The Lone Ranger – Kage’s ’94 X-Cab Leaf SAS and Bed Bob

[kris97ranger]

Just commenting cause i accidently un subscribed also ive heard of yota leafs as an option.

 

[koa's93ranger]

Air shocks are way outta my budget. Gonna go with junk yard leafs. I just scored a set of Chevy 63s about 5 min ago. Off a 2011 silverado. Only 3k miles on em. $60 for the pair. But that's for the rear. For the front I'm thinking Chevy 56s ($30 a pair). But why go short up front? Won't that limit travel? I can make the 56 work easily and I think it'll have more travel than the Chevy 52s or the 47" rancho 44044. Is this correct or am I missing the concept on leafs?

I plan to run ~8" shackle in the rear
Oh and thanks for help btw. It was your build that inspired me to tackle this feat

 

[Kage]

Air shocks are way outta my budget...

Mine too, that was a bit tounge in cheek

...Gonna go with junk yard leafs. I just scored a set of Chevy 63s about 5 min ago. Off a 2011 silverado. Only 3k miles on em. $60 for the pair. But that's for the rear. For the front I'm thinking Chevy 56s ($30 a pair). But why go short up front? Won't that limit travel? I can make the 56 work easily and I think it'll have more travel than the Chevy 52s or the 47" rancho 44044. Is this correct or am I missing the concept on leafs?...

You're on the common path, and it really just boils down to how high you want the truck to sit. I went with the Waggy's just so that I can get the thing to sit as low as possible, but that's certainly not the only way to do things

Shorter leafs doesn't necessarily equal less travel. Even with my 'short' leaves, I have to limit my travel to keep my cheap shocks alive as well as keeping my shackels from inverting. It is easier to get more flex out of longer springs, but the packaging on the longer stuff can be a pain. Again it all depends on how tall you want the truck to sit when you're done.

Besides being easier to package, my thought is that the short leafs will tend to resist axle wrap (somewhat) and will help locate the front end a little better giving me a tighter feel on the road. I'm not an expert in this area, so my thought process probably isn't correct as there are several setups running around with longer leaves in the front, though they tend to stay under the 55" ish mark on the street driven rigs. That isn't a hard and fast rule by any means, and there's plenty of tricks to make things behave correctly when on the street.

If its going to be a trailer queen, then disregard all of the above, and stuff whatever you want under there and it will probably work just fine

ONE THING to keep in mind is that you can only push your front end forward 2.5-3" from stock without having to move your stock steering box. Its not the end of the world if you have to move it, but something to be aware of.

I plan to run ~8" shackle in the rear
Oh and thanks for help btw. It was your build that inspired me to tackle this feat

No worries, I'm glad this effort that I put into this thread is going to good use!

 

[bobbywalter]

if i can add to this...i readily admit springs are/can be tricky....

whether coil or leaf.


i have setup various smaller rigs with 4/6 cyl engines with waggy springs no problem. the factors are much more diverse then i though initially. took me quite a bit of time and experimentation to figure out why particular setups would not work at all with my rig, or would set ride height good, but fold up like a cheap tent under load.

a good thing to know is your actual front axle weight. and another important factor i was overlooking was actual unsprung weight of the axle..


then there is the locker and actual engine power factors....there is an astounding difference in life of springs between 150 and 350 hp. if your over 350#s of torque theres even more potential disaster.

tire size/trail terrain go with the locker power thoughts obviously

intended goals of how you will use the thing are the key factor overall.





the 52 chevy are not too bad....but i have not been hard wheeling it and the springs are w'd again....if i had coils with the same range i am convinced they would be clapped out by now.


i have given thought to 2 in lift 47 springs.


but 52-56 seem to me a better place for my weight and tire size.

for abuse military wrap/stout shackles are mandatory imo.




with just a mild 302 i easily folded ranger type springs...if fully supported by a cut ranger main they can definitely ride nice and flex like mad on the cheap... see it quite a bit, even on this site..


dont know if i would ever run an 8 in shackle on a street driven rig but i have seen properly setup 7 in shackles make a huge difference over 5 in. its worth the time to experiment.





if your mostly stock with a cage and a winch it seems 110 or so wheel base lets the waggy springs work well. get over 3 k on the front axle and they dont like it at all ime..


starting with a 47-52 thick pack and tuning from there seems a good start all in all.


depending on what steering box your using, you can get pretty low.

 

[cdawall]

I rather like my coils. Both vehicles I wheel have 4 links and I have to say of the two I am surprised the Jeeps coils are not shit, but they seem to be doing fine while I have smoked a pair of leafs already. Albeit a junkyard bastard pack that came out of a worn truck. At the same time I wheel enough and rough enough that the centering pins had started to bend...If you have the time I vote coils. If you want cheap simple performance you can't beat leafs.

 

[Kage]

...for abuse military wrap/stout shackles are mandatory imo.
...

That's the one thing I don't like about the Waggy springs, you can't find them with a mil wrap unless you get someone to make a custom copy of them.


If the link end weren't getting expensive, I would have gone coils, but all that little stuff started adding up quick over the whole span of the project. I wouldn't be surprised if I wound up doing coils in the front at some point in the future.

But for now, everything works, and that's all I'm asking it to do

 

[koa's93ranger]

i wish i could do coils too, or air shocks. but that damn near doubles the price of the build.

what do you guys think of using the f250 leafs. the weight capacity is very close to the chevy 52s. but im not sure how much a spring rate will differ being that its 3" wide.

i plan to keep my lift around the same height it is now. ~6" to 8". the axle will only be moved forward 3", dont wanna relocate steering box.

 

[Josh40601]

wow buddy, the new axles look great under there!

 

[bobbywalter]

i wish i could do coils too, or air shocks. but that damn near doubles the price of the build.

what do you guys think of using the f250 leafs. the weight capacity is very close to the chevy 52s. but im not sure how much a spring rate will differ being that its 3" wide.

i plan to keep my lift around the same height it is now. ~6" to 8". the axle will only be moved forward 3", dont wanna relocate steering box.

maybe some slimmed down 70's packs....

try it.

 

[Kage]

Yup, links/coils/airshocks get pricey quick. That's why lots of folks use the leafs instead. And as noted before, when you have the money (and desire), you can allways add a link setup sometime later. It all depends on what terrain you tend to use, and for my purposes, leaves work just fine.

....what do you guys think of using the f250 leafs. the weight capacity is very close to the chevy 52s. but im not sure how much a spring rate will differ being that its 3" wide...

maybe some slimmed down 70's packs....

try it.

I don't know how many leafs are in the F250 packs off hand, but you can allways remove a leaf or two to dial it in. Worst case is you pitch those leafs and try something else.

wow buddy, the new axles look great under there!

Thanks! Judging by your avatar, I need to wander over to the Sarge Ex thread to see why its on its side

 

[86 slo-vo]

i think im going to run the rancho 44044 leaves under the front of mine, they are a 2.5 in lift waggy spring.

 

[koa's93ranger]

I don't know how many leafs are in the F250 packs off hand, but you can allways remove a leaf or two to dial it in. Worst case is you pitch those leafs and try something else.

they have 5 leafs, i believe its for a 4" lift. i was gonna drop it down to 2 or 3 leafs.

i think im going to run the rancho 44044 leaves under the front of mine, they are a 2.5 in lift waggy spring.

but those are only 47". do you think that will flex better than a longer leaf?

 

[bobbywalter]

How do you reuse ranger tie rod? Please elaborate as this may be very useful for me

So some Dana 60s and 44s use 2.5" leafs? Hmmm never knew that. My 44 uses 3". Could I use a 2.5" spring or would that not work? Trying to find an easy way to use Chevy 52s without having to do too much fab.

while it is NOT ideal, it works ok to get going.

in this pic i still have the oem k member---steering gear---long side tierod. use a reg pitman arm and drill the taper on the hi steer 60 arm to the ranger dimension and hook it up.

the spring/shackel mounts are just hacked up box / channel and all bolt on as well. not even an 8 hr swap.

 

[koa's93ranger]

wheres the pic? i dont see it



nvm. i see it. computer messed up.
any close ups or build thread?

 

[bobbywalter]

not much for pics.