best flexin leafs?

[road1will]

okay, i hear about people running F150 rears all the time on their EBs. but what makes this setup so great? anyone have any pics of them flexing? what years 150 should i be looking to get them off of?

i am also looking for a good set of leaf springs to use on the front. i want to stay away from coils because i prefer the foolproof simplicity of leafs.

im running D70 rear, D60 front and 39-42" tall tires to give you an idea of the unsprung weight.

thanks!

[Nobody]

I know a lot of guys run the Heep wagoneer springs on toyota's. Your pig might be a bit heavy for them though. I don't know any specifics either, but it's something to look into.

What makes coils so complicated? They're certainly cheaper than leafs. Ford radius arms are about as simple as it gets, and long travel slip yolks aren't needed.

[road1will]

i would LOVE to run coils, but what i mean is the complexity of fabbing up a system to work well and then welding it all together safely.

right now my rig has no suspension whatsoever (literally) so i guess im open to anything.

if i went coils i would definetly like to design my own radius arms, but what coild sowuld you reccomend? wild horses? i guess it doesnt matter at this point since i still have to figure out how much lift i will need to clear the tires.

[Nobody]

Well, I can't give any specifics on your rig, but in genral.....

To use ford radius arms, you'll have to bolt radius arm brackets to your frame, coil buckets, shock mounts and a track bar mount. All very simple.

Ford used a ton of different radius arm brackets of all shapes and sizes. I'm sure a trip to the junk yard would revel something you like. Or you can easily build your own.

You can get the C-bushing ears for you axle at james duff, or off of an old 44 that has them welded on. Coil buckets can come off of a lot of different fords, and I'm sure you're aware of the f-250 shock mounts.

The track bar mount would need to be fabbed, but it's super easy to do.

The whole thing is virtually bolt on other than welding the ears on the axle and the trac bar mount.

Coils are cheap, you'll probably need 5.5" coils from either wildhorses, or BC bronco's. Duff coils are great too, but they don't offer a 5.5" coil.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32703&highlight=best+coil

You can fine tune your ride hieght by moving the coil buckets up or down.

Personally I don't think there is much wrong with stock radius arms, although quite a few guys make their own. I assume your aware of the wristed arm.

[road1will]

wristed arm yep. would make the passenger side wrsited to counteract the torque placed on the DS of the axle from the diff. i would also like to make my radius arms bend inwards to allow me a better turning radius before the tire would hit the arm.

who knows, i may just go with coils after all. how much does WH/BCBroncos charge for a pair of 5.5" coils? that is really all that i would need from the aftermarket.

F250 shock mounts i am not aware of- i am new to the whole bronco thing as i have spent my last years in the Whine and Cheese (Land Rover) crowd. please enlighten me.

thanks nobody!

[road1will]

screw maing my own arms... i TOTALLY dig the BC Broncos twister... can i run two of those or just one?

fawking BAD ASS FLEX!!!

http://www.bcbroncos.com/twisterramp06.jpg

:eek: :eek:

[Nobody]

Here's a link about the f-250 shock mounts. Do a search here and I'm sure you find tons of pictures. Cheap, $11 ea.

http://www.national-lighting.com/fordshockmt.htm

The twister arms are a very nice piece of work, but I couldn't justify the price. The $30 home brew's work almost equally as well. My wristed arm uses up all my 9012's.

http://home.earthlink.net/~mattsara/bb/wristedflex1.jpg

http://home.earthlink.net/~mattsara/bb/roger2.jpg

http://home.earthlink.net/~mattsara/bb/hoofhearted.jpg

[Nobody]

You only use one wristed arm, or twister arm. The other arm maintains the caster, preventing the axle from twisting under torque. Coby did offer an arm for the other side that features adjustable caster, which is cool.

[road1will]

yeah i see what you mean about the home brews. you got any pics of the arms off of any of those trucks?

[Nobody]

Yep!

This is mine, that I just finished last week. There are also about a 100 wristed arm threads in the ford section if you want to see other peoples work. Very Very simple to build.

http://broncoii4x4.dynu.com/wristedarm/wristedarm.htm

[road1will]

ok heres what i think im going to do-

coil front with 5.5" BC coils
extended arms, PS wristed
adjustable height coil buckets with 5" of adjustability
F250 shock mounts
Doetsch Tech prerunner shocks ($35 each, 36" ext length)
custom front anti-sway bar with disconnects so that i can actually drive it on the street

BUT what to do for the rear? F150s? i would possibly like to go to a 100" WB too, but to do that i would need to go to coils in back too. dunno how i would figure that one out! could i use radius arms in back too where one is wristed?

[Rubicrawler]

Originally posted by 9-Volt
screw maing my own arms... i TOTALLY dig the BC Broncos twister... can i run two of those or just one?

fawking BAD ASS FLEX!!!

http://www.bcbroncos.com/twisterramp06.jpg

:eek: :eek:

That's some mad flex but check out the driveline angle :eek: :eek:

He should have mounted the twister on the passenger side.

[Nobody]

Originally posted by 9-Volt
ok heres what i think im going to do-

coil front with 5.5" BC coils
extended arms, PS wristed
adjustable height coil buckets with 5" of adjustability
F250 shock mounts
Doetsch Tech prerunner shocks ($35 each, 36" ext length)
custom front anti-sway bar with disconnects so that i can actually drive it on the street

BUT what to do for the rear? F150s? i would possibly like to go to a 100" WB too, but to do that i would need to go to coils in back too. dunno how i would figure that one out! could i use radius arms in back too where one is wristed?

Why extendend arms? Wristed arms are pinable for street use. The ford radius arm setup is basically one big ass sway bar. Extended arms will lead to body roll. Keep em stock lenght and you wont' need a sway bar.

[road1will]

Originally posted by Nobody


Why extendend arms? Wristed arms are pinable for street use. The ford radius arm setup is basically one big ass sway bar. Extended arms will lead to body roll. Keep em stock lenght and you wont' need a sway bar.

extended because i was figuring that extended and wristed would give better flex and less axle "walk" when it was at full droop/compression.

[welndmn]

hehe mark, thats Coby's rig, the twister is on the other side, thats just his Castor arm there on the driver side

[Rubicrawler]

Originally posted by welndmn
hehe mark, thats Coby's rig, the twister is on the other side, thats just his Castor arm there on the driver side

I don't know Mark :confused: Look at the angle of the drive shaft. If the twister was on the passenger side, the pinion should be pointing toward the t/c, right? Or am I just :smokin:

[Nobody]

Here's one of my drive shaft angle. I was surprised to see that the slip yolk really doesn't move al all.

The way Cobys arms are hinged at the frame, it causes the axle to walk back much more. Look at his coils.

Caster is actually being maintained on his arm. His pinion is pretty much at the same angle through the entire suspension cycle. Not really a big deal when going slow.

http://home.earthlink.net/~mattsara/bb/dsangle.jpg

http://www.bcbroncos.com/twisterramp05.jpg

[clc900]

Originally posted by Rubicrawler


I don't know Mark :confused: Look at the angle of the drive shaft. If the twister was on the passenger side, the pinion should be pointing toward the t/c, right? Or am I just :smokin:

If you look at the arms close enough you can see that the twister is on the passenger side. Actually the top link on the twister arm is actually missing. Still works the same , you just cant pin it or clamp it down. The drivers side has a lower link and an upper link which is solid and does not move.;)

[Rubicrawler]

Must just be my old eyes playin' tricks on me!

[welndmn]

Its teh back mount of the driver arm, it had the piviot like thing back there that lets it point way down, our stock bushing will not let that happen
At least thats what i think, Coby comes on the board like once ever couple of weeks he will probally answer the questions better

[stonpny]

Doesnt Pat Gremillion run coils with ford radius arms front and rear?? he might have extended the arms, not sure. his rig seems to work pretty well

[bent70]

I am using stock broncoII springs in the back. With the weight of the 14bolt and 39's these things flex alot. They are soft as hell too. (don't know if thats going to be a problem though)
For the front I want to use my coils(3.5rc) and custom radius arms like the green toy from rockstomper. But, I am at a dilema of time and might be forsed to go with leaves for the front.(coilovers later :D , I wish)

[Nobody]

How are stock bronco II leafs clearing 39's? Must be mounted under the frame rails. Stock bronco II's springs also tend to sag. They do flex like crazy though.

[bent70]

I did a shackle flip and might a 2in.block in since my spring pivots won't work with the springs:mad: .
otherwise I thinks it will fit ok
pics (http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/scottsbent70/lst?.dir=/rear+axle+swap&.src=ph&.order=&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/scottsbent70/lst%3f.dir=/rear%2baxle%2bswap%26.src=ph%26.view=t)
I'll take new pics tonight, I am starting the front swap.