Pics are great! This is an awesome build! Got any videos?
Thanks man! I hope to make vids soon.
I have already taken it on an off camber trail, and it was bonkers (sadly no photos in action). May the Boom Shakalaka begin!
After long discussions with the pro's and research, I finally went with a 550 lb, single coil for the front coilovers. After my experience with the softer king dual rate setup (the blue kit), I considered a single rate to be a better fit.
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long travel F/R, major fabrication work, shrockworks armor, whitsonmetalworks, dual-rate coilovers F/R, warn, rigid, ARB, more buttons than brains.
I am planning a beach run sometime last this month--video time then!
In the meantime, here is a little flex shot.
Some take-aways from the RTI test:
- The 550 lb coils are a bit heavy to allow full suspension travel in the front (for the RTI test and slow speed stuff)
- The rear needs more fender and bumper cutting. The tires rub against the rear bumper pretty roughly with the new TC rear links, but the links did a great job.
- I cut a zerk on the rear drive shaft....again. More gas-tank pounding to continue.
550 lb springs were definitely too heavy for slow speed, crawl-like flexing--the right side had about 4" left of uptravel leftover. That is where the previous dual-rate suspension in the front tended to shine. However, my goal is to enter this rig into the sportsman classes in the Baja 500. If I go to full compression with the upcoming beach run, then it'll be safe to say I should wait on buying differing springs until I get a better handle on the remaining mods needed for the race.
My orange paint has faded to yellow. Time to recoat.
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long travel F/R, major fabrication work, shrockworks armor, whitsonmetalworks, dual-rate coilovers F/R, warn, rigid, ARB, more buttons than brains.
So here is the first photos from the mayhem on November 4th.
Yes, videos were made! I am going to upload them as soon as I get them.
For now, here are photos from the fun. Most of these were taken between 35-50 mph, a gentle test. Enjoy!
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long travel F/R, major fabrication work, shrockworks armor, whitsonmetalworks, dual-rate coilovers F/R, warn, rigid, ARB, more buttons than brains.
Hahaha. Great photos! Can't wait to see some videos. Do you remove the rear spare and all the extra weight on your swing out when you plan to do some aggressive driving? I can't imagine that hitting whoop dee dos at speed would do any favors for a fully loaded rear swing out bumper. That might be a lot to ask a rear hinge to handle.
Hahaha. Great photos! Can't wait to see some videos. Do you remove the rear spare and all the extra weight on your swing out when you plan to do some aggressive driving? I can't imagine that hitting whoop dee dos at speed would do any favors for a fully loaded rear swing out bumper. That might be a lot to ask a rear hinge to handle.
Yep! I am even planning to remove the sway-carrier and the roofrack entirely, and they'd be replaced with the upcoming roll cage.
Here's a video!
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long travel F/R, major fabrication work, shrockworks armor, whitsonmetalworks, dual-rate coilovers F/R, warn, rigid, ARB, more buttons than brains.
That's some impressive suspension eating up the terrain. How fast were you going in that video?
Thank you! The hard work is paying off. That one was about 45 mph.
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long travel F/R, major fabrication work, shrockworks armor, whitsonmetalworks, dual-rate coilovers F/R, warn, rigid, ARB, more buttons than brains.
Just a quick update, I have shed weight of the 4Runner. Roof Rack is off, Rear tire carrier is off, and a few haphazard accessories. Even though the rig is lighter and better cornering, regearing is likely in my future if I want to maintain the larger tires--probably 5.29's.
On that note, I have sourced an E-locker axle from an FJ cruiser (Spunk has been a blast to wheel open though). I hope to start a rear axle conversion to regear, add disc brakes, add a locker for grins, and widen the tract to near-match the width of the long travel track width in the front. I will remove the top perches and relocate the suspension mounts.
Cheers!
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long travel F/R, major fabrication work, shrockworks armor, whitsonmetalworks, dual-rate coilovers F/R, warn, rigid, ARB, more buttons than brains.
Looking forward to seeing an axle swap! Would a tundra rear axle be a better swap to get the same track width as the front? I think the tundra axle is 66” WMS. What’s your plans for suspension? 3-link it?
Looking forward to seeing an axle swap! Would a tundra rear axle be a better swap to get the same track width as the front? I think the tundra axle is 66” WMS. What’s your plans for suspension? 3-link it?
Perhaps! So long as I could get 5.29's for it, that would be fantastic. However, at least this way I can pull off an OEM locker for now.
Update!!
Uniballs are welded up. Dry fit is tonight!
KOWAHBUNGAH!
A simple analysis I used to validate the weld sizes I chose.
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long travel F/R, major fabrication work, shrockworks armor, whitsonmetalworks, dual-rate coilovers F/R, warn, rigid, ARB, more buttons than brains.
Just out of curiosity, what kind of load conditions did you use for that FEA?
Disclaimer: The following text below is for information only, and it is provided for educational purposes. Consider at your own risk.
It was very basic. I considered the typical axial static load limit of the uniball, using that force as a bending moment about the four mounting bolts of the balljoint to the spindle. For the 1" FK 17-4 rod ends, their axial load limit are around 19-20kip.
Only the four flange faces that touch the steering knuckle were considered fixed surfaces. Everything else in this analysis, including the through holes of the four flange bolts were spaghetti. The axial force was applied to face of the uniball, Dimensions B to O on FK drawings.
In this one instance, the Radial stress published for the uniballs (~55kip) are near-AOK, since that is practically a shear on the effective area of the welds (AWS D1.1 Table 2.3). I planned to use ER70S-2 filler material with GTAW, so I based the design's min yield point at 50KSI for the C.S. to 4130 weld without PWHT (known from past data with a few PQR's). At that point, it was kinda straight forward to determine minimum weld dimensions that still provide the warm and fuzzies. Top weld is a partial penetration groove (~60-80 degree inlcuded bevel, approx .19" deep [variance in angle due to my grinding skills]), whereas the bottom weld is a fillet (approx .19" size).
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long travel F/R, major fabrication work, shrockworks armor, whitsonmetalworks, dual-rate coilovers F/R, warn, rigid, ARB, more buttons than brains.
The tires rub against the rear bumper pretty roughly with the new TC rear links, but the links did a great job. 
Disclaimer: The following text below is for information only, and it is provided for educational purposes. Consider at your own risk. 
Linear Mode
