Jeep coils?

[88ranger2.95sp]

Ok, I'm looking to lift my ranger juuuust a little bit. I currently have the 'stiff' TTB coils stock from a D28 w/ coil spacers. I don't need a SAS, so please don't suggest it or anything radical like it. For the terrain I wheel in, it's mostly mud. And there's a few trails here and there, hence the need for just a little bit of flex...

I'm looking into jeep coils, because from my research, they're alot softer, but they manage to flex, and hold up the weight of the truck. Is this true in stock form?

The goal is to lift the front of the truck about an inch, obviously align it, and NOT use drop brackets. Could I simply swap to like stock jeep cherokee coils or TJ coils or something like that. I realize I would have to modify the spring buckets or some sort of modification.

For the rears, I'm thinkin' cheap, reliable 63" springs. Easy too.

Does anyone know the length of a stock coil compared to a jeep coil? I don't have either on hand able to measure.

Thanks guys.
Rob

 

[Thighman]

NO TJ coils are too soft and so are XJ coils. Read some threads and use the search button. But if searching just isn't your thing here is some info


Also if mud is your thing and you only want a little bit of flex go with 6" skyjacker coils (many factors depending) they should give you decent flex. Also if you do want to do some minor modification and go with different coils try early bronco coils in the > 300 ppi range.

Just know that as soon as you try to make a coil switch you will have to make sure other things are sound. Here is a message I sent to another member.

The problems begin to arise on all fronts:

Mounting the coils: They will bow out and are too big for the upper coil bucket
Steering geometry: As I said before if steering is not flat and in line with the axle pivot bolt all camber issues will be emphasized.
Axle pivot drop: Shawn (4x4junkie) has 2.5" drop brackets with about 3-4" of lift out of his 6" XJ coils. Those drop brackets make the pivot bolt connection about 1.5" above the hub line (stock position) although with the skyjacker drop brackets we are running, even in the 4" hole it is too much of a drop for proper alignment
Lift height: I assume you would like to maintain your current lift height, but that is not probable with XJ coils. Going with too long of a coil would once again make the situation even more difficult
Alignment is a bitch: Even when you think eveything is perfect, the bounce from the coils makes it diifficult to get a proper alignment. Your coils will make it so you may be aligned wihile accelerating but during breaking / \ may occur

Also... on the trail I noticed that the bouncing did not help my situation. Upon hitting obstacles the lack of control made it difficult to manuever and also do hill climbs.


If you have everything correct (I dont) then you shouldn't have these problems. Ask 4x4junkie for more details.

 

[Sunk]

I'd look into some Skyjacker 2" leveling coils since you already have spacers. That should put you a little bit higher and will give you more flex. For just 2" or so of lift, I'd go with Belltech 6400 shackles. I think the Chevy 63s would put you much too high.

 

[4x4junkie]

Yeah, 6" coils of any sort are not gonna fit without lift brackets.

The steering being out of line is what accentuates any jacking and handling problems during acceleration & braking. The secret is like Thighman said, keep the linkage down perfectly inline with the axle beams (using various drop pitman arms or other setups) and you should be fine.

As for coils, look into V8 ZJ (Grand Cherokee) coils, rather than XJs. These should be more consistently in the mid-200s for PPI ratings and work well on Bronco IIs or reg-cab shortbox Rangers.

FWIW, the Rancho 3" lift XJ/ZJ coils (240PPI) I used to run were 18" free length, and sat around 12.5" (or 2" lift) compressed under my BII. I didn't have much luck with them maintaining their height over time though so I would suggest looking at Skyjacker's coils (stock V8 ZJ coils might work for a short lift using spacers too).

 

[bobbywalter]

i run air bags to tune street manners..

custom seats made from 2 in pipe flanges to the angle needed to eliminate bow work excellent. stud extenders or bolts are needed to make that work easily


steering is a bitch. but its dependant on actual lift/pivot relationship and steering linkage type.

theres gains and losses in any event. if you can use the stretch is definatly an awesome mod for ttb.

 

[88ranger2.95sp]

Yeah.. the idea was not to use lift brackets. I'm a cheap chooch.

Junkie, front or rear ZJ coils? I'm assuming front. Spacers are fine; I'm having luck now. And it's not a rock crawler.

Shackles sound like a grand idea. And they're CHEAP!! lol.

Oh, btw, what's PPI stand for? I'm assuming pounds per inch? Does that mean it takes x amount of pounds to move the coil one inch??

Apperantly this won't be as easy as I thought.. Is there a place online where you can buy mild lift brackets.. like 2" ones or something similar? I remember seeing them in a magazine but I can't put my finger on it..

Rob

 

[Thighman]

My apologizes I wasnt reading your post only your signature and thought we were discussing "Ranger #2"

My bad, guess I should learn to read gooder

I believe tuff country sells a 2" lift bracket possibly through jackit.com

And since we are talking about stock stuff I am pretty sure without extended radius arms flex will equal zero to none.

 

[4x4junkie]

Yes, ZJ front coils.
PPI = Pounds Per Inch (of compression)

I would strongly suggest extended arms as well. You'll need at least 2" lift to run them effectively.

 

[88ranger2.95sp]

Thanks Thighman. I wasn't trying to be a smart ass or anything. We are discussing Ranger #2... it's got a 3" body lift and 2" blocks and coil spacers.. Won't fit on the siggy unless it says 5" lift.

Can I just extend the stock arms? I've seen guys tie in with a custom transmission k-member/radius arm mount bracket type schmeel. Seems easy enough...

Plans: 2" drop brackets, 3" lift coils (or jeep coils, depending on length), and extended stock arms. Just enough to flexxxx a little more. In the ass end, shackles, or 63" leaves to get rid of the blocks if the front becomes higher than I plan on.

Does this sound safe/ok?

Thanks for the help guys.

Rob

 

[Sunk]

If you extend the stock arms, make sure you look around the site for some ideas so you can make them strong. One guy (Dishtowel) didn't enforce his enough and when it broke had a hell of a time recovering it.

Other than that, sounds good.

 

[4x4junkie]

We are discussing Ranger #2...

That '5" lift' is misleading, I assumed #3 was the one being discussed here (no lift).

That changes things, Jeep coils aren't gonna work so hot on a ext cab truck (too heavy) Look for some early Bronco coils instead. Probably will need something around 300 PPI and 18" free. Not sure what length the stock coils are though.

On the arms, check out my Cardomain page, there are some pics of mine there on how I made them.

 

[88ranger2.95sp]

Didn't mean to mislead anyone, and thanks for the quick replies.

I remember Dishtowels recovery. It must have been a helluva lotta stress gettin that BII out of there.

Rob

 

[Z3CHYD]

Ok, I'm looking to lift my ranger juuuust a little bit. I currently have the 'stiff' TTB coils stock from a D28 w/ coil spacers. I don't need a SAS, so please don't suggest it or anything radical like it. For the terrain I wheel in, it's mostly mud. And there's a few trails here and there, hence the need for just a little bit of flex...

I'm looking into jeep coils, because from my research, they're alot softer, but they manage to flex, and hold up the weight of the truck. Is this true in stock form?

The goal is to lift the front of the truck about an inch, obviously align it, and NOT use drop brackets. Could I simply swap to like stock jeep cherokee coils or TJ coils or something like that. I realize I would have to modify the spring buckets or some sort of modification.

For the rears, I'm thinkin' cheap, reliable 63" springs. Easy too.

Does anyone know the length of a stock coil compared to a jeep coil? I don't have either on hand able to measure.

Thanks guys.
Rob

Heres an article on Jeep Coils

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Fall2003/MaximumFlexForTheTTB.htm

 

[86ford]

the jeep coils are worthless without extended radius arms just like a 4 inch lift that lowers the stock ones does not offer much if anymore flex. it would be interesting to see if extended radius arms with jeep coils on stock brackets could be aligned if they were under a long bed or extended cab. i know my rancho xj coils give me about 2 inches of lift under my b2. if you can get 18 inch coils to align under a heavier truck with stock brackets and extended radius arms that would be sweet. i always shoot for least lift with the most flex and biggest tires. i am very interested in seeing if you can make this work

86