jjrgr21

i'd go w/f-150 springs(57") or 63" chevies, cheap and great flex

muddpigg

iTrader: (1)

I ran Downeys for a while and guess what. They sag with time and I had to take the pack loose so more springs from stock pack could be added. Yeah yeah it all depends on how much weight you carry and how youu wheel but dang I'm not going out without tools and survival gear so my springs won't sag and I built my rig for wheeling.

So I so no to Downey. Maybe EMU or the coil spring mod but I have no expereince with that. I'm now running longer springs and that works for me now my shock mounting limits axle travel so more "fab" needs to be done. But I like it just a very large PITB (pain in the bung) for where I live, they keep threatening to throw me out for even wrenching so welding is way out of the question.

So back to my original question what do you plan to do with the truck?

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

x3 on the OME Dakar leafs. i looked at all the options for leafs and decided on the OMEs. heard the downey's sagged so scratched that one, add a leafs only work for so long, airbags would be too bouncy, chevy's require welding, fords - wouldn't be caught dead with ford parts on any of my vehicles - there's a reason why they circled the problem. didn't know about the ZUK coil spring mod, looks legit and cheap too. i bought mine from trdparts4u. so far, i really like them. i've got around 5k miles/9 months on them and in that time have hauled several yards of compost as well as a few tons of clay. i haven't measured them lately, but i'm pretty sure i've still got at least 2" of lift with the stock shackles. haven't put on my bj spacers yet to even out the front, but i kinda like the raked look.

didn't skimp on the shocks and got the OMEs since they were designed to work together - the combo is much better than stock. thing i didn't do is get myself the u-bolt flip kit because i don't have a welder (yet), but strongly recommend getting it since the normal u-bolts that came with are around an inch longer and hang too low which makes them even more of rock magnets than the stockers. definitely do not re-use you old u-bolts or bushings...instead toss them in your parts box for emergency fixes.

in terms of wheeling capability, i can't answer too much. i've been out a few times since installing but not too much as i've been dragging my feet on putting in my gears and bj spacers. with the new leafs and the rear seemed to compress and droop ok, but i need to go back out and take some measurements before i can give a good opinion on that. not sure if my shocks were too short or if the spring didn't droop because they weren't broken in yet, but then again, i was inside the truck and couldn't see. maybe someone else with OMEs can chime in on this.

Evil.Dingo

I'm just got my black magic springs, I'm thinking of welding them to my shocks by fabing cups for the shaft end of teh shock and a ring stop for the shock body. Basically coil overs. The only concern I have is the shock mounts and the stress they will endure? Any opinions on this. I plan on reenforcing the shock mounts but either way they are going to be subjected to more resistance. Anyone ever try this?

Junkers88

The coils are Black Magic springs and I think there is a link on ZUK's site. I'll have to look to be sure.

Junkers88

I don't know how hard it would be to fab up buckets for a coil over set up with these. You might be better off just doing the ZUK mod and welding his top mount to the frame with the lower mount set in place of the rubber bump stop that's on top of the spring pack. I know it worked very well for me and I'll be doing it again on the 4runner I just picked up.

Evil.Dingo

that was my original intention but I accidentily ordered the 14" springs instead of the 12" springs. I'm not runnig ball joint spacers. I want to keep my suspension stock until I do a Chaos front end. By the time I return the springs and pay for two way shipping, I'll be spending more than I want. I'm fairly good at fabbing, my only concern is the stress on the shock mounts. I have no rust on the frame or mounts and I figure if I just brace the mounts up with some gussetts I'll be alright. In theory, the truck should ride the same as the Zuk mod right? Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread. I did a search and didn't find anyone who did this yet, So I figured I'd throw it out there. I might try it this weekend. I'll post some pics when I do it. Before I do it though, I wnated to get some peeps opinions on whether it would work or if they have seen it before. Thanks !