AmboVan Restarted
- Thread starter hobietony
- Start date
hobietony
Explorer
One of the last pieces of the suspension puzzle is Chris's trac bar assembly. I was very resistant to the idea of a trac bar, because it needs to be mounted at an angle, (not parallel to the axle) it necessarily drives the axle laterally when it cycles through it's travel - This is of course how it eleminates bump steer, because it forces the axle to move perpendicular to the steering linkage, instead of perpendicular to the axle itself. Because I was so sure I didn't want it, I chopped off all the components at the axle for attachment, and tucked the steering stabilizer up behind the linkage bar to protect it
Before trac bar install
However, I have only heard glowing reports of the performance of the trac bar when it is installed. I worked on my bump steer problems one step at a time, first installed the longer pittman arm, then put in much stiffer springs in back to fight the 'wallow', both of which helped. Finally decided to put in the trac bar in to get rid of the rest of the bump steer, and I can tell you it is awesome - there are no more 'tricks' to driving this, anyone can hop in and go - tracks straight, trivial (if any) feedback through the wheel from suspension movements, everything just works great now.
There are a lot of people that have this Ujoint system without the trac bar and they love it, not sure if it was the weight of my vehicle or just me that was bugged by the BS issue, but I see no reason now not to install it. It finishes the system.
The bar and a new lower mount from Chris
Upper mount tacked on place
Prep at the lower mount
All installed
It does, however, put that damn stabilizer back down where any passing rock can demo it. ****** were they thinking when they put it there? I'll eventually try to find another location, but for now, I will just avert my eyes.
Before trac bar install
However, I have only heard glowing reports of the performance of the trac bar when it is installed. I worked on my bump steer problems one step at a time, first installed the longer pittman arm, then put in much stiffer springs in back to fight the 'wallow', both of which helped. Finally decided to put in the trac bar in to get rid of the rest of the bump steer, and I can tell you it is awesome - there are no more 'tricks' to driving this, anyone can hop in and go - tracks straight, trivial (if any) feedback through the wheel from suspension movements, everything just works great now.
There are a lot of people that have this Ujoint system without the trac bar and they love it, not sure if it was the weight of my vehicle or just me that was bugged by the BS issue, but I see no reason now not to install it. It finishes the system.
The bar and a new lower mount from Chris
Upper mount tacked on place
Prep at the lower mount
All installed
It does, however, put that damn stabilizer back down where any passing rock can demo it. ****** were they thinking when they put it there? I'll eventually try to find another location, but for now, I will just avert my eyes.
Last edited:
hobietony
Explorer
finally, a fun project, cleaned out some of the scraps in my steel pile and made some seriously burly vehicle ramps
This aught to hold it
Still a lot of travel left...
All caught up now, I'm trying to drive it as much as possible now, shake out any remaining bugs - so far so good.
This aught to hold it
Still a lot of travel left...
All caught up now, I'm trying to drive it as much as possible now, shake out any remaining bugs - so far so good.
Ozrockrat
Expedition Leader
What size tires are you running and how much room between the rear diff and the ground? I am thinking I need to do a rubber lift to try and get more clearance. For the traveling we will be doing I am more worried about the crown in the center of the road rather than break over angle/rear overhang.
hobietony
Explorer
255/85-16s. I dont have a number on the clearance to the pumpkin, but that thing is huge. Shock mounts also hang down about that far. They are not small tires, a little taller than a 33, but they do look tiny on this rig. So, clearance is (34/2)-half your pumpkin size, which I think is a Dana 70 like mine -
Rubber lift of course has it's own set of problems, with gearing, braking power, needing spacers between the wheels if you keep the duallys, reduction in track width and stability if you go SRW, same old discussion.
hobietony
Explorer
I put about 2k of sandbags in the back and took it to the scales, had 7.5k on the back axle. I am pretty comfortable having the air bags take up anything beyond the 7k springs I have now. Also, you must have a E450? I think my GVRW is something closer to 11k
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SILVA.GYPSIES
New member
Awesome project we too are in the rebuild stage. Do you have pix of roof extension?
Ozrockrat
Expedition Leader
My GVRW was upgraded by Quigley when they did the conversion. The only other thing I see different is that I have a disk brake rear axle. I would like to go SRW but at the axle load I am currently looking at it would need to be something like Michelin XML's at 5000+ lbs weight rating each. But they are 38" and I would have to do some major rework to fit them let alone stop or re-gear to actually turn them (and where could you get spares along the road).
Comparing the the curvature of your springs to the basically straight springs (and no axle lift block) on mine, I think that springs will need to be one of my first upgrades. It might get rid of the pre-runner stance it has now (but it is very stable and handles well)
hobietony
Explorer
A few from the original thread (the one with all the broken links):
It has been pretty stuck at this point for a while, I is hard to do the sanding when there is something more fun to do. Within the next few months I want to get it done, the electrical crap is all out of the way, no more excuses there. I really want to find the right person to finish up the sanding/fairing/labor portion, that I can trust not to sand through the fiberglass, but wont cost me an arm and a leg for what is mostly just labor. I have a guy for paint, but he doesn't really want to spend a week sanding either.
SILVA.GYPSIES
New member
Thanx for the pix. I'm debating the topper project. Would you mind sharing your plans?
hobietony
Explorer
Um, plans? What plans? I knew the overall dimensions I wanted, and sketched out a shape full size until it had pleasing proportions. I also knew how much room I need to have headroom in the rig. This was made into a template. So, no real plans. I made it 1 (nominal) foot less that than the roof size all around, and made it about a 30 degree angle on the sides. I would do it in aluminum or relatively light steel tubing if I had to do it again. I'll try this week to get the pics in the previous thread relinked, that will help with my process.