Pig on Coils.... kind of.

[scottryana]

Pr0ject42,

You are absolutely right about the stock knuckles. I am not sure if you have been following the build, but my original intention was to do a SOA. I bought the high steer arms and mailed my FJ80 knuckles to OTT industries to have the high steer arms built and the knuckles machined. When I got the knuckles and high steer arms back from them, it became obvious that they wouldn't clear the springs. OTT will not do any additional FJ80 steering arms, nor would they correct the ones I have, they said it was too labor intensive and demand wasn't high enough. So I was stuck with high steer arms and knuckles that wouldn't fit the stock arms.
I looked at all of my options.... You can't go sprung under with custom springs, because of the electric locker and the offset diff. I could buy new knuckles and then pull and swap the machined knuckles with the new knuckles, but I think that the strength of the arms is suspect, and the panhard would still have to be in front of the axle due to the oil pan and filter. So I choose just to use the high steer and modified knuckles. It also let me tuck the lower links up onto the axle housing so they will clear trail obstacles.
If you are looking to swap an 80 axle into anything but an 80, and you have stock knuckles and arms, your way would be hands down the quickest and easiest way.

You can see in this photo that the Tierod, Drag link and Panhard will all be up out of the way, but it is a tough fit.

Ryan.

 

[scottryana]

Got back down to IronPig's so I could get back to work on the 55. We fixed the Panhard bracket on the frame and flexed it out. The 55 is flexing pretty well but the springs still seem too stiff.

Here are the photos.

Around 38"+ of lift, you don't hear much about RTI ramps any more but should be around 1040.

Need to do something about the reservoirs

Rear tire stuffed

Pretty good droop.

Ryan.

 

[Wayneraintree]

does your rear tire rub a little on the 1/4 slider? My 38's do, I am trying to decide whether I should start clearancing the wells and front fenders....

 

[scottryana]

Tire Rub

Fully stuffed, the rear tire, just barely makes contact with the rear 1/4. I will probably bump stop it 1/2" before it actually hits. I don't think that it will do any damage the way it is now, but why risk it.

Ryan.

does your rear tire rub a little on the 1/4 slider? My 38's do, I am trying to decide whether I should start clearancing the wells and front fenders....

 

[pr0ject42]

You most likely have an idea of what to do with your reservoirs, but I've seen it that they just bracket them to the shock hoop. You could also maybe do a custom bracket over the top of your engine, but I don't know how the engine heat will jive with them.

Looks good dood! I bet you're getting pretty stoaked about taking more steps towards completion, I know I would be!

 

[JUNK DRIVER]

killer

I have seen this truck in the shop before the suspension was done. This truck is clean. One of the best 55s' I have seen. Keep up the killer work.

Tim Hegemier
434-996-4187

 

[scottryana]

I found a couple of shots that show the lowered panhard bracket. Please tell me what you think, this is my first 3 link so I am looking for any advice.

Thanks,
Ryan.

 

[pr0ject42]

Have you plugged it into the 3-link calculator? I'm going to tell you that I'm not an expert or even a novice of linked suspentions, however I do believe the panhard only holds the position of the axle and doesn't get much action in the way of the loads put on it.

You may want to PM ActionJackson on here, he built a 3-link for his 80 and might be able to bestow some real advice as opposed to the hot air I'm blowin

 

[scottryana]

Pr0ject42,

I did use the 3 link calculator, and I did email Action Jackson. Jackson had some good advise, and I did my best to follow it. I think that you are right about the Panhard, it only locates the axle right/left in the chassis. If it is too steep or doesn't follow the drag link you will have a lot of bump steer. A question that I asked on several forums, but never got a clear answer was, "Is it best to have a completly flat panhard, or should it parellel the drag link?" I dropped my drag link several inches to closer follow the drag link, so I guess I will see what happens.



Before:

After I dropped the panhard:

If anyone has any advise, please just let me know. I am still pretty new to this, just doing what I read on the internet :-D

Ryan.

 

[ridgerunner]

Never built one myself either, but my understanding was that you want the panhard to be parallel with the drag link (and just as long, but I don't think this is always the case).

 

[scottryana]

New Photos!

Lou Brown was able to snap some new photos for me when he went down to the shop. I am working on swapping the front coilovers out from 14" to 12" so that I can bring the ride height down a couple of inches. The rear is a plain spring over with stock leafs, and right now the front is only about an 1" taller. What do you think?

Ryan.

 

[Wayneraintree]

I think that thing is sweet! keep it up and drive it!

 

[ridgerunner]

I hope you get that thing wired soon! Looks absolutely wicked.

 

[Talos]

that thing looks badass

 

[890man]

That is a sweet rig!!

 

[scottryana]

Thanks! Just sent an email to Polyperformance, I am returning the 14" coilovers for 12" and I will be ordering the parts to start the 4 link rear. I am going to run a single triangulated 4 link with parallel uppers. As a couple people have mentioned the ride height is too tall. I am going to bring it down 3"

Ryan.

 

[pr0ject42]

Hey dood, just a brain storm, I've been thinking about just using the stock link setup off of an 80 series. From the looks of it, it wouldn't be a huge massive big deal. Certainly some fab work, but it is a proven system.

Also, you might want to look at trail-gear's trail link kit. they have some trick stuff, but I don't know how well it would jive with the offset pumpkin of a cruiser.

 

[scottryana]

Pr0ject42,

This is actually a really great idea. Lance Williams the owner of Ironpigoffroad used to have a black bobbed pig with the FJ80 front suspension grafted onto the FJ55 axle. It worked well, but had the same limitations that the 80s guys complain about. There are so many ways to take a project like this, that is what makes it so great. My plan was always to use leafs, because they are cheap and easy, but when I couldn't get everything to work with the leafs, I tried the 3 link.

Ryan.

 

[pr0ject42]

I was talking about the rear. Action Jacson used an essentially stock setup on the rear of his 80 and didn't bitch about it. Might not be a bad idea compared totally fabbing something up from scratch. Then again I also just noticed that trail-gear is offering their rear link kit as components as well, so you could get a leg up on your pan hard and link attachment mount points.

Just a thought!

 

[snailwagon]

Another, looking good, comment. That looks like it is going to be an incredible pig, mechanically and aesthetically.