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Last Updated: 11/30/00This page is always under construction. I've only had my Jeep since fall on 1998, so I don't consider myself an experienced 4 wheelin woman as of yet. So I do spend a lot of time reading and surfing looking for the information that I need to be able to make My Beast more "trail ready" and capable of going on the more extreme trails. I just LOVE riding the trails in my Jeep! And I know you must or you wouldn't be here! Now GET THAT SHIT EATTEN GRIN OFF YOUR FACE! First things first, here we go... The Whole idea of going off-road is to keep all 4 wheels on the ground...and rubber side down. ArticulationYou've heard it everywhere when folks are talking about driving off-road. But what does it mean? It's basically the ability of your rig to flex. You want to maneuver over rocks and over obstacles in your rig, but you don't want to be sliding into the rocks and such from getting in an off-camber position. This happens when the rig is stiff, and all four wheels travel on the same plane. Take a look at this unmodified jeep in the picture below and to the left. Notice that the rear tire is up in the air and the angle of the jeeps body. This jeep has very little articulation. Now look at the modified jeep in the picture above and to the right. This jeep is in the same place as the unmodified jeep, but notice how level the body is and how much closer the rear tire is to the ground. This jeep has good articulation. It practically floats over the small obstacle. When you modify your suspension, you are more then likely adding more flex. Bigger springs, long travel shocks and swaybar disconnects are just an example. When you hear them talk about RTI's (Ramp Travel Index) they are talking about a measurement of the flexibility of a rig. The higher the number, the more flex the rig has. Off-camberWhat? OK. Off-camber is BAD News! This is when you are on a slope, hill, rock, oh hell it could be anything that gets your rig's body at an angle. If you are driving on a hill, you want to head your rig up or down, not at an angle to the hill. Think of it this way, your center of gravity is in the center of your rig. If you head straight up or down a hill, you have a bigger footprint to balance your rig (because you are longer then you are wide). Also you have power to move your rig forward and backwards because of your wheels. Therefore, control of your rig. Now, when driving sideways on a hill, you have very little control. Now your center of gravity is very close to the downward side of the hill. Plus, the only control that you have is to move along the side of the hill, if you turn to go up the hill, you have just lost the support of your front tire and you are transferring the weight thus your center of gravity. Lean just a bit too much and you will roll over in no time.
As you can see in this photo. (Please note the little hill on the right.) This Jeep (mine) was driving along that little hill when a little too much flex came into play. The front right tire got stuck in the wheel well and didn't let me turn to the left. So, we went just an inch too far and over we went before we knew what happened! This is something that can happen very easily in a modified TJ with the swaybars disconnected. What happens is that you flex just so far, then when you've reached that limit you will suddenly loose it. Being in the rig you can not see this happen. My plan is to switch over to the Currie Anti-rock sway bar and get away from being totally disconnected. This will give me more of a feel of what's going on with the trail under me.
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