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FogHelmut posted:After test driving a Wrangler Unlimited, I can get past the vague steering, but I'm genuinely surprised at how cramped it felt inside. TBH, the back seat felt roomier than the driver seat. Yeah, they’re bad. I’m 6’5” and I fit in a Wrangler but just barely and it’s not particular comfortable. Bronco is great though. FJ Cruiser was also great.
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Apr 25, 2023 14:35
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They do make "big boy" seat brackets if you'd like your knees to not be wedged against the dash.
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Apr 25, 2023 14:53
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It's less the length than the width.
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Apr 25, 2023 22:10
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FogHelmut posted:It's less the length than the width. Oh how many times have I said that..
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Apr 26, 2023 03:04
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kastein posted:Yeah, both are SFA and SRA. Though modern wranglers have been coil front and rear since 1997 while I seem to recall the jimny is leaf front and rear. Older jimnies have leaf springs, the latest gen (idk if the usa gets them) has coils all round. ili fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Apr 26, 2023 |
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Apr 26, 2023 06:50
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Yeah, unless major incentives come back, getting into a Jeep or Bronco or 4Runner is putting me in the $60+k range with all of the in-cabin comforts that I want that are standard on $25k Hondas. I'm having a hard time justifying that. How incapable are Subarus? I really liked my old Impreza. Might just throw down on an Outback Wilderness and find some wretched 4x4 beater to wrench on next year. Pro: - 30% cheaper purchase cost - 30%+ cheaper operating costs - comfort on road and driving dynamics - get weird looks from jeeps Con: - articulation is nonexistent - max 29" tires - tire sidewall is minimal - less cargo space than a truck - CVT - no low range - not true 4WD - no lockers - very poor angles - heated steering wheel unavailable I guess 99% of my off-road driving is just fire roads around Big Bear and Anza Borrego. Really not doing any rock crawling or stunts, but there's a few spots where there are some deep alternating dips that the articulation helps a lot. And big tires help with the trails that are rutted out from people with big tires. I'm anticipating a much rougher ride offroad in a Subaru however. Ground clearance in the Subaru at 9.5" is equivalent to my Colorado after I upgraded the tires, but we are talking about different ground clearances here. The Subaru is a flat 9.5" all the way under the body, while the Chevy is just the bottom of the rear differential. The rest of the truck's underbody is way above that.
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May 11, 2023 17:04
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FogHelmut posted:Yeah, unless major incentives come back, getting into a Jeep or Bronco or 4Runner is putting me in the $60+k range with all of the in-cabin comforts that I want that are standard on $25k Hondas. I'm having a hard time justifying that. I was recently out in the desert near Indio for camping night 1 of a long bachelor weekend, and one of the guys was apparently bringing a Subaru Outback. I had picked the location purely on satellite imagery and topo maps, and once we got there early the powerline road in, although only a couple miles, was a lot more rutted and washed out than I thought (maybe from recent rains etc) with a very sandy riverbed wash section just before the campsite. We just figured ehhh, he'll be here in two hours, we won't tell him and take it slow lol. He had zero issues on the way in or out, and was right behind my lifted JKU on 35s the whole time. Did fine going slow through those alternating dips you mentioned. I forgot to ask him what traction settings, if any, he turned on for the sandy wash but he had no issues there either. I was impressed. Street tires, too.
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May 11, 2023 17:26
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I've passed jeeps on rutted dirt roads in my outback. I got the feeling the Jeep driver was getting tossed around by the rough road, but the outback suspension just absorbed it. I've only been limited by the breakover angle once. It's an incredibly capable car. Some folks disconnect the rear sway bar to get more articulation.
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May 11, 2023 17:42
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Safety Dance posted:I've passed jeeps on rutted dirt roads in my outback. I got the feeling the Jeep driver was getting tossed around by the rough road, but the outback suspension just absorbed it. I've only been limited by the breakover angle once. It's an incredibly capable car. Some folks disconnect the rear sway bar to get more articulation. While I agree that they are incredibly capable cars, most people grossly overestimate what is actually required to make these drives. And in the process make their vehicles actively terrible to drive on a regular basis so they might one day hit that one situation where they would have had to take a different line instead......
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May 11, 2023 17:49
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I doubt the longevity of a cvt when forced to deal with sand.
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May 11, 2023 18:48
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Subaru's CVT is a lot better than Nissan's CVT, from what I've heard.
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May 11, 2023 18:50
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Does anyone in here drive the newest generation of Ford Ranger? I'm currently comparing them and Colorados/Canyons. The smallish engine with good power, good fuel economy, and a reportedly smooth ride has me interested as I'll be doing a lot of highway miles. It's also close in size to my old F150, which was my favorite size truck.
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May 11, 2023 19:04
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Safety Dance posted:Subaru's CVT is a lot better than Nissan's CVT, from what I've heard. Well I think you’d have to actively try pretty hard to be worse than a Nissan CVT
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May 11, 2023 19:55
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Haven’t they announced the refreshed ranger? That and the new taco should hit next year right? If I were in the market for a mid size and could put it off a year i absolutely would. Plus it means you might not get a pandemic built car.
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May 11, 2023 23:17
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Sadi posted:Haven’t they announced the refreshed ranger? That and the new taco should hit next year right? If I were in the market for a mid size and could put it off a year i absolutely would. Plus it means you might not get a pandemic built car. They have and nothing about it makes me want to pay new car prices unless interest rates make it look better. I wasn't shopping for the Ranger Raptor but watching some videos on it I'm really not that impressed. Suspension stuff is good but it doesn't seem to offer that much compared to the price tag. Tacomas don't really do it for me, but maybe if they fix the power and gearing issues I would be interested. Either way, I'm not buying today, so I have plenty of time to think about it.
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May 12, 2023 00:12
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Safety Dance posted:Subaru's CVT is a lot better than Nissan's CVT, from what I've heard. When the barrier to entry of being better is making it out of the warranty period, you're scraping the barrel. Also, isn't the outback wilderness edition the EXACT SAME THING as the normal outback, just marked up $10k for a sticker package and targeted at L.L. Bean flannel-wearing hipsters?
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May 12, 2023 15:02
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chrisgt posted:When the barrier to entry of being better is making it out of the warranty period, you're scraping the barrel. Its got 1" lift, and some kind of suspension tuning that I haven't researched but may just be the lift, very mild AT tires, different bumper fascia to improve angles, additional XMode traction control modes, skid plates, and the final drive from the Ascent to improve hill climbing.
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May 12, 2023 18:10
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ugh so this is so loving bizarre that I have to post it - I've been deeply unsatisfied with the ride quality on my Tacoma for 2+ years, ever since I lifted it. I've mentioned it obliquely here how bad the ride quality was, and I always thought it was too much weight / not enough weight / lovely UCAs / lovely leaf springs / lovely front sway bar / lovely truck. I've gone back and forth with the auto shop I've used, they kept saying there was nothing wrong, swapped the UCAs 3 times  , swapped the leaf springs, even put 200lbs of sandbags in the back as ballast. Truck rode like poo poo. Even with all the weight in the world in the truck, it just bounced off every bump in the street. Well after months of effort I managed to address some design and craftsmanship issues - - I'd originally installed durobumps sized for a 3" lift, but they were too long so there was only like 1" of travel in the rear  - the dipshit auto shop didn't set my alignment right, they also hosed up installing the hellwig front sway bar and the sway bar tie links, hosed up installing the rear sway bar, AND they didnt set the coilovers to the right length, so there was like 1/2" inch of travel in the front. Fixing all of that made it closer to normal, but it still bucked and bounced way too much. It bounced enough to spill coffee from a McDonalds cup on the freeway doing 55mph. It literally didn't make sense, the auto shop I was working with basically told me to kick rocks and stopped returning my calls, and I was so frustrated with the stupid loving truck that I was nearly in tears every day. I've spent so much money on this loving truck, and it was too uncomfortable to drive more than a hour on the freeway. I loving hated even driving it across town. Blindly trying to find out was wrong, reading all the Tacomaworld and Reddit posts, I hit on the idea that it was  maybe the carrier bearing? Truck has 35kish miles on it, been lifted for 15k, and I have a ton of extra weight on there ( RCI metalworks full skid package, Body Armor hiline front bumper with winch, and Body Armor Revo step sliders. I also have a Rigid Armor hitch receiver tire carrier). I decide to go all out and order a custom driveshaft, because I figure that my factory one is too short, and maybe thats causing it to bind on the carrier bearing, and I should get a proper length driveshaft anyway, which is maybe why its bouncing all over the place? again, just wildly grasping at straws. Well the custom driveshaft came, and when I was removing the factory driveshaft, I noticed that the slip yoke was a little... weird. Specifically it acted like an air piston. I didn't really think anything of it (because I don't know really know poo poo about trucks, let alone driveshafts) so I thought that maybe Toyota made them spring loaded? Even outside of the truck standing up, I couldn't force the driveshaft all the way down, it would just pop right back up. I was actually a little concerned because the custom driveshaft slid easily back and forth. Once I put on the new driveshaft, the truck rides completely differently.  I fixed it! except the driveshaft isn't balanced properly and the truck tries to shake itself apart on the freeway  . I have to spend the next month uninstalling every bit of metal I installed chasing down vibration poo poo so that I can go back to the driveshaft shop and say "no actually, your POS driveshaft isnt' balanced, I don't care what your machine says'. Good exercise to chase vibration, but also literal torture - I'm a middle aged computer nerd working with lovely hand tools. Wrangling off all off that stuff was a lot of loving work and it was ultimately pointless because the lovely-rear end poo poo-poo poo-poo poo custom driveline was a 700 dollar waste of money (not counting the value of my own time)Finally, after uninstalling and reinstalling the defective custom driveshaft 3+ times, after I've stripped every extraneous bit of metal I can off the trip to prove that its not the bumper or the skid plate vibrating, I'm hauling the factory driveshaft to the truck and mentally trying to come up with someway, anyway, to get rid of the piece of poo poo, and I'm poking the yoke and all of a sudden it occurs to me 'hey, arent these things supposed to slide fluidly?' I pry the metal clips off the rubber cover, and the yoke makes an honest-to-God slide whistle fart noise. Somehow air was getting trapped inside the slip yoke, and the metal clamps on the rubber boot made a perfect airtight seal. The stupid thing was a 45lb pogo stick.  Even with the metal clip off, the rubber boot would slide back down and seal up enough to support my body weight in the yoke bubble. I ended up drilling four holes in the rubber boot and now it works perfectly? Honestly I'm flabbergasted by the whole thing. Not just wasting two years of my life on something so loving stupid, but I simply can't understand how in the gently caress this happened - and how the driveshaft didnt' blow up. I've had well over a thousand lbs in the back of the truck on the freeway; that yoke should've exploded under the pressure. Has anyone ever seen anything even remotely like this? I can't even find a Google instance of this happening. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. My truck feels like an auto shop truck with how many times its been unassembled and reassembled chasing this stupid poo poo. Now I just have to reinstall every chunk of metal I took off 
Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 06:06 on May 20, 2023 |
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May 20, 2023 05:26
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Good job! That sounds super weird. (lol that your truck rode like poo poo because of pent-up farts in the drivetrain)
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May 20, 2023 05:52
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ryanrs posted:Good job! That sounds super weird.  it felt like the truck was both laughing and farting at meIt is super weird. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it. I sorta don't believe it; I kinda expect something else to go wrong and the truck to ride like poo poo again. also  timing - the 4th gen Tacoma fixes literally every single complaint I have against my truck now, big and small, but at buying a 60k light truck that is hybrid for show only.
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May 20, 2023 06:27
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Yeah my stiff ride and creaky UCAs are driving me crazy. I'm putting the stock suspension back on this weekend. Despite being too firm, the shocks did a great job at controlling after-bounces (there's probably an actual word for this) and better cornering on road. The Bilstein 6112/5160 are overkill however, and I don't think the 2" lift has really benefitted me much at all. Also I'm getting rid of the truck in a few weeks and I don't think leaving the suspension on would benefit the resale. Also lol at the 3rd gen Colorado fixing all of my complaints about this one (short of the passenger space that I now need.)
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May 20, 2023 14:12
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FogHelmut posted:Yeah my stiff ride and creaky UCAs are driving me crazy. I'm putting the stock suspension back on this weekend. Despite being too firm, the shocks did a great job at controlling after-bounces (there's probably an actual word for this) and better cornering on road. The Bilstein 6112/5160 are overkill however, and I don't think the 2" lift has really benefitted me much at all.  Damping or recoil is the word you're looking for I believe.After a month of reflection, I wish I had just kept it stock. In retrospect I could've done some different steps to address the Tacoma's lovely leaf springs, but I didn't need to go the route I did. Also wish I had kept the original suspension, although that would've been tough in an apartment, because I'm going to take a hit selling this truck. I wanted to keep it forever, but I get why people aren't doing big truck camper builds on 3rd gen Tacos - at the end of the day, the truck is just sorta flimsy. Ofc the 4th gen has rear coils and a fully boxed frame, which would instantly address two of my biggest design complaints, but I dont even know if I want a midsize anymore. I did not offroad this truck enough in tight enough quarters for it to make sense. Parking is a bit easier, but not that much easier.
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May 20, 2023 15:57
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I'd probably have got a standard replacement shock from Eibach or even the basic Bilstein and that would have addressed the rebound issues.
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May 20, 2023 16:33
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loving trucks lmao. You got it though.
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May 20, 2023 16:59
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Vampire Panties posted:
How high did you go with the lift? I got the "factory" (dealer installed) trd lift before I took delivery of mine, so it would qualify for the 3/60,000 warrnty and thus far its pretty decent. Though in fairness I don't have anything to compare it to beforehand. I think it gave it a 1.5" front and 1 " rear. Plenty enough for the places I've taken it thus far.
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May 20, 2023 18:44
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wesleywillis posted:How high did you go with the lift? 2" / 3" front and rear respectively. It wasn't really the lift height that was the problem; honestly I looked at the factory driveshaft and it probably should be longer, but its not going to slide out and its got at least an inch of yoke, so I had 255/75/r17 tires on it for the last 3 1/2 years, even stock. I only recently (and foolishly) going to 285/75r17s (and 5.29 gears to push this tubby shitheap, which is why i had to go with some rando driveshaft shop and retain the carrier bearing instead of a Tom Woods, because the gears would spin the driveshaft too fast? I'm NOT a mechanic, I'm a computer nerd who likes mechanical things. Anyway, with the driveshaft issue  Resolved I managed to get this thing out to Anza-Borrego todaySin Nombre Canyon / Anza-Borrego Badlands  Just after I took this pic, about a dozen Lexus/FJ/Tacomas piled right through that spot. Basically the only people I saw all day.  Wing to wing  The new plastic bag  at 95° and with the back not being built out at all (plus I forgot USB fans  ) it was too hot to lay around, so we ended up coming home. Overall truck rode better than it has since I lifted it, but I don't know that I would qualify it as good. There's a weird vibration at almost exactly 61mph, I think I didn't clock the factory driveshaft correctly when I reinstalled it so I'll check that tomorrow. It could also be the alignment (I hope it isn't, I have zero desire to deal with the auto shop I use. gently caress those guys)now to find the willpower to reattach 150lbs of steel
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May 21, 2023 04:14
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That's an awesome little camper.
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May 21, 2023 11:30
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Thanks! I'm going to make a separate thread for my stupid truck sometime later tonight. I've had the camper for like six months now, but I've been delaying posting / working on it because I've been chasing the ride quality nightmare. Now that I seem to have fixed it ( at least the fart-yoke) I'm inclined to pick up the project again. Tbh I was hours away from selling the camper and unwinding everything from the truck and getting a loving van. I may still do that.
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May 21, 2023 19:51
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Vampire Panties posted:Thanks! I'm going to make a separate thread for my stupid truck sometime later tonight.  Tbh depending on the van it's not a bad idea.
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May 21, 2023 20:00
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cursedshitbox posted:
 I dont need 4 wheel drive. Its fun and all, but realistically all I need is something capable enough to get just past the high-water mark of RVs and 2wd stuff in the boonies. A van would be more comfortable to drive, and the combo of meaty tires, lower gears, and a mechanical LSD would almost certainly go anywhere I would ever want. Otoh, seems like #vanlife is starting to break and there are semi-reasonable (if absurdly high mileage) Quigleys available. I almost pulled the trigger on a GX, but in retrospect I'm glad I didn't, because even with the back seats out I think it would've been just a little too small. I'll talk about it in the forthcoming truck writeup, but at the end of the day, I think the Taco is just not going to work. Its just too flimsy.
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May 21, 2023 20:17
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a mild lift and a lsd/locker/spool out back with all terrains will get you basically 90% of where any heckin chonker with 4wd can go. I literally scaled a steep rutted narrow lovely muddy trail yesterday with the pcm locking me out of the turbo and in 2wd. Most every other van/rv/etc stopped about a mile in right off the trail, I'm right at the snow line. Careful with going quigley. Opt for coil rather than leaf up front. Ujoint makes a good conversion kit for the econolines. I love a 4wd econoline... I agree with tacos being too flimsy. Up there with ram 3500s and superduties. They spreadsheet a mean game but they're actually not up for it in practice. They look good while it's drooling all over the floor though. cursedshitbox fucked around with this message at 20:23 on May 21, 2023 |
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May 21, 2023 20:21
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OK not to poo poo up this thread with my lovely Taco (while also procrastinating on making a major thread  ), but I think I know at least one reason the truck rides lovely - Feels like there should be a lot more space between the front bump stop and the lower control arm. Its a durobump, which is taller than the factory bump stop, but that gap is small enough to wedge my finger in... EDIT I looked up the preload height measurements and my truck with FOX-883-26-007 in my driveway right now measures just under 17" shock height. I've thought that the truck didn't really sit level, but its pretty clear to me that the coilovers are not adjusted correctly.... do I go back to the (loving awful) mechanic and get them to fix this, do I find someone else, or do I try to fix it myself? dog tax and pic of truck not sitting level 
Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 04:51 on May 22, 2023 |
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May 22, 2023 03:38
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  the collar is supposed to be at the top, not in the middle. My truck has basically 1" of suspension articulation in the front (double - you can see in the pic that the bump stops have basically tattooed the lower control arms)
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May 22, 2023 06:59
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I'm glad you're getting it figured out. But what a great reminder on why I don't want to buy a pre modified vehicle. I hope you get it sorted and can learn to love again.
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May 22, 2023 07:31
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Did you put the shocks in yourself or have a shop do it? Might be worth picking over every part of the suspension to see what else is messed up. Also what's that witness mark on the uca from? E: the spring collar on those shocks adjusts to set the preload, no? So if you're saying it's too far down towards the middle and limiting your travel, do you mean the coils are binding and stopping the articulation or is it the bump stop limiting your up travel? ili fucked around with this message at 09:10 on May 22, 2023 |
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May 22, 2023 09:06
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ili posted:Did you put the shocks in yourself or have a shop do it? Might be worth picking over every part of the suspension to see what else is messed up. Also what's that witness mark on the uca from? Shop did it (and charged me twice to adjust them  ). The bump stop is limiting my up travel. I could be wrong because I'm figuring this out as I go, but the collar being that far down means the preload tension on the spring must be absurd. (In my research most people have the collar 2-3 inches further up). So the shock has the length to travel much further, but because the spring is tightened down so far, there's no room for it to go anywhere. So instead of going over a bump and having 3" of travel for the spring to apply lbs of force its now applying all that force over 1" of travel. Its loving stupid, also because I explicitly told the shop to fix thisI will admit that I could be wrong - the shop said something about 'all the weight' so its possible they did this to somehow support the weight of the truck? I have a lighter bumper, a 10klb winch, and a dual battery kit. I'm sure that weighs less than all the ARB bumpers I see running around. Atticus_1354 posted:I'm glad you're getting it figured out. But what a great reminder on why I don't want to buy a pre modified vehicle. I hope you get it sorted and can learn to love again. I do too. I just want this truck to work
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May 22, 2023 13:48
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If you back off the preload, you are going to lose lift height. It is adjusted to give give your target ride height with whatever your front end weight is. The bumpstop clearance also doesn't look idiotic for an ifs setup. You want the bumpstop long with some give to gradually limit uptravel, not be thin and barely softer than steel, that will not improve ride quality.
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May 22, 2023 15:18
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ThinkFear posted:If you back off the preload, you are going to lose lift height. It is adjusted to give give your target ride height with whatever your front end weight is. Ok so I went out and counted threads this morning (Approximately 24) which according to my research, is relatively high amount of preload and could be causing ride issues. I could crank it down further and get more ride height but thats taking away from down travel and probably ride worse. Alternatively I could let some out and get better travel, but then I'm basically in the bumpstops. also agreed w/r/t bumpstop - the durobumps are purposefully longer to slow then stop, as compared to the OEM rubber button necksnapper. Looking at all of this made me find the words to describe the bad ride quality - basically, I am either bottoming out constantly, or I have to set the Fox DSCs racecar stiff, and a lot of times its both. I have a Hiline bumper (~80 lbs) 10k winch with synthetic line (~60lbs) and a dual battery kit (~40lbs). Otherwise the front end is the lightest its ever been - no sway bar, no skid plates. I specc'ed that out when I ordered the coilovers from Accutune, but maybe I need heavier-duty springs? ili posted:. Also what's that witness mark on the uca from? Sorry meant to address this in the last post. The alignment is hosed up and the tires rubbed on the UCAs a tiny bit, but also chewed up the remote resivoirs on the shocks. I called the mechanic to complain and they said they'd get back to me, obviously they didn't, but I'm just really done dealing with them. The alignment probably needs to be adjusted but the more I dig at this truck, the more I think I'm done with it.
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May 22, 2023 16:32
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Sounds like you need more spring. Do that, then dial in your ride height. Then set shock valving. I am expecting its done for you but if not, pull the coilover spring and manually check shock stroke vs bump stop engagement. If its engaging like halfway through up travel... change that out too. The bumps kind of look progressive in that its not a solid rubber hockey puck so it'll be slightly deceiving. Don't let the shock do any bumpstop work and it'll be fine.
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May 22, 2023 17:11
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cursedshitbox posted:Sounds like you need more spring. Do that, then dial in your ride height. Then set shock valving. I called Accutune this morning (the OG vendor on the shocks + valving) and spoke with them. They ran their calculator and said yeah, I need to go from the Fox 13" 600lb springs to the 14" 650lb springs. Springs are 110 a piece () but I guess I have a one-time free revalving as well Now to figure out how to get the shocks off the truck to be serviced. Accutune says they need two weeks to do the work; the truck can live in my driveway that long but my driveway is fairly tilted, so I don't know how I'd get them off in my driveway w/o risking killing myself. I think the truck could live on the street that long, but I'm not sure. I should use this opportunity to find someone unloading their factory suspension and swap it out in the interim (and then keep the factory stuff for whenever I trade this B in)
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May 22, 2023 17:46
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