Spacers on top of Coilovers

Hey guys i’ve got sway away 2.0 racerunner coilovers with eibach 650lbs coils on them, the coilovers are standard travel and i have SPC upper arms. Has anyone put a small 1/2” spacer on top of the coilover to give more downtravel and to take some preload off the coil with any success?

 

Don't stack spacers/lifts/etc.

 

any reasoning behind your comment?

 

IDK but I have some 1/4” spacers for sale if you want them.

 

I'm a long time reader (even though I just recently joined) and I've read through many threads about not stacking coil overs with spacers because they weren't engineered to work together.

Too many threads that explain why you shouldn't do this (removes downward travel), blowing cv's and ball joints due to overextension, and a ton of other reasons.

A search will yield the results you're looking for.

 

It's pretty well accepted to not stack lifts. It can technically be done, though. Just not ideal.

So, WHY do you want more lift? Knowing what kind of performance, budget, etc you are trying to get will also help determine the best course of action for you.



To add to what's already been said about stacking lifts:

When you do that, you exceed the designed limitations of *both* lifts. Spacers don't actually increase your down travel, they just move the whole shock down. Since the shock is now lower, but it has the same total travel (in compression), you could run into a situation where you bottom out the shock before you hit the bump stops = bad.

With a half inch spacer (meaning ~1" more lift) is that likely to occur? I've never tested it, but I'm not willing to find out either, lol. Some people say they never had a problem with their spacers and coilovers, but honestly I can't trust they've ever bottomed out their suspension to really know for sure. I don't think shock manufacturers design much more than an extra 1/2" travel in the shocks to account for that.

So, if you want more droop wheel travel, your ONLY option is extended travel shocks (my Kings have 1" more down travel than stock, and same up travel so bump stops are not effected). If you just want to make the truck higher you need to account for the extra height with a diff drop kit (at least), and bump stop extensions.

 

I use 1/4” top plate spacers on my old man emu setup. They work fine for me. I don’t beat it up off road though, just a trail here and there.

 

thanks for all the responses guys, here’s why i ask the question.

Right now i have quite a bit of preload on the coils to achieve the 3” lift im after and the shock is near the end of its travel because it is only standard travel, not extended travel (bought the coilovers 2nd hand, i don’t have $1800 to spend on coilovers) by putting a 1/2” top plate spacer i can reduce the preload on the coil and bring the ride height of the coilover to near the middle of its travel, hoping for improved ride over harsh forestry roads.

From what i’ve read the difference in travel from extended travel to standard travel coilovers is about 1” at the shock and 2” at the wheel so the 1/2” top plate spacer would give around 11/16” of lift and not bind up the CV or ball joints.

 

these are the top plate spacers im talking about

 

What size tires are those?

So are you trying to keep it at 3" or go more than 3"? I wouldn't suggest going higher than 3". You start running into alignment and CV angle issues when you go more than 3", and that's even with aftermarket UCAs and a diff drop kit.

I think I see what you're getting at, though. Lower the shocks with the spacer, then decrease the pre-load to get back to the 3" height you desire. I think that's doable, as long as you also adjust the bump stops to prevent them from bottoming out.

Most people don't recommend stacking lifts because people usually end up just throwing spacers at their suspension and don't think about how that changes the rest of the suspension geometry.

Honestly, I'd call up someone at RaceRunner and see if they can give you an idea of what the proper setup you should have would be. Usually, when you are cranking your pre-load around, that's a sign the spring rate is too high/too low for the weight of your truck.

Who knows, you might be better served to take a hammer to the fenderwell to make more clearance for your tires rather than jacking around with spacers.

 

285/75/16 just trying to keep it at 3” the tires don’t rub just made the thread to see if anyone else has experimented with the spacers before. I have ordered the ones in the link above and i’ll let u guys know how it turns out

 

By adding that spacer you might risk bottoming out your shock before hitting full bump. In general a half inch spacer provides 1" of lift.

 

Very well delivered, end of story...

 

Got the top plate spacers in today, i measured from the center of the hub to the bottom of the fender before the spacer was 26.25” and after was 27.25”.

Also took 6 full turns off the preload of the coil and still getting the same height as before, i’m going to check bumpstop clearance tomorrow to make sure it’s hitting the bump stop and not bottoming our the shock.

The pic of the cv angle and the last pic are right after i took it down off the jack, it settled about 1/2 inch after driving it

 

Shaft angle not looking good even considering the extra 1/2" settle, do you have a drop on the differential?

 

yea i got a diff drop, i ain’t worried about it, lifetime cv axles in there

 

at full compression the suspension still hits the bump stop

 

I found this video helpful and seems to prove your theory behind gaining extra down travel
https://youtu.be/l1tTelhdEiM

 

You'd think you gained travel only to find out the hard way when your cv axles bind

Even OEM cv axles, which flex much better than aftermarket cv axles do, will suffer binding with too much droop.

After reading "lifetime warranty" all I can think of is cheap store brand cv axles. Those limit travel more than OEM sets do.

 

Technically no. In reality try it and listen for clunking while wearing your seatbelt.