Kevin Rimcoski
EF3
I think you're forgetting the handling aspect of lifting a vehicle does.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, because I often am, but it's my understanding the winds increase from from the ground going up to a certain point. If so, is that because of things like bushes breaking the wind? I'm sure somebody out there has an informed answer to that. If so, a lower vehicle wouldn't be subject to as strong of winds.
One thing you do need to be VERY careful with if you keep the lift is the fact that it changes your driveline angle. You're not going to be able to pull as big of a trailer because of that. Too much stress after changing that angle (without compensating for it) and you'll tear up either your transmission, rear end, or shatter your driveshaft. Some of those maneuvers you're referring to could be putting stress on your drivetrain that you're not aware of because of those angles. Same goes with pulling guys out of the mud.
I hope you at least had your PCM recalibrated to factor in the bigger tires as well. If not, that's another way to tear up your tranny (and possibly your motor depending on if your PCM factors the VSS in for fuel trims).
That's my big thing with it. It's not as simple as throwing a lift kit on. There are several other things that must be taken to account, and you will sacrifice certain capabilities in the process. I've seen way too many people tear up their trucks and don't want that to happen to you.
And to be fair, you'd be surprised at what those rally type cars can do in the hands of someone who knows how to use their strengths.
My wrx actually can do that. Minus the pulling, I'd rather keep my drivetrain intact
My car is built and daily driven and still reliable like it was new. I know a thing or two about proper modding
Just becaise you're not new to tje truck world doesn't mean you know what you're doing. I've seen it many many times where someone jumps on the forum saying they're not new to the tuning world and the first thong they do are am abumdance of engine mods without proper tuning and then complain about their cars running like crap and saying they're garbage
A lift helps but is not needed. A good set of tires are key. Although lifting does make room for bogger better wheel and tire combos
The difference between the vans you say are higher than your truck and how they're fine in the wind or whatever was said doesn't mean too much. What's the ground clearance? The last thing you want are winds getting under the vehicle...raising ground clearance increases the amount of wond getting underneath.
The other thing is those cars suspension are designed for that car specifically. If you raise your truck (not into truck modding myself) but you change the entire way the car handles which is more important with winds at whatever speeds
Honestly the only useful thing I see in a lift is protecting your engine from hydrolocking if you still have a cold air intake installed.
I do have to ask what purpose a CAI and exhaust is doing?
Sorry if it sounds like I'm attacking you, that's not what I'm trying to make it sound like. Just trying to wrap my head around the purpose of it. You don't need the extra HP and torque. You have displacement for that, nor are huge numbers relavant for chasing. So the only thing I can thing of is for attention?
Also post more pics of truck please
Oh also, was the truck dyno tuned for weight? This is the first I'm hearong of engine management for different weight
If you're looking for power gains, adding weight to your vehicle is counterproductive. The more weight, the less power is reaching the ground. The important part is power to weight ratio
I'm not trying to bash, just trying to get to the underlying line of reasoning. Granted, from what I've read from the rest of your thread, my chase style and yours is vastly different, but performance on a dirt/mud road is something that comes into play regardless of chase style.
If money were no object, I'd relegate the truck to tow/farm duty and buy a Subi as a DD/chase vehicle. But it is a factor so that's not an option, at least in the near term. It's smaller, more maneuverable, and probably runs circles around my truck in the mud.
I do have my bias, I will fully admit that. I don't have a job that pays me the kind of money to throw at things and I tend to have a much more stringent standard on expense vs end result. If I can make it work on what I have (which I've been doing for 10 years now), it's hard to justify spending the extra money. That doesn't appear to be a factor in your case, I just fail to see how your truck is going to make a U-turn that mine cannot unless there's rock crawling involved (at which point I'm dead in the water).
That's all my comments have been meant for. Nothing malicious, no bashing, just an old farm boy trying to see things from your perspective and understand your thinking.
To each his own...but I'd rather chase in my light and nimble 07 Forester (that's actually lower than stock) than a big cumbersome truck.
Never been stuck. Never had to make more than a 3 point turn. 0-gettheFouttahere in under 6 seconds.
Cruzzer...you doing better at sharing the road this year with that behemoth?
When you said "my wrx can do that" I took it in the context of my post talking about pulling out the semi. I know first hand how capable off-road wrx's can be, my brother has an sti and absolutely loves it, especially in the snow. With a basic lift the handling of the truck does become a lot poorer, but more advanced lifts replace stock parts to correct the change in angles. It may be because I drive the truck daily and I'm used to it but I absolutely love how the truck handles, and the lift even increased my turn radius. As for the CAI, the filter I got is washable and reusable. It's $37 to replace the air filter in this truck and the stock one gets dirty pretty fast. The air box has two openings, but I closed off the bottom opening to limit moisture sucked into the filter. I got the Intake for free and installed it myself so it's more of a money saver long term, and I can't complain about a couple extra horsepower. Exhaust was sponsored as well, and the main reason for that was to have the Magnaflow name on the truck to help with other sponsors for more important parts. The truck was tuned mainly for the larger wheels and new gears. The extra weight was added for more stability in higher wind and better traction in snow.
Here's an updated picture of the truck.
I'm definitely not throwing money around at all, I wouldn't be able to do any of this without sponsors. As for the U-Turns, we've been on a great deal of county dirt roads that are well maintained where the side drops down 6-10 inches that I wouldn't have been able to U-turn on without the extra couple inches. I still don't see how a smaller car, even a subaru, could outdo a truck with mud tires when you gotta drive a quarter mile with mud a fourth of the way up the tires (probably halfway up on the subaru). I'll try to take a couple pictures over the next few days of some of the examples I've been using.
But again, with a smaller vehicle, I don't have the room to carry all the tools and gear to help out or pull out anyone in need.
Haha yes I am! That's another bonus I've had with the lift. I can pull all the way off the road wherever I need without having to worry about getting stuck or damaging anything