How high can your truck go?  How flexible is your suspension?  Want to find out?  Then the Articulation Ramp is for you.

No matter how well-built your truck is, or how low you can crawl, it won't do you much good if you can't keep your tires on good ol' terra firma.  The Articulation Ramp, hosted by the High Desert 4-Wheelers, is a good way to measure the flexibility of your truck's suspension.

 

Left:  The articulation ramp.  Right:  How high can this Jeep go up the ramp?  Pretty high!

Basically, the ramp is a steel treadway, mounted on a trailer, that soars to the sky at about a 45-degree angle. The object is to place your left tire on the base of the ramp, and upon the attendant's signal, slowly crawl up the ramp while in 4WD low.  As your front tire climbs the ramp, the front axle and rear  axle articulate in opposite directions, as your suspension begins to flex.  The right front tire compresses into the fender well, while the rear tires are fully planted on the ground.  When the driver's side rear tire begins to see some daylight, the attendant signals you to stop, and gets out a yardstick to measure how far you've traveled up the ramp.  The measurement is calculated by the distance the left front tire has traveled up the ramp from the start point, and then it is divided into the truck's wheel base, and then multiplied by 1000 to get a 3-digit number.  Like other things in life, the high the better.

 

Photos:  It's my turn as I drive my basically stock Ford F-250 up the articulation ramp.

Naturally, with a full-size Ford F-250, I had to give it a go to see how far I could go.  I placed my left front tire at the base of the ramp, and upon the signal, started to crawl up the ramp in granny-low.  I made it up farther than I though and scored a 73, not too bad for a full-sized truck with stock suspension.

 

Left:  My day in court has come to fruition as my travel up the ramp gets measured.  Right:  This is how far I managed to travel before my left rear tire started to see a bit of daylight.

Like all the other games, the ramp costs a dollar pop, but the money goes to CA4WDC and a good cause, as it helps to keep our trails open for us, our children and our grandchildren to enjoy.  Unlike the other games, the ramp doesn't count toward points in the points championship, which is presented at the Sunday night awards presentation.

Give the ramp a try next time you attend High Desert Roundup.  It's a lot of fun!