SGU - The Speed Glampers Uberfahrt

That’s Riley, our resident cinematographer. He’s not on the forum but I just talked to him and he may sign up. He’s a busy hombre.

 

Not break my truck...








but also hit it hard.

 

@dragos28 well what the hell.

I tried to tag you before and it didn't work...

 

You guys are better versed than me trying to catch up with just my simple but capable kings all 4 corners, but is this even considered a viable option for high speed off-roading? Always seen bypasses as secondaries but not a regular smoothie shock?

 

because it limits your compression and rebound adjustment (they have none), and the idea for secondary bypasses is to add control over those factors. as well as overall suspension dampening.

 

Yea, I figured, I guess the only advantage is less moneys, thanks

 

I dig your style!

 

That looks like a bracket lift. Putting bypasses on that and smashing hard may become problematic. Not that a bracket lift isn’t semicapable, but that a pure suspension lift will typically perform better. And I’m not sure who makes bypasses that fit a bracket. I’m sure they could be custom ordered based on collapsed and extended length, but probably cost prohibitive.

 

Let’s ask our resident bracket lift experts: @papasmurf or @Spvrtan

 

“Looks like a bracket lift”... no it is a bracket lift. Just call it what is Kevin.

trouble maker

 

First, get rid of your front sway bar.

Second, ask yourself the following (ie. be honest with yourself):
1) How fast do you realistically think you'll be going?
2) How much do your trust your driving skill and experience offroad at speed?

Talent beats gear 9 times out of 10. I have an old friend that races for Toyota and I've seen him make built mid-travel FJs look like amateurs while he drove his almost stock FJ. You can have a full-blown long-travel setup but if you don't know how to drive it or use it to it's full capabilities then you've just wasted cash unless you just wanted the parts for looks. More often than not, just having proper coilover and shock tuning will allow you to keep up at a decent pace.

 

I agree with everything up to the LT part. I don’t think you have to be BJ Baldwin to make LT worth it. Speaking from experience and having seen others make the transition from MT to LT and even bracket lift to LT without bracket lift; it’s pure glee, the first day you get out there. There isn’t a whoop you don’t try to hit as fast as possible. It’s just more fun.

Can MT keep up at a decent clip? Sure. But will it be as fun? I would bet 9 times out of 10, no.

And since we’re throwing anecdotal statistics out there as truth, 9 times out of 10 you actually have to show up to a run to know whether your bracket lift can keep up with LT. So just come out and let’s have fun.

 

Who me? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Ah where to start....

Considering I ran BDS for a few years w 37’s and mashed hard w this group and others I found the limit of BDS bracket lifts , no a bracket lift is not the same as MT2 or LT.

Not at all actually. Can it keep up, no not exactly. What is a bracket lift. It drops the suspension points for clearance of larger tires and raises the vechile height . What it doesn’t do is give you more travel. you are kidding your self if you think it does anything else. I loved my truck w bds kit but after a few trips I realized it was holding me and the truck back. Roy is correct in saying it’s night and day between LT and everything else.

As far as asking how fast your going well I’ll tell you it’s not just speed it is also how the truck reacts to everything on the trail. Additionally LT allows you to make mistakes and not trash your truck. It’s saved us all in a few instances where a non LT truck may have wrecked or been damaged. So it’s more than just the driver and how fast you think you may go.

Suspension will always limit a trucks ability. Point is you build your truck to do what you want to do. LT doesn’t mean you can rock craw w jeeps on the rubicon, but it doesn’t stop you from doing it. But don’t kid your self into thinking LT is a “waste of cash” because some Bilsteins and 33’s will do what a LT truck does... that’s just ignorant.

All that being said.. come wheel w some tundras sometime and see the difference between us and some 4runners on 33’s doing the same trails over and over again for the instagram photos. You might change your mind.

 

I'm midtravel. But that is a very true statement.

 

Learning here, I come from making cars go fast. What will become problematic with bypasses on a bracket lift?

 

one, they dont make bypasses for a bracket lift. Now in the rear you could do extended ends on a mid travel bypass but thats just the rear. The front is a bigger issue. secondly the bracket is the weak point anyway, you have a much great chance of tweaking the bracket on a hard hit or completely folding it, bracket lifts are good for mild offroading, but to think they can do what LT or MT2 does is just not true. Additionally with a bracket lift, and no company has gotten it 100% correct the suspension geometry isnt right, and the suspension wont cycle the way it would as designed by the manufacture and there are issues that come with a bracket lift, now all this being said I had one for a few years and mashed it hard, with nothing more than 2.5 coil overs in the front and some upgraded rear shocks. But there is 0 chance id ever be able to do half the stuff i do in my truck now with LT.

Additionally bracket lifts specifically is what causes my steering issues, I blew three racks in 18 months because of it, and now with LT havent had a single issue in a year. With the change in geometry with the bracket lift spindles again the suspension and steering isnt quite right and causes other problems.

They are not a BAD thing, you just have to know limits and understand inherent issues that can come with them.

 

I mashed my mid travel. Still mashing with mt rear behind my LT front and prolly sticking with my mt rear for a long while... it’s pretty capable. And @KevinK MASHES his MT but he also has MT on roids

 

His battery only sometimes ends up laying on its side. It gets tired. I get it.

 

I use my setup and push a little with it. Works perfect for what I like to do with my truck. One day maybe I will get a long travel setup. But for now my setup works.

 

so LT > MT on roids >MT >bracket ?

 

I just had custom secondary shocks installed along with custom k37's put on my BDS lift. Now I know what to look fwd to.

 

Im by no means saying that wont be awesome and work well. I was pointing out that Mid travel or mid travel bracket is not LT. your setup will be awesome. No doubt about it. you will have good shocks and leafs and bypasses as well as gears and a locker to handle the larger tires. Its a very solid build.

I want to reiterate, its not bad, its awesome I said i mashed on my BDS kit hard... i had steering rack issues , and replaced my Tierod ends and all that.. to no avail it still had problems. I ditched it for LT because that is what i wanted to do.. to be able to wheel the way i wanted and have the flexibility i needed in my rig.

sounds like your truck is gonna be pretty awesome onces its done with the new suspension components

 

Oh if you are gonna run air bags, ( i had them) may i suggest daystar cradles. they worked great to allow for the proper downtravel... also the airbags will limit uptravel a bit.

 

id say thats pretty close to accurate except MT and bracket are similar if you have the proper coilovers and rear shocks paired with them. i had 2.5 icons (made for BDS kit) and 2.5 ads triple bypass rears with extended ends and they worked very well.

 

Sorry i missed this one, nothing specific to the bypasses.

Here is the little issues with BDS specifically

The spindles are ductile iron (heavy) lots of weight on the a arms which means more to control with the socks meaning more heat (the enemy of shocks)

being that the spindles are ductile iron they have a tenancy to bend if you hit them hard enough .. this will permanently change the geometry which means replacing the spindle.

the steering geometry with BDS spindles is off, which means steering rack problems and despite 18 months of trying different options, could not sort that one out.

speaking of weight, the BDS kit as a whole adds a few hundred lbs to your GVW, now that doesn't seem like much on a 7k lb truck but every little bit matters when it comes to suspension tuning and control. All things to be considered.

Now on a good side, the bds drop brackets are stout and never caused any issues for me.

im just trying to be honest about experience of wheeling the 7" bds kit and finding its limits.

Having a LT truck now for a year and wheeling that, its a different animal all together.

The setup you will be running will be far beyond most which will work great. And im sure and hope you never have a single issue.

Just want people to have realistic ideas of what their rig can and cant do in comparison to different setups

im not sure how many guys here or on TT have ran a BDS kit to its limit for a few years then made the switch to LT and built their entire truck them selves. I have so this is coming from hands on experience.

 

I appreciate your input, it's good info. After having coil overs and rears built, I do regret going with the 7" but I feel like I'm too far deep to go a different route so I'm riding it forever. The bags are going to be detachable so they're not bouncing around and limiting travel while deflated.

 

Well i was there before too, and i made the switch, you dont have to. dont regret the choice, there is 0 wrong with your setup, or anyone else running BDS i said its awesome. Its just not a LT build simply put. come wheel with us sometime to stretch its legs... i know you are up north but we make trips all over the west. Im sure a few of us would do a Oregon trip ( i know we have talked about it) or meet us in the middle somehwere. We are working on a Moab trip next year.

We like new people to come join us, or people who havent in a while..... @Spvrtan all crap talking aside, come out and wheel and camp with us for a weekend. Come to sedona. We would love to see you hit broken arrow with us or greasy spoon. Hell we half dragged a 2wd dude in all but stock tundra through broken arrow a few years ago.
If not anything else we do day trips to anza all the time. Join us, serious offer. come out some time.

 

What up Kris! Don't mind Bruce and the other guys. They're only savage online. On the trail we're all homies and any one of these guys would gladly give you the shirt off his back in the middle of the desert

As for gear, I have to disagree as well. Everyone should stay within a budget they can comfortably afford. It sucks to spend so much money on your truck that you can't afford gas to go on trips. I've seen it happen to guys before. But you should build your truck out as much as possible because it does matter. I don't care how good of a driver someone is. There is no way a stock truck can keep up with a properly built truck. It won't even be close.

Not that this is a race. But its a fact that a good suspension means that you can cross miles and miles of hard terrain and your truck will hold up. You will be comfortable. Getting to camp will be much quicker. With a full LT truck I can cross some serious miles in half the time it would take a stock truck to do. Plus I won't spill my beer while I'm cruising

Talent is good, but none of us are professional drivers. Drive your truck well, install a quality suspension, and you will have a reliable truck that will be a lot of fun

And Kris, you need to get your ass out and wheel with us! You still need redemption from the Anza trip!

 

I've wheeled with lots of guys with bracket lifts. Just know your limits and don't push it and you will be fine. Yes, an LT truck is more capable, but that doesn't mean yours is a pos. Lets go wheeling homie!