Uptravel vs. ride height

[fj40charles]

On rockwells?



Good point. I was referring to vertical axle travel.. Not trying to make people factor in shock vs. axle travel..

The shock bottoms will be as far to the knuckles as possible, which will give me ~10-15° angle inwards. I want to make sure I don't go past vertical as the axle moves around.. My old rear axle did this because of packaging constraints, and it sucks.

Mace - you think Scott's 5" tenders are what allow so much ride height adjustment without issues of binding? Man, these coil-overs are getting more and more expensive by the moment.. I was just gonna use air shocks and get out the 'cheap way' Oh well..

Rich,

Don't worry.. It will get more expensive... Plan on having to change out the
coils after you have it built. Hopefully, your vendor will let you swap them out.

It is almost impossible to get the right spring rate the first time due to variables.

 

[Mark W]

On rockwells?

Nope, different rig. This rig sits on Toy axles and leaf springs.



The coil suspension, hanger queen/moose buggy on Rockwells has 53 inch tires now. About 11 inches of uptravel before the tires hit the fenders. A little more than that for downtravel. I haven't figured out what the numbers are when articulated, that is just straight suspension travel.

But this rig has very different performance considerations than any sort of rock crawler. It does (did) very well in that sort of use when it was on the trail before, but thatis not it's primary tasking and as it sits negl;ected int he shop, it wil see some compromises made in that department for the benifit of other strengths before it rolls out again.

In an earlier evolution, when it sat on Toy axles and 42s, I had over 40 inches of travel at each corner when articulated. It was pretty meaningless though. No way in hell to actually use all of that potential travel on the trail. That's just how much could be achieved on the "bench" before anything bound or otherwise limited travel.


Mark...

 

[Mace]

Rich, the need for the 5" keepers is more to do with ride height desires than total adjustability..

If you want small amounts of uptravel you basically cannot use 2 full length springs (full length for the shock that is 14" shock, and dual 14" springs) simply because of the soft rates that are necessary. Basically, if you used 2 long springs and wanted them to sit with 4" of uptravel you would need to run a VERY soft spring. And your spring rate would suck.
So the tender springs allow you to use a shorter spring on top with reasonable rates for your rig.

It does help in the bind dept tho.. basically you are using a set of springs that are too short for the shock you are using. So you have 5" of spring that, when compressed, only is about 1/2" thick Vs 3" thick (or so).

 

[Eskimo]

Gotcha.. I largely ignored coilover tech before, so I've got a bunch of reading to do, but I'm sure I can wrap my head around it..

Charles - yeah, i figured as much on the springs, after seeing all the posts from people trying it out, but I think it was Mace that has a link to where people are swapping around springs and such - should help, but I will keep the vendor's policies in mind when shopping... thanks.

 

[lowtideride]

I have 3.5 inches of up travel on my front axle and 5.5 on the rear. Its a DD and trail rig. I have thousands of miles on this set up and my front shocks have yet to bottom out on normal driving conditions. Once when I ramped it on rail road tracks but that really doesn't count (it was on accident). I have had the front end air born a few times on the trail but that was with low air pressure. Its used for rock crawling, after all ih8mud. This is with a normal SOA set up, on fairly flat springs.

 

[Eskimo]

Whoooooooboy.. spending 10 hours straight reading and experimenting with coilover tech can make ya loopy! But I'm convinced they are the way to go for the linear-ness and adjustability.. I have good corner weights already, now I have to determine what my sprung weight is from that...

Looks like the "keep it low"'s have it..

 

[scottryana]

Eskimo,

If you have your corner weight call up who ever you are goin to get the coils from (Polyperformance) and they can get you the right springs.

Ryan.

 

[fj40charles]

Eskimo,

If you have your corner weight call up who ever you are goin to get the coils from (Polyperformance) and they can get you the right springs.

Ryan.

You can get an estimate at best. The best way to determine exactly how much weight your rig will have on the coilover is to mount them. After you mount them you can calulate weight based on springs and how much they move when you put a load on them. Unless you have the coilovers mounted perfectly verticle, it is very difficult to measure the wheel rate and spring rate. There is a formula, but I can't remember.

I got my my coilovers and Eibach springs from www.raceshock.com
These guys cater to the desert racers, but they know how to setup shocks for you and can get any brand you need. Ask for Lee. He is very helpful.

 

[gunmetalcruz]

I would highly throw a vote for coilovers but lets be realistic here. Rockwell rigs aren't jumping rigs. Don't get caught up in keeping up with "Jones". Buy some 2.5 fox airs for all the way around. Need some more uptravel add some more nitrogen. Spring this /spring that, it all comes down to they are HUGE and were do you fit driveshaft at full compression? Just like Dlux's build and mine, the driveline will be the limiting factor. The yoke on the front pinion will want to hit the upper link and the upper passenger will be close to the starter. Best thing to do is move the motor back and get the uptravel room you need.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Gunmetal, you from Pirates, if so a wealth of information, if not you still bring some great ideas.

Cheers,

Rob

I would highly throw a vote for coilovers but lets be realistic here. Rockwell rigs aren't jumping rigs. Don't get caught up in keeping up with "Jones". Buy some 2.5 fox airs for all the way around. Need some more uptravel add some more nitrogen. Spring this /spring that, it all comes down to they are HUGE and were do you fit driveshaft at full compression? Just like Dlux's build and mine, the driveline will be the limiting factor. The yoke on the front pinion will want to hit the upper link and the upper passenger will be close to the starter. Best thing to do is move the motor back and get the uptravel room you need.

 

[gunmetalcruz]

Yea it's me. I don't get over here much. I'm really a butcher. I just wheel more then most and I think try to keep a eye what works and doesn't. Personally would like the opertunity to throw out the idea of spending a lot more money doing it the hard way ......... 70 centersection to rockwell outers. 37 or 40 spline. Still get uptravel and dana/oversen/rocky hybrid.