Contrary to popular belief, a donk is neither hard nor dangerous to drive. However, driving one does require a slightly different driving style than what you’re probably used to. The following goes into greater detail about the many aspects of a typical donk that could affect your driving style.
More Height Also Means Higher Center of Gravity
When you get behind the wheel of a donk for the very first time, the first thing you’ll notice is how tall it seems. A lift kit increases your vehicle’s clearance by 12 inches or more, giving you enough room to showcase those big custom wheels. Raising your vehicle’s height does more than make your donk stand out and offer you a commanding view of the road ahead -- it also changes your vehicle’s center of gravity (CG).
An increase in ride height also causes a corresponding increase in a vehicle’s CG, making it more susceptible to rollovers under hard cornering at high speeds. Fortunately, most donks are built with slow and steady cruising in mind. A properly installed lift kit will have suspension improvements that help mitigate these and other handling issues.
Bigger Wheels Add More Weight
The bigger the wheel, the more unsprung weight you’ll have to deal with. Unsprung weight describes the collective mass of the wheels, brake assembly and suspension. On the race track, unsprung weight can have a tremendous effect on a vehicle’s handling, making it more difficult to control. On a donk, however, those effects are hardly noticeable.
The kicker is that the extra weight and larger diameter of your new wheels can place greater demands on your stock brake system. A brake upgrade is usually in order if you want to improve your donk’s stopping power. In addition, you should also pay closer attention to your donk’s braking distances.
Bigger Wheels Can Also Affect Your Gear Ratio
Adding larger-diameter tires can also have an effect on your vehicle’s gearing. The math behind it is a bit complicated, but the premise is simple -- a larger wheel takes longer to complete a full revolution than a smaller wheel, resulting in slightly slower acceleration. Increasing wheel size is often the equivalent of switching to a slower, numerically lower final drive ratio.
Building the perfect donk often means making extensive modifications to your vehicle to get it just the way you want it. If you need help building a donk of your own, use our website’s contact form or call us today.