The job is just about done... The shocks need to be pulled apart and revalved for more rebound damping, bumpstops need to be installed and the remote resovoirs need to be permanantly mounted. That's about it.

I'm really happy with the results and am now thinking about getting the rear to match the travel of the front... another project in the making.

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/71rick_ramp.jpg

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/71ramp_4.jpg

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/71ramp_6.jpg

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/71ramp_1.jpg

looks real nice. man you get the back to mach the front you'll have one flexy rig there. looks like it is flexing enough now.

some Q's for ya.
why mount the coil overs to the 4 link bars?
why not just go with a longer coil over?
who's coil overs are they? King?
do you think tha 4 link bar is strong enough in that plane, the way the coil over will load the arm.

lookin real nice.
steelman

http://www.explorer4x4.com/pumpkin_travel.jpg

The above shot shows the dilemma we had that led to the coil overs. The travel was there, but the coil spring wasn't going to work for us.

The guys who did the fab work decided that putting the coil over in the same location as before would give us the travel we wanted without too much more work and $$$.

The lower link is beefy. It's thick wall chrome moly that has been double sleeved with more chrome moly. I sure hope that stands up to the job. The front mount of the lower link is a poly bushing and the rear is a Johnney Joint.

The coil overs are by Bilstein.

Sweet dude. Very, very sweet.

man i thought that rig was done when i met you way back when at florence juction, i guess we are always doing stuff and experamenting huh? well it looked good before and ya know what? it looks good now.

I think its time to update the fiberglass now :)

Originally posted by RHINO
man i thought that rig was done when i met you way back when at florence juction, i guess we are always doing stuff and experamenting huh?

Yep, when it's finished it's time to find something new... I don't plan on selling so I don't plan on finishing :D

man i love that thing, i'm not a ford fan, but looking at that thing gives me great ideas for my dad's explorer, now if i could only talk him into it

Time to get those legs in the sun man! :flipoff2:

Rig looks great man! Are you going to keep the spring buckets in place or are you going to chop um'?

--D

If I leave the coil buckets on I could always pop a coil back in with a regular shock in the event of coil over breakage. Not that it's very likely, but it would be great to be able to fall back on to get off the trail with.

So why wouldn't the coil work for ya? My duff coils travel pretty nicely and I can't see the problem with them. Also wondering what kinda wheelin you do with a rig that size that you needed coil overs. Baja?

We looked into the Duff springs and the Wild Horses springs. They weren't going to give me the travel I wanted and maintain the proper ride height. So, I decided to do coil overs. lots of flexibility in ride height, spring rate and damping. Everything can be fine tuned.

I like to rock crawl and still be able to run fast in the washes. Multi-purpose has always been my goal.


http://www.explorerforum.com/rawdeal/PB080831.jpg

http://www.explorerforum.com/rawdeal2/rickraw.jpg

http://www.explorer4x4.com/moab_rickair.jpg
Pre-Pumpkin phase...

Looks great that little Coil over is so cute :p It looks like it should work out well. Have you ever noticed any problems with shock fade in high speed stuff with the shock mounted there? For some reason the extra leverage on the shock seems like it could create some problems (And yes I understand on paper the work its doing is the same because work = force x distance) but its nice to hear from a real experiance. Finally how do you like those tires? better or worse then Baja claws and MTR's?

When I was running the Rancho 9000s in that position they did a great job of contolling the suspension in most circumstances. When I jumped the truck (little jumps) the front end did bounce a bit. It could have used two shocks for that type of use.

The Swampers are the best tire I've tried off road and the worst on road. I'll take that trade off though as the truck barely sees any street use. Just going to and from the local trails for the most part. I use the trailer for the out of state runs.