LR4 Compomotive Question (Not Tires, I Promise)

[Avslash]

So tangential but...where’s the big sky? Passenger sunroof?


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It is a double gun rack in place of the rear grab handles. One side holds my solar panel, other side holds an AR.

It keeps the rifle close at hand when I sleep in the back. If i want it available from the driver's seat, i just lay it along the passenger side of the center console.

 

[Jwestpro]

Look at the "Big" wheels on BMW's, Porsche's, Corvette's and other FACTORY OEM wheel car and truck setups. They ALL now run large Negative Offset Wheels (flat face) which is completely do to the total suspension design that takes advantage of modern suspension design which includes Wider Track Width, Better Scrub Radius, Bump steer, the big wheel/tire combinations, Caster, Camber and Toe In and many other geometry angles among the many factors. Those big wheels/tire DO effect the handling in huge positive way when designed properly to take advantage of the larger tire width.

No OEM builds a performance vehicle today that includes wheels with a large "Lip" on the outside of the wheel that looks "So Kool" as that wheel design does not take advantage of modern suspension design. Using "Adapters" (Spacer's) widen's the Track Width just like adding those BIG positive offset wheels which places the load farther away from the suspension center line which changes the scrub radius, which changes the tie rod angles and on and on! All this totally defeats the original design of the suspension geometry and rarely does that happen in a good way! Now you know why there are cheap suspension/lift kits and expensive ones. Most of the expensive kits (Not All) use the services of a competent suspension engineer to design the "Lift Kit" to obtain the best geometry that is possible given the constraints of the original suspension design. It's ALL a compromise when you start installing aftermarket wheels, tires, lift kits, adapters, spacers and the like.

If that wheel/tire package looks KOOL it most likely Did Not help your suspension geometry and setup! Just look at ALL the suspension geometry changes when "Level" your truck. Toe In, Bump Steer, Tie Rod angles, CV joint angles if 4WD and more ALL Change and ALL you did was "Level" the front-end of your truck a couple of inches. From a suspension geometry point of view that change was NOT for the better however it sure does LOOK GOOD!

Modern suspension design encompasses the complete Front and Rear suspension design. So you might want to consider this question when you start all these suspension changes:

Do you want better suspension performance or are you just trying look good?

Rarely do those two items come together in one good aftermarket suspension package!

Agreed and basically the conclusion I came to but in less words or very well explained like your post achieved. All those reasons I basically could feel in the handling changing for the worse which is why I don't understand people who just pop on some rods to ride 2.5" higher full time plus spacers. It handles like ******** and anyone who says otherwise is just trying to justify how awesome it looks - because it does. I won't be using spacers unless it's necessary for use of winter chains on a specific trip where they'd be on most of the time. Although, it might not be necessary as it would be on the winter specific wheel and tire combo I have now which is a 17x7 wheel and narrow tire. Even then I could still use the 25mm spacer and be about where the normal 8" wide wheel sits.

The strut spacer allows the damper and air spring to stay right in the perfect neutral ride position so I think that plus factory wheel on the hub is why it now handles very much like stock. I have used the LLAMS controller to ride -20mm to see if that helps even more for any stability but I hate giving up any of the nice suspension compression.

 

[Victory_Overland]

Look at the "Big" wheels on BMW's, Porsche's, Corvette's and other FACTORY OEM wheel car and truck setups. They ALL now run large Negative Offset Wheels (flat face) which is completely do to the total suspension design that takes advantage of modern suspension design which includes Wider Track Width, Better Scrub Radius, Bump steer, the big wheel/tire combinations, Caster, Camber and Toe In and many other geometry angles among the many factors. Those big wheels/tire DO effect the handling in huge positive way when designed properly to take advantage of the larger tire width.

No OEM builds a performance vehicle today that includes wheels with a large "Lip" on the outside of the wheel that looks "So Kool" as that wheel design does not take advantage of modern suspension design. Using "Adapters" (Spacer's) widen's the Track Width just like adding those BIG positive offset wheels which places the load farther away from the suspension center line which changes the scrub radius, which changes the tie rod angles and on and on! All this totally defeats the original design of the suspension geometry and rarely does that happen in a good way! Now you know why there are cheap suspension/lift kits and expensive ones. Most of the expensive kits (Not All) use the services of a competent suspension engineer to design the "Lift Kit" to obtain the best geometry that is possible given the constraints of the original suspension design. It's ALL a compromise when you start installing aftermarket wheels, tires, lift kits, adapters, spacers and the like.

If that wheel/tire package looks KOOL it most likely Did Not help your suspension geometry and setup! Just look at ALL the suspension geometry changes when "Level" your truck. Toe In, Bump Steer, Tie Rod angles, CV joint angles if 4WD and more ALL Change and ALL you did was "Level" the front-end of your truck a couple of inches. From a suspension geometry point of view that change was NOT for the better however it sure does LOOK GOOD!

Modern suspension design encompasses the complete Front and Rear suspension design. So you might want to consider this question when you start all these suspension changes:

Do you want better suspension performance or are you just trying look good?

Rarely do those two items come together in one good aftermarket suspension package!

Agreed! Hence my intent to stay near factory angles/size for all, to include my tire size. My research tells me that 5mm is about maximum shift in offset before we start getting into control arm length/angle redesign to increase suspension and steering performance over stock. I am slightly wider and slightly taller on my LR Euro 17" wheels with KM2s; by maintaining factory offset on the wheels, my angles are well within that 5mm and near factory specs for the suspension.

As @Jwestpro stated, the best choice IMO is sourcing LR wheels or aftermarket wheels that meet or exceed the factory spec of the suspension/steering design. I believe Compomotive probably has done this although I can't confirm as I have zero research on them. One thing to add to all of this is the fact that road handling and off-road handling are two separate animals all together. Bump steer is rarely felt on what I would consider modern roadways, and all of these considerations that @vintageracer reinforced above are essential to off-road performance and handling, even at low speeds!

Drive over a speed bump at an angle with and without your spacers installed and tell me what you feel in the steering wheel?