I am building a 76cj5 and want to do a 1/4 eliptcal rear. ? is what springs should I use? and off of what?. or is a coil set up better? thanks
http://groupfiles.aol.com/mybreep/bodyon/jeep201.jpg

[ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: Jeepinguy ]

That's totally up to you. I don't believe there is a right or wrong answer to this. I had a 1/4 elip on my front, and I used a main leaf that was about 16" in length, which was bolted to the frame with two bolts. the spring would only fall off the bottom of the frame around and inch or so, but it gave me many more inches of drop....

that said....

I got rid of it. WHY?

cause it basically did nothing for me. sure, I'd get the wheel to drop to the ground more, but that doesn't mean it will propel you foreward since it really wouldn't have much weight to it. I used to have an XJ that did 1200 on the ramp, and i designed my cj-6 to be a ramp monster (to begin with) and have totally reworked the suspension so that it actually IS NOT overly flexy.

I believe suspension articulation to be HIGHLY OVERRATED. For every rig I may build from here on out, I will place my efforts in other places before i concern myself with buggy springs and ramp scores. Ya stuff a pair of lockers in your axles, and it won't really matter if you have a buggy spring or not. You'll have more weight on the tires that touch the ground. I don't see the point of crazy-flexy rigs. All the folks I know who have crazy-flexy rigs have put them on their roof and that includes myself.

for whatever this is worth......

Beezil Thanks for the info,what did you get the 16" leaf off of? and did you use a three link set up or a four link set up? I am looking to get about 20" of wheel travel.

Thanks again for the info

OK, first off, I have to say that Beezil is talking about a 3/4 elliptic, not a 1/4 ellip setup. I do not want to go through explaing this again, so I will not explain. I have a 1/4 ellip in the back of my flatty, and LOVE it. I can go places where I did not go before because I was losing traction. I can flex MUCH better than before, and this allows me to keep tires on the ground where I was unable to do so before. I say Do it, and don't worry about it. Try it and see how it feels.

Dimitri

Originally posted by Flatty:
<STRONG>OK, first off, I have to say that Beezil is talking about a 3/4 elliptic, not a 1/4 ellip setup. I do not want to go through explaing this again, so I will not explain. I have a 1/4 ellip in the back of my flatty, and LOVE it. I can go places where I did not go before because I was losing traction. I can flex MUCH better than before, and this allows me to keep tires on the ground where I was unable to do so before. I say Do it, and don't worry about it. Try it and see how it feels.

Dimitri</STRONG>

What springs did you use ?
How long did you cut them ?
How did you mount them to the axel ?

The springs were off a F150 Van. I chopped them right after the centering pin. The Spring is now 34" long. I have NO weight in the back of my rig because it has no body back there. You have to figure out how much weight you will have back there, and figure that out. You can use F250, F350,... Whatever. I use all Tractor heims everywhere for my links and my mounts. I got some spring perches, and welded some tractor heims on there, then welded those to the axle. A shackle comes off the heim and attaches to the spring. Basicaly it works VERY well.

Dimitri

I saw that front quarter elliptic mentioned and thought WTF!? I have never seen one in fron - sounds like he might have neant buggy spring or 3/4 elliptic (same thing).

Here is a link with a lot of info on 1/4 elliptic suspension. I got it from the Jeep Tech capital of the world ................ JU!! Please don't ban me <IMG SRC="smilies/redface.gif" border="0">

I hope this helps you.
http://www.jeepaholics.com/tech/quarterellip/

-Bart

bart
Thanks man <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

Gang....my mistake. I was posting beofre my first cup of coffee.

I deserve a trip through the POR spanking machine, and a good round of flipoffs.

sorry for fawkin up the thread, lemme have it!!!!

Hey Flatty,
How does that thing ride with heims on both ends of the links? I've heard that they can make the ride harsh, or that the heims wear out quickly.
Bart,
Some of the Avalanche snipers have quarter eliptic fronts. They're pretty sweet. The one I saw was the blue and yellow one that was at the farmington ARCA event.

~Scott

Heims at both ends make the ride harsh? I don't think so. first off, the only place I have heims at both endsa re in the links. I love them there, allows for more control I feel. As for the 1/4 itself, it handles like a dream, on and off the road. I do ahve to say that the tractor heims are kinda loud once they break in, but hell you unscrew it and screw a new one in and you are done...

Dimitri