David Harris
Expedition Leader
With open diffs and all else being equal, which would you choose: the ability to fit larger tires or more suspension travel/articulation? Give reasons please.
David
David
Thinking of a lift for my D2 at the moment (once I get the 4.6 in and running, of course). I like the look of 33's on these trucks, and based on the Jeeps I've driven with 33-35's that size works well off road too. However, it seems like most lifts actually limit suspension travel, and even require lowered bump stops with larger size tires, so it got me thinking about which actually has the advantage, smaller tires with a more compliant and longer traveling suspension, or the advantage if greater ground clearance with taller/stiffer springs and larger tires. Seems like a trade off, but in real life is there an edge either way? I'm thinking most of general mixed trail riding, Camel Trophy style, not hard core rock crawling. The Camel Trophy trucks seemed to do pretty well all around with 31 inch tires on stock springs.
Yes, all other things being equal, the vehicle with lockers will go farther. I'm not sure if that proves the superiority of lockers, though. I've seen automatic lockers cause serious problems (think slick sidehills and technical sections), so they aren't the end-all, be-all of off-pavement equipment. The best thing I liked about my ARBs was the ability to turn them off.I watched a dozen Trophy vidoes tonight, and the most common reason a vehicle got stock, is do lack of diff locks.
Vehicles with same height, same suspension and tires, had to be winched out do to lack of diff locks.
Vehicles with diff locks drove over same terain and passage, with little effort.
LSD is good, but i killed them too many times in the past, so from now on its diff locks all around for me.