Opinions on stretching wheelbase

I have been wondering this and since I was under the Jeep this last weekend putting on the lift, it got me curious. How much do you need to extend the wheelbase to actually see real improvement? I have an intermediate framed CJ5. Would moving the front axle ahead 3 inches and the rear about the same really improve things???? I'm sure it would help my driveshaft angles, anyhow.

Any opinons??? anyone done this recently?????

Just throwin that out there for discussion.

High5

 

I managed to get about 2.5" total stretch when I rebuilt my suspension. Unfortunately I never wheeled it in stock form so I can not say if there was any improvement. I do know it performs very good off-road and drives decent on-road.

My wheelbase is now 86.5" after converting to 2.5" wide springs. It climbs good and I very rarely feel as if it is going to tip over on me on extreme climbs.

 

i'm not gonna comment on the trail performance improvement because i haven't driven the thing...but when i extended my wheelbase by about 2-3 inches by moving the rear axle...i didn't keep in mind the location of the rear mounted gas tank and by looking at the set up now...there is a possibility of the pumpkin hitting the bottom of the gas tank shield at full compression...whereas if i didn't extend the wheelbase i had all the room...i extended the wheel base for driveline angle reasons you've mentioned...
i didn't want to mess with the front just by looking at it...it seemed like a more complex operation...with all that steering stuff, etc...

 

One easy way to get extra length is to sell your current Jeep and buy a CJ-7. They have a 10" longer WB than the CJ-5. Unless you are really hurting for driveshaft length, I don't see the big advantage to lengthening by a few inches, compared to the investment in time and effort.

I had understood that the main reasoning behind the popularity of longer wheelbases now was to lengthen the lever arm (wheelbase) when climbing ledge. Just like with taller tires, as the angle of attack goes down, so does the effort. In the past, when smaller diameter tires were the norm, the breakover angle gave the shorter wheelbase some usefullness compared to, say, a wheelbase of around 100". With today's 35"-36"-37"-up diameters there's more clearance at the middle, and with a longer wheelbase you have similar breakover angles and ascent/descent stability that you had with the shorter tires and wheelbase.

So, if you're going to lengthen, I don't think you're going to see much benefit in performance for just a few inches.

 

what Tim says
x2
CJ7 or not at all

 

Yup. Part of that popularity was made possible by people building flexy suspensions. Instead of having to manouver around obstacles people could just drive over them so it didn't hurt as much to be long. This is my current dilemma, stay small vs. go BIG.

I doubt you'd see much improvement going 2-3". I went 10" in the rear and that made a decent improvement in performance as well as making my rear d-shaft better. But, it still feels short on a lot of obstacles. I'm used to wheeling a 104" wheelbase toyota so thats probably why. I too say go with a cj7 or surprised no one mentioned it a cj6.

Kevo

 

I wasn't saying that I needed a longer wheel base, I was just curious as to what benefits and how much lengthening would be needed to see improvements.
There is no way in hell that I will ever be selling my 5. My dad and I built this and it has way too much meaning to get rid of. Personally, I don't really like how the rear axle sits right now. It almost seems like the rear needs to be stretched to fit right. Instead, I am thinking about putting some TJ flares on to help open up the fenderwell.

I was also wondering about how much would be needed to help with steering tendencies. You know, the turn the wheel slightly and hang on tight

Thanks for the replies though, I was hoping this would be a good thread to discuss.

High5

 

Mmm, sure, the Jeep line contains several candidates around 100" over the years (Jeepster, Commando, CJ-6, CJ-8, Wrangler Unlimited). I expect that the popularity of the CJ-8 is partly to do with the "ideal" wheelbase as a good basis for a buildup. But the CJ-7 is nearest to the 6" stretch that was proposed in the initial post, as is the Wrangler.