wellbase vs. vehical height

failure2appear

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Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Location
southern pines, NC
i have my wheelbase and trackwidth measurements for my willy's jeep that im going to turn into a crawler. it has a wheelbase of about 7' and a trackwidth of around 4' (give or take an inch or so on both). i want to know what whould be a safe height for the truck on such a short platform?

i plan on going to full size axles, front and rear, but the wheel base itself is what im woried about. would i need to extend it some to compensate?

thanks for any input.
 
There isn't really a magic number or ratio. Its mainly what you feel comfortable with. With the roughly 8' wheelbase of the TJ/YJ/CJ7, most people don't go over about 4" lift and 35" tires. Using those same proportions, it would be about 3.5" lift and 30" tires for something with a 7' wheelbase. However, those numbers don't play out as well in the real world. A wild guess would be 33's with about 3" of lift would be ideal, but, like I said, that is wild guess.

If you know the height and position of the center of gravity, you can calculate how steep of an angle it can be at without tipping/rolling.
 
thanks, that may help me some, i was thinking about extending the wheelbase about 6 inches, and going to a 4inch suspension lift, with as much articulation i can get out of it. going to say at most, i would only run 34" tires.

its an old WWII era willys if that helps anyone. dont know the exact year, or much else about it, other than it needs alot of work.
 
my wheelbase is 101, with a track width of ~76". (I will be stretching it to ~106" & 80)

Usually it more of a comparison between CoG (or overall) height and width.. My junk is 81" tall, but has a decently low CoG.
 
just a somewhat related question...

I know wheelbase is measured from center of hub to center of hub...

but is track width from outer edge of tire to outer edge? or from center to center?

Greg
 
http://members.aol.com/varfee/mastssite/track_width.html

Definition of Track Width Measurements
This measurement may be recorded by placing the tape measure in a number of postions across the tracks. The selection of tape placement will depend upon the quality of the track as it appears at the scene. Chose the tape placement that would result in the most accurate recording of the track width. Look for the most well defined edges of the tracks, and measure across these points.

Each of the following tape measure placements will produce the track width:

Center rib on one track to center rib of the other track.
Outside of one track to inside of other track.
Inside of one track to outside of the other track.
Inside of one track to inside of the other track plus the width of one track.
Outside of one track to outside of the other track minus the width of one track.
 
Here is what I have...

Jeep XJ
102" wheelbase
83" wide
flat belly 24"
roof 78" with tires at full 30 PSI
roof lowers as I lower tire pressure
38" TSL
wieght = 5000lbs

and yes most people are very surprised at the height of my rig because it has such large tires..I am usually shorter then most TJ with 33" tires on the trail :)
 
IMHO I wouldn't go full width on an old willys. The tires won't be under the body at all. Go find some wide track jeep 44's to put under there. It will give you some added width for stability but will keep the tires closer to the body. Then I would strech the wheelbase about 6 inches in front and 4 inches in the back. This should help with approach and departure angles. With 34 inch tires you will be well within the strength of putting 44's under it. You would even have room to grow in the tires if you felt the need.
 
My setup...

cj7
101" wb
82" wide
belly 24"
roof 76" tall
37's


aimg.photobucket.com_albums_v214_nhodierne_cff56cfe.jpg


:beer:
 
Personally, I think if you go with a full width axle, you could go way high. If you go with full width one ton axles you could go even higher. With one tons I believe the unsprung weight would be more than the sprung weight which means the CoG would be suprisingly low. I've got a samurai with toy axles, bead locks, and 35" tsl's thats got over ten inches of lift. It can take way more angle than I am comfortable giving it and not even think of flipping.
 
Wide or Narrow track Waggy 44s would be about perfect. The rear would be offset correctly for your xfer case if you are keeping it as well.



Not that I have a set for sale or anything...:rolleyes:
 
I've got the wagoneer dana 44's under my jeep. The front width is around 61.5" and the rear is around 59" wide. My wheels have 2.5" of backspaing. The front tires stick out from the fenders and the rears are tucked in a little. Which makes for a good turning radius.

aimg.photobucket.com_albums_v214_nhodierne_54b60cf7.jpg
 
I'm almost finished, 102" wide by 102" tall. More of a mud machine than anything else. Lots of weight down low though.


3704500439b07d11.jpg
 
Well, since everybody's doin it...

80" high (to the top of the softop)
83" wide
22" underbelly
95" wheelbase
5100LBS
1200LBS+ of unsprung weight (axles/tires/etc)
 
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