Enough is enough. We had smiled too many sheepish grins and shrugged our shoulders one time too many. Our embarrassed responses to the question, "When are you guys going to build a Twin-Traction Beam vehicle?" were making us feel inadequate. It was time to get our hands on one - no more excuses would suffice. We've discussed the design and the impact of the setup in a prior issue ("The First Long-Travel Suspension," April '08), but until now, we haven't had a vehicle of our own equipped with TTB to thrash mercilessly. After searching for our white-knight Bronco, we came across this '93 black beauty, and in honor of that guilty, er, innocent gem of society, we're calling our Bronco "The Juice." (Don't worry about us - we have security doors and none of his sports memorabilia up here.)
One of the most attractive aspects of TTB-equipped vehicles is that truck owners don't have to spend the budget of a successful race team in order to modify them to the point of having a capable desert vehicle. Available suspension upgrades are produced by several respected companies, they're relatively cheap, and they work well. In the TTB heyday of the mid '90s, one suspension manufacturer advertised 13 inches of front-end wheel travel when its lift kit was utilized.
In Utah, we even had a chance...
In Utah, we even had a chance to blast into a snowdrift. We didn't get very far, but we kept a strap handy and had fun goofing off.
Although we plan to build this Bronco into a capable prerunner, we purchased it about a week before the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah, and decided to quickly get some parts on it to have some fun up there. We knew 6 inches of lift would clear 35-inch rubber, so we went with a tried-and-true Skyjacker system, providing us with 1/2-foot of increased clearance for the tires and much improved approach and departure angles.
We turned to Dick Cepek for our tire and wheel needs. We knew the current-generation Mud Country is a tire with exceptional traction, and we had used its predecessor, the MC-II, with great success on a couple of previous builds. We chose 35x12.50R17s and mounted them on handsome 17x10 DC-1 wheels, which allow for increased brake-caliper clearance - something we'll be thinking about in the near future.
With four days until our intended departure from Southern California to Moab, we got our hands on the Skyjacker system and made a frantic visit to the venerable Off Road Evolution shop in Fullerton, California. The week before the big yearly Moab event is probably the worst possible time for us to ask a shop to install a new suspension kit, but Mel and his crew worked after hours to get the new components bolted on, the wheels and tires mounted, and the front end aligned - all with a day to spare.
We ended up getting to Moab without a problem and had a blast once we were there. Although we had not yet outfitted the Bronco to be a performance vehicle, we ran moderate-to-difficult trails without incident, and the clearance provided by the Skyjacker 6-inch system and the 35-inch Cepeks was indispensable.
 Without the extra clearance...  Without the extra clearance provided by the tires and lift, we wouldn't have even been able to get the front bumper past the start of this ascent. |  It was at about this point...  It was at about this point in time when we decided a brake upgrade will be in the cards for the Bronco in the near future. |  The grippy Cepek tires walked...  The grippy Cepek tires walked over many an obstacle in Moab. The low tire pressures we ran (apparent in this photo) helped the tires hug the rocks. |
Being that this introduction of our new project Bronco lands within the pages of our tire-test issue, we thought we'd take a closer look at the Dick Cepek Mud Countrys that now reside under the vehicle.
The 15-hour drive to Moab from Los Angeles gave us ample time to get a feel for the tires on the road. We were surprised at the lack of noise produced by them. The absence of tire drone made for a more peaceful trip. The tires handled fine on the highway. They stayed balanced and felt as round as any radial we've used. We encountered some wet snow during the drive and were able to plow through it with confidence. The minimal siping within the individual lugs seemed to do the job.
Being that we do not yet have a locker or an aftermarket limited slip in the Bronco, we ran the tires at very low pressures (about 9 psi) in both sand and rocks. Be prepared to lose a bead if you run tires at this pressure without beadlocks (we were), but luckily, the tires stayed true on the 17x10 DC-1 wheels, and no bead-related mishaps occurred.