The Lone Ranger – Kage’s ’94 X-Cab Leaf SAS and Bed Bob

[86 slo-vo]

I'll get that measurment for you tomorrow, but you might want to look into getting YJ springs instead. They're dirt cheap, and you can get them mil wrapped. Look into BDS springs as they have a no questions asked warntee.

There just isn't as many options out there for the Waggies, and If I didn't allready have everything setup for the Wagoneer springs, I'd jump ship over to the YJ junk.

thinking about either the 44044 waggies or yota's, i need something with a pretty short pin to front eye measurement.

 

[NMB2]

Care to elaborate?

Function wise, its accomplishing the same thing as the boomerang shackles. The way these are set up, they are spaced about 3/16" away from the shackle at full droop (Droop is being set with the limit straps). They shouldn't see much of any force against them, and with the thicker springs, I'm not entirely certain they're actually needed. But I wanted something there to help keep everything in place while I'm running around the backwoods of MT

Or am I completely missing something?

not having that stop still provided a cushion of sorts. Your springs are not heavy duty, and they do not have military wraps. Your limit straps have no affect on spring wrap. So now when those stoppers bottom out its going to be harsh and its going to torque on the main leaf right at the spring clamp and probably 90* it right there.

My leafs have military wraps so the main leaf and second leaf are locked together, and then I have a clamp, clamping the 3rd in as well.

 

[Kage]

thinking about either the 44044 waggies or yota's, i need something with a pretty short pin to front eye measurement.

I'd hesitate running the 44044's, as there seem to be alot of people complaining about them flattening out too easily. I don't know what weight you're shooting for though. Keep in mind the waggies cub weight was around 4400 lbs, so when you get over that, those spring will like to fatigue easier.

not having that stop still provided a cushion of sorts. Your springs are not heavy duty, and they do not have military wraps. Your limit straps have no affect on spring wrap. So now when those stoppers bottom out its going to be harsh and its going to torque on the main leaf right at the spring clamp and probably 90* it right there.

My leafs have military wraps so the main leaf and second leaf are locked together, and then I have a clamp, clamping the 3rd in as well.

Gotcha. I tried to find stock height mil wrapped waggies, but they don't seem to be available (maybe custom built, but I didn't have time to persue that route). I know that what I have isn't truly 'heavy duty', but its a considerable strength upgrade from the stock waggy leafs.

For now, I'm out of time to even consider changing it up (18 days before we head out). If I keep bending springs, I might just go RA's after all .

I'd say that I'm pretty easy on my junk, and that I'm not too worried about flipping a shackel, but I've allready done it once, so it would be foolish of me to say it'll never happen again .

 

[Viper Command]

I just found your build, I really like your truck.

If you dond mind me asking, how much money have you put in her?

 

[Kage]

I just found your build, I really like your truck.

If you dond mind me asking, how much money have you put in her?

Thanks! As it sits, I've got $4k wrapped up into it (including the initial purchase price of the truck). However, I just dropped the coin on some new wheels and tires (I'll update on those in a few days I hope). I still need to do something about a locker in the back (there's another $500 or so). And if I were to regear it, the price goes up even futher.

So to "finish" it (if you can ever finish a truck) It's looking like I'll have about $6k in this.

It may not be high zoot, but it works for my budget

 

[Viper Command]

Very nice I thought it would be just over the 10k mark, and who said you need to win the lotto to have a worthy trail rig.

 

[Kage]

... and who said you need to win the lotto to have a worthy trail rig.

The guys that play in the Dunes

 

[Josh40601]

or people like me that suck and don't have tools, room, or skill

 

[Kage]

Re-centered H1’s and 37” take offs

I have been running on these used Nitto’s and H2’s for about the past 3k miles or so. While they worked pretty well, two of the Nitto’s were getting a bit thin so I wanted to replace them. I got a bit of sticker shock at how much the dang things were going for (about $400 per tire to my door for the 37x13.5xR17 mud grappler). I’m a little bit too low dollar to be running tires that pricey.

Once I became aware of that price road block, I started searching for an alternative to my tire needs at which point I became aware of Trail Worthy Fab’s re-centered H1’s with 37” take off’s. On the surface, it seemed like a good deal, and the end, I feel that it was worth it. However, my dealings with TWF has left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Nearly to the point that they were very close to having CC fraud charges filed against them for non-delivery of product. I’ll post a little more about that saga at the end of this post, but for those skimming this post, buyer beware.

Onto the good stuff. I went with the flat centered 8 bolt rims as I felt that the 12 lug wheels weren’t necessary for my ‘lightweight’ rig. I had to go with the flat center as I wanted the most backspacing that I could get (4.5”). I also opted to get the PVC bead locks as well so that I would have a true double bead lock wheel setup.

Bringing them Home:

Off the Truck:

Primed:

Painted (you can see the PVC inserts):

Assembled (torque the lugs in steps, 65 ftlbs, then 75 ft lbs finial, there should be a maximum spacing of .0015” between the wheel half’s at this point):

And then on the truck:

It definitely changed the look of the truck going to these wheels. I’m not sure I dig the color, but I doubt that I’ll have time to change it any time soon. So far I’m very happy with the on road ride (very low noise compared to the Nittos, and balanced pretty good though I need to add a few more bb’s). I’m also digging the fact that these are steel, so no more worrying about killing one of those H2’s on a rock.

It might also be my imagination, but they seem to roll easier as well, even though they’re heavier than the other wheel and tire combo (currently about 150 lbs a wheel).

Now for the buyer beware part. I’ll preface this that I tend to be a very calm person, and having spend most of my working career in small shops I tend to give the ‘little guys’ a lot of leeway. So don’t paint me as the typical impatient consumer. That said here’s the cliff notes:

- Placed order 7/5/11, was quoted 3-4 week lead time
- 4 Weeks passed and nothing from TWF
- TWF seems to try to disappear, not return phone calls/emails/etc
- Finally get a hold of TWF and get a ship date
- Get another Ship date
- Get yet another Ship date
- Wheels and tires show up 6 weeks and 3 days after order, but no Spares
- Try to get a hold of TWF (rinse and repeat)
- Get a ship date for the two spares
- Ship date passes
- Call again (rinse repeat)
- Spares finally show up 7 weeks and 2 days after they’re ordered (bare in mind, these are just Fed ex’d)
- Buyer Beware as there is some major communication issues at TWF


Long Story:

When I placed my order, I called and went back and forth a few times with Andy. Every time he picked up the phone quickly, and responded to emails in a timely manner. I finally placed the order on 7/5/11 from TWF and was quoted a 3-4 week lead time to get my order. No worries, plenty of time before my trip out west (or so I though).

At the 4 week mark, I called TWF to ask if my order had shipped yet (also sent an email). I got nothing but crickets from them which I thought was odd as they usually picked up right away before. After a few more tries I finally got ahold of Andy (using a work phone number, keep that in mind) to which he told me that there was a hold up and they had to wait for the rock rings to show up. He assured me they would ship out the next day (Friday). No worries, stuff happens. I’m not pissed, but it would have been nice to know (drop me an email, return my phone call, whatever).

At the 5 week mark, I still hadn’t gotten any information on whether or not my order shipped. So again, I go through the same song and dance, leave messages, send emails nothing nothing nothing….. I still wasn’t pissed at this point until I saw that Andy had posted over on Pirate 4x4 LESS THAN 5 MINUTES after I had left my last message. That burned me good. In the end, I had to send a PM via Pirate to the TWF owner to get Andy to call me back.

When he called me, I was informed that there was a hold up with the PVC inserts. Again, stuff happens, I wouldn’t have been pissed if I was kept I the loop here. But when your customers can see you posting on the interwebz, and not returning their phone call, that’s crap. Especially when you’re toting your ‘awesome customer service’ when you’re on that site. Again, I was promised that the tires/wheels would ship out that Friday.

The six week mark comes and goes, and still no shipping information, or word from TWF. Start the game all over again, phone calls, emails. I finally get through by using a different phone number than what I had used before. While I can’t say for sure that my phone number was being screened, it was very odd that the only times I could get Andy on the phone was when I used a different number. Take it for what its worth

When I get through to him, I’m assured that they are shipping out today, and that I would have a tracking number that afternoon. At this point I was ready to cancel the order and move on with life (I had less than 2 weeks before my trip out west, so needed tires NOW). But I figured at this point, what’s one more day. True to his word this time, I get a tracking number and the tires and wheels arrive 6 weeks and 3 days after placing the order. Well most of them showed up anyway.

You see, I ordered two additional spare 37” take off’s. These were missing from the order. Start the process over again of trying to get a hold of TWF. When I finally do, I get the “oops, we’ll ship those on Friday, I swear!” routine again. They wound up shipping out the following Tuesday, which got them to me 7 weeks and 2 days after placing the order.

Once I had everything, it all went together well, the workmanship seems to be of good quality (wheels spin true, welds look nice). However, 4 of the 6 tires had large amounts of grease inside of them. When I say large, I mean I pulled out about a ½ tub worth of grease out of two tires. And no, I’m not exaggerating…


So the moral of the story? I’m not sure there is one. In the end, I’m happy with the product, though at this point I have less 8 days before I head out west so we’re cutting it dang close. I just now got everything together and have put all of 50 miles on the setup (I was hoping to get a few more miles on it to shake it out).

After some research, it appears that I’m not the only one that’s had communication issues with TWF (there’s a few threads that pop up on google). I don’t particularly wish ill on TWF, I’m just posting my experience with them. At the same point, I’m not certain that I’ll spend any more money with them unless they can fix their communication issues. As I wasn’t pissed until I started getting the run around for 3 weeks. I don’t know about you folks, but this was a significant amount of money for me, so I get a little concerned when I can’t get a hold of a company that has changed me for product not delivered, yet I still see them posting on the internet.

Take my rant for what’s its worth….

Edit and Update 9/26/11

I just wanted to post what the resolution was with TWF and my balancing issue was. It turns out that I had a ‘bum’ PVC insert that was causing all of my issues. TWF Sent me another Insert and now life is good.

TWF went a step further and made things right which was nice of them considering how much of my ‘free’ time I had wrapped up into trying to solve this issue.

The bottom line is that my experience was out of the ordinary with TWF’s product, and I don’t think that my issues should scare anyone away from purchasing from them. The communication issues I was having sucked, but hopefully they’ll work on resolving them in the future. Things get dropped when you’re running a small shop, I get that as I have worked in several small shops during my career as a machinist.

Going forward, I’ll give them another shot if/when I have a need of their products in the future. So take that for what its worth.

 

[CHKNFKR]

When you decide you want new rubber you're gonna regret having 16.5" wheels, they really narrow down your options.

 

[railman]

When you decide you want new rubber you're gonna regret having 16.5" wheels, they really narrow down your options.

sorta true...but the HumVee take off tires will be available for quite a long time....plus they are cheap and he can "stock up" on em'....

l8r, John

 

[Bray D]

Sooo, about these H2's you've got sitting around collecting dust.........

 

[bobbywalter]

Re-centered H1’s and 37” take offs

I have been running on these used Nitto’s and H2’s for about the past 3k miles or so. While they worked pretty well, two of the Nitto’s were getting a bit thin so I wanted to replace them. I got a bit of sticker shock at how much the dang things were going for (about $400 per tire to my door for the 37x13.5xR17 mud grappler). I’m a little bit too low dollar to be running tires that pricey.

Once I became aware of that price road block, I started searching for an alternative to my tire needs at which point I became aware of Trail Worthy Fab’s re-centered H1’s with 37” take off’s. On the surface, it seemed like a good deal, and the end, I feel that it was worth it. However, my dealings with TWF has left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Nearly to the point that they were very close to having CC fraud charges filed against them for non-delivery of product. I’ll post a little more about that saga at the end of this post, but for those skimming this post, buyer beware.

Onto the good stuff. I went with the flat centered 8 bolt rims as I felt that the 12 lug wheels weren’t necessary for my ‘lightweight’ rig. I had to go with the flat center as I wanted the most backspacing that I could get (4.5”). I also opted to get the PVC bead locks as well so that I would have a true double bead lock wheel setup.

Bringing them Home:

Off the Truck:

Primed:

Painted (you can see the PVC inserts):

Assembled (torque the lugs in steps, 65 ftlbs, then 75 ft lbs finial, there should be a maximum spacing of .0015” between the wheel half’s at this point):

And then on the truck:

It definitely changed the look of the truck going to these wheels. I’m not sure I dig the color, but I doubt that I’ll have time to change it any time soon. So far I’m very happy with the on road ride (very low noise compared to the Nittos, and balanced pretty good though I need to add a few more bb’s). I’m also digging the fact that these are steel, so no more worrying about killing one of those H2’s on a rock.

It might also be my imagination, but they seem to roll easier as well, even though they’re heavier than the other wheel and tire combo (currently about 150 lbs a wheel).

Now for the buyer beware part. I’ll preface this that I tend to be a very calm person, and having spend most of my working career in small shops I tend to give the ‘little guys’ a lot of leeway. So don’t paint me as the typical impatient consumer. That said here’s the cliff notes:

- Placed order 7/5/11, was quoted 3-4 week lead time
- 4 Weeks passed and nothing from TWF
- TWF seems to try to disappear, not return phone calls/emails/etc
- Finally get a hold of TWF and get a ship date
- Get another Ship date
- Get yet another Ship date
- Wheels and tires show up 6 weeks and 3 days after order, but no Spares
- Try to get a hold of TWF (rinse and repeat)
- Get a ship date for the two spares
- Ship date passes
- Call again (rinse repeat)
- Spares finally show up 7 weeks and 2 days after they’re ordered (bare in mind, these are just Fed ex’d)
- Buyer Beware as there is some major communication issues at TWF


Long Story:

When I placed my order, I called and went back and forth a few times with Andy. Every time he picked up the phone quickly, and responded to emails in a timely manner. I finally placed the order on 7/5/11 from TWF and was quoted a 3-4 week lead time to get my order. No worries, plenty of time before my trip out west (or so I though).

At the 4 week mark, I called TWF to ask if my order had shipped yet (also sent an email). I got nothing but crickets from them which I thought was odd as they usually picked up right away before. After a few more tries I finally got ahold of Andy (using a work phone number, keep that in mind) to which he told me that there was a hold up and they had to wait for the rock rings to show up. He assured me they would ship out the next day (Friday). No worries, stuff happens. I’m not pissed, but it would have been nice to know (drop me an email, return my phone call, whatever).

At the 5 week mark, I still hadn’t gotten any information on whether or not my order shipped. So again, I go through the same song and dance, leave messages, send emails nothing nothing nothing….. I still wasn’t pissed at this point until I saw that Andy had posted over on Pirate 4x4 LESS THAN 5 MINUTES after I had left my last message. That burned me good. In the end, I had to send a PM via Pirate to the TWF owner to get Andy to call me back.

When he called me, I was informed that there was a hold up with the PVC inserts. Again, stuff happens, I wouldn’t have been pissed if I was kept I the loop here. But when your customers can see you posting on the interwebz, and not returning their phone call, that’s crap. Especially when you’re toting your ‘awesome customer service’ when you’re on that site. Again, I was promised that the tires/wheels would ship out that Friday.

The six week mark comes and goes, and still no shipping information, or word from TWF. Start the game all over again, phone calls, emails. I finally get through by using a different phone number than what I had used before. While I can’t say for sure that my phone number was being screened, it was very odd that the only times I could get Andy on the phone was when I used a different number. Take it for what its worth

When I get through to him, I’m assured that they are shipping out today, and that I would have a tracking number that afternoon. At this point I was ready to cancel the order and move on with life (I had less than 2 weeks before my trip out west, so needed tires NOW). But I figured at this point, what’s one more day. True to his word this time, I get a tracking number and the tires and wheels arrive 6 weeks and 3 days after placing the order. Well most of them showed up anyway.

You see, I ordered two additional spare 37” take off’s. These were missing from the order. Start the process over again of trying to get a hold of TWF. When I finally do, I get the “oops, we’ll ship those on Friday, I swear!” routine again. They wound up shipping out the following Tuesday, which got them to me 7 weeks and 2 days after placing the order.

Once I had everything, it all went together well, the workmanship seems to be of good quality (wheels spin true, welds look nice). However, 4 of the 6 tires had large amounts of grease inside of them. When I say large, I mean I pulled out about a ½ tub worth of grease out of two tires. And no, I’m not exaggerating…


So the moral of the story? I’m not sure there is one. In the end, I’m happy with the product, though at this point I have less 8 days before I head out west so we’re cutting it dang close. I just now got everything together and have put all of 50 miles on the setup (I was hoping to get a few more miles on it to shake it out).

After some research, it appears that I’m not the only one that’s had communication issues with TWF (there’s a few threads that pop up on google). I don’t particularly wish ill on TWF, I’m just posting my experience with them. At the same point, I’m not certain that I’ll spend any more money with them unless they can fix their communication issues. As I wasn’t pissed until I started getting the run around for 3 weeks. I don’t know about you folks, but this was a significant amount of money for me, so I get a little concerned when I can’t get a hold of a company that has changed me for product not delivered, yet I still see them posting on the internet.

Take my rant for what’s its worth….

i see that too much depending on time of year, and getting the tires is not what it used to be.

one thing about these is they absolutely suck in the snow and wet. i have not been overly impressed with them off road but they get by better then most at's. a bit wobbly---i am on my second set now and they are worse then the first set for run out...but really quiet for what they are.

my problem was gearing with the diesel, these tires allow me to hiway cruise with the 4l80 and 410 gears.....hiway cruise and tire wear are hand in hand at a rapid rate and 400 dollar each tires will never be cheap for me.

twf run me around a bit, but a different supplier was much worse...probably go back to twf or just get the r/t's..... they are a smoking deal as well....pretty sure i will run them if i have to work in the snow this year and not fla.


how did these tires do in the terrain you wheeled in??

i would like for you to report them in the military tire thread if you will http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97361


i tried the airsofts and they work about the same as the dynabeads...but easier to get and cheaper. how much weight did you end up with??

 

[kroussinoffroad]

brother run's these on his K-5 and i am not impressed with them off road. they are stiff as iron and wear well, but they just dont seem to hook up. but you really cant beat the price at all.

keep in mind we run the ooey gooey stuff, not so much rocks

 

[RangerSVT]

I was considering these when I was going to run 37's, but I was told by a military buddy that did a lot of "offroad driving" in a hummer that the other style (michelin) grip a lot better offroad...
SVT