Icon Stage 4 on 37s | Severe Duty Rack | Daily / Trail Setup

[AaronD1776]

Where do I Push It Next?

• Regear or keep running it as-is?(mainly a daily driver)

Regear will be expensive. If you are happy with the acceleration right now I would not regrear. Since it was SASQ. you are aready at a 4.7 to 1..... Pretty low gearing.

• Adjustable track bar worth it at this point?

You only need an adjustable track bar if your rear axle is pulled too far over to the drivers side. My guess is that it might be only about 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch... should be fine. One way to address that (and help with handling - rear steer over bumps) is to mount a track bar relocation bracket. I do not see any picks of your track bar. How flat is it? The flatter (horizontal) it is the less rear steer you will get. Rock Jock makes a nice one that adjusts the passenger side of the track bar upwards about 2.5 inches... I think it is about $100.... I found it one of the best investment I have made

• Anything I’m overlooking

Pretty impressive so far.... You have gone way beyond most people.

I am leaning towards the relocation bracket, I imagine I’ll get a tad more travel out of it.

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[87-Z28]

With a solid axle 5 link Panhard setup, the lateral motion of the axle (and hence wheels) is constrained by the Panhard arc motion. No travel is gained by panhard/axle relocation bracket, just a more neutral arc motion of Panhard that will provide less axle lateral motion near full rebound.

 

[Valhalla]

With a solid axle 5 link Panhard setup, the lateral motion of the axle (and hence wheels) is constrained by the Panhard arc motion. No travel is gained by panhard/axle relocation bracket, just a more neutral arc motion of Panhard that will provide less axle lateral motion near full rebound.

And that's why once time and money are not a factor I will build a triangulated 4 link on mine. just got to remove the pesky gas tank first.

 

[5GENIDN]

I am leaning towards the relocation bracket, I imagine I’ll get a tad more travel out of it.

Andy stated it very well above.

You will not get any more articulation from installing the bracket. What you will get is a significantly improved ride noticeable mostly when going over bumps or when braking hard. Flattening that bar does not eliminate lateral (left-right) movement of the rear axle but it does minimize it. I was floored by how much of a difference it makes. You do not feel it going down the street, only when the axle is moving up and down at speed; going over rail road tracks, or emergency braking, or going over the whoops, things like that.... Probably the best $100 I have spent. and less than 10 minutes to install (if you go slow and take your time)...LOL...

 

[87-Z28]

Some math for the nerds.

Basic trigonometry defines the lateral wheel motion assuming perfectly rigid bushings. Plot shows the OEM configuration with a perfectly level Panhard, and a 3” lift to OEM without leveling Panhard. Panhard length is 44”.

Notice a level Panhard provides a symmetric lateral response in both jounce and rebound. The 3” lifted non level Panhard does NOT and produces a ton of lateral wheel motion towards drivers side during rebound.

Let’s say you hit a bump and the suspension reacts with 2” of rebound travel, then the oem rig only has about 0.05” of lateral wheel travel. However the 3” lifted rig has almost 4x that wheel travel (0.20”). You are gonna notice that difference.

 

[5GENIDN]

Some math for the nerds.

Basic trigonometry defines the lateral wheel motion assuming perfectly rigid bushings. Plot shows the OEM configuration with a perfectly level Panhard, and a 3” lift to OEM without leveling Panhard. Panhard length is 44”.

Notice a level Panhard provides a symmetric lateral response in both jounce and rebound. The 3” lifted non level Panhard does NOT and produces a ton of lateral wheel motion towards drivers side during rebound.

Let’s say you hit a bump and the suspension reacts with 2” of rebound travel, then the oem rig only has about 0.05” of lateral wheel travel. However the 3” lifted rig has almost 4x that wheel travel (0.20”). You are gonna notice that difference.

Funny how the math just shows it to be such a small lateral movement (what about 0.18 inches difference??) and yet moving the frame just that much (axle itself does not move, the tires are planted) but the frame of the truck moves laterally relative to the rear tires and redirects the front tires (if you do not make steering corrections).... Because it is moving the frame and not the axle/tires... therefore the wheel base length directly effects change in angle of the front tires.... Hence why you feel it significantly more in a shorter wheel base.

 

[Valhalla]

Funny how the math just shows it to be such a small lateral movement (what about 0.18 inches difference??) and yet moving the frame just that much (axle itself does not move, the tires are planted) but the frame of the truck moves laterally relative to the rear tires and redirects the front tires (if you do not make steering corrections).... Because it is moving the frame and not the axle/tires... therefore the wheel base length directly effects change in angle of the front tires.... Hence why you feel it significantly more in a shorter wheel base.

Not if you keep it bouncing!! you are making so many corrections you can't tell up from down.

 

[5GENIDN]

Not if you keep it bouncing!! you are making so many corrections you can't tell up from down.

I know that feeling... LOL...

 

[BattleBornBronco]

If you are going to a 5.38 I would strongly recommend changing the axle out... The Dana 220 exclusively uses a 220 mm diameter ring gear (about 8.66 inches). MY Opinion.... is that your tooth profile is getting a little too thin on anything over a 5 to 1. A Dana 60 or Ford 9 inch would increase the diameter of the ring and allow for a stronger tooth profile. Again... this is just opinion...

i agree. I would do the axle swap.

I went to 5.38 and it has pros and cons

My 2.3 definitely doesn't need to work as hard - it will spin up ~fast~. In fact I usually hit the turbo blowoff well before the red line if I try to accelerate too hard.

Acceleration is easier but you wind out quickly - on my 7MT it’s slower to accelerate now and you row through the first three gears very quickly — but clutch is a lot easier, and even starting on an incline is almost effortless

Top speed and RPM at freeway speeds are fine - there’s definitely enough transmission gears to keep it happy on the highway. 6th gear on the 7MT is still mostly useless though with 38s.

4Lo is a monster.

Have to be very careful with downshifts and low speed downhill crawls.

I’m still on the Dana 44 - so time will tell if I start chewing up gears or not

Thanks for the insights. I would love a little more control offroad. Surprised 6th gear is still somewhat useless.

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