MrArmyAnt
1/2 ton status
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What's better, a shorter wheelbase or longer one for offroad? Mud? I assume shorter is better for rocks?
CK5
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Offroad wheelbase
- Thread starter MrArmyAnt
- Start date
Masiony
1/2 ton status
that is a good debate. no correct answer. good aproach and departure angles are always good though. my K5 has a WB of 115.5"
Paxx
1/2 ton status
Different types of offroading need different wheelbases. For climbing ledges a long wheelbase is best. (picture a crewcab trying to climb a 4ft tall ledge vs a samurai) Through the tight trees though you would want a short wheelbase for better manueverability. A good formula imho is wheelbase = 3x tire size. So a truck with 35" tires would need a wb of 105". This usually ends up netting you the best stability vs breakover angle etc.
Well damn with 47's thats 141 and I'm at 152, thats almost correct... 
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Paxx
1/2 ton status
lol see good formula eh. I will be stretching my wheelbase to 117.5 when I throw on my 42's. A little short but we have lots of tight trees around here.
Masiony
1/2 ton status
how ironic, with a WB of 115.5 and 38.5 TSL's, i am dead on 3x.Paxx said:
40s and a 118" wheelbase I am close too. I haven't seen that idea before but it sounds good to me, I have wheeled both long and short(sami and a blazer) and truly its a tossup my sami could get in and out of anything and since it was so short and narrow some obstacles for others became non obstacles for me. My blazer can climb anything it seems, but sure is hard to get in and out of stuff. Long wheelbases are nice in the mud but my blazer feels pretty much the same as a buddys longbox extended cab Ford (like 137" wheelbase) So to sum it up, it seems that the best mix is between 100" to 120" depending on tire size. Of course if you are cool like willyswanter and can run huge tires like 47s you can go longer
Masiony
1/2 ton status
so does this mean that the sami is the long WB one?blazinzuk said:
OOPs nope it was a swb sami ended up being about 85" in its last incarnation. Stock samis are 79.5 LWB samis are sweet
Burt4x4
1 Ton First Gen
Hey that works...I have 35" and my wb is 104
DavidB
1/2 ton status
willyswanter said:Well damn with 47's thats 141 and I'm at 152, thats almost correct...
I just had to resurrect this....looks like you're gonna hafta go to fiddy-twos
On a side note, I might as well ask you...I"m looking to build a party wagon like yours, but older and cheaper. I'll be running one tons with minimum lift and maximum hacking and 39" Michelins (maybe dualed out back
) I wheel almost entirely in a big open desert, not much rock. Prolly won't be able to get my wheelbase as short as yours with leaves... Whatcha think?
I think a shortbox truck (117") is about perfect.
I have 113" and it's too short.
I had 131" and it was too long.
I have 113" and it's too short.
I had 131" and it was too long.
DavidB
1/2 ton status
CyberSniper said:
I think you're right. Shortbed has minimum weight too. This truck pic below (brother's) lays the smack down.
Wheelbase depends a LOT on terrain though...out here in the desert I used to wheel a big long Xcab Longbed Cummins Dodge on 35s without much trouble. Wheelbase was awesome for climbing, made J**ps look stupid all the time. My front tires would be at the top of the obstacle before the rears hit it and they'd be flipping over backwards
And there's nothing as fun as blasting a big long heavy truck like that in donuts or up washes and around corners sideways! I once chased/passed some fool that kept blasting thru camp in his '79ish fullsize F*RD prerunner. Bet he felt foolish having my big fat stock diesel keep up with his "built" prerunner.
