Just wondering. It seems a lot of people shoot for a 105" wheelbase. Is this the middleground between a lwb and swb? I'm in process of a Toy build and am gathering info to finalise the build and WB is one of the unaswered questions. The basic's on the toy are stock 85 axles, 4:88's, roughly 5", leaves both ends, high steer, 35's with plenty O trimming, bellied, SUA front, chevies or fords both ends. Its a east coast rig, lots of wet, sloppy, gooey trails well lubed rocks and water crossings. Tight trails that will narrow a fullsize up. (trust me, been there :laughing: ) What is the general consensous on this, 105 or what?
Is 105" the magic number?
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Well, I started out with 90" on my FJ40. Then I swapped out some springs and ended up at 95" which was an improvement. Then I changed out front springs and hangers and added coilovers to push my rear axle way back and now I am at 110". I feel so much more comfortable climbing hills with the longer wheelbase and if feels more stable. I was always nervous doing hill climbs with a 90" wheelbase.
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I like 105, my grand is 105, but only has 33's, need bigger tires so they can touch the gound when Im high centered. My Buggy is 113 with 38's and Im shortening it this winter to 107" ground clearance is good but too long for tight trails. 105 is a good wheelbase all around. dont go any shorter.
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my cj is at 104.5 with 39.5 tires seems to worek good if any thing i would mive my rear tires back a little more maybe like 3-4 inches
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Chevy K5 106.5
Full size Bronco 104
Guess they had it right the whole time. God knows I embarrased a bunch of folks with a nearly stock K5 with a LS in the back on quite a few climbs. LOL
It does seem to work good. Problem is width. My current project is a 86 4Runner with 102 WB. Plan to move the front axle forward 1 inch and might push the rear back 1 inch for better driveline angles when I push the case up.
Full size Bronco 104
Guess they had it right the whole time. God knows I embarrased a bunch of folks with a nearly stock K5 with a LS in the back on quite a few climbs. LOL
It does seem to work good. Problem is width. My current project is a 86 4Runner with 102 WB. Plan to move the front axle forward 1 inch and might push the rear back 1 inch for better driveline angles when I push the case up.
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I'm at 103.5 with 42s, mostly because that's as much as I could go with leaf springs without major modification. When I go four link I'm going to head towards 108, 105 still seems too short... especially when I swap in the 454/TH350/NP203/NP205
Well, I've pretty much decided that'll be the area I'm gonna shoot for. My old full size bronco was 105 but it was a squirrly fawker because of being too tall and too nose heavy. Scary fawker on downhills, pretty solid going up. The runner project will have a lower cg, be narrower and might end up on 37's depending on the money to buy 'em. The old Toy was 107 and felt great set of the pants down and up. Just didn't turn that great.
Damn dude, with rockwells that thing oughtta be damn near imposible to flop, when it does it should leave a nice dent.
Damn dude, with rockwells that thing oughtta be damn near imposible to flop, when it does it should leave a nice dent.
I think between 100 and 110 is the best range for multi purpose use. I've owned land cruisers and they were too short for climbs. The long bed and extended cab toyota pickups can't turn. The short wheelbase toyota pickup is something like 103 or 104 inches, and that suits most any situation.
I think weight bias/balance goes hand in hand with wheelbase length. In my old '75 FJ-40, I had around 91 inches. It weighed 100 lbs more on the rear axle than the front. It did well on anything except climbs. My standard-cab / short-bed Toyota pickups have always been around 1800lbs front end weight and 1400 lbs rear end weight. This foreward weight bias and longer wheelbase helped in the climbs. This is the opposite on drop-offs and ledges. If you hit them at an angle, the little pickups like to lift a rear tire. It can be kinda hairy sometimes.
Taking all my personal experiences and observations of other peoples rigs into account, I think a 60/40 weight split biased to the front end with around 105" wheelbase is the best setup for most terrain.
I think weight bias/balance goes hand in hand with wheelbase length. In my old '75 FJ-40, I had around 91 inches. It weighed 100 lbs more on the rear axle than the front. It did well on anything except climbs. My standard-cab / short-bed Toyota pickups have always been around 1800lbs front end weight and 1400 lbs rear end weight. This foreward weight bias and longer wheelbase helped in the climbs. This is the opposite on drop-offs and ledges. If you hit them at an angle, the little pickups like to lift a rear tire. It can be kinda hairy sometimes.
Taking all my personal experiences and observations of other peoples rigs into account, I think a 60/40 weight split biased to the front end with around 105" wheelbase is the best setup for most terrain.
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I sure hope so.
105 1/4" LOL should be finished this month
depends almost entirely on the obstacle IMO. Some stuff is cake with a short wheel base and a PITA with a long one... and vice versa. Just depends on what you're doing. Stock Bronco/Blazer wb does seem to be popular though, with longer rigs chopped down and shorter rigs stretched...
j
j
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My CJ is 100 inches in WB, I wish I had gone more and stretched it out to 105. Rather than redo my entire rear suspension, I am going to move the front axle forward 5 inches. This will kill two nirds with one stone and get me a better angle on the front CV joint on the t-case and get me to 105 inch wheelbase. Just need to decide if I want to link the front end like the rear or just stay with leaves.
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Lots of factors and opinions come into play here. Where you wheel would be one, and the other is size tires your running.
105 with 44"s is silly stupid roll over in your own shadow short. I like the 115-120 range for anything over 40's for lots of climbs and boulder action. Since you said you are only running 35's then I would think 105 would be on the short side of the spectrum for me. Would like to see 108 if it were my turf. But what do I know I only drink beer and ride along at this point. :flipoff2:
105 with 44"s is silly stupid roll over in your own shadow short. I like the 115-120 range for anything over 40's for lots of climbs and boulder action. Since you said you are only running 35's then I would think 105 would be on the short side of the spectrum for me. Would like to see 108 if it were my turf. But what do I know I only drink beer and ride along at this point. :flipoff2:
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