Samuel L. Jackson, our beloved Suzuki Samurai, is back in action! However, the rear suspension has lost some of the articulation (flex) that it used to have. An axle that flexes (can freely rotate in relation to the body) is an axle that has both wheels on the ground, which is exactly what you need on rough trails.
Here it is, before adding flex.
Note that the bumper line and axle line aren’t that far from parallel. The front right tire is nearly lifting off the ground.
After some slight tweaking…
It may be a bit difficult to see the difference, but it’s there. The angle between the bumper line and the axle line is now much greater, and the front right tire is happily planted on the ground.
This lack of articulation came about due to a bit of a suspension hack I did a few years ago, just before putting the truck into hibernation. See those coil springs inside of the leaf springs? Well, they work really well at lifting the truck up a bit and smoothing out the ride, but they were interfering with the articulation of the rear axle due to the lack of weight back there. The solution was to remove all the rear leafsprings but one per side, thereby reducing the spring rate and articulation resistance.
Note that removing leafs without also having a traction bar will eventually result in broken springs. Every time you hit the gas the axle would twist and try to rip itself free from the truck, unless something (traction bar) prevents this axle twist (aka “axle wrap”).
Here it is, before adding flex.
Note that the bumper line and axle line aren’t that far from parallel. The front right tire is nearly lifting off the ground.
After some slight tweaking…
It may be a bit difficult to see the difference, but it’s there. The angle between the bumper line and the axle line is now much greater, and the front right tire is happily planted on the ground.
This lack of articulation came about due to a bit of a suspension hack I did a few years ago, just before putting the truck into hibernation. See those coil springs inside of the leaf springs? Well, they work really well at lifting the truck up a bit and smoothing out the ride, but they were interfering with the articulation of the rear axle due to the lack of weight back there. The solution was to remove all the rear leafsprings but one per side, thereby reducing the spring rate and articulation resistance.
Note that removing leafs without also having a traction bar will eventually result in broken springs. Every time you hit the gas the axle would twist and try to rip itself free from the truck, unless something (traction bar) prevents this axle twist (aka “axle wrap”).
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