Steel/Any Wheels/Offroading Tires/AirSuspension LIfts

[dantheman1]

Hey Brett, yah, I think I might go down for a day. I plan on getting new all terrains soon and taking that god forsaken hitch off, even if I have to drill it myself. Just worried about breaking something with the truck now having high miles and out of warranty. One thing's for sure, I definitely won't be doing the "last trail of the day" again haha.

 

[cbboard]

yeah, those last trails of the days can be a witch. we plan on being there on the saturday, so hopefully we'll see ya.

 

[Panzerknacker]

The Rod Mod is pretty easy to install/uninstall as needed. I have damaged a few of the grommets though. I wish it was easier to run oversize tires, I had a pinch flat on a really rocky trail last summer. Partially my fault because I aired down a little too much, but the guys runing oversize tires seem to be able to bounce through that stuff easier.

BTW I am Stationed in Co. Springs with the Army, we are in Afghanistan right now but perhaps we will run into each other on the trails this summer.

 

[wcryer]

I like your suggestion on the Goodyear DuraTrac. Do you know how they wear?

 

[blackforestham]

I like your suggestion on the Goodyear DuraTrac. Do you know how they wear?

Subjective answers ahead. One driver can make a set last 40k, another may only go 15k. It just depends on your street driving technique. Hard cornering, hard braking and hard accelerating will have a drastic effect on any tire. The DuraTrac is close to being an MT so expect rounding of the shoulder blocks fairly quick if you spend a lot of time on asphalt. This is natural. Tire pressure will also be a huge factor in tire wear. I'm probably the worst person to give a realistic type of feedback answer. My rig is not my DD and I average 50/50 on trail use vs street use. Most people are closer to the 90% on road, 10% off road category. Sorry for the useless post...

 

[gdrider77]

Hey man. I am in Denver and running an LR3.

Currently this is what i have. Would be more than happy to meetup and show you my ride, as well as just talk shop.

swapped 19-18s, Running Nitto Terra Grapplers.
Added dual battery, running red top and yellow top optima. Create a custom battery hold-down for the second battery. SEcondary battery can run my fridge for abour 24hours straight without starting the vehicle.
On-board air compressor with custom mount in front of secondary battery. Plumbed power and air to rear driver side.
Johnson Rods for off-road use only. Recently blew out drivers front airspring, and i have a feeling that the extreme articulation caused by the rods may have caused this, so might go to a sasquatch adjustable, or look at creating my own.
Dynamat and replaced rear sub with aftermarket, for a bit more bass.
Created a rear drawer system with power, drawers and tie-downs. Looking to redo this later this year.
Fabbed up some mounts for factory crossbars and a rack on the roof, really want to replace, but not high on my list of priorities.

 

[Trynian]

Hey man. I am in Denver and running an LR3.

Currently this is what i have. Would be more than happy to meetup and show you my ride, as well as just talk shop.

swapped 19-18s, Running Nitto Terra Grapplers.
Added dual battery, running red top and yellow top optima. Create a custom battery hold-down for the second battery. SEcondary battery can run my fridge for abour 24hours straight without starting the vehicle.
On-board air compressor with custom mount in front of secondary battery. Plumbed power and air to rear driver side.
Johnson Rods for off-road use only. Recently blew out drivers front airspring, and i have a feeling that the extreme articulation caused by the rods may have caused this, so might go to a sasquatch adjustable, or look at creating my own.
Dynamat and replaced rear sub with aftermarket, for a bit more bass.
Created a rear drawer system with power, drawers and tie-downs. Looking to redo this later this year.
Fabbed up some mounts for factory crossbars and a rack on the roof, really want to replace, but not high on my list of priorities.

Cool, sounds like you have a good set up going. Welcome to the board.

 

[wcryer]

Hey man. I am in Denver and running an LR3.

Currently this is what i have. Would be more than happy to meetup and show you my ride, as well as just talk shop.

swapped 19-18s, Running Nitto Terra Grapplers.
Added dual battery, running red top and yellow top optima. Create a custom battery hold-down for the second battery. SEcondary battery can run my fridge for abour 24hours straight without starting the vehicle.
On-board air compressor with custom mount in front of secondary battery. Plumbed power and air to rear driver side.
Johnson Rods for off-road use only. Recently blew out drivers front airspring, and i have a feeling that the extreme articulation caused by the rods may have caused this, so might go to a sasquatch adjustable, or look at creating my own.
Dynamat and replaced rear sub with aftermarket, for a bit more bass.
Created a rear drawer system with power, drawers and tie-downs. Looking to redo this later this year.
Fabbed up some mounts for factory crossbars and a rack on the roof, really want to replace, but not high on my list of priorities.

haha sounds like youve got a lot of the things on my list already checked off. Id love to see it all. Are you headed to the rally? anyone else headed to the rally?

 

[Houm_WA]

@gdrider, how much lift from your rods? How short are they? -2? -2.5?

...how does using the rods increase articulation? Seems like the max travel of the spring is the max travel of the spring. The rods only change the starting position.

 

[gdrider77]

I probably wont make it to the rally. I really wanted to go, but just got back from a 17 day trip to Thailand, and finances, wife and vacation time won't allow to much more this summer.

I am not sure about the total lift to the truck. According to the specs from manufacturer, its a 2 1/2" lift. I have never measured. I do plan to do some in-depth measuring soon, as i am working on my own custom set of rods. As a side note, i will be selling my Johnson Rods if anyone is interested.

I did measure my Johnson Rods.
Approximate (+/- .5mm) . Center to Center.
Front = 74mm
Rear = 100.50
So basically they are 10mm shorter front and 14.5mm shorter rear.

There has been some speculation about the rods causing some weird articulation problems on certain vehicles with possible worn bushings, really hard to say, i am not 100% positive on this, as i am still trying to understand how my puncture happened. its extremely rare, and seems to happen if in extended mode and you get a full suspension drop while cranked hard to one direction. Basically my upper control arm seems to have come into contact with the airspring and worn through the metal cover.

here is a pic for those curious.