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| Page 2 - Building a Killer Spring Under Suspension | Short Cuts | ||||
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| OutdoorWire | 4x4Wire | JeepWire | Jeep Tech | SUA Part I: | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | RE YJ 4.5" Lift Kit | |
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By: David Gray - 8/2000
Page 2
| Part I - The Suspension itself |
| Flex: The Basics |
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Flexible springs with the right bushings |
| More on this in Part II - next month. |
My goal was to maximize ground clearance, accommodate 35" or larger tires, and maximize articulation. In previous articles on YJ2K you can see some of the incremental upgrades that we had made along the way toward these ends, such as the MORE shackle reversal and the Revolver shackles from Metal Made Rite. Each incremental modification increased YJ2K's capabilities, but brought about new challenges as well. After all this creeping incrementalism, it was time to consolidate.
Springs & Shocks
When building the suspension a critical element is selecting great springs. YJ2K' s journey started off with a standard 4" Explorer Pro-Comp lift kit about 5 years ago, and after so many years of hard trail use and with all of the other modification we had made, they were just not keeping up. When I decided to replace the springs I had quite a few choices. I could have spent some really serious money and had custom springs designed and built - this would have been the ultimate, but it also would have been very expensive. I decided to go with an off-the-shelf component, so that people who may have wanted to follow along this same path would have an option of starting off with the same standard lift kit and working up from there.
| Shopping for a lift kit? |
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Some key considerations include: |
| More on this in Part II - next month. |
After careful evaluation of the options at the time, I selected the springs from the Rubicon Express 4.5" lift kit. These springs are extremely well built, with 5 & 6 leafs per pack, a dual main leaf with a full military wrap on one end and a half-military wrap on the other, bolted clamps that allow the springs to more spread a bit during droop, diamond-cut and -beveled ends, and Teflon pads at the ends of the leafs. They have an increase arch which does shorten the eye-to-eye length across the arc of the spring, but with a Jeep that is quite a bit heavier than stock, that little bit of extra height is desperately needed. Without making you read till the end, I will say that these are among the best production leaf springs that I have ridden on. They are available from Rubicon Express in a comprehensive lift kit that covers all of the items that most people would want for a serious off-road lift - including most of the extras necessities that you would usually have to buy later.
[ Click here for more information on this kit ]
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| You can see the difference in the two springs - the older one in front and the new RE spring in the back. | With the left side complete you can see some of the difference in altitude generated by these modifications | A picture of the rear tire and its relation to the vehicle before. | A picture of the rear tire after. |
I decided to upgrade a bit from the Doetsch Tech shocks that are in the RE kit to the Doetsch Tech Pre-Runner shock absorbers. I needed a beefy, long travel shock to replace the Ranch 9012 & 9010 combination I had been running - it had sustained some severe trail damage. After talking with Rustin at Rubicon Express, we decided on the Pre-Runners with their heavy-duty dampening, thicker shaft, and built in bumpstops to eliminate the chance that we might damage the shocks by bottoming them out. YJ2K is a very heavy Jeep and it needs beefy shocks to help provide control on the street, but some of the popular shocks are just a wee too stiff for my thirty-something carcass. In our current configuration these shocks ride extremely well both on the street and on the trail, and I extremely pleased with them. To fit the long shocks that we needed to accommodate all of the flex we were getting, we fabricated a new rear shock mounting system (Details on Page 3).
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| The Doetsch Tech Pre-Runner shocks side by side with the Rancho 9012. The Doetsch Tech shock has a beefier shaft, an integrated bumpstop to eliminate damage from over compression and has nearly the same travel as the venerable 9012. | ||
| OutdoorWire | 4x4Wire | JeepWire | Jeep Tech |
SUA Part I: | Page 1 |
Page 2 | Page 3 |
RE YJ 4.5" Lift Kit |
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