This is my first post in this section so bear with me!!

I live in southern Orange County is So. Cal. I see all over the place these kids with 4x4 trucks with the front ends all jacked up real high and no suspension lift at all in the back. Literally the A$$ is draggin on the ground!! All size trucks...single cab Rangers to big F-350 supers. They have got to be the stupidest looking hydrolic wannabe looking things I've seen. They look if they ever took them off roading the a$$ would rub the dirt. Does anyone know about this...or is there a real purpose for it?? I don't even own a 4x4 but the curiousity has gotten to me.
Thanks for the info!!

-John

 

Hi John, I live in So Cal too, and see them everywhere.

Stupid looking or not, there is a good reason why certain race trucks are designed that way. Among other things, these trucks are designed with lots of suspension travel and as low a center of gravity (for stability) as possible while still maintaining good ground clearance. In some trucks, the tires must be able to move up as much as 15 inches from the resting position.

No problem with the rear suspension, since the wheels don't turn and there's nothing above the tires or axles besides empty space, the back of the truck can be built low and the tires/wheels can simply move up way into the wheel wells. But in the front, you generally have one of two setups:
One, IFS, in which case the ground clearance changes as the suspension compresses. You must design ample ground clearance at full compression to avoid slamming your engine into the ground. The engine limits how high you can place the suspension components in relation to the body/frame.
Two, solid axle, in which case you have all kinds of stuff above your axle (unlike the back) and you have clearance problems there too.

This actually turns out to be a mechanical advantage, since a majority of the weight shift occurs in the forward direction (braking, landing from a jump). By keeping the nose of the truck higher than the back, it reduces the tendency to nose dive, a problem in a truck that's already nose-heavy from having almost no weight in the back. Plus, you have to make sure you don't dig the front end into the ground when you come off a jump or hit a hard bump, so you need the extra height up front.

Basically, the height of the truck is as low as it possibly can be, but there are different needs for the front and rear, hence different heights.

I hope some of that made sense, I've been staring at my monitor all day at work and it's late and I tend to ramble.... Cheers!

 

Thanks LW- makes more sense than I could have ever done! New info about trucks is always a good thing. I'll pass it on to my wife.

-John