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1. Weight distribution.
2. Cam's setup doesn't exactly apply to the average ZJ.
3. It depends.
4. In short, like most things, "ideal" wheelbase depends largely on terrain and driver preference. I would say that most here who push their axles out do so for tire clearance as necessary on (more or less) full bodied rigs. It's up to you to determine the details for your rig.
I'm going to guess weight distribution -- especially on a buggy setup. When you chop out the rear, the rig becomes very front heavy. Doing what Cam mentioned sort of puts the engine "between" the axles for a bit better weight distribution. Depending on your suspension setup, that may also afford you better uptravel as the stock location limits you by the oil pan. It will of course give you a better approach angle, too, because there is less overhang in the front.
108 right now. That's because the high clearance brackets pushed my rear axle back 2 inches. I'm going to suspect that when I swap in 1tons, that I'm going to end up around 110 (at least) because of the way the brackets are going to be setup on the front axle (in line with the axle tubes). Ideal wheelbase depends heavily on the terrain you wheel on. Wheelbase can be a hindrance on tight/twisty trails where I live, but it can be a huge help in more "open" areas like the desert since a long wheelbase tends to climb better. The less sheetmetal you have, the less hindrance wheelbase becomes in tight trails.
If you don't swap out or relocate other things -- yes. Besides the obvious limitation of control arms (which you can always lengthen), your drag link and trackbar can be problematic if you go too far forward. If you convert the steering over to full hydro (removes the drag link), all you need to worry about is the trackbar angle -- which you can eliminate if you get creative and put in a double tri 4 link. I've never tried to push my front axle forward, so I don't know what the practical limit is before you need to worry about the trackbar and draglink.
If you push the rear axle back too far, you can run into gas tank clearance issues. Don't quote me on this, but I think 3 or 4 inches (depending on your setup) is about where you start to run into problems. Of course if you relocate your gas tank, you don't need to worry about it. Pushing the rear back gives you a better departure angle.
But if you are going full-on buggy, your "best" way to increase wheelbase will probably be to push the front axle forward (if possible). IMO, approach angle is more important than departure angle since you can usually drag the rear bumper over anything.
Last edited by SirFuego; 02-18-2011 at 10:29 AM.
The reason I said that pushing the front axle forward is ideal is because ZJs are typically front heavy. For anyone with a grand wanting to stretch their wheelbase, I'd recommend pushing the front axle forward instead of the rear axle back.
Obviously within the platform of a full bodied ZJ you'll have constraints.
My wb is 114 and I would not run a wheelbase that long with anything smaller than 39s. With my low belly it's already bad enough. But it does help a lot with stability on our hillclimbs here in SE.
Last edited by ATL ZJ; 02-18-2011 at 10:27 AM.
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