Project 4x4 Commuter Mazda

[-Nathan-]

Either way youre going to love how it rides and handles with that valving/bilsteins. Ill never buy any other shock but Bilsteins again.

 

[Boggin]

and nathan thanks for the idea of limit straps lol. princess auto got all the good stuff. canada ftw haha

 

[legoms013]

Either way youre going to love how it rides and handles with that valving/bilsteins. Ill never buy any other shock but Bilsteins again.

I was really surprised how much better my rear axle rode after I put on a set of 255/70 valved 5125's. Very happy with them. Light years better than the Rancho's I had on there before. Pretty surprising difference considering that my SJ leaf springs aren't all that soft.

Speaking of leaf springs I'd like to take the bottom overload leaf out that has a huge arc to it and replace it with the stock "flat" over load leaf so the rear will ride better. Probably should do a rear brake line extension too while thats all apart cuz last time it was definitely too short.................Maybe next weekend

 

[legoms013]

So I ordered 11" travel 5125's (255/70) but they are back ordered until October due to Bilstein needing to manufacture a batch.

So the guy changed my order to 5125's (170/60)......and if its not enough shock I'll have to order 2 more and run duals.

This could go two ways:

A) They ride pretty nice due to the softer valving,

B) Or it could possibly be not enough shock and the TTB RBV springs may over work the lighter valving which may require 2 additional shocks.

I'm neither excited nor bummed.

And on top that UPS lost my Daystar bumpstops in the mail and neither UPS or the company I bought them from will fess up to the loss. They each say to contact the other lol.

 

[-Nathan-]

that sucks about the bumps man. With the lever action of a twin beam setup, I can almost guarentee that the one shock wont be enough. I think you should just go ahead and order the second one.....duals up front is BAD A$S

 

[legoms013]

Yeah i'll find out soon enough, the shocks should be here either this friday or next monday. the guy in the tech department says that Bilstien actually recommends the 170/60 valving for small pickups...and 255/70 is for full size vehicles. But like i said i'll run duals if the shock can't keep up.

 

[nate09]

keep us posted, im looking at the same shocks for my ranger.

 

[legoms013]

Yeah I'll let everyone know how they ride.

Today I spent some good time with the clay bar and a bucket of soap.Tomorrow will finish up polishing and then a coat of wax.

And I think I'm gonna take out the curved Skyjacker overload leaf from the rear leaf pack and replace it with the stock flat overload. I took my tool box off (300lbs) and now realize how bad my truck rides without any weight in the bed...unbearable so maybe changing the overloads will help that.

 

[Boggin]

im interested to see how it turns out to

 

[legoms013]

Issue with bumpstops resolved...should be here thurs or fri as well as shocks...hoping to get those on before this weekend I wanna go wheelin.

Old winter pics:

Question: to limit strap or not to limit strap?

 

[-Nathan-]

limit strap. Its cheap insurance. I made mine for like 12$ , so its not like cost is an issue.

 

[legoms013]

limit strap. Its cheap insurance. I made mine for like 12$ , so its not like cost is an issue.

Well I know. I was thinking that in my situation having limiting straps is mostly just to say I have them...as the coils can't come out, my shocks won't ever be fully extended and neither will my brakelines. What limits down travel now is that the radius arm bushing runs out of down movement. Which "could" be a bad thing but I don't pre-runner this thing at high speeds either.

I'll probably put a set of straps on though just to tie off another loose end and because its the right thing to do really.

 

[legoms013]

Front Bilsteins or not I'm going wheelin this sunday. Haven't decided on a trail yet tho. Hopefully someone will get some pics so I can post em up.

Oh and finished polishing/waxing and she's a real beauty of a mall crawler underneath all that grime.

 

[legoms013]

Got front Bilsteins on, and went wheelin today. Here are some pics. I really like the 170/60 valving on the front shocks....rides awesome [prolly best the front axle has ever ridden]. Didn't air down as it was only a short one way trail with highway to and from it [~5mi]. Kept my 40psi and did ok just really bumpy but not too bad, our sandwiches survived if that says anything. All new Skyjacker/James Duff/Bilstein suspension setup is a vast improvement over the last. Tomorrow is the boring stuff: wash, oil change, tire rotation and checking all nuts/bolts for proper torque figures.

 

[-Nathan-]

looks great man....its begging for 33's though.....