Stretch TJ and Comp Cut (pics)

[skerb]

Found out about these on a jeep board and got addicted...did a few mods and we had a comp between a few of my friends. 2 Scorpions and 2 Jeeps

First one i got i dovetailed:

This is My new one...decided to go at it a little different this time and i Stretched the wheelbase 3 inches and lowered it 1 inch. Also siped the tires and comp cut the rear.

Here are some pics from our comp.

And here are some poser pics...both poses were driven into:

what do ya think?:mrgreen:

 

[Lt. Dan]

That red paint looks great! What kind of paint did you use?

 

[skerb]

the cheapest red paint wallmart has...i think it was $.94 then i cured it in the oven to toughen it up. The cage is some Rustoleum hammered i had left over from building a rear bumper for my real jeep.

 

[tjl1388]

Wassup B.O.B.:twisted:

I see you are addicted to these things as well:mrgreen:

 

[skerb]

Actually this is Brooks, David (B.O.B)s friend. Hes my roomate.

 

[freekycrawler]

nice trucks you should make a vid

 

[skerb]

nice trucks you should make a vid

that is our next project....the vid:mrgreen:


here are some recent pics of mine:

 

[dee201]

cured in the oven?

 

[skerb]

heated it on warm and it toughened it up when it cooled again.

 

[skerb]

newest mods

 

[skerb]

Then I rotated the Rear Axle 90*

Then I decided I needed a double triangulated 4 link...but im too cheap to by links....so I built mine out of the stock shock ends and pen tubes...:

3 linking the front next...

 

[Rooney7783]

So how's it perform? Do the pens hold up ok? I'd be worried about them bending.

 

[rerock]

Like those shock-less front coils?

 

[skerb]

the pens seem to be holding up...im eventually going to break down and buy some RC hiems...im new to this RC thing...im used to workin on the real thing... I built this basically to see how i wanted my geometry but with the shock ends sleeved by the pen tube it seems to be very strong. no breakages as of yet and we have a rock pile in our living room that it has survived. There is no bind in the suspensinon as of now but i need to find a way to put shocks on the rear...

The front was a good idea at the time...but it flexes too much, which is why i trimmed the fenders off and some of the hood and alot of the grill but the tires still get crammed up in there... Also it doestn return to level because there are no 2 shocks on it anywhere...either the front or the rear needs two shocks... The 4 link solved my problem of axle wrapping which i had with my most recent setup with the axle rotated 90*.

 

[yukon635]

looks good, looks like you did a tummy tuck. where did you place your battery?

 

[Rooney7783]

I agree with the coils, I tried it and hated it. Sure it flexed, but it flexed too much. Plus cutting the springs didn't help me any either. I wouldn't recommend cutting your springs to anyone.

You have got me thinking about going to a link setup on mine. It just looks cooler, and we all know looks can add major HP. Good work.

 

[geauxturbo]

Cutting mine helped alot. I get full compression and droop now. Does real well in my mini-rock garden. Guess I lost a tiny bit of belly clearance but this thing hangs up on the axles well before it does on the belly.

I cut untill it fully compressed under its own weight. Then stopped. I ended up with about 3 off the front and about 4 off the rear. Extended the shock droop, flipped the rear axle, cut the tires, and reversed the tires. Definitely climbs better but still looks nearly bone stock.

Shaved the control arms at the front axle end a little so it wouldn't hit so early during compression. Flexes a little better than in this pic (pre rear axle reversal...just after I fine tuned the stock suspension. The rear comes up and just kisses the bottom of the body in the rear).

Here is after flipping the rear axle. Fixed the rear axle steer by drilling through the plastic coat hanger and sliding a metal rod with a threaded end near the screw head into long rear link (off another old broke RC car I had laying around...got lucky).

 

[Rooney7783]

Well I hope you don't think that cutting the springs extended your shock droop, because it didn't. The maximum distance between you body and your axles will be the same, you will simple be starting at rest with the axles closer to the body than stock, appearing that you extended your shock droop. Now to prove my point that cutting your springs is unnecessary:

And unless I'm mistaken, it appears that I am flexing a bit more than yours plus I still have more ground clearance. And my shocks are completely uncut and stock.
This is all just my opinion based on my personal experience, so take it for what it's worth, which ain't much.

 

[geauxturbo]

Well I hope you don't think that cutting the springs extended your shock droop, because it didn't. The maximum distance between you body and your axles will be the same, you will simple be starting at rest with the axles closer to the body than stock, appearing that you extended your shock droop. Now to prove my point that cutting your springs is unnecessary:

And unless I'm mistaken, it appears that I am flexing a bit more than yours plus I still have more ground clearance. And my shocks are completely uncut and stock.
This is all just my opinion based on my personal experience, so take it for what it's worth, which ain't much.

Yeah, I have a 1:1 so I'm well aware that cutting springs won't increase droop. You can only do that with longer shocks Which is why I lengthened mine without decreasing compression. Impossible you say!!! NAY.... take the shock apart and you'll see there is mucho room for improvement. Modified the shock mount as well to add more clearance during the compression stroke and further increase droop.

Yes, yours does outflex mine....but my goal was to keep it as stock looking as possible and increase the capability. So far, so good. I'll find out Saturday how it does against various setups since our club (LA4x4) is having a little crawl-off with these things at Searchers Offroad in French Settlement, LA. I'll take lots of pics and of course report back on how my setup compares. I'm not afraid to say when my junk doesn't work. It is a little lower than before, but I was planning a belly up before my dremmel took a crap.

 

[Rooney7783]

Gotcha on the shocks thing. I'm interested in how you modded your shox. As for the tummy tuck, it's a world of improvement. You'll notice when ya get it done. Good luck over the weekend, report back and let us know.