Possible max approach angle? (1 Viewer)

[ikecruiser]

I'm new to off-highway and happy with my one-month old 2008 silver LC200 ( odo meter is already almost 4K mil )

I attended a 2-day off-road driving class and found that LC200's approach angle & ground clearance is not satisfactory.
(Surely OE side rails, front & rear bumps got a lot of scratches and the front skid plate damaged. Pin strips are mandatory)

Although it is for daily use & family trip, I'm considering to do some modifications for off-highway driving.

I'm wondering how much the approach angle including the ground clearance could be improved if LC is equiped with OME 2" lift kit + 33" tire + ARB bullbar with wrench?
(under the assumption this is the best available combination...)

Based on the simple math, the ground clearance possibly increases from 8.9" in to 12.4" ( 8.9" + 2" lifting + 1.5" up due to the 33" tire ).

However, no idea about the approach angle enhancement.

 

[boobook]

The approach angle improves a lot with the ARB bar and a lift. It increases to something like 40 degrees. A lot of plastic goes from the lower bumper area. Not sure about the increase in ground clearance, I think the low point is the diff.

The departure angle is the one to watch. Kaymar rear bar is the best thing to fix that.

 

[ikecruiser]

Thanks bobook,

About the ground clearance I phrased in wrong way.

The real ground clearance could be increased only by the bigger tire and + 1.5" benefit.
Once regarding the body clearance ( I don't know the exact term ) which is the ground clearance between body & ground, can I achieve the 3.5" increase practically?

Wow 40 degrees!

For the real bumper, I don't think ARB/Kaymar can improve the departure angle a lot. I am looking for narrower & simpler one.

 

[boobook]

This has a 2" lift and 33" rubber and gives a reasonable idea of the approach angle.

 

[JBHorne]

First, welcome to the forum.

Not to be a forum nazi, but I gotta tell ya, all of your questions have been answered here in other threads. It would be wise to read all of the forum topics here first before proceeding. You will save yourself a lot of time an energy planning your modifications up front in stages. There is a wealth of information here, all for free, and it details the mistakes we made.

The stock tire is ~32" and the new tire is ~33". That's only an inch difference in regards to diameter. Half of that is the radius and thus the actual lift height, which is .5". You don't gain much lift from a tire, but there are many other aspects that you gain from increasing tire size. There are a few threads around here discussing this.

As for the front bumper, if you are not planning on offroading heavily, why the need for a winch? They are heavy. No need to add 100+ lbs in front of the front axle if not necessary.

If you've already bent the skid plates, there are aftermarket ones available from Rasta. There is a thread on this as well.

The side rails on the 200 are just cosmetic steps. They are not structurally sound for offroading. Slee can help you in this department.

You don't have many options for rear bumpers. Kaymar makes one and ARB makes 2 versions. The limitation here is the factory hitch. Being that it is a class IV, it is a structural part of the rear frame rails. Unless you plan to cut it off and have a custom bumper made ($$$$$), these are your only options.

 

[ikecruiser]

Thanks for your greeting, JB.
( Suddenly I'd like to know why you concluded I've not read/studied forum articles? )

Regarding the ground clearance, I totally did mistake. What a bad day today. May be due to the heat.
I measured the height of my tire during the class and it was about 30". But totally forgot tire pressures were downed to 18 psi not 33 psi. :-(

The reason I included the winch is to know the max approach angle when the front is fully loaded.