Endoing Prevention

[bknbronco]

Last year i had 2 instances at the off-road park where the back of my truck seemed to get a little light coming down off some rocks. Its hard to say how close i was from going ass over tea kettle because i have not experienced this situation enough times to get familiar and comfortable with the angle. To be on the safe side i had the vehicle behind me hook there winch line to my rear bumper and keep some pressure in the line as i proceeded forward and my bronco leveled out.

I have been thinking the cause of this problem is coming from the front coils. I feel they are way to soft and compressing too much with all the broncos weight on the front axle. The coils are 5.5" Deaver linear rate coils.

Aside from swapping to different coils, or lowering the bronco entirely, i have thought about adding some height to the front bump stops. This summer i have only one event at the off-road park planned so i do not want this to be a huge, expensive, drawn out project. I think the key is to keep the chassis level and prevent excessive weight transfer to the front axle.

What do you all think? Would reducing the front end compression during a rock crawling descent prevent the rear end from becoming light and lifting?

 

[.94 OR]

Small winch on the rear to pull up on the rear axle pumpkin? Cab controlled so you can adjust the pucker factor as you encounter it.

 

[JB Fab]

The best way to keep the front from over compressing is to NOT touch the brakes, pick a low enough gear to hold you back during the decent and still allow you to punch the throttle it the rear gets too light

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[ksagis]

In steep declines. I’ve used parking brake action on stock vehicles, and rear brake hydraulic line lock type devices on modified vehicles to good use.

 

[Broncobowsher]

It's probably not as bad as you feel inside. I had someone think were were going to roll over when I did a U-turn on a boat ramp. Different people have ideas of how close they are.

If it is really getting vertical, it isn't the front spring compressing as much as the rear springs pushing the back up. Couple limit straps will keep the back down and still keep your soft springs, good ride and most of your articulation.

 

[ksagis]

In most cases it feels way worse than it actually is. Off axis camber always worse than fore/aft angles to me.

Even then it needs to be pushing north 35 degrees slope which is actually pretty nasty.

 

[ntsqd]

The math is simple, the line from the Center of Gravity towards the center of the Earth has to be outside of the vehicle's tires. Knowing where the CG is is the hard part.

One common rough guess that mostly works for most cam in block V8 powered vehicles is that the CG is where the cam centerline and the plane of the flywheel's friction face intersect. Grab a plum-bob and take a look at your rig with the point where you're holding the string held inline with that point as viewed from the side and the front or rear.

 

[JB Fab]

Logically it's simple.... My brain is used to a vehicle being flat, hanging from my harness with no horizon out the side window makes the whole self-preservation instinct click-in. that is the hard part, convincing the brain/sphincter that it is all logical..........

 

[Broncobowsher]

You would also need enough front tire traction.

A few decades ago I had an FJ Cruiser in Moab. It had the little pitch and roll gauge in it. I was hitting the stop pins on that gauge all day long

 

[Yeller]

height is one of them, lower is better. Driving technique is just as important. If you have a twin stick, drive off in front wheel drive, the rear stops pushing and in general it feels much better. Let off the brakes, I've witnessed a lot of roll overs that were completely driver error, more often from not letting off the brake than not letting off the throttle. Its hard, things feel bad and instinct is to stand on the brakes, when they need to be released and a little throttle added.

@JB Fab, I can say I've seen that view from all angles more than once LOL but then there's the times you do it on purpose to make the climb