G Wagon

2005 G55 Owl Claw build

Standing impression: given its history with military origins, it is mind boggling why these didn’t come with 33″ or bigger tires from the factory. I know, the celebrity stereotype has confused the designers into putting on low-profile race car wheels and diamond studded interiors, but I mean – look at this thing – this is how it should be.

Next steps:

The dependency on the massive sway bar and steering damper are huge red flags for a poorly designed setup. In all fairness, the problem is really that we altered a “perfectly optimized” German masterpiece. However considering our stance that this should be the factory setup, what do we need to do to fix it?

1. Removable sway bar! They call it that but what they really mean is a disconnectable sway bar. In it’s factory location, it limits front articulation; without it there is an almost perfect 50/50 split between the front and rear axels – just about ideal. Foreshadowing #5, we would also like to move the sway bar to the rear. A front sway bar is great under breaking loads, which is the main safety concern for OEM’s, but sway control when accelerating out of corners will be most bifacial (also the top heaviness of the body is in the back).
2. The delicate 1970s axels need to be trussed, especially the front. If they were Toyota OEM, maybe we’d say that could be skipped but after a quick search on ebay you’ll realize that these are the axels that will be with this truck for life. Due to the availability and expense of replacements, they need to be protected at all costs!
3. While we are trussing, we might as well go to a three link setup. The biggest benefit here is that we can adjust the caster through out the suspension cycle. The short arms, while great for packaging, yield just about the worst ride quality. Worse, with a lift the front lifts under breaking conditions which adds positive caster!!
   The major consideration here is the design of the factory pinion angle and its relation to the transfer case. From the factory, they use a CT joint (similar to a double-cardan setup). In this configuration, the drive shaft is designed to track the axel with a single universal joint – that is to always point at the pinion centerline – and all the misalignment is taken up at the top -transfer case side- of the driveshaft with the CV (or double cardan joint). By Changing the way the axel tracks with a more-parallel link setup, we need to consider that this is an all wheel drive vehicle and that we need to plan accordingly.
   Read about drive shaft geometries by Tom Woods Driveshafts (4xshaft.com)
   Read about off-road suspension principals at offroadxtreme.com
4. The steering link being behind the axel is great for protection but when either wheel is impacted the link will go into compression and could buckle. This is why the yota’ guys always have to crawl under there and bend it back with a huge bar or winch. Again, while the axel is out, it would be ideal to move to a high steer setup with the crosslink up front and up high.
   Of course, we need to consider Ackerman geometries. The big question is whether there is enough clearance with a low offset wheel/tire package.
   Reed about Ackerman geometries from Wikipedia
5. The Dream: to swap a clutch type transfer case, like that in an E55. I mean, What good is all those 400+ horses if not to shred back tires and drift corners – oh yea, to break driveline components faster than an H1 in Moab.
   One limitation here is that the lubrication pump in the transfer case is driven by the front drive shaft so you can’t just pull it for a roasting photoshoot!!

2023.02 – Chase lights

Whipped up a second set of race inspired rock-crawling bumpers and a set of removable chase lights for Race Week @ King of the Hammers.

2023.01 – Rear bumper

2022.10 – Winch, Bumper & Grill

It has been said that the wagon was first designed using plywood. If you look close from a design standpoint the transition between facets are radiused and there is a distinct lack of facets on the entire front clip. So adding one of those sharply faceted plate designed winch bumpers would be a tempting but horrible decision.

Since a sleek and minimal design could not be sourced, one was made from scratch.

Being an G55, the AMG three coolers had to be relocated.

2022.06 – Rear wheel mount

2022.05 – Wheels & Lift

2022.02 – Initial impressions

Since the overall design hasn’t changed in 40 years, it is tempting to just buy any model and swap out a few components to modernize the look. For me, there is a sweet spot between fancy-tractor and computer-paralyzed. That sweet spot is in the mid 2000’s. In this year, the fuel injected engines are mostly instrumented, but not so much that you get a “see the dealer” flag every time you park with only two of the tires facing the sun.

When this non black, white, or silver 2005 G55 popped up, we had to snagged it.