Off-Road Only AirRock & How it Works

jjvw said:
The U-Turn is still crossover steering that disrupts the track bar/drag link relationship unless the track bar also gets moved.
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I don't honestly know what it involves but I do remember when JeepsUnlimted was still around there were a few threads of people who had installed the U-Turn and then were not at all happy with the kit. But like I said since I had a wider than stock front axle and over knuckle mod done I never looked at the kit. I just know they have it and it is SUPPOSE make the steering work with the AirRock. But I have no knowledge either way.
 
Wildman said:
I don't honestly know what it involves but I do remember when JeepsUnlimted was still around there were a few threads of people who had installed the U-Turn and then were not at all happy with the kit. But like I said since I had a wider than stock front axle and over knuckle mod done I never looked at the kit. I just know they have it and it is SUPPOSE make the steering work with the AirRock. But I have no knowledge either way.
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ORO has you switch to crossover to preserve toe at varying ride heights at the expense of creating bump steer. It's the same problem we get from a dropped pitman arm without also dropping the frame side track bar.
 
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jjvw said:
ORO has you switch to crossover to preserve toe at varying ride heights at the expense of creating bump steer. It's the same problem we get from a dropped pitman arm without also dropping the frame side track bar.
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I can't honestly say I have much bump steer BUT it has been a few years since I drove the Jeep so I might not remember. Hopefully I will have it back on the road this year and then I can answer some of these questions.
 
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Hey @Wildman did you buy this kit new or used? I remember back in the Rubicon owners forum days a friend of mine went up to either buy or sell you some parts and that was right around the time he was getting rid of his air rock stuff.
I remember riding in his Jeep when it had the air rock and it rode pretty nice on road and worked good offroad. He only got rid of it after he tore a 2nd bag and had to drive home from manastash to Seattle with it leaning bad.
 
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Mumblewood said:
Hey @Wildman did you buy this kit new or used? I remember back in the Rubicon owners forum days a friend of mine went up to either buy or sell you some parts and that was right around the time he was getting rid of his air rock stuff.
I remember riding in his Jeep when it had the air rock and it rode pretty nice on road and worked good offroad. He only got rid of it after he tore a 2nd bag and had to drive home from manastash to Seattle with it leaning bad.
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I bought my kit new in 2005. I bought the Sway-Loc from the person you are talking about. Yes when I sliced that air bag in Moab I drove about 30 miles and it isn't a any fun. There is a way to run it on only 2 bags if something terrible happens.

@Chris, I can't say how it compares to RS5000X shocks but I would say it's almost as smooth as riding in a Cadillac. Now you can fill the bags up and have no suspension travel and it'll ride like a backboard. But with it at the preset ride height either for on or off-road it's fairly smooth.
 
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I just want to add that in no way am I saying this is the end all option for people but it is a good option if it fits what you are looking for. And as has been pointed out there are issues with both the driveline angle and the steering because you have a variable height suspension. I think you can do some things to mitigate the effects of the variable height if you are paying attention to the effects of it. ORO will help you when and where they can but as has been pointed out there can still be problems.
When I started on my quest for this build I talked with ORO for a long time about the different suspension systems that would work better with the air bags. I was looking at the Full Traction longarm kit but ORO told me they had handling issues with the rear Tri-Link and I was told it wasn't the optimum kit at the time.
It is a unique option and you don't run into many rigs running this on their rigs. Now the funny thing is that in my Jeep club one of the other members has the AirRock system on his Jeep also. He is running the Rubicon Express longarm on his.
 
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Someone had asked me how much travel I was getting out of the air bags and I honestly couldn't remember or tell you because of it being inop for so long. But reading thru ORO's website shares this info:

How much travel do the air springs provide?
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The 4″ springs provide about 9″ of travel. The 6″ springs provide about 10″ of travel. As with coil setups, travel is limited by the shocks.
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So that answers that question. Once I have it back up and running I'll give a more positive answer to just how much it will flex.
 
Wildman said:
Someone had asked me how much travel I was getting out of the air bags and I honestly couldn't remember or tell you because of it being inop for so long. But reading thru ORO's website shares this info:



So that answers that question. Once I have it back up and running I'll give a more positive answer to just how much it will flex.
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Loved the tech in this kit...very cool did not know many people still used AiRock these days...I love my Full Traction long arm but it would be nice to lower it to get in lol
 
steelhd said:
Jim Sprick Park at Trail Jam?
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Yes Trail Jamboree 2010. The last year the Jeep was running.
When this happened over in Rimrock:

IMG_3245_zpse7d3448a.jpg


IMG_3246_zps6c7331a7.jpg


And then the wiring for the electric fan caught on fire I determined it was time to park it until I could figure out why it was always running hot.

And I got these from StazWorks to replace my recentered H1 rims.

IMG_2048_zpsreh9o4yt.jpg
 
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Wildman said:
Yes Trail Jamboree 2010. The last year the Jeep was running.
When this happened over in Rimrock:

View attachment 149018

View attachment 149019

And then the wiring for the electric fan caught on fire I determined it was time to park it until I could figure out why it was always running hot.

And I got these from StazWorks to replace my recentered H1 rims.

View attachment 149020
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I have only mounted one set of Stazworks for a customer rig WAY back in the day when I worked for a tiny off-road shop. I think stazworks was pretty new at the time and I was not having a good time putting them together. But I do like the concept for sure, and at my age now, I’m not a fan of the work regular beadlocks take (I have two rigs that run them) let alone some heavy double beadlock staz!!!! They look good man! 👊
 
Rubi04 said:
I have only mounted one set of Stazworks for a customer rig WAY back in the day when I worked for a tiny off-road shop. I think stazworks was pretty new at the time and I was not having a good time putting them together. But I do like the concept for sure, and at my age now, I’m not a fan of the work regular beadlocks take (I have two rigs that run them) let alone some heavy double beadlock staz!!!! They look good man! 👊
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Having mounted a TON of Hummve rims with 37" tires in the Army I sort of fell in love with them. I've followed Staz since he first started out and like his products. Even had a few trucks in Iraq with his rims on them and saw just how DANG NAB strong they are when hit with a IED. With the recentered H1 rims my tire and wheel weighed in at 138lbs but I haven't weighed a Staz rim with my tires yet. But they aren't any lighter that is for sure.
 
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Wildman said:
Having mounted a TON of Hummve rims with 37" tires in the Army I sort of fell in love with them. I've followed Staz since he first started out and like his products. Even had a few trucks in Iraq with his rims on them and saw just how DANG NAB strong they are when hit with a IED. With the recentered H1 rims my tire and wheel weighed in at 138lbs but I haven't weighed a Staz rim with my tires yet. But they aren't any lighter that is for sure.
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First off, thank you for your service and sacrifice for us all.

I have done H1 wheels too and they are HEAVY!!! It wasn’t the weight I was annoyed with back then, it was the inner oring. But maybe a first gen thing but a real PITA to do with and 20 years later! The weight is an issue! Lol! Thanks again and great post! 👍👊
 
Rubi04 said:
First off, thank you for your service and sacrifice for us all.

I have done H1 wheels too and they are HEAVY!!! It wasn’t the weight I was annoyed with back then, it was the inner oring. But maybe a first gen thing but a real PITA to do with and 20 years later! The weight is an issue! Lol! Thanks again and great post! 👍👊
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IMHO the o-ring on H1 rims is easier to deal with than the o-ring on Staz rims. And getting all the bolts on and then tightened on the Staz rims is LOADS of fun. But I knew all this before I started so what can I say.... I'm a gluten for punishment. My biggest issue at this point is the lack of 16.5 tires that are being offered anymore. Interco and Pitbull are about it for off-road tires.
I still have two rims that need to be setup and the tires mounted. When I get ready to do that I'll try to take some pictures and post up with all the fun.
Becasue of the weight I stopped carrying a spare but need to change that. I'm still looking for something that won't kill my back though.
 
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Wildman said:
IMHO the o-ring on H1 rims is easier to deal with than the o-ring on Staz rims. And getting all the bolts on and then tightened on the Staz rims is LOADS of fun. But I knew all this before I started so what can I say.... I'm a gluten for punishment. My biggest issue at this point is the lack of 16.5 tires that are being offered anymore. Interco and Pitbull are about it for off-road tires.
I still have two rims that need to be setup and the tires mounted. When I get ready to do that I'll try to take some pictures and post up with all the fun.
Becasue of the weight I stopped carrying a spare but need to change that. I'm still looking for something that won't kill my back though.
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I hear ya there!! Yeah the old 16.5 is almost dead, never ran pit bulls but they look badass. Heavy too.

I never lost an inner bead so never felt a need to lock them both. My back hurts these days thinking about them, I want to say I was putting on some 39.5’s back then and I was a strong young man and it sucked!!
 
Rubi04 said:
I hear ya there!! Yeah the old 16.5 is almost dead, never ran pit bulls but they look badass. Heavy too.

I never lost an inner bead so never felt a need to lock them both. My back hurts these days thinking about them, I want to say I was putting on some 39.5’s back then and I was a strong young man and it sucked!!
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Here’s a double beadlock for you ;)

 
Rubi04 said:
I hear ya there!! Yeah the old 16.5 is almost dead, never ran pit bulls but they look badass. Heavy too.

I never lost an inner bead so never felt a need to lock them both. My back hurts these days thinking about them, I want to say I was putting on some 39.5’s back then and I was a strong young man and it sucked!!
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I started out on Allied beadlocks when I first built this Jeep but I kept burping my inner bead on some of the trails in the Rimrock area. A few other club members were also burping on some of the trails so it wasn't just me. At the time one member had a shop so they did a group buy of Staun inner beadlocks. I'd come across a great deal on the H1 rims and because I was familiar with them I went that route instead.

I'll run these tires until they are worn and then I'll switch to a 17" wheel. Not sure if I'm going to go inner beadlocks then or what I'll do.
 
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