ALRIGHT, SO IN MY LAST POST I HAD A LOT OF "PEANUT GALLERIE" COMMENTS, AND WHAT I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT IS: "DON'T BE JERKS!!! WE'RE ALL HERE ON THIS FORUM BECAUSE WE HAVE THE SAME VEHICLES, AND SHARE THE SAME PASSION FOR OFF ROADING." NOW- I'VE BEEN DOING AS MUCH RESEARCH AS I CAN, BUT I'M HOPEING YOU ALL CAN GIVE SOME TRUE ANSWERS TO MY HONEST QUESTIONS:

1. I'VE DECIDED NOT TO DO "HARD LINES", JUST PRERUNNING. MY X IS OBVIOUSLY MORE TOP HEAVY THAN THE FRONTIER, SO WITH WHAT I'M WANTING TO DO WILL THE CALMINI SPINDLE LIFT, SHACKLES ,AND IDLER ARM BRACE GIVE ME BETTER HANDLING ON POWERLINE ROADS? OR WILL I BE MORE "TIPPY" B/C I'LL BE MORE TOP HEAVY? IF MORE "TIPPY", IS THERE ANY WAY TO FIX THAT?

2. HAS ANYONE USED THE TOTAL CHAOS 13" TRAVEL KIT? I READ THIS WILL GIVE ME ABOUT A 5" LIFT. WILL THIS BE TOO HIGH? (SIDE NOTE...IF YOU HAVE /HAD THIS- HOW MUCH FOR WHOLE KIT, SHOCKS, LABOR?)(TC DOESN'T LIST THE PRICE FOR THE KIT.)

THANKS IN ADVANCE. I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR FUTURE HELP GUYS. KEEP DRIVIN', KEEP SMILIN'!!!!!

Welcome to XOC, but...
TURN OFF THE DAMN CAPS LOCK IT MAKES IT SEEM LIKE YOU'RE YELLING AT US!!!!!

Ok, there we go...I can't for the life of me remember who all has the TC long travel kit, (EditorX maybe?) but everything I have heard about it has been fantastic. Having never tried to wheel in Vegas I can't say 100% whether going pre-runner is a good or bad thing, BUT I see you have a 4x2 so that's a good start and all that desert surrounding you has to be a plus as well

Also, if I remember correctly (could be totally off base and if I am I know someone will correct me...such is the "peanut gallery" way of XOC) the TC control arms are longer than stock and actually give the front suspension a wider stance, but that could have just been wheels with less offset than stock. Wider stance = more stable at speed. The other option you have is to just get wheels with less offset than stock to get the wider more stable stance, make sense so far? Either way, the X is a tall vehicle and will take some care driving at speed, especially off the pavement. Others will chime in I'm sure of it

First of all




When you refer to powerline roads at speed you need to start thinking about a few things.

First of all you have to walk before you can run. Take your X out and do the type of running that you aspire to do and discover the current shortcomings that you have. But you really don't need to start delving into heavy modifications until you find that the suspension isn't keeping up with the speeds that you are trying to run.

The first thing you are going to discover is that the X, as it is currently set up, is too soft for going fast over terrain. The same spring rates and soft shocks that make for a cushy ride on the road don't give you any help on the dirt at speed. You will be constantly bottoming out and the truck will bob up and down even after the most mundane bump.

You can correct this first of all with stiffer spring rate coils and shocks. That will give you more controll and the truck will recover quicker over whoops and dips.In the rear you should look at ditching the stock leaf pack and getting a prgressive rate spring pack for a progressive rate spring pack and longer shackle that will provide more drooo and with appropriatly valved shocks it should greatly improve your performance.

Bigger is not necessarily better. A "lift" that provides you no performance other than the ability to fit larger tires is no good to you if it does not increase suspension travel. The only way you gain proper travel in front is with going to longer arms with correct geometry a taller spindle and correct shock valving.

You really need to start with the basics though since you are talking about a new vehicle with no cage that you aren't going to be taking to the limit anyways.

Then, once you have found that your X is stil overmatched with these modifications you can start looking into reservoir/bypass shocks and longer controll arms to increase track width and

All valid points

We must be talking about two different people tho...(or the original poster is confused as to what mods go with what generation or as to the generation that s/he owns) as the original poster says s/he has a 2000 4x2 and coils, spindle lift etc...are for the 2nd gen, no?

Whoops. I saw it was a new guy and assumed...it was a Gen2. . Also, I didn't know Calmini made a spindle lift for the Gen1 X.

Anyways, apply the same same deal with one exception:

Coils = Torsion bars.

Everything else is pretty much the same regardles of if it is an (5 straight two letter words and it seems to make sense) '01 X, an '05 X or a '79 F150. The same rules pretty much apply to them all.

Low but not to low , wide but not too wide and big but not too big.

Socal has pretty much said it all. Learn to walk before you run. On the other hand, sometimes you just have to go for it.

You are in some great country if you are into prerunning. I ran my X from Las Vegas to Victorville after SEMA one year and never touched pavement...except in Barstow to fill the tank. A lot of fun.

Without crossing "the blue line", the Long Travel kit you are talking about would serve you well. There is another out there too. It really depends on what you like as far as springs. I prefer coils and believe the are superior to T-bars. Some will tell you otherwise. They both work though and it all depends on what way you want to take your rig. I've seen the other Long Travel kit in action and it's a nice setup. Your best bet is to do the research, and call the shops and talk to them. When you do, think about the basics. Travel, shocks and valving, and spring rates. Match these to what you want to do with your X and go from there. BTW, 12 inches of front wheel travel with RaceRunner shocks and 16 inch 600lbs KING coils rock!

So do 300M torsion bars and 2.5" Bilstein race shocks.

The "blue line," that's pretty funny. It's hard to talk about this stuff myself without SLuRing.