Is stinkbug-level rake when empty really a problem? (1 Viewer)

[Alpentalic]

Hey folks,

I went with 2723 rear OME springs on a lift this week and am trying to decide whether the rake bothers me. In this first pic it’s empty in the back so daily this will be less pronounced. I’ve got about 1.5” of rake back to front. I have drawers, full aluminum armor including gas tank and sliders and will ultimately add a half size LRA aux tank so I wanted to go right to the 2723.

Is there anything inherently wrong with rake if the ride is okay? It’s really pretty comfortable if you’re used to a modern truck. I love the extra capacity for trips and family adventures without worrying about squatting too…

Any reason it should bother me? Any safety issues?

 

[bloc]

Panhard rod angle will be off making the tail wag over large bumps, and caster gets reduced making it more twitchy at highway speeds.

 

[nwfl4runner]

no problem if your goal is to compensate for a heavy static load.

 

[Alpentalic]

Panhard rod angle will be off making the tail wag over large bumps, and caster gets reduced making it more twitchy at highway speeds.

On the caster- isn’t stock rake pretty pronounced on these 200s? It seems more visually apparent here given the lift front and back but isn’t stock something like 1.25” anyway?

 

[OregonLC]

In my experience both the 100 and 200 want to have at least 1" of forward rake on a moderate (2") lift. Flat trucks want to pull passenger under power. This seems to be worse on the 100 with the way the torsion bars load/unload, but it is exhibited in the 200 as well.

 

[TLC2013]

I recently went through a similar situation when I installed ironman medium springs on my 200 with the Tough Dog Lift. Loaded up with camping gear and the family I was squatting too much with the Tough Dog rear springs, rake was all gone. With the Ironman springs (200-800 lbs rating) my rake was right around 2+” unloaded….. major stink bugging. I was hoping it would settle some as the look bothered me but it never did. No issues with drivability and I liked the slightly firmer ride they provided. Ultimately I went back to the Tough Dog springs and add trim packers to get around 1.5” of rake which I think is perfect for my needs.

I think your rig looks great. I would leave it alone and enjoy it!

These shots are with the Ironman rear springs before i swapped back to the Tough Dogs.

 

[bloc]

On the caster- isn’t stock rake pretty pronounced on these 200s? It seems more visually apparent here given the lift front and back but isn’t stock something like 1.25” anyway?

Within reason the alignment tech can set the caster to be perfect at whatever rake you want. But if the attitude of the vehicle changes, the caster will too.

So if it was dialed in while loaded with no rake, when you unload it and end up like your first picture the caster will decrease.

Opposite is true if it was aligned with the 2723s in and the rig unloaded.