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Leaf spring vs long arm radius arm ?


Canadianranger11

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So I'm planing on doing a sas on my ranger but what's the pros and cons of each one ? Leaning towards the radius arm

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ford4thot

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I'm not really familiar with this stuff. But I'm pretty sure radius arm type suspension will get you more articulation
 

bobbywalter

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well....it is all relative to your goals and what parts are available to you within your budget ect. trail only? mud bogger? mall crawler? daily driver with maximum capability?

huge variables to work with here.



if you have a leaf sprung d60 or 44 or 30...toyota axle or whatever...it may make sense to go leaf sprung...


if you have a coil srung axle to work with, it usually makes sense to put coils to it.

how that gets executed is endless in issue and compromises...

as for which articulates better, the leafs can usually out perform a typical standard radius arm system, dollar for dollar. of course generally it comes at the cost of ride quality.

either way max articulation requires soft springs which comes with handling quirks at freeway speeds on a daily driver. many trade offs for an all around rig.
 

Canadianranger11

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I Wanna do a dana 30 swap with yj leafs , this ranger will be a daily driver / trail rig I only want to run 35s and I have everything besides the high steer

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ford4thot

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well....it is all relative to your goals and what parts are available to you within your budget ect. trail only? mud bogger? mall crawler? daily driver with maximum capability?

huge variables to work with here.



if you have a leaf sprung d60 or 44 or 30...toyota axle or whatever...it may make sense to go leaf sprung...


if you have a coil srung axle to work with, it usually makes sense to put coils to it.

how that gets executed is endless in issue and compromises...

as for which articulates better, the leafs can usually out perform a typical standard radius arm system, dollar for dollar. of course generally it comes at the cost of ride quality.

either way max articulation requires soft springs which comes with handling quirks at freeway speeds on a daily driver. many trade offs for an all around rig.
Good info
 

Will

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Whatever touches the ground should be powered, that's the main rule. Big tires and lockers and ground clearance to keep unpowered bits from touching the ground.

I like BW's thoughts--whatever you have is the best to use. I would spend the time and money on ground clearance and traction rather than worrying about whether coils are better than leafs.
 

bobbywalter

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I Wanna do a dana 30 swap with yj leafs , this ranger will be a daily driver / trail rig I only want to run 35s and I have everything besides the high steer

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i assume your rig is the 94, generally coils are ideal.


using a spring under yj 30 is not the best idea, if it is an older cj style wide trac, it could be better. good thing about a 30 is if you go spring over with good leafs like the i6 wranglers or even waggy you will have good ground clearance.


there are advantages to a well constructed d 30. with stock ranger power and careful parts selection, you can net a truly brutal and lightweight axle.

i would start with the latest high pinion with the good shafts, get the reid knuckles(that is the real painful part) and run chevy 10 bolt/44 outers and brakes....or jeep ....likely end up with the 8x6.5 10 bolt/d44 stuff and a cc full float rear... those reid knuckles get you good hi-steer and work with leaf or coil well enough and going to a full float rear and 8 lug front will eliminate bearing issues with 35 in tires and you will have brutal reliable lockouts.

more weight on the rear tires and no gain out front worth mentioning...

if those knuckles were only 400 a pair it would be a no brainer...

like mentioned already....nearly endless possibilities.
 

Canadianranger11

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Ya I have a dana 44 and 9 inch but it is just going to be to wide and I don't want to run big flares to make it road legal , plus the after market for the dana 30 is crazy shouldn't have a problem with just 35s since it's going to be a trail/work truck was going to make the yj 30 spring over also

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