So I heard you guys like 40s on 17s..

i've only gotten about 5 flats thus far.

 

Beadlocks are on the horizon for us. I like the field serviceability especially since most of the guys in our crew are chickenshit afraid of 37s...

Don't bail on the DirtySeven club @papasmurf !

 

Not chickenshit just smart enough to know better.

 

Every time Alex sees us climb something he says 'I need 37s' and then he gets home and looks at clearance and changes his mind.

It'll happen. 37 is the new 35.

But 40 is still the new 40.

 

37"s are a lot of work with LT

 

Both for clearance at the axles/diffs and as an exercise to test what the truck is capable of at the size. I already know I won't be bombing in the desert at crazy speeds nor will I be willing to try going higher than around 50mph in washes.

 

Wow.. that hole. What the hell did you hit!?

 

A boulder about 3-4ft in size at night doing about 45 sliding around a corner. Took out both passenger wheels and tires. Hit the front and slid down the sliders and then took out the rear. Broke the boulder into 2 pieces.

 

This whole thread reeks of overcompensation for a little paint scuff.






Looks good though.

 

Where at the pics of the finished monster truck? Did I miss em?

 

Oh, gotta go back to the first page. But we still need to see more of the monster!

 

Yeah, I wanna see off the lift. Pics on dirt where it belongs.

 

Well, I tested during a night run on an easy local trail but couldn't get any good shots because well.. it was night. Here're some pics of it before we headed out while airing down..

 

Talk about a man among boys ... lol. Your truck looks ridiculously awesome! You're doing what most guys only dream of. Cudos to you!

 

I really want 37s. But I want to build my truck properly. I want the whole package. Quiet street ride, good MPGs, light unspung weight, and narrow track width. So I am sticking with KO2s. The 37s are 12.5" wide and only weigh 69.5 lbs. My current 35s weigh 66.5 lbs so I'm only gaining 3 lbs. My wheel weighs 24 lbs for a total of 93.5 lbs. Plus its the strongest wheel you can buy for our trucks (forged aluminum). Plus its a +55 offset so being tucked its even stronger (leverage on the spindle) and keeps my track width narrow for technical trails. I've proven KO2s time and time again. For as light and quiet as they are, the are fantastically strong and durable. In death valley last year I was doing 70 mph over sharp rocks the size of baseballs. I've crawled Gold Mountain and White Mountain in Big Bear many times with the same set. Many miles logged over soft sand. thousands of miles all over the American Southwest. I did a solo trip through the entire Mojave trail with a 3 hour total trip time. I was flying. They suffer in mud, but I hate mud anyway.

As for clearing 37s with LT, again, I want the whole package. Lots of guys run 37s with LT. But what they don't tell you is that they have to limit up-travel with most kits because the tire will hit the inner fenderwell (the metal fenderwell). So they are really only running 15" travel or less. I want the full 16" of sprung, usable, strapped travel. The other way to do it is to run a kit with arms longer than the standard +2.5" and then limit up-travel. This will net you 16", but now you are running arms that are like +4" over stock and your truck is super wide. plus those axles that are +4" over stock are not really proven. They just came out and I would be curious to see how they hold up on a truck that does a lot of technical trail. Thats a lot of extra leverage on that axle being so long.

I'm going to eventually run 37s. But in order for me to properly clear them I will have to do the following:

Raise the front inner fenderwell by an inch, 2 preferred. i will do this by cutting a slice out of the current sheet metal and stitching it higher, or cutting the whole thing out and building a new sheet metal fenderwell.

In the rear I have to do the same with the wheel well. But I also have to relocate my rear bedcage mount. Which requires redoing the tubing. i also have to get new bypasses that are clocked differently and have a remote reservoir instead of a piggyback. When the axle is fully articulated, the inside of the tire is rubbing the shock fenderwell and rear cage mount. When both tire are fully stuffed, I do not get this rubbing. Only when I have the axle twisted.

Its a lot of work to properly fit 37s on an LT tundra.

I am not going to attempt 37s until I have re-geared. I've seen you struggle up hill climbs in 4lo Kevin. I noticed the power loss when I went to 35s. 4.88s and 37s (36.5 cuz bfg) will be dead even with 32s and 4.30s. That is where I want to be. With that combo I expect a solid 13+ mpg at 70mph. That is great gas mileage considering the type of build I have. I also expect to have all the gearing I need for technical trail. i am the type that always runs in 4wd and most hills I run 4lo. I like to be gentle on my drive train. I rarely have the gas floored, even when I am bombing desert trail I let the suspension do all the work and use the drivetrain to gently get me up to speed.

Everything is a compromise. Just like politics. But I am solid in the middle. I dont want an extreme rock crawler and I dont want an extreme trophy truck. I want a truck that does everything well; quiet, comfortable, good gas mileage, technically capable, fast over the whoops, and every once in a while it will take a 3' air. Big tires are fun, but they come with too many compromises.

Sorry for the novel, I like to nerd out on trucks sometimes. In summary, BEAD LOCKS ON TUNDRAS ARE STUPID KEVIN

 

Bud, if i lived near mountains and overland heavens like that, I'd be right out there with you tearing and building up my truck!

I need to move further west.....

 

Yeah you do! I love the West, never planning on moving east. I lived in Arkansas for 3 years once. Never again lol

 

Depends on how far west you go!.....no further than CO, NV or AZ for this dude right here! LOL

 

Yep

 

truck looks massive..MRAP status !

 

Looks like you the mama duck.

 

LMAO...pretty much

 

Seriously it dwarfes them... jeez

 

Nice to see 40s on a tundra, look forward to some action shots.
Or, if your ever up in the eastern Sierras look me up. I'm in mammoth. And spend a ton of time cruzing around dv and the deserts/mountains east of us.

I'm running 35s and nitro 4.88s. Can't even imagine, or remember, having that 4.30 power suck. Get em and never look back. And yes - traction devices at same time. I threw the auburn in the rear and it makes a rediculous improvement in traction on climbs, sand, snow. Rediculous!!! I almost never use the arb in front. It has to get ugly. But.... when it does

Spares- too heavy. I've been wheeling my whole life all over southwest mtns , desert , baja. Usually carrying a spare. But always a good airsource, massive plug kit, and wire to stitch sidewalls. A tube or 2. Amazing what you can get air into after a little magic repair. You might not drive on it another year, but it will get you to a shop or home and to work the next week.
Get a kit together, and learn how to use it! And, beadlocks rule when your balls deep and need to get deeper.

I the process of sua, lt front to follow. 37s in the equation
Forge on!!! Take pics

Aaron

 

this is sick dude... this definitely got your truck more known... not sure about home made

 

I really like your build Alex and have based a lot of our decisions on research you started. Love 37s and never going back. At some point we'll do gears and presumably a locker/lsd.

Out of all that novel above, all I heard was BEADLOCKS ARE AWESOME!

Everything you just said about tire repair is why I love beadlocks. I've had to field repair some sketchy shit and trying to break both beads on large tires is the suck. Unlock the bead, throw in a tube, bolt on the bead, air and drive away. Plus I like my tires to stay on the rim when getting sideways in the soft stuff ... Alex...