Shortening Wheel Base and Putting in EB Coils/Buckets

[littleredrangerhood]

Ok, here are some pics. I am by no means close to done. I still have to take care of the brake line, electrical wiring, finish mounting the bed box, finish the spare tire mount, finish mounting the gas tank so it doesn't flop around, and make the rear driveshaft up. When I get the front lifted with the EB coils and buckets I will know how much length to take off the shackles in the rear to match and will brace them at that point as well. When all is said and done I will be taking the 3" body lift out and turning it into a 1/2 - 1" body lift to give just a little bit more clearance for the doubler that is going in whenever Duffy from D.D. Machine gets the kit finished. New wheel base is ~108". I moved the axle forward 16" and chopped 24" of frame off.

EB Coils and Buckets

 

[samsonitesamsonite]

i'd be a little leary of that rear hanger...

 

[littleredrangerhood]

Well I burned it in there pretty good and then added the trusses for some triangulation to distribute the stress a little more evenly. I guess only time will tell how they hold up. If they break I will just have to fab something else up maybe welding to the face of the bumper instead so the hanger would be vertical.

 

[littleredrangerhood]

Well, underestimated how much the EB coils would squat so instead of lifting the front 2" more (total of 6.5") they lowered the front .5-1". It didn't help that I raised the EB coil buckets 2.5" up the frame rail as opposed to mounting the bottom edge flush with the bottom of the frame. Sooo, the truck has a pretty good rake to it right now especially since I made the rear shackles longer on purpose with the intention of cutting them down once I knew the exact amount of lift the front was getting. Anyway, I still need to make the front lower coil buckets/mounts so I am going to build them so they give 2.5" of lift. Its either that or coil spacers. I am definitely going to be taking out the 3" BL when the suspension is all wrapped up. I still have to redo the front radius arm mounts too. Here are some pics of how the truck is looking now.

The rear still needs a bit of work. Still have to finish the spare tire mount and gas tank retention system, hence the ratchet straps.

 

[JFA_Spyderman]

Yo,
So do you think that if you hadn't moved the coil bucket, they would have given you the lift you wanted? Any pics of how they flex?

 

[rickcdewitt]

if you make the lower bucket with an easily removable spacer then you could run taller flexier coils later when you wallet recovers.

 

[littleredrangerhood]

Yeah, if I kept the buckets in the stock location then I would have gotten about 6.5" lift overall. I thought that EB buckets were taller but the ones I got from Jeff's Bronco Graveyard were the same dimensions as the Ranger buckets. Theoretically you could just keep the Ranger buckets if the EB coils fit in them. The springs should fit with the stock bucket height if the beams are in the 6" pivot hole. I am basing this on the fact that the springs fit easily into the buckets with the beams in the 4" pivot hole and the buckets 2.5" higher than stock.

No flex pics yet. I want to get it all squared away before I even worry about that. These coils are definitely way flexier than the Ranger coils though.

 

[littleredrangerhood]

I do have coil spacers one of my Jeep buddies gave me and I might use those somehow to make up for the lost lift. I need to figure it out over Christmas Break. Either way, I kind of want to keep the coils I have since my fiance gave them to me as an anniversary gift so I would feel kind of bad selling them and getting a different set of coils. Plus, these coils might be good for the SAS I plan on doing in a number of years (they are the same coils that some other guy is using in his 1 ton build in the RBV's under construction section). I already have a set of Ford 1 tons in my driveway but can't afford the cost for brackets, links, and 40" tires right now; I also take some pride in running the TTB since I think it gets a bad name for the wrong reasons.

 

[littleredrangerhood]

Finished up the front suspension today. The estimated final overall lift is about 5-5.5". The front doesn't stuff the tires as well as I had hoped but that's TTB for you. Still flexes a lot better than before, and that is even after shortening the wheel base.

Here are some pics I snapped this afternoon.

I was going to get some more detailed shots but my camera died so I need to recharge it. Anyway, going offroading tomorrow so hopefull I will get some good pics.

~Cheers.

 

[4x4junkie]

Truck looks good.

Its probably because the ass end is so light that the front's not flexing as much. Get a flatbed or utility bed on there, I'd bet it'd improve the flex on BOTH ends.

You going to drop the steering centerlink some? (looks a bit high still)

 

[littleredrangerhood]

Hmmm, thanks for the compliments and idea Junkie. But it already has a full size spare, a winch, and I'm guessing 60-70 lbs of gear in the box. Besides, I don't even know how the utility bed would even work. Everything is pretty tight back there, not many options.

I might drop the center link but that is way down on the to do list. I still have to finish up the back making a permanent spare tire mount and gas tank straping system.

I am also going to yank the body lift but I don't know if I want to do it now or wait until I get a doubler in. BTW, its going on 5 months that I ordered two doubler kits from DD Machine. Hasn't answered a single phone call for at least a month which was the last time I talked to him.

 

[JFA_Spyderman]

Yo,
What size are the spacers you are running under the coils? In the picture they look pretty tall.

 

[littleredrangerhood]

I made lower coil buckets and fabbed them so the bottom was actually 2.5" higher than where they were sitting on the TTB arms before. I will get detailed pics after Christmas of the whole setup. If I were to do it again, I would just use the stock Ranger buckets if they fit the coils or mount the EB buckets in the same position as the Ranger buckets. I am still working out some kinks. There is a little bit of bow in the passengers coil, don't know how I am going to fix that, it really isn't that bad but I would be happier if it was straight like the drivers side. Also, I bolted the upper coil buckets to the frame and now the coils are rubbing up against the bolt heads (I thought the EB buckets would stick out more from the frame so the coil wouldn't be so close but oh well). So, I am going to fully weld the buckets to the frame and remove the bolts. Hopefully that will take care of that. I also dropped down to the 6" pivot hole so now my tires are canted inward a little, just need to adjust the camber and that should be fixed.

 

[littleredrangerhood]

I think you are confusing the lower coil buckets I made for spacers. The spring actually goes about 3" down into that bucket.

 

[JFA_Spyderman]

Yo,
Ah yes, i see now.