I've heard people talk about having too much flex, but in my opinion the front and rear suspensions should be able to flex as much as possible to keep the tires intact with the ground providing the most traction possible.

Chris

 

There is a trade off and you certainly can have too much flex. Bearcat's suspension on his 4Runner was so soft that he literally couldn't return to level untill he got pushed in the opposite direction. While a crossed up situation was no problem, sidehills were plain scary. The body would literally almost fall off the frame making a roll over even more likely.

 

Are those shackles in the tie-downs?
I thought that was a no-no?

 

*deleted*

 

I certainly look like they are. I wouldn't recommend using the tie downs, except in emergencies. It's much better to weld a set of tow hook or shackles to the frame. Those tie downs are strong enough for a good yank.

 

nah i think he's using Schaefer's shackle hangers.

http://fastq.com/~sschaefer/store.html#Shackle

 

To me, flex and having a soft suspension is two different things. I agree that an overly soft suspension is not beneficial at all. I think a balanced front/rear suspension is the key as far as spring rates, etc. But, I'm pretty sure that the more flex the better under most situations that I've been in. Would you agree?

Chris

 

You have a point that they are separate issue, but the also go hand in hand. You can't have a stiff, flexy suspension, but you can have a soft, non-flexy suspension.

The get a lot of flex, it requirest that it be soft. If the springs are stiff, they simply won't move. Too soft of a suspension and you can't control the rig, too much flex and the body will roll off the frame - hence the need for limiting straps.

 

I guess it's finding that fine line where the rig isn't unstable yet if presented with and uneven off camber both the front and rear suspensions should max articulate whether it's both at the same time or one or the other depending on the situation.

Chris

 

My digital flexing!

 

yay I finally get to add to this thread!



http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rtam/Trai...4/DSCF0005.JPG

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rtam/Trai...4/DSCF0015.JPG

 

Too bad a Hummer won't even flex that much

 

something looks strange about the rear axle on that gigantor truck...it looks just like a front axle on a solid axle truck, doesn't have the heavy trussing that my rears have. in other words, it's "rounder" than anything i've seen besides a 75-76 toyota 2wd rear(a couple years in the 70s they all had an 8" rear)

 

All I want to know is what theory annd details he used to create it. I've emailed the guy, he responded and is supposably going to give m the details, because I've never seen that much flex, plus the design is totally different than anything I've seen too!

Chris

 

it says it's a 5 link suspension. i thought the idea for having arms that both link to the frame instead of each other and then to the frame(like a typical radius arm setup) was kind of interesting

 

LC's have a bigger, stronger diff

 

ah! i thought that was a 4runner or surf...that must be the 8.75" or whatever the 80s had in the rear

i thought landcruisers had a removable diff cover as well as a third member on some models though? i've heard that some of the older ones used a copy of the gm 12 bolt instead of a toyota axle

 

So my question is how does it handle on the road for a daily driver, and if it coudl be done on a 3rd gen 4runner, because I haven't seen anything that flexes like that!

Chris

 

I hope to have some new flex shot shortly. I'll be competing in the Webfooters Rock Crawl competition on May 2nd. I'm likely to be the only Toyota in the unlimited class, but we'll see.

The course starts out with a water hole - I'll likely be doing a quicky snorkel setup before the event so that I don't have to worry about the intake. Then there a couple of sharp hills with steep drops on the down side, followed by a 180 degree in a banked corner. Next is a series of telephone poles across the path. Another sharp turn with a 2.5' high log across the path in the middle of the turn. A series of frame twisting mogules, and ditches which will be up to 3' deep. A log bridge crossing - and then it get's tough! There's are rock pile about 50' long. At the end of that, there's 2 cars to drive over and another very large rock pile for the unlimited class only. The last guy I saw try this was in a 3/4 ton Chevy with 40s. He buried a tire between two rocks and blew apart a Dana 60 U-joint trying to get through. Noone's made it through this pile yet. I've worked with the Webfooters in building this course - it's one of the courses that we use for our event as well. It's been made a fair bit tougher this year.

 

Heres a link to a couple of pics of me flexed out, and stuck in Flagstaff, Arizona. i have the stock alloys and 31's on because i went to school down there, and didn't want anything stolen. if any of you guys are interested the canopy it will be for sale, e-mail or PM me if interested
http://community.webshots.com/album/136458352HNJWnX