Maximized - Letters - October 2012
To submit a question, email: mini.truckin@sorc.com
We asked Max to take a breather from his busy Bangbus schedule and browse our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/minitruckinmag) for tech questions to answer. Without further ado, and now typing with two hands, here is Mr. Max Fish.
| maximized Letters envelope
| maximized Letters brandom Miller
Well Brandon, in theory, a manufacturer will label a spring with the actual amount of drop that it will provide you with once installed on the vehicle it was designed for, but that isn't always the case. My suggestion would be to trust your initial decision and the advertised amount of drop given by the spring manufacturer and install the springs without the lowering blocks; once the springs are on and the truck is back on the ground you can figure out if you want to go any lower. From there you can decide how much more drop you actually want and buy a block kit accordingly. You're way better off not installing yourself into a corner and blocks are comparatively easy to install afterward.
| maximized Letters jon Haller
There is no telling what gets bent when you smash into a bump in a lowered truck, Jon, but my guess is that you probably just knocked the alignment out and your castor is out of whack. Most front suspensions have castor-gain (or anti-dive depending on how you look at it) and that can cause the truck to pull to one side or the other depending on which side has more castor. By accelerating or decelerating the truck will load or unload the suspension making the truck pull to opposite sides. The first step would be to have the front end checked at a reputable alignment shop to see if anything was damaged or if the alignment was simply knocked loose, but I wouldn't trust it for very long after a hit like that.
| maximized Letters shawn Lawrence
Honestly Shawn, it has been forever since I have installed a static drop on anything, so I couldn't tell you if your stock tires will work with a 4/4 drop. Sorry. As for the link design, that's something I have WAY too much to say about while being limited to such a small space. I have written a number of articles on the subject and still have barely scratched the surface. The best I can tell you in the allotted space here is to steer clear of reverse link systems completely and avoid 2-links if you can; otherwise the decision between a three-link or four-link is completely dependent on your needs and/or wants. The diesel/V-8 engine-swap is very much a situational decision as well. I love the idea of diesel, but it isn't always convenient and the V-8 is just so damn easy, but it has also been done a thousand times before. You are going to have to weigh the pros and cons for yourself here. Happy researching!
| maximized Letters el Jorge D
Well, Bob Hase keeps raising the legal age of a minitrucker every year to one year older than he is, so as long as you are younger than Bob you should be OK. Although El, to stay safe I would check with your local laws to make sure that there isn't a city ordinance in effect that would supersede any state or federal law prohibiting over-aged minitruckin'.
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