Wheelbase ?'s

[marvin82]

Just looking for thoughts..... What are the majority ot you all aiming for when building your rigs? Competetion...... trail rigs? My '82 mini was a 102" stock, has been stretched to about 106" now trying to decide if I should take it another inch or not.... Thanks

 

[woody]

stock FJ40 = 90"

I've got mine stretched to just shy of 100"...about 99.5 or so....with the weight balance, it's been a good compromise for the boulder gardens I love to wheel and the hillclimbs/dropoffs. 23" at the skid plate, under 7' at the cage peak.

Unfortunately, as you know, there is no set perfect wheelbase, only a series of compromises. IMO, 106 is pretty long....if I were building from scratch today I'd likely end up in the 102-104 area. There's a little to be said about the look of the setup as there is about the function, especially if you attempt to retain a full body.

It really is amazing what another 1-2" changes when it comes to wheelbase....I've had 90, 91.5 (redrilled rear perch), 93.5 (reversed rear), 97 (reversed front and rear), 99 (reversed front and rear, redrilled front perch), 100 (redrilled front perch, reversed front, linked rear), and now 99.5 (rear axle change, smaller tube diameter, pushed it ahead .5")....

 

[Rock Taxi]

Unfortunately, as you know, there is no set perfect wheelbase, only a series of compromises.

Truth.

I am at 115".

My last rig started and 83" and grew slowly to 108".

Each length had it benefits and drawbacks.

Ed

 

[phishtaco]

stock FJ40 = 90"

I've got mine stretched to just shy of 100"...about 99.5 or so....with the weight balance, it's been a good compromise for the boulder gardens I love to wheel and the hillclimbs/dropoffs. 23" at the skid plate, under 7' at the cage peak.

Unfortunately, as you know, there is no set perfect wheelbase, only a series of compromises. IMO, 106 is pretty long....if I were building from scratch today I'd likely end up in the 102-104 area. There's a little to be said about the look of the setup as there is about the function, especially if you attempt to retain a full body.

It really is amazing what another 1-2" changes when it comes to wheelbase....I've had 90, 91.5 (redrilled rear perch), 93.5 (reversed rear), 97 (reversed front and rear), 99 (reversed front and rear, redrilled front perch), 100 (redrilled front perch, reversed front, linked rear), and now 99.5 (rear axle change, smaller tube diameter, pushed it ahead .5")....

Can you redrill the rear and front spring perches to gain the WB and not need to legthen your DS? This would be for a sua 4" SJ lift. So I could get 92-93" WB

 

[woody]

mmmm...driveshafts are always a tossup....until you've done it and taken the measurements, you don't know. Cruisers only have 3.5" of slip or so, so not much to work with. My front shaft was a 11" stroke Woods, so lots of stretch room.

Luck would mean you have 4-5 shafts on the floor of varying lenghts from varying projects, and find one that works

 

[TxCruzr]

I'm sitting at 97'' now and just the added couple of inches from flipping the front springs helps a ton. I used to always get hung up on my front SR hangers but its pretty hard to bash them now. The added inches also help a ton on ledges. I think my goal wb would probably be around 100 or 102.

 

[warpdriv]

You can get to 102 by flipping the springs and reversing the rear spring hanger.

Pics here:
http://lslc.org/austin/bios/blumenthal/Dulciena.html

Hops that helps,

 

[fj40charles]

108" on my junk.

 

[rockcod]

Mine is 103" have not driven it yet, still a work in progress.

 

[Jonathan_Ferguson]

I had my BJ40 almost fall over backwards on several occasions.
I much rather the Wheelbase of my standard Hilux, which is a smidge longer than an 80 Series.

 

[LAME]

Depends what you wheel. I'm 104" on 38's and that about as long as I would go for the tight SoDak trails. If I was someplace with more ledge climbing, and more open trails I would consider longer. From what I have seen around 100-106 works well for what we wheel.

 

[cruiserrg]

I'm at 110. Considering MOG pinions and 42" tires, I didn't want much longer or shorter. Many things to consider on WB (Tires, overhangs, belly clearance, ect.)

 

[marvin82]

thanks all, I think I will go to 107 as planned..

 

[Eskimo]

I'm pretty happy with my 101", on 38's... The front is stretched way out, and the approach angle (mid 80*'s) is SWEET. I'm gonna go up to ~106-108" when I eventually swap axles and go 4-link, but that will be with bigger tires, too.

There are a few times when I've gotten hung on a low-hanigng crossmember though.. but if the belly is tucked up, you're golden.

 

[OnTheSpot]

Just got back from Moab and still want to push the rear axle back a few inches. I'm at 100 currently and want it at around 103.

 

[notaf-ingjeep]

In moab on upper helldorado a guy in a cruiser buggy running 42" swampers and a 111" wheelbase drove the waterfall at the end as if it weren't there, and 2 other buggy's with slightly shorter wheelbases go over backwards trying the same

 

[LC_Hamma]

Mine sits at 106":

 

[fuelnjktr]

Easiest way to lengthen wheel base

Great ideas on extending wheel base...what is the easiest way to stretch it out...start in the front or back?

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi All:

Woody, what do you think of the 91.5 inch WB - is it worth the trouble?

Regards,

Alan
Seattle

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Woody" wrote:

>It really is amazing what another 1-2" changes when it comes to wheelbase....I've had 90, 91.5 (redrilled rear perch), 93.5 (reversed rear), 97 (reversed front and rear), 99 (reversed front and rear, redrilled front perch), 100 (redrilled front perch, reversed front, linked rear), and now 99.5 (rear axle change, smaller tube diameter, pushed it ahead .5")....

 

[woody]

considering my expense was only time, anything is worth experimenting with....however, remember, you also need a longer driveshaft, so unless you have varying doners in the garage (like me) these little experiments can create $100 expenses pretty quick....

oh yea, had to rework the upper shock mount too IIRC...or was it the lower....damn, that was like 6 years ago, I can't recall....may wanna watch brake lines too....