Stretching the wb

[dittohead]

Anyone stretch the WB on their Capra yet? I usually run my trucks at 12-3/4”-13” WB. Is there room to move each end out a bit without interfering with the chassis? I plan on lowering it a fair bit as well, obviously. Also is there room to move the skid plate forward in the chassis at all? I don’t own a Capra yet or I wouldn’t be asking these questions lol


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[Lashlee]

I don't have mine in front of me, but I don't think moving the skid plate is going to be an option. Longer links and new shock mounts will be in order (unless you want a lot of rake on the shocks). You might have to look into longer driveshafts as well.

[MAC FAB]

No moving of the skid, all link work to alter the wb. Download the owners manual and see how it goes together. That will answer many/most/all of your questions IMHO. Not sure why you want to go longer, but according to the specs I've seen, it has a 12-1/2" wb, and is 8-3/4" wide at the o.d. of the tire width (info I need to be able to mock mine up as a static model). By stretching the front, you will have the steering servo hit the chassis, in stock form. However, looking at my cage, you could simply cut the lower tube up front and solve that issue, at the expense of losing the front grille/headlight arrangement. Looks to be designed to absorb frontal impact... ??????

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by MAC FAB

By stretching the front, you will have the steering servo hit the chassis

Not necessarily true. Someone else did a mod to their Capra, in which they shortened the nose of the chassis/cage. This, in turn, brought the servo & grill closer together, yet there is no problem work the servo hitting anything. It all depends on how close the servo & grill are. Not that I have the knowledge in how to stretch a tube frame...but, I can easily assume that, if done properly, there shouldn't be any problems.

~ More peace, love, laughter & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

[MAC FAB]

The nose piece you would have to fab and lengthen isn't really that big of a deal (I do tube work, so it doesn't scare me). Then you could fab a small stinger with a winch mount. I'll add that to my fab list for mine.

[Sneetches]

Maybe I can measure later here but I'm fairly certain there's a bit of room in the front and the rear could be stretched with just long Jato rod ends pretty easily.

[corefire]

i moved the skid 1.5cm into the front
i shortened the front links for 1cm
i have to lengthen the rear links for 1cm

yes. tummy tucking

[dittohead]

Thanks for the help everyone. Looking forward to getting a Capra, this is the first truck in years I’ve wanted to buy


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[TheLetterJ]

Looks like the front could move about 18mm forward and still clear the servo/horn at full stuff. There's really nothing limiting how far back the rear could be stretched. Shock mounts have 8mm of adjustment front to rear. Boatsides don't really have enough meat on the to move the skid forward, and the trans only has about 3mm that it could be moved forward before interfering with the front electronics tray.

[Panther6834]

Being new to crawlers (hopefully, I'll get stop saying that sooner, rather than later), I don't know if this is even a possibility (and, if not, so be it)...but, looking over my Capra, an idea popped into my mind. Before explaining my idea, you have to understand I'm a professional chauffeur, so dealing with stretched vehicles is something I'm sightly familiar with.

Anyway, with stretch limos, they cut the vehicles in the middle, and "extend" by adding additional chassis & body in-between. Granted, with the Capra, the motor & transmission are located in the vehicle's middle, but a slight chassis & tube frame "stretch" should be possible...although, the amount would be fairly minutes. Now, don't take my "estimated measurements" literally...actual measurements would need to be taken...but, I was looking over my Capra, and, based on the amount of up/down movement of the front & rear driveshafts, I'm guessing the transmission could be moved up to approx 1.5cm back without the driveshaft hitting the front of the skid, and the same for the rear, if the transmission was moved forward...both without cutting the skid in the areas around the driveshafts. If someone was willing to cut/Dremel away material from the skid, if bet the distance could be up to twice that amount. If it were possible to move both by that amount (3cm at each end), that would mean the vehicle could be stretched, from the middle, by up to 6cm (just under 2.5").

Now, here's the part that I don't know whether, or not, it's even a possibility. Regarding the tube frame, I can see the possible ways of stretching it. For those familiar with working with tube frames (I'm not), you could cut the entire frame in half, and then add tubing pieces (of the stretched length) to each cut member. For those who have no knowledge/experience working with running, if a second frame was purchased, the "midpoint" of both could be determined, with one being cut in half 1.5" behind the midpoint, and the other 1.5" in front of the midpoint. Then, the two half-frames would be merged together, creating the desired 3" stretch. If a shorter stretch were being done, just adjust the cut points.

Switching to the skid, again, I see (again a work absolutely no knowledge in modding crawlers) two possible options. The first would be a second skid, going through the same process described above, and then drilling new mounting holes for the transmission. The second option would be to 3D scan the skid, stretch the model by the desired length, adjust the files to include a U-shaped 'cutout' where the front/rear driveshafts extend, and 3D print a new, longer skid, again drilling the transmission mounting holes where needed.

Finally, in regards to the driveshafts, themselves, it's just a matter of determining the lengths needed, buying them, and installing them.

Again, the Capra is my first crawler, so I (obviously) have no experience in modding crawlers...but, I do have experience in modding other vehicle types (including Slash & Rustler 4x4s). As a matter of fact, I'm just finishing up a project on a Rustler 4x4 that, among other things, includes utilizing front XO-1 shock towers on the front AND rear of the Rusty.

~ More peace, love, laughter & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place