my best to avoid situations that may force me to test just how good my cage really is.

I have spent a lot of time and a significant amount of cash already on this Jeep, what I do not want is the have to keep raising her every year and spending even more $$$. This week I have spent over $500 (ouch!) on a massive 4130 custom steering setup. From what I see on my Jeep at 5.5" and what I see on other with 8" sporting 35" tires, the 8" seems optimal. Right now the tires are REALLY close to the flares for any serious trail use IMHO. Problem with me is I have lots of offroad knowledge but its book smarts not rock smarts, so I can think things up, design ways to fix problems others experience and come up with new ideas but it may not mean I can use it to its maximum extent like you can. Now to what degree I can actually use my overkill designs..well we'll just have to see. Look at me as the guy who designs the basketball shoe but never touched a basketball. You know me Im a speed demon at heart so this whole rock crawling thing is all new, but I am excited about trying it out. Dont worry Im a fast learner.

So the question stands, what droop do you recommend?

XJguy

Click to expand...

When you are on an angled sidehill, wider and lower is better. I don't think you need 8" for 35" tires....just my opinion {or course, I'm a little biased}............and if you've never played basketball, how do you know what you want in a shoe? I think you should ride shotgun with various lifts on a 'serious' trail while you have the chance and get a good feel for what works where.

You mud-eastern guys are more than welcome out here, but I chuckle to myself when I see 10"-12" lifted stuff in Moab with roof racks loaded to the hilt with HEAVY stuff........UROC style straps on the roofs with spotters (and there's nothing wrong or n shame in that depending on where it is.)......I'm sure I'd be laughed out of Tellico or Paragon, though.

Im really amazed at how people are so opposed to 8" of lift. For what its worth, waaaaay back on the original XJ forum and even before that I was and still am a big proponent of keeping a low center of gravity (Warrior is inches from the ground). The lowest height you can get the job done is the best height. But at $300 I dont want to rip out my BW flares while tyring to hop a curb.

XJguy

those tires are suppose to tuck up under the flares, aren't they?

Here's mine w/8.5" and 35's.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/66102856/74538962HIkHsd

I have 3.25" BS so I have a nice wide stance, but they will not tuck in because of the flares. Yours looks about right, not too tall but functional, how do you like it especially with the added top weight of the tire?

XJguy

It's not bad at all. Last time I was out at Little Moab, I went up a line just fine, and two decked out cj-7's went up after me and both rolled.

So yeah, I really like this height, and setup. I wasn't sure about the roof rack at first, but it doesn't seem to bother me at all on the trail.

XJguy said:

Im really amazed at how people are so opposed to 8" of lift. For what its worth, waaaaay back on the original XJ forum and even before that I was and still am a big proponent of keeping a low center of gravity (Warrior is inches from the ground). The lowest height you can get the job done is the best height. But at $300 I dont want to rip out my BW flares while tyring to hop a curb.

images.......

XJguy

Click to expand...

That's exactly why I DON'T have $300 bushwacked flares {not that there's anything wrong with them, they just don't meet my needs/wants}......They didn't seem to be the product I needed.



cost $3.00 for a cut off wheel for the grinder....

This didn't happen from 8" of lift (more from WTF is mud???--I'm from UT), but you can get my drift, I'm sure. If I was any taller, my junk would look a LOT like ONETONXJ's {not that there's anything wrong with that, but it would be cold in the winter} or I might not be writing anything right now......

Well at least you have money to burn.... that was a damn overpriced expensive steering setup.........

No money is very tight Ted very very. But I jsut wanted a nuke proof setup that can be trasferred over to a Dana 60 if ever I get to that stage. Tubing was very costly as was the maching. Tie rods and a bunch of other things all added up. THis includes the track bar though.

Okay so back to the droop, 6" droop and 8" droop recommendations??


XJguy

XJguy said:

No money is very tight Ted very very. But I jsut wanted a nuke proof setup that can be trasferred over to a Dana 60 if ever I get to that stage. Tubing was very costly as was the maching. Tie rods and a bunch of other things all added up. THis includes the track bar though.

Okay so back to the droop, 6" droop and 8" droop recommendations??


XJguy

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I bottom out on the passenger side here.......trackbar bracket and I don't think I should push my draglink any more than that....


the drivers side drops another couple of inches or so......I seriously dont' think I need more droop and might have more than I want......lockers are more important IMHO.....

I've changed my geometry a little since then and probably get a little more, but I do have some straps to get welded on............I get a nice ride from the new mods, though.


Summary: from me........Don't allow much more droop than 1-2" below the skids.......

I guess you don't wanna spare any expense, when your towing that baby to Utah, for Moab. You don't wanna play for 1/2 a day, then break something and be done. That would blow!

its taken me 9 years to get to the point to even *think* about a dana 60.........

I don't think you need to worry about that just yet.

Beezil said:

its taken me 9 years to get to the point to even *think* about a dana 60.........

I don't think you need to worry about that just yet.

Click to expand...

I *think* WHEN I get a D60 in front, it won't be under a unibody frame (might have XJ skins, just to keep the theme )........I'd concur with the Beezster.......

I was just making a point...anyway fellers, everyone has yapped up a lot of comments (I appreciate the tips) but not one answer to the question at hand.

From mbrysone pics, looks like I should be shooting for about 32" of droop when measured from the hub center to the bottom of the rocker panel. Sound right?

XJguy

Rich, since none of these web wheelers seem to want to tell you what you're asking I'll give it a shot. My droop is limited by my shocks. Some say that you'll damage your shocks by doing this, but I've had the same shocks for the last 3 years doing some pretty tough trails. I did break the shock mounts off my arms last weekend on the Con, but nothing lasts forever. The limiting strap most people talk about is placed in the center of the front end to keep the front from "unloading" during steep climbs. Mine is set to allow the frontend 3.5 - 4" of droop before it comes tight. This allows the axle free motion in "normal" operation, but retains it during climbs. My opinion is to allow the axle to droop to the point that the springs don't fall out & the steering doesn't max out. Other than that let it work.

Matt

XJguy said:

I was just making a point...anyway fellers, everyone has yapped up a lot of comments (I appreciate the tips) but not one answer to the question at hand.

From mbrysone pics, looks like I should be shooting for about 32" of droop when measured from the hub center to the bottom of the rocker panel. Sound right?

XJguy

Click to expand...

I don't think I've seen ANYTHING with that much droop measuring from the 'hub' {wouldn't that leave at least a 6+" of 'air' under the rocker--sounds like trouble to me}???? Long armed or other wise. Are you measuring from the hub at 'rest' on a flat surface to the full extent of droop?


I'd be shocked if I have over 26-28" of full travel on the front (up and down). That pic is an RE KIT with spacers. Nothing special. 35" tire--half that is 17.5, so I'm thinking I've got, roughly, 17-19" --depending on which side we are talking about-- of droop and maybe half that of up travel. There are points where I don't want any more flex and would rather pull a tire off. Just my opinion and seat of the pants 'feel'.


Best of luck, dude!

Thank you!

Finally some constructive input, thank you Matt I was beginning to feel like I was being chastized for something I did or did not do!

XJguy