It may have been Landtank who once mentioned that perhaps if we could drive our rigs at once fully modified, we might be horrified at how the incremental modifications had altered a once pleasant driveability. I am now a believer ..
I would have sworn on a stack of bibles today that my 80's dirveability could not improve one bit. I was wrong
I drove back to my hotel tonite from Slee Offroad, after a day of fairly lightweight mods. Light perhaps, but as I discovered mods which when overlooked during a buildup would leave the driver at a disadvantage.
To shed light on what my objectives were, here is a short list so far:
- Level the 80 front to rear
- remove the lateral translations out of the axles post lift
- Tighten up the steering a bit
- Widen the 80's stance
To these ends, Adrian and Brian went to work and did the following:
- Added Slee 4" coils up front (as per Christo's suggestion)
- Added adjustable panhard rods
- Installed new drag link, and tie rod as well as new tie rod ends
- Installed the 1.5" wheel spacers
And the results:
My 80 is perfectly level now. The axles are both centered under the truck, and the steering is improved with the new equipment. The wheels spacers fattened out the 80's stance to where it should always have been .. looks great!!
All I can say is the driveability now is unreal! I never saw it coming .. I have NO vibrations with the 4" coils, and now the truck is so easy to drive, I realize that up until now I was living with a truck that had become a bit of a chore to drive. Not a huge effort, but still slightly twitchy and such. I know this to be true because I drove along tonite with apprehension to be honest. Not because of what had been modified, but because of what we haven't done yet .. trim the mudflaps, and then some So I drove into the dark with the music off so I could hear if anything rubbed .. This fear was born of some rubbing heard as I backed down a slope out of Slee's lot .. as I discovered along the drive this would not be repeated while driving forwards. But it was in this silent drive that I REPEATEDLY realized something was quite tangeably different. Words like effortless, quiet, smooth, predictable, effortless, effortless .... did I mention effortless?
The 80 is slightly firmer in the front over some bumps, but nothing I'd worry about .. and the driveabilty is quite noticeable.
Bottom line .. if you are building your 80, do NOT just overlook the small stuff; the less glamorous bits. They quickly add up to a monumental change in how your 80, and perhaps your DD performs day in day out .. mile after mile.
Like Nike says .. Just do it!
Peace,
TY
I would have sworn on a stack of bibles today that my 80's dirveability could not improve one bit. I was wrong
I drove back to my hotel tonite from Slee Offroad, after a day of fairly lightweight mods. Light perhaps, but as I discovered mods which when overlooked during a buildup would leave the driver at a disadvantage. To shed light on what my objectives were, here is a short list so far:
- Level the 80 front to rear
- remove the lateral translations out of the axles post lift
- Tighten up the steering a bit
- Widen the 80's stance
To these ends, Adrian and Brian went to work and did the following:
- Added Slee 4" coils up front (as per Christo's suggestion)
- Added adjustable panhard rods
- Installed new drag link, and tie rod as well as new tie rod ends
- Installed the 1.5" wheel spacers
And the results:
My 80 is perfectly level now. The axles are both centered under the truck, and the steering is improved with the new equipment. The wheels spacers fattened out the 80's stance to where it should always have been .. looks great!!
All I can say is the driveability now is unreal! I never saw it coming .. I have NO vibrations with the 4" coils, and now the truck is so easy to drive, I realize that up until now I was living with a truck that had become a bit of a chore to drive. Not a huge effort, but still slightly twitchy and such. I know this to be true because I drove along tonite with apprehension to be honest. Not because of what had been modified, but because of what we haven't done yet .. trim the mudflaps, and then some
So I drove into the dark with the music off so I could hear if anything rubbed .. This fear was born of some rubbing heard as I backed down a slope out of Slee's lot .. as I discovered along the drive this would not be repeated while driving forwards. But it was in this silent drive that I REPEATEDLY realized something was quite tangeably different. Words like effortless, quiet, smooth, predictable, effortless, effortless .... did I mention effortless? The 80 is slightly firmer in the front over some bumps, but nothing I'd worry about .. and the driveabilty is quite noticeable.
Bottom line .. if you are building your 80, do NOT just overlook the small stuff; the less glamorous bits. They quickly add up to a monumental change in how your 80, and perhaps your DD performs day in day out .. mile after mile.
Like Nike says .. Just do it!
Peace,
TY
