I'm with you. What part of building for your terrain is there to disagree with?
2003 Rubicon
Discussion about LCOG / pre-runner type mods
- Thread starter Stockli
- Start date
I'm with you. What part of building for your terrain is there to disagree with?
2003 Rubicon
The discussion of why some things work better or worse than other things is very interesting to me.
I feel like there are certain overarching concepts that should carry through all builds, choosing an appropriate tire size, maximizing up travel and overall travel, balancing tire size with the ride height, good shocks, controlling movements. It's just a matter of degree and deciding how far you are willing to stay within the factory constraints.
The more I've learned over the years, the more I agree that LCoG unnecessarily throws things out of balance. There are well known builds that I thought were interesting early on, but now I have questions about some prominent design choices.
A mud build maybe a whole different arena. But that is a place I just have no interest in being a part of.
2003 Rubicon
I get what you're saying completely. There's certain things that probably should just be a no-no, no matter how you look at it. Case in point, I saw a built TJ the other day with what must have been a 4" suspension lift and a 3 body lift. The suspension lift I get, and even a 1" body lift or so. But a 3" body lift? Not only does it look stupid, but I have to wonder if with the body being that high up over the frame, doesn't it put stress on those bolts at any point?
It seems that the generally accepted answer is 1" of body lift is all you really want. Whether or not that is right, I don't know personally.
Better yet, what constitutes LCG and precisely what terrain does it work in barring trailering it to a flat track?
Preface--I don't really buy the whole build for where you wheel or a certain type of terrain in regard to building a Jeep. If you are smart about your build, you can do a lot of wheeling in many places, do it well....including street duty. Not saying there is one way to build a Jeep, but I feel there are many ways to not
(I've had plenty of buggies, and competition experience aka: dedicated terrain rigs)
I didn't really want to jump into this LCOG bs, but if anyone has dealt with this "topic" I'd like to think I certainly have experience. My LJ used to have all the Rockmen "lcog" stuff on it. I liked the way it looked somewhat and that's what most people liked about it. But that's where it ended for me. It was a fat heavy pig on the trail, going down fire roads at 10mph at best, and I had never broken so many axles before due to a heavy rig. All while I lived in TX and wheeled in TX, OK, AR, (CO, where I have a place and have wheeled all over)
I moved to Las Vegas, NV in 2009 where everyone goes fast to the trail heads, plays in the desert, and the crawling is plentiful. And lot's of great places to wheel close by in CA and UT. I learned REAL fast how bad my LJ sucked even more than it did back in TX. I was replacing blown out shocks EVERY trip, and I still couldn't keep up with rigs far less "built looking" than mine.
To keep it short, re-built suspension to favor the use of good shocks and usable suspension travel, great steering, and great brakes. Got rid of ALL the heavy armor. And then I understood what I could actually do with this Jeep by being smarter.....then I fell off the deep end to where it is now, but there is not another rig out there I would take over mine to do what I want and need it to do. It's got one last modification I need/want done and I'm sure it will surpass any expectations I could have ever had for it.
You don't need what I exactly have now, but I have wheeled with guys on 33"-35" tires with my feeling of a correct very simple build that can just about go anywhere I can and have done things that you can't believe unless you were there. I even towed the trailer in that picture 8hr round trip on 37"s, wheeled in Johnson Valley, and safely drove home with nothing more than some body damage.
When you spend the $$ where you can't see it or show it off, your on the right track!
(I've had plenty of buggies, and competition experience aka: dedicated terrain rigs)I didn't really want to jump into this LCOG bs, but if anyone has dealt with this "topic" I'd like to think I certainly have experience. My LJ used to have all the Rockmen "lcog" stuff on it. I liked the way it looked somewhat and that's what most people liked about it. But that's where it ended for me. It was a fat heavy pig on the trail, going down fire roads at 10mph at best, and I had never broken so many axles before due to a heavy rig. All while I lived in TX and wheeled in TX, OK, AR, (CO, where I have a place and have wheeled all over)
I moved to Las Vegas, NV in 2009 where everyone goes fast to the trail heads, plays in the desert, and the crawling is plentiful. And lot's of great places to wheel close by in CA and UT. I learned REAL fast how bad my LJ sucked even more than it did back in TX. I was replacing blown out shocks EVERY trip, and I still couldn't keep up with rigs far less "built looking" than mine.
To keep it short, re-built suspension to favor the use of good shocks and usable suspension travel, great steering, and great brakes. Got rid of ALL the heavy armor. And then I understood what I could actually do with this Jeep by being smarter.....then I fell off the deep end to where it is now, but there is not another rig out there I would take over mine to do what I want and need it to do. It's got one last modification I need/want done and I'm sure it will surpass any expectations I could have ever had for it.
You don't need what I exactly have now, but I have wheeled with guys on 33"-35" tires with my feeling of a correct very simple build that can just about go anywhere I can and have done things that you can't believe unless you were there. I even towed the trailer in that picture 8hr round trip on 37"s, wheeled in Johnson Valley, and safely drove home with nothing more than some body damage.
When you spend the $$ where you can't see it or show it off, your on the right track!
Ha... Not that I have anything special by any means, but my wife and I were just talking about how I spent three months of time and a bunch of money on mine this winter... And most people would not even realize it.