Why not a coilover?
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Joined: Jan 2012
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From: Virginia
Why not a coilover?
How come nobody is swapping in a coilover shock system and getting rid of the torsion bar system. It seems to me that all that would have to be done is cut the old shock bucket out, weld in a new one, reinforce the new mount, cut out the old bump stop and put a smaller bump stop in. Is there some reason that this wouldn't work. I'm not talking about doing a long travel just a regular coilover set-up like the new trucks have. I know Rock Krawler used to make a kit that converted to coilovers with 14" of travel and allowed you to use the stock control arms. I called Rock Krawler today to see if I could get the install instructions sent to me so I could see how they did it but they were apparently bought out by pure performance in 2007 and the original owners never turned over the stuff for the coilover conversion kits for our trucks. I have done a lot custom fab jobs and welded shock mounts on race cars and am just wondering if this can be done because I have some Bilstein coilovers from my old late model stock car that I could have rebuilt and a 16" x 2.5" 600# spring put on and have about 6-8" of travel and ride a lot smoother than the torsion bars. Just curious to see if anybody knows why this would be a bad idea.
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Thread Starter
Coastal Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 25
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From: Virginia
Hahah, I saw that show the other day 4.2 and that's what made me go outside and look at my truck to see if I could do it. I know that those companies make those kits but they all come with new upper and lower control arms. Is there any reason that the stock upper and lower control arms wouldn't work or do they just use new control arms to get a wider stance and the full 12-14" of travel that the advertise?
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Joined: Nov 2011
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From: Minnesota
On the 4 wheel drive trucks i doubt there is enough space between the cv and the arms to fit a coil over large enough to support the weight of the truck. Also you couldnt really modify the lower a arm due to it being cast so the next plan of action would be to completely remove the lower arm fab up a new one thats wider and has a coil mount. then make a new upper arm with a coil mount and modify the spindles with a new mount.
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Thread Starter
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Joined: Jan 2012
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From: Virginia
The coilovers I have can be run upside down so the shock body would be down and all I would have to do to clear the cv axle is set the preload ring just above the cv axle so the spring would never get in the way. Just like the ford raptor has the coilovers run like in this picture. Also, the shock isn't what supports the weight of the truck, the spring is and the way it works is a 600# spring compresses 1 inch for every 600# of weight put on it so I can't image the front corner of my truck weighing more than 1300# so my 600# spring would only compress 2.2 inches and on a 16" spring, that isn't very much. Also, I know the arms are cast which is why I am making a bracket that will bolt up to the stock lower control arm mount for the shock and not welding a bracket on the control arm itself.
