ANOTHER post about softer coils!?!? Who is running them? Spring rates?

[Ranger44]

Truck is a 3L SUPERCAB. Aiming for decent 2.5-3" of lift w/ extended RA's.

I've guessed my front sprung weight to be approx. 2,400lbs. Knowing that stock compressed height is usually around 10.5-11"(mine is 11"- stock coils), I would need to aim for a spring that would sit at 13.5-14" compressed to achieve my desired lift height.

For good flex I know I want a coil spring that is a little better than 400+ ppi of most RBV coils. So after speaking with 4x4junkie, I'm looking at the EB coils for the flex I want. Something in that 300ppi range?

Linear or variable rate?

I know I need to worry about steering. That is the #1 problem when others have done this swap. Since I'm running a small lift, a dropped pitman arm SHOULD drop it pretty much dead nutz level....correct? Therefore keeping everything happy?

My biggest problem is finding the spring rates out to even plug it into the equation I have. I've asked a couple places, but haven't had anything returned. Where are good places to find EB coils? Thanks

 

[legoms013]

Jeff's bronco bone yards lists some PPI rates for their springs and is a good place to get EB coils from. Here is their shortest coil (stock for an EB):http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-13200-stock-height-coil-springs.html

But for such a small amount of lift tho the shortest EB coil might still be to long.

I'd call Deaver and have them make a custom one.

I just got done talking about lots of the same stuff here
http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75749

Linear is better for flex according to 4x4Junkie, again see the mentioned thread.

Yes you'll need a minimum of a regular drop pitman arm. Any taller than 3" tho and you'll need a SJ FA600.

With 4" lift coils and spacers, the measurement on my truck is 15.5" exactly between where the coils/spacers sit in the coil bucket and coil retainer on the bottom side. Thats a 4.0L supercab with an extra 250lbs on the nose.

What I concluded with 4x4Junkie was to run SK 6" lift coils (416 PPI) and be done with it and not mess with EB stuff (im not a hardcore rock crawler). Or some day SJ 6" drop brackets and 8" coils. Then maybe someday even further down along the road ill do EB coils.

 

[Ranger44]

Thankyou for your reply.

With the 2.5-3" lift I'm aiming for an EB coil should work ok. I mean junkie is only running 2.5" of lift. His trick however was to extend his coil buckets up 2", therefore he could run a longer coil, BUT still keep his suspension at only 2.5" of lift. Granted his are JEEP springs and not EB, but my heavier supercab should make the weight difference/ppi difference in the springs. I may actually go the same route if it's my only way to run a softer coil.

I just figured I will get to the point of wanting these soon, so why waste money and buy stuff just to get me by for now, when I could just do it right the first time with TTB. I really don't want to mess with a CUSTOM spring($$$$ & lack of availability).

 

[Ranger44]

Now, correct me on my math if I'm wrong....please.

So if my front is indeed approx. 2,500 lbs.....

2,500lbs / 2(front springs) = 1250lbs

1250lbs * 1.5 (TTB leverage) = 1875lbs

1875 lbs / 6" (ideal TTB spring compression?) = 312ppi spring.

13"(compressed height needed for 2.5" of lift) + 6"(ideal rate) = 19" (free length)

I found these......close?

http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-13202-superlift-coil-springs-3-3-lift-1966-77.html

Then:

1875lbs / 320ppi = 5.8" of compression

18.5" (free length of EB coil in link) - 5.8" (spring compression under ranger sc) = 12.7"

12.7 would give me just around 2" of lift, BUT I could make this up with just under an inch of stacked washers....etc. Or heck even the modified spring pad may give me this boost....

 

[4x4junkie]

I'm actually up around 3.5" on my suspension (camber bushings are adjusted for about -1° of correction IIRC).

Math looks correct except your truck should be closer to 2300lbs total weight up front (or about 2100 sprung) unless you got some crazy big bumper hanging off the front of it. Those coils look like they should work quite well for 2.5-3.5" or so.
You also could try these coils as well, looks like they'd work too.
Yes, washers or a spacer will allow for some fine-tuning of the final ride height.

 

[Ranger44]

Speaking of doing this the right way the first time, I've added a few items to my "buy" list.

The lower EB spring cups
EB coil Buckets
F250 shock towers
5150 Bilstein shocks (not sure on valving yet)
Superrunner K-link steering

Adds cost, but I'd rather get what works well together the first time.

 

[legoms013]

The Bilstein 5150's have a fixed reservoir and will probably not work with the f250 shock towers as they are real narrow (narrower than the shock plus the reservoir). You could possibly run the shock upside down (but Im not entirely sure you can do that) but then you might rub your tires on the reservoir when turning.

I dunno about Superlifts superrunner steering setup...I guess it works fine for some people but it *seem* like its still not the ideal setup for softer coils unless you modify it (and personally I dont want to hack up and weld on $400 worth of product the day I get it to make it work *right*). If I were you I'd make something like this minus heims on the knuckles (run TRE's):

http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75825&page=2

Look at his steering setup on the top of page 2. If your handy with a welder that would be the way to do it...for alot cheaper than a Superlift SuperRunner kit.

 

[Ranger44]

If I'm not mistaken junkie is running those shocks with the F250 towers. I worried about that too, but if he found a way.....I would too. BUT, i may have read that "ThatGuy", a user on here, mentioned that the Duff buckets/shock mounts will fit an EB coil, and has the hole for a retainer strap.

The bottom is set in a coil cup in the bottom:

Call me copy cat, but looks like it'd work.

From what I've been told, the supperrunner kit is FAR better for softer coils than just a dropped pitman arm. The only things that need modified with it are a little support when ran with bigger tires (gussets in some places) and a dropped center link on 5" lifts and up. On my 3" lift I expecting it to be pretty damn level. I base this of the fact that standard dropped pitman arms made by ost companies are based off "FORD's" STX highrider pitman arm. That was designed for a 2.5" lift. SO, if the superrunner kit was designed for use with the standard dropped arm.....it should work quite well with a 2.5-3" lift. By all means even the superrunner kit would be superior to the crap Ford put on there from the factory. Besides it uses Ranger like outer TRE's. It's just a viable option for me because I'll admit I lack the proper supplies, tools, and knowledge to create my own steering and feel safe with it, let alone me feel comfortable driving it on the interstate around families, etc.

 

[4x4junkie]

You'd probably still want to drop the centerlink down 1 inch on the Superrunner kit to have it match up ideally with a 3" lift.

Although I think the Stonecrusher steering setup has some great potential here honestly (you'd want to use a standard drop arm with your 3" lift if you get it). Hopefully a TRE version is made available for those that use it on the street a lot, although even the heim setup I think may be well worth it.

And I run Bilstein 5125s (same shock, but without the external reservoir).

 

[Ranger44]

I'm probably going to run the 5125's then.

I'm waiting on a reply from ThatGuy, he says that bucket is a prototype from Duff, and are meant to fit a Ranger and use either a EB or Ranger coil. Great for this exact swap or even SAS. If all goes right and they don't want much more than what they have listed for their normal Ranger buckets, I'd probably jump on it. This would also allow me to easily run dual shocks.

If this doesn't work out, I'll just hop onto the EB buckets and F250 towers.

It's great to have this as a setup on option for my suspension.

Thanks everyone for their input!

 

[4x4junkie]

Good luck... JD has some really off-the-wall policy about not selling RBV parts separately from a full kit (this when they'll sell you Bronco parts separately all day long ).

 

[ThatGuy]

These buckets will be sold separately. There will be a small run of them made shortly to see what the demand is for them. Still haven't gotten a price from them yet though...

I would ASSume the price to be $219--that's what their other buckets are but you know what they say about ASSuming. So don't hold me to anything, I'm just an innocent bystander.

Also just got off the phone with Anthony at Stonecrusher, he is coming Thursday to meet up and go over the final steering setup. Will be taking pictures and setting pricing to go on his website. Still haven't worked out the TREs so it may be awhile before we get to that.

 

[legoms013]

Money is tight, but I'd be up for a set of those EB coil buckets this summer as well as the Stonecrusher steering setup depending on the final asking price. I like bolt on stuff, saves me the guess work. If I have to though I can do my own fab work, it just takes forever as Im a little OCD perfectionist type.......

Dual shocks with softer coils would be ideal, if I'm not mistaken right?

 

[CopyKat]

I've been running Wildhorses 5.5" EB rockcrawler coils for the past 4 years and have had no problems.

 

[4x4junkie]

These buckets will be sold separately. There will be a small run of them made shortly to see what the demand is for them. Still haven't gotten a price from them yet though...

I would ASSume the price to be $219--that's what their other buckets are but you know what they say about ASSuming. So don't hold me to anything, I'm just an innocent bystander.

Also just got off the phone with Anthony at Stonecrusher, he is coming Thursday to meet up and go over the final steering setup. Will be taking pictures and setting pricing to go on his website. Still haven't worked out the TREs so it may be awhile before we get to that.

Awesome