BIG Trailing Arm Travel = BIG Flex on the Rocks

[wayoflife]

Soon after posting up pics and our video highlighting our Jeep Gladiator bombing across the desert and with its all new EVO Trailing Arms, I had a number of people reach out to me and ask, "does it still flex?" Or, "can it still rock crawl?" And, maybe I'm missing something but I'll let the following pics speak for themselves.

Twisting up the other way...

As you can see here, we installed a set of JK Antirock arms to help us address the lack of length issue we were having with the Gladiator arms that we initially got. This effectively helped to prevent the hyper-extending of the links.

 

[wayoflife]

I should note that we are still working through some of the challenges that come with really big vertical travel and the first thing we noticed is that our rear axle isn't centered. And, at a full flex, the driver side rear tire is rubbing against the rear sway bar end link bolt and the tubes on our bypass shock.

A big benefit of the heavy duty 28 spline torsion bar that we installed with the Antirock is that it offers enough resistance to prevent full bump from occurring when flexing. This prevents the arm from making contact with the fender and prevents the tire from tearing off the fender. As you can see here, the air bump is still far from the axle even with the opposite side tire lifting off the ground.

Of course, this is still a problem we'll have to address when bombing across big whoops and so, we've got more figuring out to do.

 

[RCC]

That is excellent info Eddie. I literally just watched your video.

Good to know the JK arm fixes the travel issue.

 

[WJCO]

This answers my question from the other thread. At least you're making progress. Hope you can work out the axle positioning.

 

[wayoflife]

That is excellent info Eddie. I literally just watched your video.

Good to know the JK arm fixes the travel issue.

To be clear, the JK arms only fix the problem of full droop. Articulated full stuff looks like it won't be a problem either due to the heavy torsion bar rate. However, full vertical bump "may" still be an issue as the sway bar arms will still smash through the fenders before the air bump are fully collapsed.

 

[wayoflife]

This answers my question from the other thread. At least you're making progress. Hope you can work out the axle positioning.

Thanks! Been a work in progress for sure. Being that the upper arms are triangulated, centering the axle may take a bit of work. Unfortunately, you cannot make adjustments on the rig and removing the arms is a bit of a pain. And then, there's the issue of pinion angle and maintaining it.

 

[Cousin Clyde]

Soon after posting up pics and our video highlighting our Jeep Gladiator bombing across the desert and with its all new EVO Trailing Arms, I had a number of people reach out to me and ask, "does it still flex?" Or, "can it still rock crawl?" And, maybe I'm missing something but I'll let the following pics speak for themselves.

Twisting up the other way...

As you can see here, we installed a set of JK Antirock arms to help us address the lack of length issue we were having with the Gladiator arms that we initially got. This effectively helped to prevent the hyper-extending of the links.

Damn that’s amazing. That thing is ripped.

 

[wayoflife]

Damn that’s amazing. That thing is ripped.

LOL - glad you like what you see

 

[wayoflife]

BTW, it really shouldn't be missed that this Gladiator is running 42" tires and that the rear is hanging BELOW the frame rail.

 

[JT@623]

With the some Motech mojo this thing will be crazy cool

 

[benatc1]

Damn, that’s amazing. Seems like some stuff to be figured out still but I guess that’s what comes with this type of equipment. Sure you guys will sort it all out. Gotta watch the video tonight

 

[DirtHeadDavis]

Lawwwd Jesus. Absolutely insane.

 

[Mike Pierson]

Beautiful rig right there! I can’t believe how much articulation it has! Hope you get it all sorted soon, spring is on its way!

 

[Cousin Clyde]

BTW, it really shouldn't be missed that this Gladiator is running 42" tires and that the rear is hanging BELOW the frame rail.

Exactly! I had that exact thought looking at the picture below. Really puts the flex into perspective

 

[Jsouder53]

That is badass! Did you know from the beginning that JAWS would be built to this level?

 

[wayoflife]

With the some Motech mojo this thing will be crazy cool

Oh yeah, some serious Motech help is desperately in need. LOL

 

[wayoflife]

Beautiful rig right there! I can’t believe how much articulation it has! Hope you get it all sorted soon, spring is on its way!

Oh yeah, I'm sure we can get this figured out. We're just trying to share in the experience of it all

 

[wayoflife]

That is badass! Did you know from the beginning that JAWS would be built to this level?

Actually, no. It's been a work in progress and a lot of it has been Mel saying, "hey, can we use your rig to do..." LOL

 

[CalSgt]

So rad… I was literally wondering what the sway bar arm looked like on the stuffed side before I got to the second post. Looking forward to seeing how everything works out

 

[Disciple Off Road]

The joys of new and custom BUT part of the fun! Some of these bugs are great to know now though and can only make things better from here after being fixed. This is why im really wanting to go 72.5” on the axles.