rnjstel

Without clogging up the "How far is too far" thread on one specific subject, just why the Independant Suspension hate anyways?

Sorry, the ability to ditch the pumpkin and tube would be a god send for most of the wheeling I do.

Granted, I am not advocating some weak-sauce, soccer mom CR-V style indy but would kill for a Pinz style swing Indy or other set up. Or, a Unimog Portal style drop. Put 80 inch tires on your jeep and it means shit in the big picture, since you are only gaining 1/2 that distance to raise the pumpkin. With IFS you get much more clearance and the ability to keep a better torque contact with the surface independantly as you are transiting uneven surfaces.

Take the Pinzgauer 712 family. It's wheelbase and dimensions are about equal to a Wrangler (WB between a 2 and 4 door). Pinz will out climb and out go about any Jeep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOKIeaqtPzY Except for dedicated crawlers, not many Jeep's I know could do this
I don't know about you guys but, I would kill to have a Jeep with that style of suspension.

Also granted, this post comes from my fantasy land where there is no way in hell Fiat, Obama Motors or whoever else owns Chrysler this week would ever do. If they did go IFS it most likley would be some dog-shit corporate IFS with Bamboo Half Shafts. You know the type of axle meant so Mary Jane Rotten Crotch can take her Mongoloids to Wal-Mart in the snow and "feel" rugged in her 4X4.

Anyways, so why the anti Indy Suspension feeling? Is just beacuse you know it would be some dog shit corporate Haus-Frau axle or is it something else?

d2constable

Mary Jane Rotten Crotch !!!

Hellbound13

This is what I have been saying for awhile. Jeep COULD build an IFS like that, which is off road worthy and eliminate all our handling/shimmy/death wobble issues as well. Its a win/win. No hate here.

kittisman

I think it could be lack of knowledge or comfort working and or modding them.

cppower

What you gain in ground clearance, you lose in articulation with IFS.
With IFS, the pivot point is at the side of the diff that is closest to the tire.
With SFA, the pivot point is the opposite wheel.

There is an IFS system that looks promising by OverKill (sponsor) that looks like it solves the pivot problem by not locking down the diff. They are very expensive.

WranglerJoe

Ford made a Dana 44 Independant front sus. a whiles back. No idea on how it performed.

highoctane

The twin I-beam? If so both Fords I had that had that I beam crap were nothing to write home about.


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Mark Doiron

Yep. Even at the price-point of an H1, look at what you get ...

YouTube Video

Any Jeep would look more elegant doing that, and be safer (from possible rollover).

I also disagree with the basic premise that no Jeep could do what the Pinz did--not saying I could, but I know there are folks on this board who have tackled climbs that difficult. IFS is nice on washboard roads, but give me articulation at an affordable price and I'll slow down on the rough stretches.

Pape

you just replace a armored pumkim by weak controls arm.

Red

Yes independent suspension has its benifits. However, in the real world where we live and for those who use their Jeep as an off road vehicle, solid axles have a distinct advantage. Short list of benifits:

1. Less expensive to lift/gain clearance.
2. More articulation potential.
3. Less complicated to lift/gain clearance.
4. More predictable line - wheels are always at equal distance to each other.
5. Less moving parts exposed.
6. Generally stouter components.

Now, this is not to say independent suspension doesn't have its benifits. The main ones being a smoother ride and equal pressure on the wheels. however, the thing it really comes down to as to why I prefer a solid axle on my Jeep is because of the price issue. Sure, you can design an independent suspension that is damn near indestructable and has wild articulation, in fact, they are out there. Now go check out the price associated with it. What is out there is genearlly also weaker than your average solid axle set up. So, when it comes down to it, it really isn't hate for the type of suspension itself, it is more of a quesition of why would I want that on my truck, it will make it that much more expensive to modify it to get it to do what I want. So yes, you could say I hate the idea of them putting independent suspension on a Jeep. If I was really interested in a nice smooth ride, I could get it out of my solid axle as well, its just the cost associated with it is about the same as making the independent suspension articulate as much as I want it to.

I guess you could say, I hate the idea of having a suspension that won't do as much and costs more to get it to do what I want. After all, like I said earlier, we live in the real world where cost plays a large factor, and I acutlly use my Jeep. Sure, I would love to drive a Jeep with independent suspension where articulation is measured in yards. In fact, it would be great if it had electric motors on each wheel that were independently controlled and powered off of a solar panel and had unlimited torque and didn't need a 1000 lbs of batteries. But, we live in the real world, so give me a solid axle.