I've been thinking going coils all around on my sami, but I'm not sure what size DOM tubing to use for the control arms. I've been thinking 1.25"x0.25" wall, but I'm not sure if this will be overkill. Would 1" x 0.25" wall be strong enough?

Also what spring weight should I use? Summit Racing has some QA1 Coil springs in various rates from 90 on up. I was thinking 130's in the back and 150's in the front. Will this be good, or should I go stiffer, softer?

Any input would be appreciated.

On my coiled sammi I've ran the 2.5" x14" 200lbs in the rear and the 160 up front they are to soft I think I will go to the 225 in the rear and 185 in front.
Zukstur wrote this about his rig in thread rear coils I do believe

You might want to check with him or Ozcrawler they run the coils

I know my rig is totally different than a sami, but... My lower control arms are 1.25"x.288 wall DOM, sleeved with 1.5"x.120 wall DOM, and sleeved again with 1.75"x.120 wall DOM, and I put a slight bend in one a couple weekends ago.

I cant believe that you bent that shit! Before you said that I was gonna say how I thought my 1 3/8"x.25" dom links were kinda overkill for a sammy, but not now. The guy that said 160lb and 200lb coils on his sammy must be hauling around 4 people, lots of parts and tools, and a cooler full of food to feed his fat ass cause the 150lb'ers I have on front seem perfect! I dont know why you would want more than 200lb coils on the rear, I would think in any off road sittuation, for a sammy that is, that it would be too fucking stiff! Deffinetly go for the qa1 coils from summit! Depending on how much shit ya got in the rear, go either 130 or 150 lbs. For the links, well, I would go bigger than 1" or 1 1/4".

Thanks guys! I think I'll go with the 150's up front and 130's in the rear. I will also go with 1-3/8" x 0.25" DOM with a 7/8" solid insert.

One other question though, what size Rod end should I go with? Should I go with the 3/4" x 16, or can I use something smaller?

Why would you want to go smaller? THe only inserts you can get for that size tubing is for 3/4" rod end, so why would you go smaller. If anything go bigger! I went with the 1 3/8"x.25" dom tube, tube inserts, and 3/4" aurora's. I sometimes wish I woulda gone with the 1 1/4" aurora's, but that really is overkill for a 2200lb sammy. DOnt go any smaller than 3/4" heims for your suspension or steering links.

After seeing the price of heim joints:eek: , I'm thinking going with Johnny Joints on one end of each link and rubber bushings on the other end to help isolate road noise (this will be my daily driver). Will one jonny provide enough movement? How much movement do they allow compared to hiem joints (hiems~13 deg)?

Johnny joints cost around $40. My aurora 3/4" heims were only $25.50 each. Its not cheap going either route, but there are advantages and disadvantages to both. DO a search cause its been heavily covered on just about every forum.

Originally posted by coltrain79
How much movement do they allow compared to hiem joints (hiems~13 deg)?

Yea, heims then they can call you 'squeaky'! If you decide to do heims, spend the extra for teflon lined, or that's what everyone will call you. :D

If you plan to have good flex, a single heim is too limited. I doubt my truck can hit 1000 on 30deg ramp, and I get over 20 degree deflection on my axle. Johnny joint is a much better unit. I've seen some incredible flexy rigs using a single Johnny Joint to take the deflection. WMS does modify the mounting plates to give space for the outer body, that way the inner section can travel farther, so they get more than Currie states. They are also rebuildable, and the first time you have to replace a heim (broken or just wore out) you will have paid for the cost difference. No to mention, for a DD they are much safer. It's a full captured system, nothing to break and SEPARATE like the heim will!

If you use spacers like I did on both sides of the heim you can get just as much deflection as a johnny joint. I measured mine after I installed the misalignment washers and got about 32 degrees misalignment. Its all up to you man!

SpiderTrax has some 3/4" heim joints for $24.00 each. They have a Radial Load Rating of 16,565 lbs. Will these be strong enough? They also have some rated at 40,572 lbs., but they are $40.25 each! When I was comparing prices of a single Johnny Joint to heim joints, I was thinking of using the stronger ones. Will the heims with the lower radial rating be strong enough?

I have the 25$ ones from spidertrax with teflon liners. Before I ordered them both tom and eddie assured me that for a 2200 lb sammi they should be more than enough in strength. No they arent indistructible and yes the 40,000 lb ones would be nice, but the $ isn't endless, so I went with the cheaper ones. I just received the rest of my heims for the front suspension from spidertrax yesterday. YOu can check out what the heims look like on my rig in the post that says "how to post pics?" if you want.

about how much time and money do you guys have invested in these coil systems. i would one day like to go this route, but i'm trying to figure out if its really worth designing my own setup compared to buying mike's kit.

After tons of research on designs and products the initial build up of my rear took roughly two weekends or maybe 16-18 hours. It was fun to learn, build myself, yet it was also stressfull. I imagine the front will take me the same amount if not more. Mike has a great kit, but versus buying his kit and making my own I was able to buy all the parts for mine and still have enough money left over to buy my welder. If its your DD or you cant stand down time I would opt for Mikes kit. I heard the price was supposed to go down because he was gonna have teraflex or someone like that make the kits for him.