Custom Struts

So after trolling on the forums for over a year I decided to sign up and become a member.. been a mechanic in the US Army for almost 11 years and recently medically retired.

last year i purchased a 2008 TRD OR DC with a 6" fabtech lift with the spacers.

Now I have done numerous searches on the subject and have not been able to find any answer to the specific question that I have..

hoping that someone in here has either done this or at least has some expertise in this area.

currently I am looking to keep the level of lift that my Taco has at the moment but eliminate the coil spacers and lift blocks in the rear ...

After multiple measurements I have come to the conclusion that with the proper spring (longer length spring and strut for the front and custom spring pack for the rear) i can eliminate the spring spacer and blocks if i am not mistaken..

e.g. a quality aftermarket front shock/strut that has an 7-8" longer than stock extended length with an equal to or slightly shorter than stock compressed length and a coil spring with an equal to stock spring rate at the proper longer length say roughly 8" longer unsprung.

 

As long as i do the math and measurements right I cant see a reason why this wouldn't work, provide a better ride than the spacers, and allow better suspension travel

 

hmm no responses?

 

Yes you can get custom struts for the front.

For example these icon coilovers you can order them to suit your drop bracket lift in the drop down box

http://downsouthmotorsports.com/i-4...lug-05-current-front-coil-over-shock-kit.html

For the rear your best to get a set of custom springs made to eliminate having a block. Alcan perhaps?

 

not what i was going for .. attached a pic of what i am planning /going for .. using a set of 5100's to dial in height if i miscalculate spring length

 

i am sure i am not the only one who has thought or considered this option?

even if i undercalculate the spring length i can have up to 2.5" of correction with the 5100's .. this seems like an excelent option to enhance ride quality and remove the ugly spacers... with a lil bit of research through moog or eibach i have seen the proper springs for this application and depending on parts used this runs at about 1/2 to 2/3 the cost of a set of coil overs

 

What's the point? Eliminating blocks in the rear will help ride quality. Going to a custom spring pack there makes sense. Eliminating the spacers in the front won't change a thing.

 

personal preference and the ability if i decide to bump up the lift once i get my UCA's with a spacer again..plus the price point .. coilovers .. $1100-1300 .. my idea $300-$400 max ..

 

4x2 or 4x4?

Edit: Wait, let me get this straight...you want to eliminate a spacer so you can put a spacer back on later with aftermarket UCAs? Putting aside all the reasons why that's a bad idea, why not just go to a longer spacer at that time and save even more money?

Again, none of this will affect the performance or ride quality of your front suspension UNLESS you add a spacer again after adding aftermarket UCAs, at which point ride quality and downtravel will suffer. There's also the real possibility at that point that you could damage/destroy your front shocks.

 

4x4

 

and i am already aware of the CV angles .. like i said the 6" fabtech kit i have has the longer spindles and diff drop so my angles are currently stock .. so i should be ok if i decide to run a 2" spacer on top of my solution later on .. as for the rear leafs .. well thats gonna be a bastard pack i put together with the help of a friend at a truck shop who has the equipment and experiance in re arching leaf springs.. did a set on my buddies xj rode very well and got 6" of lift for like $150 in junkyard parts and some labor

 

Doesn't matter. The CV axles along with the UCA/LCA balljoints and bushings are your travel limiters.

Replacing your current spacer with a longer coilspring and shock gives you NO advantage. Suspension travel will not change. If you want to change shock valving or coilspring rate, you can do so with the current coilover to minimize cost.

If you do add an additional spacer, or a longer spacer, or some bastard combination of the two later, then you're going to move the ride height of the suspension further into available downtravel. You still won't gain any travel because you haven't altered the mechanical items that limit travel. What you WILL do is place your ride-height shock into A-arms that are in significant downtravel, meaning there's a real possibility the shock will top out before your bumpstop stops the lower A-arm, destroying the shock in short order.

You can remove that risk by extending your bumpstops. Now you've spent more money and lost both uptravel and downtravel.

Yeah, there's a reason no one's gone this route before. It makes no sense from any perspective.

 

with stock angles with the current lift .. and adding my "custom struts" the current suspension geometry is maintained in its STOCK ANGLES.. to include UCA, LCA, CV and Ball Joints.. i have verified the angles my self .. having the longer spindles and diff drop and bracket which relocates the LCA's in relation to rest of the suspension.. adding a 2" spacer Above my "custom struts" would be the equivalent of adding a 2" Spacer above the struts on a stock truck.. the upgraded UCA's would fix any camber issues i had and i would be effectively sitting at 8" of suspension lift

 

and if you have seen the fabtech or procomp kits .. the spacer goes above the strut this is how i would apply a 2" spacer in the future

 

EXACTLY. That is the point. You have that now. Why bother spending money on your "new" setup when it ends up exactly the same?

EXACTLY. You're running a spacer lift again. Once again, this relocates the coilover downward, with the shock sitting at neutral travel and the A-arms in downtravel.

SO:

- Since the A-arms are already in downtravel at ride height, you have less downtravel available to contribute to ride quality.

- The A-arms are in downtravel and the coilover is at neutral travel. This means the A-arms have approximately 6 to 7" of uptravel available while the shock has only ~4". Guess what happens when your A-arm shock mounting point rises 5" and your shock only has 4" of compression available? There are lots of documented instances on this forum of people snapping coilovers because of spacer lift usage.

- You can limit A-arm uptravel to 4" by extending bumpstops, but you have to spend money to do it (there goes a part of your "cost savings") and now you've lost the benefit of the uptravel you're eliminating.

I'm trying to be as clear as I can. I'm not going to try much longer.

Yes. It has to. Due to the drop bracket the front differential, CV axle, and lower control arm are now relocated 6 inches lower compared to the frame, upper control arm, and upper coil bucket. The two items that span the gap, the coilover and spindle, must be extended. HOWEVER, BECAUSE SUSPENSION RIDE HEIGHT AND TRAVEL HAVE NOT CHANGED, A SPACER IS APPROPRIATE HERE. All the kit really does is relocate the bottom portion of the front suspension and the entire front driveline by adding a new subframe assembly.

 

ok so then forget the 2" spacer about the strut .. if i decide to lift extra 2" using a longer 24.5-25" 5100 and a 22" long spring "custom strut" ( same cost for parts aprox $350) add UCA's and now i am sitting 8" high what is limited then? i loose 2" of down travel then correct?

similiar to what happens when people put the 3" toytec or OME lifts on when going from stock height?

 

pretty much what i am going after is why spend 1000-2000 with coilovers when i can achieve ride quality with the 5100's and a good spring which is better then my current set up . at a 3rd of the price. i understand i will not have the travel or baja performance of a "true" coilover .. and that if i lift using spacers either inside the strut or above it i will sacrifice suspension travel in one form or another

 

More or less. If you go that route you trade some downtravel for uptravel, and don't risk coilover breakage. Makes a lot more sense. This is why most suspension lifts for these trucks follow this template.

Just a note: Finding shocks with the proper compressed and extended lengths for your application may be challenging. I haven't looked into it.

 

have had the truck for almost a year and have been reasearching these 2 routes extensively .. i will have to wait till the morning to find my cheat sheets with the appropriate part numbers but i have them .. wasnt trying to grief you or anything i just had to do something similar a few years ago in Iraq when we were upgrading HMMWV's to the heavier suspensions with Components from the Heavier Armored versions..

they were in downtravel and the tires camber was all jacked up ..

so to fix it we ordered the longer lower and shorter upper control arms from the armored HMMWV's and boom camber issue fixed...

so with that being said .. with the longer strut i assemble .. and UCA's .. would Longer LCA's and dialing up the lift on the 5100's in the future with a set of Longer RCV CV shafts allow for potentially even more lift?

 

When you're talking that level of change you're better off ditching the douche bracket lift entirely and just going with a long travel kit, which replaces the front end A-arms, CVs, steering linkage, spindle coilovers. I would NOT add long travel on top of a drop bracket lift.

I'd always recommend against anything over 4" or so of lift anyway. Things start to get useless offroad above that height, and it starts to scream compensation.