Agree.
I don’t see any travel info either, or spring rates. it is not likely that these will be optimized for crawling or have any real improvement wrt travel. They are most likely designed for fitting 37/38s with a higher speed / lower displacement use case. Actively, and instantaneously, controlling damping forces at each corner in response to vehicle dynamics is ideal for this use case.
there is however a fundamental dichotomy between a high speed / low displacement use case and low speed / high displacement. A specific challenge is the fixed spring rate for a mechanical coil spring. Spring rate dictates the fundamental dynamic response whereas damping fine tunes that response.
a stiffer spring rate is desirable for the high speed use case and can be optimized around a smaller shock travel. Since displacement control and maximizing wheel normal forces are the intent. For high speed off-roading, larger displacements are still desirable over road racing. Nonetheless, some level of displacement control is necessary and needs to be dictated for the desired design constraints.
For our platform, in the front, this is 5-6” at the shock, depending on end of jounce bump stops. 10” at the wheel (MR=1.6). That is 8” of usable travel all day long. Stiffer springs and active damping control can do a lot to maximize that 8” of wheel travel. But regardless, displacement control while maximizing wheel forces is the name of the game and highly desirable near the end of travel. Bottoming out is no bueno.
displacement control Is at odds with a low speed / high displacement use case. 8” inches of wheel travel is not sufficient. The goal here is to increase wheel travel as much as possible. Neglecting geometric constraints for just a minute, increasing shock travel from 5-6” to 8” will then net wheel travel near 13”. Big improvement over 8” for high speed case.
the primary challenge now is how to take advantage of the increased available travel. The stiffer springs used for the high speed use case will mechanically limit wheel travel. Since springs fundamentally dictate displacement response. The solution is to lower spring rate and tune the spring for a softer response that produces increased displacements. Now damping, passive or active, can be used to fine tune the dynamic motion of the suspension around a different, increased, displacement response that is more ideal for slow crawling over big obstacles.
spring rate is king in optimizing suspension response wrt low speed / high displacement displacement or high speed / low displacement. Can you make a best of both worlds, one size fits all, spring rate with active live damping? Sure. But this solution can also be viewed as worst possible optimization of either world.
I suspect these coilovers are designed with slightly stiffer springs for the high speed use case. Gaining lift and keeping the larger tires out of the fenders (displacement control). Of course a fantastic product for this use case.
some insight on the design intent can be determined based on the spring rates and shock travel, since they are inherently fixed design parameters.
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to make this right and make a 2 door raptor like some people been saying you would have to get the raptor steering wheel working in non raptor not sure if anyone can do that.
