Ideal wheelbase

1993yj

1993yj

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Location
Salt Lake
Getting ready to put 1 tons under my YJ. Pulled the old axles last night and rolled the new ones under. As I have them sitting at the moment it will put my wheelbase at 111.5". I was hoping to be around 114", but am curious if it will make that much of a difference. Is there anyone out there around 112" who really really wishes they were 2-3" longer?
 
My JK is 116" and I wish I was just a few inches shorter. Of course the low belly height of the JK makes it a completely different animal.
 
Usually people that care about wheelbase +/- 3" are building their rig to conquer a certain obstacle. I like the stability and climbability of a longer wheelbase (110"-115"), but I wouldn't worry about an inch or two.
 
I prefer shorter than most people and keep the COG low, I like the 106 to the 108 mark. My rig is at 108" right now
 
i ran 104 for a long time in my 4runner, it worked well, went to 108 and it was much more stable. My new buggy is 113, it will climb better but belly is low. if your going to run longer id go with a bigger tire to close the gap between the tires
 
Plan is 40" tires. Belly is already completely flat at about 27". Hoping to keep it at the same height, but may have to go up 1-2" for clearance with the axles. Keeping it at 112" will allow me to stay lower than getting it to 114".
 
27" sounds way high. And you might have to go higher? I'd look for other options. If you are staying with leaf springs, consider going spring under. With 40's it wont be that bad and you could stay much lower. If you are running coils, drop it 7 inches and high line if you need to.
 
I asked this same question a number of years ago. An older gentleman on planet 4x4 told me somewhere between 112" and 116". I built my beater at 116" and it has been perfect for a varity of wheeling. Bart's willys buggy was slap insane what it would do.

LT.
 
UNSTUCK said:
27" sounds way high. And you might have to go higher? I'd look for other options. If you are staying with leaf springs, consider going spring under. With 40's it wont be that bad and you could stay much lower. If you are running coils, drop it 7 inches and high line if you need to.
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It's going to be links. The need for a higher ride height isn't about fender clearance but frame clearance. Plan to do ORIs but from what I know about them I need to have at least 40% of their travel as up travel (ie. 14" shock needs to have ~5.5" of up travel) for them to ride best. Have heard that ride height right in the middle is ideal.

With the position of the front axle to have 0 approach angle, that massive diff is going to need some room to move up. Right now appears that I will need at least another inch up front from what it was before with the 27" belly height.

Because the YJ frame dips back down at both ends, moving the axles further out means less clearance for the axles. Rear I think I have enough space but front will be tight, and that is with full hydro.
 
cut off your front frame rails and raise them up, on a 42 inch tire at full bump the bottom of my grill is at 20" off the ground the frame is about 18-20" at ride height





My biggest issue was the radiator being in the way
 
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skippy said:
cut off your front frame rails and raise them up, on a 42 inch tire at full bump the bottom of my grill is at 20" off the ground the frame is about 18-20" at ride height

My biggest issue was the radiator being in the way
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I am hoping to not have to do that and have this build spiral. We'll see how that goes though.
 
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