The Johnson Valley desert is as good as any to shake down some new vehicle upgrades, specifically 4 new suspension setups. But not the crazy race-setups on a lot of these rock crawlers and race-rigs.
We’re talking basic upgrades for the everyday-driver-guy. Off the shelf, bolt-on-basics. Change the game with a few hundred dollars basic.
We’ve been to this event a number of times, and each year it keeps getting bigger and bigger. One of the things we were most impressed with this year, which was brand new, is the FPV drone coverage of nearly every major Hammer obstacle, sometimes numerous pilots giving detailed points of view of the drivers, all live streamed, incredible.
But back to our purpose - getting real world feedback from our own drivers and our customers about how their new suspension is working out, or not...
One of our own, Steve and his 2020 Ranger, is undergoing a multi-staged suspension journey, starting out with the Bilstein 5100s. He recently upgraded with method wheels and 33” tires, giving more unsprung weight to the suspension. Along with that he has a 20ft trailer that he tows. All of this necessitates better suspension capabilities to eliminate body roll and bounce under load, and keeping traction with the new axle's weight.
In his own words - “night and day difference, wow.” Check out the review.
El Jefe, aka Jeff our Customer Success Manager, also got to threw on some Bilstein 5100s in the back of his 2020 Silverado 1500 RST with the diesel engine. This is his tow-rig, and even unloaded it was a mess, lots of body roll, nose dive, excessive sway. Shame on Chevy for putting mass produced Rancho 5000s on this thing - could have at least stepped up to the RS7MT monotube setup.
Jeff noticed quite a few points of improvement while towing the Canam to and from Hammertown.
We weren’t done with Bilstein, Don - one of our master assemblers in the warehouse pumping out assembled Bilsteins, got a fresh set of 5100s on his 5th gen 4Runner. This was to hold him over while waiting on the complete set of 8112 / 8100 from Bilstein (where are those rears?!). Don’s 4Runner sees hauling requirements with his dirtbike in the rear, but he’ll also be running 35” tires on Dirty Life Wheels, which is a lot more unsprung weight compared to the factory 31s.
Last but not least is our Commander in Chief piloting the Power Wagon, seeing a much different suspension system compared to #KOH2021. Back then, it was stock suspension with 37” tires, since then it’s received the Carli Suspension treatment, now sitting on Fox 2.0 reservoir shocks.
So. Much. Better. The chassis-chatter is nearly non-existent, not only in the feels, but also the noise. The rough edges of the ride have been smoothed out, average speed has dramatically increased due to how well the suspension can now take more of a beating from the hard hits. Full review coming soon on the differences in Fox 2.0 with and without reservoirs for the Power Wagon.
All in all, the team isn’t quite dominating the whoops like some of our long-travel counterparts, but that’s just fine. Most of our rigs don't live in the desert full-time, and don't play in these environments too often. Daily drivability is important for many reasons, but these upgrades give that little extra to get the duties done in confidence.
