deltaR50 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Yeah those have been welded already , it just this section now . I have a video but have no idea how to upload it here. I’ll take some more photos for you a little later Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkDave upload them on youtube then copy and paste the link. Itll automatically populate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 I mentioned this in another thread but figured I’d share a teaser of what I’m working on next. It’s either going to be awesome, or an epic fail...lol! With the addition of the tube bumper, and plans for a winch in the near future, I need to finally upgrade from the stock springs up front. I considered ordering the OME HD’s, but I like to be different and decided to experiment a bit. I’ve been doing a lot of research on sites that supply parts for race car builders and have a lot of components for building custom suspension set ups. I settled on these springs And the plan is to pare them with this adjustable spacer on the bottom strut perch.Since the stock springs are wider at the bottom than the top, and the aftermarket springs aren’t, I went with springs that should fit the top strut mount and the adapter should take care of the problem of being a bit too small for the bottom mount. I’m going to keep the 2 inch strut spacers I already have, so my plan is to use this combo more for increased load capacity and not necessarily set it up for much more lift. But, if my calculations are correct, than this spring and adjustable spacer combo should able to provide up to 2.5-3 inches of lift without spacers. I’ll update this when I get time to actually dig into it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 Btw, cost is at about $145 so far for the springs and spacers. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01Pathmaker Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 I'll be interested to see how this works out. Always appreciate "thinking outside the box"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 22, 2019 Author Share Posted March 22, 2019 Springs and spacers came in the other day. They look good, very robust! So far all I’ve done is trim the base of the spacer down a bit since I’m keeping my strut spacers and don’t need as much height as the whole spacer would have provided. Hopefully I’ll get some time to actually work on this tomorrow.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 I took care of a couple little details tonight. I didn’t like that the spacers don’t have a locking collar or anything to lock the spacer in position. I thought about tack welding them, but I want to keep the option open to change the height in the future. I drilled and tapped the collars and added a couple set screws.Also, I didn’t like that the spring and spacer diameters are different enough that the spring could slide around a bit. So, I made some rubber isolators that slide over the spacer and fill the gap so the spring sits squarely and can’t move around at all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjackson2 Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 On 3/22/2019 at 6:54 AM, Bax03SE said: Springs and spacers came in the other day. They look good, very robust! So far all I’ve done is trim the base of the spacer down a bit since I’m keeping my strut spacers and don’t need as much height as the whole spacer would have provided. Hopefully I’ll get some time to actually work on this tomorrow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Dude this looks badass!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 It turned into a long day, but I got the springs installed yesterday! First of all, I’ve found it hard to find good info on the specs of the stock front springs, so I took some measurements to share. Stock front coil spring, 2003 SE:Free height 15.25”Top inside diameter 4.5”Bottom inside diameter 6”Measurements when mounted in strut:Unloaded height (no weight/supported on jacks) 10.25”Loaded height (full weight on suspension)8”Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 The spacers fit great over the strut and sit well on the bottom perch. I welded them to the perch to hold them in place. The new springs at 250lb spring rate are waaay stiffer than the stock springs. I ended up setting the spacer all the way at the lowest setting (as determined by my own arbitrary trimming, lol). The free height of the spring and spacer combination is 14.5” as installed and it ended up giving me way more lift than expected. Ground to fender measurement was 36.5” pre-install, and 39” after. So I got 2.5” additional lift. That really wasn’t what I was looking for, but...I’m happy with it. I’m planning to add a winch soon so hopefully that will pull it back down a little bit. I already have one set of camber bolts, (each strut has one regular and one adjustable bolt) and I was able to get the camber close but it’s still off. I need both bolts to be adjustable now to get it where I need it, so I ordered a second set of camber bolts that should be here tomorrow. The ride quality is fantastic. It feels so much more stable and planted now, soaks up speed bumps and potholes no problem, and doesn’t have any nose dive when braking. I’m seriously impressed with the ride! The only big downside is that I seriously need a SFD now! The stance and ride of the truck is where I want it, but the CV angle is atrocious. I have manual hubs so there’s no worries with regular driving, but I need to do the drop before doing anything serious off road. Unless Towndawg and Hawairish have things available soon I’ll probably fab something up myself. I don’t need to do anything more with the struts, just need the sub frame and engine blocks and steering shaft extension. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 One other thing I’ll add is that seeing how much these springs lifted it with a 250lb rate makes me seriously doubt the supposed 380lb rating I’ve heard for the AC lift coils. I know I’ve read that the free height of the AC springs is over 16”. Seeing how 14.5” free height and 250lb rate gave me 2.5” lift....the math on the AC springs just doesn’t add up. My guess is the AC’s are closer to the 200lb range. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PathyDude17 Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 That looks like an SFD equipped rig based on height. Are your CV's vertical now? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 4 minutes ago, PathyDude17 said: That looks like an SFD equipped rig based on height. Are your CV's vertical now? I’ll take a picture, they’re pretty bad! I’m literally sitting here right now figuring out some plans to weld up some spacers. I have a feeling it’ll have a SFD on it within the next few weeks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjackson2 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 That looks awesome! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 Here’s a Pic. I have a feeling these would be some pretty angry CV’s if engaged them!I already ordered the U joints I need for extending the steering shaft....Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 oops, forgot the pic.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawairish Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 11 hours ago, Bax03SE said: The only big downside is that I seriously need a SFD now! The stance and ride of the truck is where I want it, but the CV angle is atrocious. I have manual hubs so there’s no worries with regular driving, but I need to do the drop before doing anything serious off road. Unless Towndawg and Hawairish have things available soon I’ll probably fab something up myself. I don’t need to do anything more with the struts, just need the sub frame and engine blocks and steering shaft extension. 3 hours ago, Bax03SE said: I already ordered the U joints I need for extending the steering shaft.... I think we can help you out there and provide the pieces you need. Not sure how soon, but hopefully soon! Kudos on the project, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 5 hours ago, hawairish said: I think we can help you out there and provide the pieces you need. Not sure how soon, but hopefully soon! Kudos on the project, too! Thanks! I really appreciate that. I tend to be pretty impatient once I get going on a project though, so I already tracked down what I need for the steering and have that on the way, and I’ve got a stack of metal in the garage waiting to be cut and welded so I’m good to tackle this on my own from here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjackson2 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 if these springs end up working out well youve opened p a world of possibilities for front lifts. that price is a bit cheaper than ome or ac springs and you have the option to adjust height. and a 250 pounds spring rate would be nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 I told you all I was impatient when I get going on a project! I went ahead and made a 3 inch sfd over the last few days, and got it wrapped up this morning. All of the alignment specs look soooo much better! Also it’s a lot easier to work on things under there with the extra space. Getting the motor mounts and front diff out was a challenge, but putting it back together after the drop was in place was a breeze. I won’t lay out the steps as it’s been covered here enough, but I’m very happy I went ahead and did this. While I had the welder out, I also used the extra pieces left over from the front coil spring spacers to make new rear coil buckets that bolt on top of the stock lower perch. That netted another 1.5 inches in the back. So the rear is now LR9449 springs with a 1.5 inch spacer. I also welded in a proper panhard drop bracket. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 I used round steel tubing for the sfd spacers. I’m not sure I’ve seen other spacers made with round tube instead of square, but I like how they turned out.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjotrainbrain Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Looks really good with how you have the suspension setup now! Great work knocking that SFD out so quick haha, now to put all these new parts to work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 Just now, mjotrainbrain said: Looks really good with how you have the suspension setup now! Great work knocking that SFD out so quick haha, now to put all these new parts to work! Thanks! I’m planning a trip to the pine barrens in NJ next month with some friends. Should be fun! That’s why I was in such a hurry to get it done....I didn’t want to be like “sorry guys, I know the truck looks tough but I can’t engage 4wd because I’m afraid of blowing a CV, lol! With the front jacked up and axles at full droop, I locked the hubs and spun the wheels and everything is nice and smooth without even a hint of binding, it’s a beautiful thing! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bax03SE Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 (edited) Also a side note regarding the new front spring set up. With this configuration, any concerns about wheel backspacing and strut spacing are pretty much a non issue. I could hack off the offending first few inches of the strut perch if I wanted because it’s just kind of hanging out there as waisted space now. I don’t have any plans of changing my wheel and tire combo any time soon, but figured it was with mentioning. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited March 27, 2019 by Bax03SE 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjotrainbrain Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Look different that I'd expected from that angle, cool that all that extra space could be had if needed. I'll be really interested to hear your results long-term, although I doubt there will be any negatives to report from how it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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