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395's and hubs on my Deuce ! What I think about the upgrade.

tm america

tm america

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swampzr2 said:
Thanks, never been there. Do you guys ever take the deuces to the Badlands? I know the trails are a bit tight, but the terrain is pretty good.
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the badlands doesnt allow anthing bigger the a blazer.. it is made for jeeps and they frown on people knocking down trees and making thier own trails.haspin has pretty much any kind of terrain you could ever want.850 acres of trails ,two moto cross tracks,side by side dirt drag track.rock crawling hills and mud holes to eat 54s like the are mini spares.. but the cool thing is you can get around almost anywhere there with a stock 4x4 truck or you can take the trail right next to it and get anything stuck
 
jesusgatos

jesusgatos

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on the road - in CA right now
Ideally, I'd like to get measurements for the front and rear so that I can design shockmounts for all three axles (with integrated axle chain-up hooks), but anything you can help me with would be much appreciated. Will just explain what measurements would be helpful and you can take it from there. And if it's too much of a hassle, that's OK too. This isn't anything I'm in a big hurry to get done.

What I'm most interested in is figuring out where full extension is. That's to say, how far the axles will drop away from the frame. Important to note that there are two different ways to measure this, and either/both would be helpful:

1) vertical: Pick up the truck from the front/back so that the truck stays level from side-to-side. Lift it just high enough to get the axle up off the ground. Doesn't matter how high as long as it's completely off the ground. With the axle hanging freely, I'd like to know how far it is from the bottom of the framerail to the centerline of the axle. Should be the same/similar on both sides, but please check to make sure.

2) articulation: pick the truck up from the side, lifting one wheel/tire with the forklift. Lift it just high enough to get the opposite tire up off the ground. Interested in the same measurement (from bottom of the framerail to centerline of the axle), and need both sides.


Couple things:

First, thank you. Second, please be careful. Don't crush yourself or flip your truck over, OK?

If it were me, I'd probably just measure the front and back axles, as the two rear axles should be the same.

When you take these measurements, please try to make sure that the tape measure is perpendicular (90-degrees) to the framerail when you'r looking at the vehicle from the side, and also perpendicular to the vertical side of the framerail when you're looking at the vehicle from the front/back.

Think that's about it. Should only take a few minutes. Just a matter of having access to a big enough forklift. With I had thought about it while I was out at Brad's place.

EDIT: Just remembered that in order to get any useful measurements for the front suspension, the shock on the side that would be extended needs to be removed (just removing the hardware from the top or bottom mount and lettting if hang there would be fine).
 

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gimpyrobb

gimpyrobb

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tm america said:
Chris are you missing some bump stops in the back.. i have never had my rears hit...Maybe it's cuz my bed flexs up off the frame when i get things twisty?
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I don't know if my rears ever hit. I know I was worried about it when I first put the 395s on, so I made sure they would only hit flat steel and not snag on bracing/jagged edges.
 
rnrracing

rnrracing

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rrrr said:
Talked with a local 4x4 big tire guru yesterday and he confirmed that about 1/4 inch toe in was what was needed.

So this morning I went out and began the process. First I referenced the TM (9-2320-209-20-3-2 chapter 15) on adjusting toe. Then I went out and loosened the two bolts and clamps holding the rod. I jacked up the front end. I then put a staple in each tire in front and measured the height to the ground and made sure each staple was the same height. Then I attached a tape measure to one staple and pulled it across to the other staple to get a measurement. I then rotated the rod about 1/4 turn and went to check my measurement again. The dimension got larger so I needed to turn the rod the opposite direction. I then turned it about 1/2 turn the other direction and measured again, the dimension got smaller, great. Did about another 1/4 turn and measured and now the dimension was 1/4 inch closer together between the two staples ! Great !
I tightened up the two bolts and lowered the truck down.

My test drive was great, 90% of the "loose feeling" is gone ! I won't toe in anymore since the expert I talked with suggested that if that works to leave it alone. Who would of thought that such a small adjustment could have such a large impact on stability.
I'm very glad I did this. It took me about 1.5 hours since my rod bolts and clamps where rusted and tight. I had to knock the clamps off the bar a little to get the rod to move. It took a giant pair of channel locks to get the bar to rotate. Why didn't they put a square fiting on the rod somewhere ? Oh well, its done ! :-D
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Thanks for the great detailed information and step by step process. This really helps.
 
rnrracing

rnrracing

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rrrr Yes, I have learned so much here on this site that I could not have learned without it. It is people like you that give the details of what you did, how you did it, and what the result was that make it fun for me to learn more about it.
 
Beerslayer

Beerslayer

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Bouncing and Tire Pressure

I have been running the 46" radials for two years. Initially the tire guys inflated them to 90 lbs. Even with a two ton load in the back, the chicken bumps were still untouched on the outside of the tires, and the ride was terrible.

I incrementally dropped tire pressure until I settled on 35 lbs. Seems low but that gives me the best ride and most even tire wear. Considering that any one of those tires could carry the whole truck it is no surprise.

I occasionally seem to get a harmonic bounce effect at around 50 MPH on certain sections of freeway but it goes away if I speed up to just over 60 MPH.
 
Beerslayer

Beerslayer

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Old Lincoln County Iron said:
Is your truck standard manual steering or is it equipped with the air assisted steering
upgrade?
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It is manual steering. Steers somewhat easier than with the stock NDT tires, even with the reduced pressure.

Don't think about this like you would a thinner tire running 35 lbs pressure. Think tire that still does not have the full tread width in contact with the road surface even at a lowered pressure.
 
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