General Tech lift

[sixstringsteve]

the good news is that even a stock 4x4 can do most of the trails up AF canyon. If you want to do the harder trails (forest lake or mineral basin) you'll want (in my opinoin) sliders as a minimum, and probably a little lift and a rear locker. You can get stock vehicles up there, but I'd recommend a little 2-3" lift and some 32-33" tires. You can run a TON of fun trails with that combination, and learn how to drive offroad.

 

[Chevycrew]

My favorite thing about a body lift... easier access to the bellhousing bolts!

 

[TJDukit]

Yep a mildly capable rig with 33's or 32's with sliders and a locker would be a perfect starting rig for AF Canyon. I have still yet to wheel either with a locker but my TJ and my Bronco II both on 33's made Forest lake and Mineral Basin a lot of fun. Big enough to make it easy but small enough to make those two trails difficult if you choose to make it so.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I ran Mineral Basin on 31's, but am much happier going up with the 33's on, less scraping and bouncing.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I ran mineral basin with 37s, and it was just boring. That's part of the reason my next rig will have 33's.

 

[THSDragoon]

so are you looking to buy a 4x4 or lifting the current one you have?

after i get my student loan paid for, i plan on lifting my current truck. an i also plan on getting lockers, a solid fron axle, and at least a 4" suspension lift. mabey bigger wheels as well, but i'm not sure on that part.

 

[TJDukit]

I wouldn't step up to a larger wheel, unless you are actually referring to tire size instead of wheel size. With a 4" lift you are probably going to be looking at 33" tires and you'll want to stick with a 15" wheel so you've got more sidewall to flex.

 

[THSDragoon]

I wouldn't step up to a larger wheel, unless you are actually referring to tire size instead of wheel size. With a 4" lift you are probably going to be looking at 33" tires and you'll want to stick with a 15" wheel so you've got more sidewall to flex.

yeah, thats what i was refering to, i wasnt sure what to call it.

hey, is having smaller rims and bigger tires better than having medium wheels and semi big tires?

 

[TJDukit]

Well having huge tires on a 15" rim can be a bad thing since you have so much sidewall it's possible to fold the tire on itself and pinch the sidewall against the rim and rocks. you won't run into that problem with your goals though. 33 inch tires on a 15 inch rim is what you will end up wanting to run I'm sure.

 

[THSDragoon]

sounds good, thanks.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I don't want to talk you out of a solid axle up front, but it may be overkill for what you're looking to do. A 2-3" lift with 33's and a rear locker will get you a LOT of places. Don't get me wrong, solid axles rock, but they're a TON of work if you're not used to fabricating.

 

[THSDragoon]

so it seems, but i dont plan on doing it my self. that will come later when i start to make my own rig from base up. so i will just take it to a shop that does that kind of stuff, and pay them to do it.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

so it seems, but i dont plan on doing it my self. that will come later when i start to make my own rig from base up. so i will just take it to a shop that does that kind of stuff, and pay them to do it.

Why not learn to do it yourself?

 

[THSDragoon]

Why not learn to do it yourself?

Normaly i wouldn't hesitate to do stuff like this my self, but i dont want to screw up my daily driver and be left mooching off my parents and sister to use their cars for pizza delivery. so it's probably best for now if i just take it to a professional who knows what their doing.

but other than that, i would go for it.

 

[sixstringsteve]

just my opinion, but if you're planning on daily driving it, a sas may not be the best approach. I'd keep it IFS with a small lift, rear locker, and 33's. But don't get me wrong, if you can afford the $5-10k for someone to do a sas for you, by all means, go for it.

 

[THSDragoon]

well thanks for all the help guys, i will be ending this thread tomorrow, so if any one has anything else to say, say it now or forever hold your peace.

Will

 

[jeep-N-montero]

You deliver pizzas and live at home, but hope to pay someone else to work on your car? It would be much cheaper to just pick up an older Civic or similar for a daily driver/delivery car and then do the work yourself. Just a suggestion.

 

[TJDukit]

well thanks for all the help guys, i will be ending this thread tomorrow, so if any one has anything else to say, say it now or forever hold your peace.

Will

Don't go deleting your threads. At least if anything when another new guy starts searching for advice on here they can find your threads and read the advice you've been given. Most of the advice is very basic but information that can be very usefull to future members.

 

[thenag]

Oh man I love the Vehicross! I almost purchased one years ago.

They only imported like 7000 of them. I think they were only made from 99-01 or something.

They got relatively bad gas mileage, and so many features they were (are) really expensive, you could get a 2 door amigo for $5000-8,000 less at the time.

and they had two doors at time everything was coming with 4 doors.

but a good size v-6 and a lot of fun to drive, even today they are head turners.

do a google image search for "vehicross" I have always loved them.
http://forum.fourwheeldriveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=100&t=6382&start=0


They do have a little kind of cult following, with the exception of the body they are pretty much an Isuze Ascender. So not much after market stuff. Someone did make a supercharger kit for them. It was kind of the first crossover SUV/Car/sport cute/brute, but still had ground clearance (probably more so than a stock tj or xj of the time).

Nathan
no rig right now... maybe I will pick up a vehicross instead of building the xj... hmmm a vehicross with 1 ton axles and 37's...

 

[sixstringsteve]

...hmmm a vehicross with 1 ton axles and 37's...

now this I gotta see! I say go for it! What's the wheelbase on a vehicross?