37's with 3" lift?

[ENafziger]

How much do you lose by running the traction bars in terms of comfort and travel ?

Well, I tested the articulation with the new LazarII traction bars and Carli long travel airbags. The ditch in front of our house works pretty well for testing flex and clearance for larger tires.

The pictures are a little grainy because it was getting dark as I was taking them. It's hard to tell how steep the angle of terrain is from the pictures, but the driveway is at a much shallower angle, and cars often drag coming up.

Oh, the girl gets her feelings hurt a little when I take a hundred pics of the truck and none of her... so it just worked out better to include her to! :-laf

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... to be continued.

--Eric

 

[JCasper]

Dang, that's a lot of articulation

 

[ENafziger]

The traction bars have heavy duty heims on each end, so even when pre-loaded some, they still allow great flex. You can see them twisted a little here...

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The rear at full droop measures 16 1/2" inches from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fenderflare...

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On the other side, the wheell is tucked so tightly that I couldn't get the tape in there to get a good picture. For reference though, the tape is 2 1/2" tall, so there's probably 1 3/4" between the top of the tire and the fender flare.

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I measured this same distance on level ground, and from the top of the tire to the bottom of the flare measures 9 1/2". This would seem to indicate that the suspension would allow almost 7" of compression (down to 1 3/4"), and allow 7" of extension (up to 16 1/2"). I'm not sure how articulation is measured, but this would seem to indicate that there is 14" of available travel in the rear!!!

It may be worth noting that I have 40 psi in each of the bags, which is probably way too much for the little weight that I have in the tool boxes. Even so, it doesn't appear that the Carli bags, or the traction bars hindered flex at all!

Although it's been a little costly getting there, it seems that the Lorenz DP leafs, Carli long travel bags, and LazarII traction bars lend themselves toward very good performance in all areas... towing, available travel, empty ride, loaded heavily, offroading, etc. The 37 x 13. 50 Toyo M/Ts clear in every situation I've had them in so far.

Does anyone have similar measurements of flex that could be used for comparison? Did I calculate travel right?

--Eric

 

[Baja_Mike]

The traction bars have heavy duty heims on each end, so even when pre-loaded some, they still allow great flex. You can see them twisted a little here...



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The rear at full droop measures 16 1/2" inches from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fenderflare...



#ad




On the other side, the wheell is tucked so tightly that I couldn't get the tape in there to get a good picture. For reference though, the tape is 2 1/2" tall, so there's probably 1 3/4" between the top of the tire and the fender flare.



#ad




I measured this same distance on level ground, and from the top of the tire to the bottom of the flare measures 9 1/2". This would seem to indicate that the suspension would allow almost 7" of compression (down to 1 3/4"), and allow 7" of extension (up to 16 1/2"). I'm not sure how articulation is measured, but this would seem to indicate that there is 14" of available travel in the rear!!!



It may be worth noting that I have 40 psi in each of the bags, which is probably way too much for the little weight that I have in the tool boxes. Even so, it doesn't appear that the Carli bags, or the traction bars hindered flex at all!



Although it's been a little costly getting there, it seems that the Lorenz DP leafs, Carli long travel bags, and LazarII traction bars lend themselves toward very good performance in all areas... towing, available travel, empty ride, loaded heavily, offroading, etc. The 37 x 13. 50 Toyo M/Ts clear in every situation I've had them in so far.



Does anyone have similar measurements of flex that could be used for comparison? Did I calculate travel right?



--Eric

you need to take a measurement from the steel part of the bumpstop down to the axle to get actual wheel travel measurment. When you take a measurement at the outside part of the tire when the truck is articulated it is not a true measurement of travel you're using geometry to fluff up your wheel travel numbers... ... Oo.

 

[ENafziger]

you're using geometry to fluff up your wheel travel numbers... ... Oo. <!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Hey Mike!

No fluffing going on here... at least intentionally! :-laf I for sure am not an expert on this stuff, but I just thought someone might be interested in the topic. I've seen similar articulation tests done on ramps using RTIs, and just thought this might be of some value.

Obviously, the moment of rotation occurs at the center of the rear axle, and "measured" cross-articulation is greater the farther out on the axle you go.

Not saying my truck is better or worse than anybody elses, just trying to help others decide what is worth buying or not...

Thanks for the help, Eric