CLEARANCE CHECK - RUBICAT Flex Test with Her New 40" Cooper STT Pros

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
After doing some initial testing of Rubicat with her new 40x13.50R17 Cooper Discoverer STT Pros, Cindy and I realized that a considerable amount of trimming would be needed if we wanted to keep her stance as low as we had it. To see pics of what we did, click on the link below:

HEMMED the SEAMS - RUBICAT Trimmed to Fit 40's

Knowing that we may not have hemmed her seams up high enough, we decided to take her down the street to do some flex tests and see if her tires would now clear or if she still need some more trimming. Here are a few shots we took from the laboratory.

Twisted Up Test #1
Front driver side up and rear passenger side up - view from the front.
20170616155841-dcb56687.jpg


20170616155830-a7e9ee08.jpg


20170616155854-ee26258a.jpg


So far, the fenders clear and I see no signs of rubbing up front.
20170616155902-7e0bb295.jpg


Time to take a look at the rear.
20170616155921-074b0076.jpg


Good stuff and so far, the fenders appear to clear.
20170616155930-87dbde78.jpg


The forward half of the rear fender well seems to have been adequately hemmed.
20170616155935-09b45686.jpg


But wait - it appears we still have a bit of contact in on the rear half. It always cracks me up whenever I hear guys go on and on about how they want to push their axle back because of how it "looks" at ride height. They assume that it needs to be centered but fail to understand that the axle travels in an arc and as it does, it'll move toward the back. Anyway, guess I need to do a bit more trimming here.
20170616155925-99e05af5.jpg


Taking a quick look underneath the rear. Here you can see just how much our sway bar is limiting our flex - pay no attention to how taught the limiting strap is.
20170616155943-1a3a5e6a.jpg


Now this was a bit interesting to see. On Moby, I've installed shaft collars to prevent the factory rear sway bar from traveling side to side but I haven't installed any on Rubicat. During our flex testing, her sway bar shifted over enough to cause the passenger side arm to get caught on the limiting strap frame mount bolt. This is something I will need to address.
20170616155948-54677303.jpg


Giving the rear end another look prior to moving on.
20170616155956-1daa29e2.jpg


20170616155951-e662d76e.jpg


Twisted Up Test #2
Front passenger side up and rear driver side up - view from the front.
20170616160055-dc4902bd.jpg


20170616160100-1cd90d7c.jpg


20170616160034-24a0fca1.jpg


20170616160032-5c54408f.jpg


Just when it looked like all was good, I noticed we had a bit of contact on the passenger side pinch seam next to the grill.
20170616160027-2cbdb509.jpg


Moving to the back.
20170616160145-315b3a68.jpg


20170616160142-8b9b9d59.jpg


20170616160155-d0941935.jpg


20170616160158-9efd5436.jpg


With the exception of the rear half of the fender well needing a bit of trimming just like the passenger side, all checked out here.
20170616160015-c15e2566.jpg


And those are the lab results from our clearance check of Rubicat with her new 40" Cooper STT Pros. As you have seen, a bit more trimming is needed here and there but for the most part, I think we're almost there. :cool:
 

MTG

Caught the Bug
Nice!

Judging by what is/is not trimmed on the new jeep, I think I need to do this too. Curious about the shaft collars...can you post a pic?
 

vgullotta

New member
Very cool. I love the low center of gravity. While your suspension is a touch different than mine (lolol), I went back to my stock suspension with the 35's (not quite 40's, but big enough) and some flat fenders, and it runs so amazing again. Maybe some day I'll be able to throw some 40's under mine, but it's gonna be a bit lol, lovin Rubicat's progression!
 

Andy5160

Hooked
Looking sharp Eddie!!!!!!!!

I am sure you will trim as needed to give that nice jeep even more factory look:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:
 

jeffj

Caught the Bug
I think I have the same issue on my new rid and the back of the fender well. I have taken it to the point I cant really go any further and was wondering if I need to move my axel forward, but sense I've taken the last little bit its not as bad, so Im wondering it I should just live with it. I appreciate the post.
 

longarmwj

New member
Looking good!!! thankfully the only trimming I've had to do so far is the fenders and the Rubirails. I'm sure in the future I'll be beating some pinch seams :thumb:
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Okay, went down to the end of the street and did a new flex test to see if things would clear now and... you can see for yourself! :cool:
20170620181434-8571cc76.jpg


20170620181444-ba7e9620.jpg


I also changed up how the rear sway bar links were mounted and that gave me a bit more clearance to swipe up and past the frame. As you can see, full bump.
20170620181448-0562e7dd.jpg


Here you can see up front, we now clear the front pinch seam without any problems.
20170620181453-7d8e2014.jpg


20170620181450-13074694.jpg


Looks like we're good to go now :thumb:
 
Top Bottom