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I used Viking double adjustable coil-overs on my project.
I'm a dealer as I signed up as a small shop. They give wholesale pricing. You can do the same, I'm sure.
I paid about $200 / corner for the double adjustables with springs, torsen bearing and wrenches. They were significantly less than QA1 or Ridetech and also American made. i love them.
While checking out their site... check out the Berserker product. It is about $5k and does on-the-fly shock tuning based on race, sport or comfort settings. Really cool technology. The controller uses accelerometers and steering angle sensor and then some sort of valve / solenoids at each shock.
You are welcome. I built my own triangulated 4-link for the truck, too. And LOVE it. Much much better than the leaf spring setup, which rode like **** and wrapped violently any time I got on the gas.
If you go that route, I highly suggest use of one of the Excel - based design tools. Basically, you input the X, Y, Z locations of the pickups on the axles and body and it'll return the suspension characteristics like instant center.
You'll quickly find that most desirable attributes are at odds with one another. IE traction under accel and braking, and rear axle angle change (the rear will steer your car like a skate-board truck under bump droop / deflection). Pinion angle change, etc.
I can send you the tool via email if you can't find it online. The 4-wheeler crowd seems to use it a lot. I found a link at the pirate 4x4 site.
I bought from welderseries.com - I forget for how much, but it was very reasonable.
Here's a few pictures in case you are curious. the spreadsheet is the design tool. I set up my alignment strings on the truck to make sure the rear axle was centered and square before finish welding everything. Lots of measuring and double-checking, but if you are careful, it will turn out great. The rear ride and traction are really excellent. Better than I'd have thought for a non-IRS vehicle.
If you are curious, here is the install thread I did on the Ford trucks forum where I documented some of my truck build. A bit more detail about the process.
Sorry, if I'm side-tracking your thread.
I considered doing leafs. They just seem like such a huge compromise in that the spring has to counter torque applied to the road and also articulate.
You will love the adjustability of their coil-overs. It makes fine tuning ride quality (and handling) a breeze. they have 21 settings for compression and rebound, each. Crazy. After experiencing these, I'd never do a non-adjustable for any custom application.
They will also help you select spring rates, etc.
Actually, installing those shocks with the leaf springs made a pronounced difference in ride quality. I ran them that way for a little while before doing the 4-link.
DW SD, I noticed you have droop limiters, are vikings similar to qa1's in that you cannot let the suspension hang on them or the valve will be damaged? some other reason?
I did the welders series triangulated 4 bar on my truck too. Haven't gotten it on the road yet, but I'm excited too. I need to get some droop limiters too!
I used C209 in the rear which is a 14" (+/- 1/2" or so) ride height target. You want the suspension riding approximately in the middle of the shock stroke. Upfront I had C205.
they also told me longer shocks and springs ride better, so fit longer if possible. I think it uses a 175 lb / in and 10" long spring.
I made the droop limiters as they suggested and just adapted some old 5 point harnesses for that use. I have to admit upfront, with the low unsprung weight, I do not use the limiters.
Some of their shocks are not adjustable. They do not make any single-adjustable versions.
I had it all planned out, but you could build / shock simulators to use for fabrication. Then you'll know the exact size of shock to order. I built mine from 1" square tubing which already had holes drilled every 1". I added the tubing so as to account for the spring diameter and shock body.
DW SD, in off road applications we typically use specific length limit straps. I have a concern that the buckles on your setup will allow more travel than you intend, or outright let go. I've seen 2-layer offroad limit straps stretch more than an inch. Most folks I am associated with in fabricating suspensions now use a quad-wrapped strap.
For adjustment the strap mount will typically incorporate a threaded attachment (at the top).
Hi Winchtime,
The only real use of the straps is when I put the truck up on my lift. I've measured that I'm not bottoming them out. The rebound settings are firm, which actually is good for ride height, and I'm sure I'm not getting a lot of travel beyond neutral in the extended direction.
I'm not getting air born, either
I used what I had available when I built this. Perhaps I'll go to a cable. Or one of the products used in the 4wheeler crowd if these straps show signs up stretching.
12-07-2015, 10:11 PM
