Builds Camo's build thread - 2F to 2UZ

[boots4]

I still feel my rear is a little soft but it doesn't feel unsafe, just a little annoying. Stiffer shocks helped, stiffer springs helped. I think a sway bar is probably a good answer especially for corners but I like not having to deal with one off road. It's all a compromise in finding the sweet spot for me to do well off road and be civil enough on road.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Full weekend of wheeling out at Mardi Krawl was a blast. Truck did well and was fun to lock up and head through trails that I've had to pass up for way too long.

But this is a build thread... One of the best shots showing this suspension's behavior is in the clip below. The current set up makes for a comfy ride, but that back and forth needs to go. And these super wrap-py fronts aren't helping things:

^^^ that's parked on a little hill in low with the engine holding the truck in place. No bueno.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Full weekend of wheeling out at Mardi Krawl was a blast. Truck did well and was fun to lock up and head through trails that I've had to pass up for way too long.

But this is a build thread... One of the best shots showing this suspension's behavior is in the clip below. The current set up makes for a comfy ride, but that back and forth needs to go. And these super wrap-py fronts aren't helping things:

View attachment 2773232

^^^ that's parked on a little hill in low with the engine holding the truck in place. No bueno.

That clip tells me stiffer shocks are the best answer. I have a similar problem, but the overloads in my springs are almost always in use, so that dampens the sway pretty quick.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Made a few changes.

Went to Bilstein's 380 rebound rear shocks. Noticeably better on pavement, but TBD on how they respond to the trail.

I banana'd the rear .085 wall driveshaft back in August thanks to a little bit of whiskey throttle in the rocks and limped it home at the one speed that didn't shake the truck apart. The new one runs dead true and is made from 3/16" tube - still running Toyota CV up front and LC rear joints.

The run to SAS5 showed that a single 18" muffler wasn't gonna work long term. I cut that out and moved to a 28x5 dual-in / dual-out magnaflow. Added enough tailpipe to clear the shocks. This must be what a 4.7 was meant to sound like!

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Update time. More miles, more trails, more stuff to do.

Rear drive shaft runs true but kicks up a slight vibration around 53-55mph. I might get it balanced one day. The shaft tube took a whack at some point last weekend. Looks like the rock lost and the bearings and joints are still tight.

I replaced the rear shocks with the 380-rebound M7100s. That sorted out the rocking shown in the video above. Feels safe now. Well, felt safe. Until I wrecked the front springs last weekend:

I've jammed in some used 2" 60-springs, but they've got enough life in 'em that the nose is too high for my liking. That leaves me kicking ideas around for what to do next.

I've already had some conversation with a few of you guys about this, thanks for the input, it really is helpful. I'm gunning for 4-4.5" of up travel as that keeps my chassis height low but the engine clearance safe at jounce; the more droop the better. Good anti-wrap is a need - I've hit the pan enough that it's now pretty stout, but that s***e needs to chill. Lastly, I've been watching Reece and his Rusty Nail 4600 team these last few years and admire that they've got leaf springs up front running the Hammers competitively. I'm not trying to run the Hammers, but I'd like to build to that functionality.

Options at hand:

-60/62 rears are going to fail inevitably, and the next set won't likely be easy to find - not a great option but I'm literally tripping over a set.
-3-link. It's a mouthful with just a few letters, but dang it, it's attractive.
-Undetermined spring set that will be mid-50s long, 2.5" wide, with 4-5 leaves. Install would leave them going flat at worst at full jounce. No more inverting.

Whatever I land on...I do not want to be tearing into this thing again for a while once it's built.

 

[cruisermatt]

body swap crown vic chassis

 

[NookShneer]

Update time. More miles, more trails, more stuff to do.

Rear drive shaft runs true but kicks up a slight vibration around 53-55mph. I might get it balanced one day. The shaft tube took a whack at some point last weekend. Looks like the rock lost and the bearings and joints are still tight.

I replaced the rear shocks with the 380-rebound M7100s. That sorted out the rocking shown in the video above. Feels safe now. Well, felt safe. Until I wrecked the front springs last weekend:

View attachment 2836128

I've jammed in some used 2" 60-springs, but they've got enough life in 'em that the nose is too high for my liking. That leaves me kicking ideas around for what to do next.

I've already had some conversation with a few of you guys about this, thanks for the input, it really is helpful. I'm gunning for 4-4.5" of up travel as that keeps my chassis height low but the engine clearance safe at jounce; the more droop the better. Good anti-wrap is a need - I've hit the pan enough that it's now pretty stout, but that s***e needs to chill. Lastly, I've been watching Reece and his Rusty Nail 4600 team these last few years and admire that they've got leaf springs up front running the Hammers competitively. I'm not trying to run the Hammers, but I'd like to build to that functionality.

Options at hand:

-60/62 rears are going to fail inevitably, and the next set won't likely be easy to find - not a great option but I'm literally tripping over a set.
-3-link. It's a mouthful with just a few letters, but dang it, it's attractive.
-Undetermined spring set that will be mid-50s long, 2.5" wide, with 4-5 leaves. Install would leave them going flat at worst at full jounce. No more inverting.

Whatever I land on...I do not want to be tearing into this thing again for a while once it's built.

You have some of the specifics already. I would think you would need the weight of the front axle and maybe total truck weight and take that info to Alcan or Deaver and see what an exact solution would cost.

 

[bush]

This was my advice as well. Not sure he goes that route though.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

I poked around several catalogs and had some discussions around this project and some other stuff that will be coming as a result. The best packaged solution for what I've got in mind is to stick with the tried and tested 60/62 packs up front with AAL. Cost, parts availability, performance, and durability all come together best with this option so far. End goal is to get back to my previous height so the hangers will all land in new places. This will drive new shocks, but they needed to go anyway - they were limiting droop.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

New front suspension layout:

The springs are the old factory rears with an AAL to wake them up. There's about an inch and a half of arch in them. That put the nose way high, so the shackle hanger got frenched. Left the stock pivot hanger. I'll get it twisted up and we'll see how it works out. If all goes well, I'll yank the old shackle hanger and carry on.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Got to play with the new suspension a little this weekend. Holy crap. So much better. Driving over little ruts like those below with speed is no issue. Might not even spill any beverage. I like it.

 

[cruisermatt]

What did you end up doing for front shocks?

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Running a set of 4500 bilsteins for a 2nd Gen Ram 2500. But the new springs have more range so I'll need to find something longer to allow full droop.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Forgot to follow up on the front shackle hangers. They and the height, or lack thereof, that they enable work well. I cut the factory ones off a while back. Further changes to the front end are very much in the tweaking / refining category. This truck doesn't sit as low as @cruisermatt's 62, but it's still a very tame height compared to lots of SOA 60s.

All SOAs require a fair amount of fab work, so frenching the hangers isn't really that much of a scope add. I'd recommend it 100%.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Little update. Found a few fun funds and acquired some 'locks. An inch more backspace and effectively an inch wider, but the stance aesthetic isn't really affected. Looking forward to running some single digit pressures and seeing if these km3s can hook up.

 

[Pick]

What wheels are those, and where did you acquire them? Looks awesome!!

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Much appreciated. @bush discovered these for our group and ran them first. He's given them a serious thrashing and they're still kicking. That plus their price point made them hard to pass on. Sidetracked Offroad is the vendor. I think they have them made, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Broski]

What are the specs, and what was the true width ?

Thanks

 

[Zjohnsonua]

They list as a 17x9, but I didn't measure them. I should have.

Seems that lots of BL vendors are measuring inside distances between the wheel lips. Which throws you off since the outer bead actually seats the inside tire surface against the outer lip...adding roughly an inch of width.

 

[Broski]

They list as a 17x9, but I didn't measure them. I should have.

Seems that lots of BL vendors are measuring inside distances between the wheel lips. Which throws you off since the outer bead actually seats the inside tire surface against the outer lip...adding roughly an inch of width.

Back spacing and bore size ?