Brett's average build thread

883's on.








Initial around the block impression: Stiffer then a honeymoon pecker!

Ride height is at 25 3/4" hub to fender, a touch high perhaps...I'll pull the top spacer out and that should drop to 24 3/4" and give back a little rake.

I hope they soften up, a little stiff for my liking at this point. I'll give a month or so before deciding to keep them or not.

 

Put about 25 miles on it last night just driving around, tagging speed bumps and aiming for the pot holes and the occasional corner curb. Urban wheeling
Morning measurements are 25" hub to fender all four corners, so the front did settle after the initial install.
The rear normally sits an inch higher but I have the winter weight in the back, couple hundred pounds plus.

Still on the fence about the ride. For the most part on the city streets it rides great, good pavement feel, no front end lean or sway.
Definitely stiffer though. But not stiffer then the rear suspension, about the same now. Biggest difference I noticed is simply hitting the railroad crossings at city speeds and it feels slightly more "jarring" in the front.

I ordered a 1/4" poly top spacer last night to replace the 1/2" aluminum spacer. to lower the front just a bit and see if the poly makes a ride difference.

 

You don't still have your sway bar on, do you? Especially with the 883s, you should notice an improved ride without it. Even with my 881s I prefer the ride without the sway bar.

 

Nah, I took it off when I put the 881's on in the beginning. Maybe I'm just getting old.

 

The ride is why I prefer the 882's over the 883's. Little lighter spring rate, but a bit taller coil. They end up about the same height installed but the 882 isn't quite a stiff. I've found that I'm in the minority around here on this but that's ok.

 

I may be in the minority too...

 

Put another 100 miles on 'em and looked for a spot to check wheel travel.

CV angle in driveway at current ride height.


CV angle with struts as far compressed as I could get them...notice the bumpstop...


Doing this.






Not completely off the ground but awfully light

 

So after running them down a dirt road with plenty of washboard action that I am used to with the prior setup I was surprised that they soaked it up fairly well.

Running down my favorite paved canyon the extra stiffness was just like having the swaybar on, carved the turns with ease. Road manners are excellent.

I still feel they may be too stiff in the end for trail use but I'll give them a chance and wait for the poly spacers to see if they have a psychosomatic effect at the very least.

Running up a short trail felt ok but also felt like the struts were wanting to fully extend all the time rather than the higher tire soaking up the bump, the lower seemed to want to drop instead if that makes any sense. I ran a short trail I run all the time small game hunting so I'm very much in tune with the road and the vehicle.
My setup just may not be heavy enough to properly work these coils.

Stay tuned, there may be a set of 882's in the future.

 

whichever coils you end up using, all of the OME ones perform well in the dirt. I was unsure about my 882s when I first put them on and then took them out on some trails and I was sold 100%.

 

Chances are that your rear travel is being limited by the rear shocks. The nitrochargers are a bit too short to allow full travel of the leaf springs. I like the nitrochargers so I just relocated my shock mounts to still use the shocks and not limit the travel of the rear springs. I gained 3-4" of extra suspension travel. You can see details in my build thread.


As for the compression of your front springs, not sure how much the 883s will soften up once they're broken in but my 882s compress really well now that they are broken in.

 

Yep. I've read through and referred to your thread several times. Very nice work.

I'm definitely being limited by the rear shock mounts, there's only 2-3 inches of down travel at best. I'll relocate those later. I've been very happy with the suspension as a whole. The 881's gave the ride I wanted and compressed nicely, they're just a bit overloaded for the extra weight that was added.

I briefly thought of a taller/thicker coil isolator to preload the 881 coil but decided going to the 882 would be basically the same thing with a possibly better rate. Going with the 883 seemed like a better idea being the same height with an extra load rating.
At this point I'm fine with doing some experimenting, maybe the info gained will be useful to someone else. I don't think I'll have any problem finding new homes for whatever I decide to not use.

Right now I'm definitely over-lifted, I need to remove that top spacer. The thinner ones will be here Friday or Saturday so I'll wait and take care of it then. With the hubs unlocked it's a non-issue at the moment. After the 1st I'll be able to get some decent wheeling in and decide if they're supple enough for trail use. If they feel like the swaybar is attached (it's not) in terms of flex, I'll try the 882's.

 

So I installed the 1/4" poly spacers yesterday afternoon. No pics as there is not much of a visual change. They allowed the front to come down about a half inch which was expected. CV angle looks slightly better now. Short drive didn't really feel much change which was also expected. I'll go for a long drive today. Unfortunately all of our local trails are either closed for the winter are closed due to USFS politics so it's difficult to get a real world comparison. Best I can hope for is a washed out county road or travel the ditch.

On a side note I also replaced the Tailgate cable supports. One was broke and the other was about to break. Pricey little cables at $22.00 each from Toyota but I knew they would fit as opposed to aftermarket.

And an mpg report. Last tank running premium showed 19.87. This so far appears to be my average. When I get my front end squared away I'll run a few tanks of plain 'ol regular through it to see what happens.

 

Really diggin your rig man! I'm hoping to do many of the same things you have done to yours only mine is a green 2000. I'm looking to get the same seat covers and camper as well. What kind of camper is that? Is it heavy and how do your dakars handle it? Do you have the ome aal? Or running straight Dakar pack? Have your 883 gotten any better or do you think you'll end up swapping them out for another? Thank you for any info and your truck is BA.

 

Thanks for the compliment.
The canopy is a Century, it's fiberglass and not too heavy, two guys can pick it up, not sure of actual weight, couple hundred pounds maybe.
The Dakars handle it just fine but they are a different pack (shorter length) than what your truck will use due to the year. Mine are a 6 leaf pack, no aal.
882's have been ordered and will be here Monday.

 

Got it stuck in a dense snow drift.




Was on top and broke through. Winch and bumper did their job and pulled it out.

 

Thanks, lookin' good!

 

882's showed up today. Too dark and cold to do anything about it.
881 on the left for comparison.


I figured out how to use my press to remove the coils, should have thought of that before. Made an attachment for the ram that pushes the coils. I should have time tomorrow afternoon to do the swap. Looks sketchy as hell but it works and is stable. I practiced with a stock set.


I have to admit the 883's feel pretty good now, I have grown used to them and probably could have left them as is, but I will try the 882's out of curiosity...

 

^So, what are the lengths and spring rates of the 882 vs 883?


I think I did something similar using eibach springs. I went with a 16", 600lb coil instead of a 14" 650lb coil...

 

I was gonna say you must be getting good at switching out coils.

I'll probably be switching coils this spring and really don't want to use my crappy spring compressors again.

 

From Wheeler's website. OME coils.
880-16mm dia. 365mm length. 500lb rate
881-16mm dia. 375mm length. 500lb rate
882-16mm dia. 395mm length. 500lb rate
883-16.5mm dia. 375mm length. 590lb rate