Inclineometer
- Thread starter datrupr
- Start date
flyingwil
Supporting Sponsor - Sierra Expeditions
Why do you need one of these?
IMO, I think they are not needed, unless you have a way of testing the roll over breaking point it is pointless IMO. I suppose you could figure it out safely, but the pain and cost in figuring out the roll over point make it an expesive mod. To test it the only way I can think of is find a parking lot and a forklift, load the vehicle the way it will be used (the load will change the CG and therefore the roll over breaking point). The vehicle will also have to have the sliders modified to support the vehilce when it goes over, and a forklift would have to lift the truck on one side until it rolls. A note of where it rolls would be the roll over point, and common sense would say to subract 5-10* for safety and CG changes.
I think a general rule for those not going through the test is not to exceed 30* of bank in either horizontal or vertical directions. Am I correct?
I could be way off on this so don't take my word on anything in this post. I am not to well educated on inclonometers and thought this post might stir up some good discussion on the topic.
Wil
IMO, I think they are not needed, unless you have a way of testing the roll over breaking point it is pointless IMO. I suppose you could figure it out safely, but the pain and cost in figuring out the roll over point make it an expesive mod. To test it the only way I can think of is find a parking lot and a forklift, load the vehicle the way it will be used (the load will change the CG and therefore the roll over breaking point). The vehicle will also have to have the sliders modified to support the vehilce when it goes over, and a forklift would have to lift the truck on one side until it rolls. A note of where it rolls would be the roll over point, and common sense would say to subract 5-10* for safety and CG changes.
I think a general rule for those not going through the test is not to exceed 30* of bank in either horizontal or vertical directions. Am I correct?
I could be way off on this so don't take my word on anything in this post. I am not to well educated on inclonometers and thought this post might stir up some good discussion on the topic.
Wil
+ d
Adventurer
How to calculate Center of Gravity and Roll Over Angle
seems like if you did the above exercise and knew your danger zones an inclineometer could be handy early warning devise. i'd probably add in a safety factor of like .75 too.
(totally off subject, but damn, the spell check feature in the google tool bar is slick, no more cut and paste into word)
flyingwil
Supporting Sponsor - Sierra Expeditions
+ d said:
Cool thanks for the Link! Very informative and much better than the off the top of my head way of determining it! HA! Boy do I look stupid, eh? Oh well, Like I said I know nothing about them and they seem like a lot of work to figure it out the roll over point.
Wil
kcowyo
ExPo Original
datrupr said:OK, though not highly neccessary I was wondering where Chris got his inclineometer? I have been looking for one just like it and can not find one anywhere. Chris, can you help me out? Or anyone else?
I'll help ya' Trup -
Lev-O-Gauge at SOR
Lev-O-Gauge at Amazon
These are really cool, but for the price, you may want to get 2, like my bud Darren has in his 4Runner. He has one located in the center stack on the dash and a second mounted at the top of his passenger side B pillar. The center one he uses to determine the side to side degree of roll and the one on the B pillar helps determine the angle of his forward pitch. Pretty neat gauges, especially for the price!
BajaTaco
Swashbuckler
Question: do these things only work on inclines?
KC has some great links there to buy. I got my clinometers from 4x4 connection . I know that Mike at Xtreme Off-Road has them too.
I have mounted one in the center of the dash area, and I stole Darrens idea and put one on the b-pillar too. I think they are fun to check out (if you can remember to look when you are going ) when on the trail. As was mentioned, I think 30 degrees is a good gauge for crossing the line of *safety* and so if you are feeling really tippy and you look and see you are only at 23 degrees or so... then that can be useful info. Yes, it is mostly seat-of-the-pants due to varying conditions, but I still think it's fun to look at the gauges. If you do get a really good tip going - you can snap a pic of the gauge for posterity. I also use them just about every time I park the truck at camp since I sleep in the back.
KC has some great links there to buy. I got my clinometers from 4x4 connection . I know that Mike at Xtreme Off-Road has them too.
I have mounted one in the center of the dash area, and I stole Darrens idea and put one on the b-pillar too. I think they are fun to check out (if you can remember to look when you are going
) when on the trail. As was mentioned, I think 30 degrees is a good gauge for crossing the line of *safety* and so if you are feeling really tippy and you look and see you are only at 23 degrees or so... then that can be useful info. Yes, it is mostly seat-of-the-pants due to varying conditions, but I still think it's fun to look at the gauges. If you do get a really good tip going - you can snap a pic of the gauge for posterity. I also use them just about every time I park the truck at camp since I sleep in the back.
kcowyo
ExPo Original
Is this a trick question?BajaTaco said:Question: do these things only work on inclines?
Similar but different info -
Toyota Trails Tech Editor Roger Brown has some interesting info on Toyota factory inclinometers
The factory inclinometers, like mine pictured below, only read to 30 degrees. Roger found that he could modify these to measure up to 45 degrees. The most roll I've had mine read was 25 degrees and that was plenty, thank you. I particularly like the altimeter feature when I'm running around the mountains, however I wish that could be adjusted too as it will top out at 10K feet. There are a few trails around here and many more in Colorado, that are around 12K feet in elevation.
BajaTaco
Swashbuckler
kcowyo said:
Hmmm... I don't think so (?)
I guess what I am getting at, is that if you buy an inclinometer will it only work when you are going uphill? Do you have to buy a declinometer and mount it next to the inclinometer to see how steep the hill you are going down is? :hehe:
I use a clinometer and it's an all-in-one guage. It works both uphill and downhill. :xxrotflma
I know... I'm a smart-:shakin: !