Well, the gyroscope and weight accelerator systems drove me off that other thread
I still want to explore the idea of what practical steps you can take to deal with rollover risk. I’ll admit I’m a web wheeler – I’ve had a stock XJ for 6 years and a stock YJ 6 years before that, and I wheeled them both pretty aggressively for stock, but that’s nothing compared to what lots of you guys have done, and the only times I’ve come close to rolling were purely accidental. So I’d like to benefit from your advice.
But even though I’m a newbie, there are some things I just don’t buy, like (1) there’s nothing you can do about rollovers, you just have to accept it when it happens, or (2) that you guys are taking it “right up to the edge” but that you’ve only rolled 3 times or 5 times or whatever. I canoe a lot and I know some blowhards who’ll say “I take my canoe to the edge all the time and I’ve only swum (slang for capsizing) 2 times in my life!” Well, I’m not a newbie to canoeing so I know you can’t possibly even know where the edge is unless you flip 20 times a year. I suspect the same applies to wheeling.
Now, even though I’m stock right now, I’m planning my first buildup (have been for 2 years) as soon the 92 XJ quits being my daily driver, which should happen within 6 months now. Rollovers have been in my mind as a performance limiting factor for a long time now, so there are certain things I’m planning as part of the buildup to keep a low COG: (1) minimal lift, thinking 2 inches right now, and using fender trimming to fit 32 inch tires (2) lots of armor low and mounting positions for tools, hi-lift, spare tire etc low and central (3) bs’d wheels for a couple inches wider track.
All that should help, but even then I want to take it to the real edge, and so I’m working on several ideas to help cope with rollovers. Now, I know I won’t prevent them all so I’m ready to take a couple when all the systems fail. But the idea is to be able to test the edge, the real edge, to go past the roll point dozens of times, and to be able to recover from all but one or two of them. From my web-wheeling, I’ve seen a number of slow-mo rolls on video that look like they would have been easy to prevent. So starting there, I get the ideas of a low brace bar, a high side countervailing weight and a series of locking plasma rope reels on the cage for anchors. All of these seem doable and helpful in some situations. I’ve got some detailed thoughts on how to deploy these and I’ll add that to the thread later if we can get a constructive dialog going.
I am pretty much convinced the systems have to be all manual, for the driver to deploy as his experience and judgment dictates, either with buttons on the dash or by calling on spotters to do something.
Also, I think pre-calculated roll angles are next to worthless and the only possible working gauge is one that measures suspension load at each wheel – but I don’t have the vaguest idea how to do this at a reasonable cost – some kind of scale. Once you get this measurement, then you’ll have to go do some real world rolls (using your low brace bars to catch yourself) to see how gauge measurements relate to roll risk.
Also, the cage is a related point – most cages, as I understand it, are constructed in such a way that they can only handle one roll (say 360 degrees down a rock slope) and still be safe. Meaning, you have to rebuild the cage after every roll. To build one that could withstand multiple rolls would be prohibitively heavy and costly, I’ve been told. That’s a real drag, I hope they’re wrong. I want one I can roll once or twice today, then drive back to camp, then keep going tomorrow and roll it again.
Any thoughts? Flames welcome too, as always, just try to mix in some facts.
I still want to explore the idea of what practical steps you can take to deal with rollover risk. I’ll admit I’m a web wheeler – I’ve had a stock XJ for 6 years and a stock YJ 6 years before that, and I wheeled them both pretty aggressively for stock, but that’s nothing compared to what lots of you guys have done, and the only times I’ve come close to rolling were purely accidental. So I’d like to benefit from your advice.
But even though I’m a newbie, there are some things I just don’t buy, like (1) there’s nothing you can do about rollovers, you just have to accept it when it happens, or (2) that you guys are taking it “right up to the edge” but that you’ve only rolled 3 times or 5 times or whatever. I canoe a lot and I know some blowhards who’ll say “I take my canoe to the edge all the time and I’ve only swum (slang for capsizing) 2 times in my life!” Well, I’m not a newbie to canoeing so I know you can’t possibly even know where the edge is unless you flip 20 times a year. I suspect the same applies to wheeling.
Now, even though I’m stock right now, I’m planning my first buildup (have been for 2 years) as soon the 92 XJ quits being my daily driver, which should happen within 6 months now. Rollovers have been in my mind as a performance limiting factor for a long time now, so there are certain things I’m planning as part of the buildup to keep a low COG: (1) minimal lift, thinking 2 inches right now, and using fender trimming to fit 32 inch tires (2) lots of armor low and mounting positions for tools, hi-lift, spare tire etc low and central (3) bs’d wheels for a couple inches wider track.
All that should help, but even then I want to take it to the real edge, and so I’m working on several ideas to help cope with rollovers. Now, I know I won’t prevent them all so I’m ready to take a couple when all the systems fail. But the idea is to be able to test the edge, the real edge, to go past the roll point dozens of times, and to be able to recover from all but one or two of them. From my web-wheeling, I’ve seen a number of slow-mo rolls on video that look like they would have been easy to prevent. So starting there, I get the ideas of a low brace bar, a high side countervailing weight and a series of locking plasma rope reels on the cage for anchors. All of these seem doable and helpful in some situations. I’ve got some detailed thoughts on how to deploy these and I’ll add that to the thread later if we can get a constructive dialog going.
I am pretty much convinced the systems have to be all manual, for the driver to deploy as his experience and judgment dictates, either with buttons on the dash or by calling on spotters to do something.
Also, I think pre-calculated roll angles are next to worthless and the only possible working gauge is one that measures suspension load at each wheel – but I don’t have the vaguest idea how to do this at a reasonable cost – some kind of scale. Once you get this measurement, then you’ll have to go do some real world rolls (using your low brace bars to catch yourself) to see how gauge measurements relate to roll risk.
Also, the cage is a related point – most cages, as I understand it, are constructed in such a way that they can only handle one roll (say 360 degrees down a rock slope) and still be safe. Meaning, you have to rebuild the cage after every roll. To build one that could withstand multiple rolls would be prohibitively heavy and costly, I’ve been told. That’s a real drag, I hope they’re wrong. I want one I can roll once or twice today, then drive back to camp, then keep going tomorrow and roll it again.
Any thoughts? Flames welcome too, as always, just try to mix in some facts.