Now I can run roncho's 9012 and get the max stuff and extention.<IMG width=500 height=400 SRC="http://www.pirate4x4.com/ubb/uploads/shock.jpg"> <IMG width=500 height=400 SRC="http://www.pirate4x4.com/ubb/uploads/stuff.jpg">
The tires are 35's, and the shock body moves up and into the shock mount.

[ 10-28-2001: Message edited by: M/C MAN ]

<IMG SRC="smilies/confused.gif" border="0">

What did you do? I see the AR unhooked, some spray paint above the mount, a huge spring spacer...????? I am not making a connection yet.

Originally posted by TJoop:
<STRONG>What did you do? I see the AR unhooked, some spray paint above the mount, a huge spring spacer...????? I am not making a connection yet.</STRONG>

Well that spray paint you say is above the mount is actually on the mount. It looks like he extended the stock mount with a peice of tube with a larger inside diameter then the diameter of the shock so the shock could be slid in and bolted on to it. Also if you noticed it no longer uses those crappy pin type upper mounts

They also make a kit now that does the same thing. It make it so you dont have to use the pin type upper mounts, with thoes mounts you were not able to get really long shocks.

What the hell is a RONCHO??

<IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

Sorry for the quality of the photo. I put a RE long arm kit on and the limiting factor is the short shocks that they want you to run. I used a hole saw and cut a 3 1/4 hole in the top of the shock tower and mounted a 3 1/4 tube in the hole to extend the shock tower and welded it top and bottom. Before the mod my TJ would only go 3/4 up a 23 degree ramp, and now it maxes the ramp out.

The rear is next, I made a bar that mounts to the frame behind the rear seat. The rear shocks will travel through the tub and into the rear cargo area for max flex. I will post pic's when the shocks are hooked up. Here is another pic to help explain the project.<IMG width=500 height=500 SRC="http://www.pirate4x4.com/ubb/uploads/Dsc00020.jpg">

The Anti Rock sucks, it only limits the travel. The difference is w/anti-rock 25 percent less travel up a ramp. Without maxes out the 23 degree ramp. My anti rock is for sale if any one wants one <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

looks good, why didn't you just go with a new shock hoop instead of the can thing?

Looks good, another option is cutting the stock mount off and swapping the Ford mounts on. Your way is less expensive though.

I did it this way because it was the strongest and the cleanest without grinding the crap out of the stock one. The Jeep can be returned to semi stock if needed. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">
Besides, when I put coilovers on it later it will all have to go.

[ 10-28-2001: Message edited by: M/C MAN ]

Originally posted by M/C MAN:
<STRONG>The Anti Rock sucks, it only limits the travel. The difference is w/anti-rock 25 percent less travel up a ramp. Without maxes out the 23 degree ramp. My anti rock is for sale if any one wants one <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"></STRONG>

Just curious..... Where's the pics showing that the AR is limiting you as a wheeler? That rig looks pretty clean to me. Can't see that an AR would hurt you anywhere but on the ramp. <IMG SRC="smilies/thefinger.gif" border="0">

Nice idea on the mod, BTW.

Paul

That looks pretty clean!!! and cheap!!


Adam,,,,

Originally posted by M/C MAN:
[QB]

The rear is next, I made a bar that mounts to the frame behind the rear seat. The rear shocks will travel through the tub and into the rear cargo area for max flex. I will post pic's when the shocks are hooked up. Here is another pic to help explain the project.[QB]

Question... why not put a little more work into it and raise the whole rear crossmember and gas tank then run some BPE's on the top side of the crossmember? This would allow almost as long a shock as a bar behind the rear seat w/o sacraficing rear space for gear and you'd have better ground clearence under your gas tank.. ~2-2 1/2" Just a suggestion.. could improve on 2 things at once.

TmbrRtlr

Originally posted by TJoop:
<STRONG>Looks good, another option is cutting the stock mount off and swapping the Ford mounts on. Your way is less expensive though.</STRONG>

ford mounts out of what rig and year?

Originally posted by coachgeo3:
<STRONG>ford mounts out of what rig and year?</STRONG>

Go to a ford dealer and ask for mounts for a 91 Ford F-250 HD, and that will be it, make sure they get its a Heavy duty though the dealers around here like to leave that out

Regarding the Currie A-R, what size lift are you running. If it's greater than 4 ~ 4.5 inches, then you need to make some longer end links for the A/R.. The ones supplied by Currie are for 4 ~ 4.5 inches of lift. BTW, I think the A/R really works well. I have a lot of video now of TJ's running the same obstacles and the differences between those running the A/R and those that aren't (just disco'd in the front), is really obvious. On those that are disco'd in the front, the body tends to follow the rear axle, with the A/R, it doesn't, it tends to stay a lot more level. The A/R appears to make the rear work a little more. It's pretty obvious in off camber areas..

<IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">
Fred

Originally posted by Fred Wilson:
<STRONG>Regarding the Currie A-R....., BTW, I think the A/R really works well. I have a lot of video now of TJ's running the same obstacles and the differences between those running the A/R and those that aren't (just disco'd in the front), is really obvious...... it tends to stay a lot more level. The A/R appears to make the rear work a little more. It's pretty obvious in off camber areas.. <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">Fred</STRONG>


Stupid question maybe? Could you cut of the stock sway bar ends and have a machine shope spling them and make an arm for them like the currie? If not the stock arm cause of not enough material to work with what about a sway bar from a doner junk yard vehicle like a truck or van?

Originally posted by NE-RokToy:
<STRONG>Go to a ford dealer and ask for mounts for a 91 Ford F-250 HD, and that will be it, make sure they get its a Heavy duty though the dealers around here like to leave that out</STRONG>

Thanks Jeff!!!! <IMG SRC="smilies/beer.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/usa.gif" border="0">

Ahh...why not just get the correct shocks for the compression/extension you wnat??

http://pages.prodigy.net/coolmank/pics/gtl/shocks.jpg

... cut the stock x-member/shock mount/body mount out, moved it up 1.25", mounted the shocks with BPE's on TOP of the x-member.

Those are Rancho RS9005's, 17.25" compressed length, on a TJ with only 4" of lift.

BTW, this pic is what TmbrRtlr helped me do.

cm "mmm, beefy" k

[ 10-29-2001: Message edited by: cmk ]

Cutter and TJoop, what the hell are you guys talking about?! .. shock hoops, Ford mounts?!

When's the last time you looked under a TJ? The upper spring bucket and shock mount are an integral stamping with a small gussett welded in between. You can't cut off the stock shock mount and still retain any semblance of integrity w/o bracing up the spring bucket.

If that (shock hoops or Ford mounts) can be done, I would love to see it (pics). Until then, I'm quite skeptical.

cm "feel free to correct me" k

The Ford shock mount's a common mod on leaf sprung Jeeps, but I can see the problem with the TJ.

Anyway, just for reference, the Ford shock mount part number is: E5TZ-18183-A off of an F-250.

<IMG width=240 height=320 SRC="http://www.pirate4x4.com/ubb/uploads/frontshocks2.jpg">

I put the shocks through the tub because I wanted to run the longest shocks I could(rancho 9012 shocks). I also moved the lower shock mount to the top of the axle to keep it from gettin smacked on the rocks. My goal was to get as much ground clearence that I could. I run a Rev 60 in the rear and the stock shock location beat the crap out of the shocks. AS far as lost cargo space, it wasen't much. I thought about building a sub-frame between the the top of the frame for the shocks to mount, but moving the shock mount to the top of the axle still wasen't enough room to get the most flex out of the suspension. Anyone running the RE long are kit and there rig won't flex this good is not getting the true abilty out of the kit. Re will tell you that the kit was to correct the ill on road handling of lifted TJ's. I bought mine to wheel not to go to the store. Besides the mount is in place for the winter coilover project. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">

[ 10-29-2001: Message edited by: M/C MAN ]

Nasvik,
First of all <IMG SRC="smilies/thefinger.gif" border="0"> I have seen the flex you get out of your rig. I wanted more. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0"> I know that a ramp is <IMG SRC="smilies/rainbow.gif" border="0"> however I use it to set the suspension and make sure that everything works before going 175 miles to find out what works. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

[ 10-29-2001: Message edited by: M/C MAN ]

Originally posted by cmk:
<STRONG>Cutter and TJoop, what the hell are you guys talking about?! .. shock hoops, Ford mounts?!

When's the last time you looked under a TJ? The upper spring bucket and shock mount are an integral stamping with a small gussett welded in between. You can't cut off the stock shock mount and still retain any semblance of integrity w/o bracing up the spring bucket.

If that (shock hoops or Ford mounts) can be done, I would love to see it (pics). Until then, I'm quite skeptical.

cm "feel free to correct me" k</STRONG>


OK maybe I spoke too soon but a friend of mine has done it and I haven't seen it in person yet. I will try to get him to post pics. <IMG SRC="smilies/thefinger.gif" border="0">

The Ford shock tower mod is great for CJs as it moved the mount up about 8" (off the frame rail). Won't make a difference on a TJ...

Paul

m/c man,,

I must be missing something here too.

Seems to me my TJ flexes just fine in the front. Its in the rear that it needs help.

I see that it was said the Anti rock helps in the rear>>> But why limit the front just to help the rear? Arn't we looking for a balanced Flex, Front-rear?

I see you did move the rear up and I like it. I might do something similar but I think I will just build a cross member that goes inside the tub on the floor and both shocks can hook to it.
some good ideas here, Lets keep them going.

It seems to me that Currie's Anti Rock sway bar only compensates for an unbalanced suspension.

You guys ever seen pics of a dude on a ramp, gets "good" flex, but when you look at the suspension, the rear is flexed to the max, but the front has hardly moved? That is a poorly balanlced suspension, at least in my understanding of the concept. Disclaimer: I know, I know, ramps are only a moderately good model for real world scenarios, but they're still the best models we have.

That seems to be what Currie is after with the A/R bar. They seem to think that TJ front ends flex well, but the rears don't. And in some cases that may be true.

But rather than add a crutch, a la' A/R bar, why not "retune" the suspension to balance it without implementing extra "things."

Probably the best way to compensate for that is to adjust the spring rate of the front and rear springs ... yes, I know you cannot "adjust" a coil spring. Adjusting them involves purchasing new ones. Think about it, Currie'e A/R bar is essentially a spring that adds spring rate to the front end. So rather than adding the A/R bar why not go to front springs with a higher spring rate and/or rears with a lower spring rate.

Another way to tune the balance; if you run a track bar supported suspension, simply raise or lower the roll center of the track bar. A higher roll center will inherently "roll" the axle around more. A lower roll center will do the opposite. Ever see a track bar on a road race car? The axle mount is under the axletube with a bar running completely flat to an insanely dropped frame bracket. That's a low roll center.

While some suspensions may need an A/R bar to work to the best of their ability, I feel that the same effects can be gotten without adding more "widgets" to a suspension. After all, the more crap you add, the more binding issues you'll have.

cm "rollbars, rollbars, we don't need no stinkin' roolbars" k

CMK, not a bad idea. I might have to find some soft rear springs. What could I get them out of= Junkyard-picknpull.

Would a ford ranger front spring work?

Honestly, I couldn't even tell ya'.

RE seems to match up springs very well. I know a few guys that run RE 3", 4.5", and 6" springs with well balanced setups.

I run Superlift 4" springs (shaddup, I got them in trade for a set of 2" spacers) which have almost an opposite effect. The rears are so soft and the fronts so firm that I get more flex out of the rear than the front.

cm "I need a Currie rear A/R bar" k

I have RE 6" springs and the front is way softer than the rear.

It's like a mismatch. So bad I had to add a one inch spacer in front just to get the front end back up level.

In your case, an A/R bar might help then.

Question, do you have something heavy up front: winch or big ass'd bumper? In alost every rig I've seen with RE springs, a 1" spacer is always needed up front to compensate for the added weight. Sometimes, even without the weight, RE springs will yield a "nose down" attitude and thereby require that extra 1" spacer to bring them back to level.

It does seem as if RE is a little skimpy on the front end spring rate ... why, I dunno'. Maybe because "back in the day" of short TJ arms, in order to get a decent ride out of a steeply pitched short arm, they had to go to a soft spring.

cm "F=kx" k

yep front bumper is an air tank.
Onboard air
ARB compressor
Warn 8000i
Its heavy. I just put a spare tire carrier that weighs 44lbs on the rear end so maybee that will help out a bit.

Hey cmk....I,ve done it. Used f250 front shock mounts and cut the tops off my mounts, (97 TJ), and grafted the f250,s on my cut mounts ! I run the longest 9000 rancho makes and it works GREAT ! I,ll post a pic soon an show you... Oh and when did I become ur freind , Joop ? <IMG SRC="smilies/thefinger.gif" border="0"> (j/k), LMNO (thud,thud) <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/eek.gif" border="0">


<IMG SRC="smilies/jeep2.gif" border="0"> __(OIIIIIO)__ rOkOn <IMG SRC="smilies/usa.gif" border="0">

Originally posted by N/W TJ:
<STRONG>Oh and when did I become ur freind , Joop ? <IMG SRC="smilies/thefinger.gif" border="0"> </STRONG>

I was hoping you would chime in. Felt deserted in my defense hahahaha Post a pic, I haven't seen it.

I,ll barrow a digi cam an post some pics of it this week.....np, I got ur back , bro ! LOL <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

<IMG SRC="smilies/jeep2.gif" border="0"> __(OIIIIIO)__rOkOn <IMG SRC="smilies/usa.gif" border="0">

Originally posted by N/W TJ:
<STRONG>Hey cmk....I,ve done it.</STRONG>

Very cool, definitely get some pics of it. I'm curious to see it before I hack my stock mounts up. I'm interested in seeing what looks easier/more efficient.

My plan is to cut the entire upper spring perch/shock mount off the frame, move it up an inch and forward a bit along with the axle.

cm "so much to cut, so little time" k