honestly i would get my shocks built by Offroad Warehouse. they were the ones who had made the brackets in the first place even after RCD kicked the chair out from under their kit. Nick, the one who built the kit can still build the shocks he used for their kit. He did a STELLAR job on valving my rear shocks too at a very good price. just my .02

 

Just sent an email their way. Hopefully these are still available but i think they stopped making them. Shooterdude do you know the valve specs that he put on there?

 

Yep, that's the joys of coilovers...100% customizable. This is where a quality dealer will assist you by asking you those types of questions.

Any "real" dealers will give you tons of advice as well - It's probably safe to say BETTER advice than anyone on here. You really need to contact a seller of your choice and work with them…it can’t just be an ‘off the shelf’ valving setup.

I was nervous about picking a valving setup on my own...but then once I just called my dealer and talked with them, I was "at peace" because this is what they do for a living...and it wasn't a big deal, they asked me a series of questions to clear it all up, and actually provided the recommendation.

 

I'm so glad I bought Mudslanger's complete lift, saves me a lot of trouble

 

FU!

 

well the rear of my truck is somewhat soft. as there is no weight in the rear, i wouldnt need a shock stiff as hell. nick built the rears. as for the kings up front, i got those directly from king. boy i could say they hate me lol. i called up there every day. every time i talked to the builder, Iribe, great guy and can build a fabulous shock, we butted heads a few times on what exactly i wanted. he was saying a 2.0 wouldnt be strong enough. he said a 2.5 would be the way to go. i had already tried the 2.5 and they wouldnt even fit between the control arms! and then we butted heads on spring rates and such. id have to give him a call and find out exactly what valving went into the shock. i cant really give you an estimate as i have some preload on 600lb springs running a shock hoop set up which RATTLES your brains out.

 

too add to this list as well, if you choose to add preload to your coils to get lift out of your truck like i did, i ran 600lb 12" springs and did ok. youre not really supposed to add preload as it doesnt use the spring rates correctly but i had to clear tires. as of now after doing shock hoops and a arms, i need a taller spring, about a 14" spring and need but keep the same spring rate. and im moving to spindles, which clears the tires so i dont need to add preload/ not as much preload.

another thing is that if you do get the conversion kit with brackets, you arent really gaining much travel. it does eliminate a bad ride yes but it uses a shock about the same length as a stock one. if you plan on adding preload to your springs to get lift, you will loose down travel and gain up travel and vice versa (clearly). it will be as if you had a TT but with a better ride. i suggest that if you are trying to clear tires either get a body lift(2wd and 4wd), superlift (4wd), or spindles (2wd), so you can utilize all of the stock wheel travel that you had before lifting the truck. the reason for this is the placement of the lower ball joint in the a arm. the ball joint can only pivot so far before being maxed out. i had mine maxed out when i had torsion bars, and i had them maxed out when i had the coilover brackets.

I'm not trying to scare anyone away from this kit. its a great kit, especially to get rid of the torsion bars but you wont really gain much travel if not any travel from doing so. another suggestion is dont get the kings. i had only about an inch or two of shoch shaft showing. i was bottoming the shock out before the truck bottomed out. which as yall should know is not good and i had the stock suspension. yes the quality is hands down the best i have ever seen. but it just wont work with the bracket setup, the shock compression length is just too far off. (well they can work but you can potentially damage the shock if you ran them). the fox shocks will do fine. for a stock suspension (includes TT'd trucks, body lifted trucks, and spindle lifted trucks) i know that the numbers from the ORW kit was 4.375" travel coilover with a 10-12" spring. you can run a 5" travel coilover im sure since its only .625" of an inch taller. as for guys with the superlift, can run the fox 6.5" travel coilover. just to fill the gap that the lift gives you in the first place. of course shock travel is different from wheel travel.

so, if you are asking the question, "is there any way i can get more travel than stock?" the answer is yes there is easiest being to loose the sway bar links, but thats about it when it comes to stock componets. the best way to maximize wheel travel is by a) changing the angle at which the lower ball joint sits in the a arm, b) changing shock mount locations, and c) different upper control arms. which all of those can be found in a mid travel kit or a long travel kit.

 

Just called ORW and apparently the guy who knew anything about the setup for the coilovers is no longer there. Guy on the phone couldn't really help me much unless I knew all the exact specifications I needed which I didn't.....

 

the guy i talked to was nick kheller. he was the one who helped me with my shocks. im pretty sure he was one of the ones who made part of the kit. he should still be there unless he quit/got fired in the past 4 months.

 

I'm interested in getting a kit. I have a lowered ranger and could use the coilover conversion to gain ground clearance and to STOP scraping the torsion bar and crossmember. I realize it's been done with a stock vehicle and also many lifted, ARE there any trucks that are lowered that have utilized this kit? I still have the stock shocks on the front, so I'm guessing I have enough space and because I wont' be going offroad anytime soon, I could find a coilover easy enough that would work (I'm thinking maybe a Mustang option?)

Sending a PM now for price and availability and all that jazz.

 

Is there a list going on for the next batch? If so I'm in for sure.

 

Foxtrot moon- Mustangs use macpherson struts but a 5" travel fox shock should work just fine for you

 

Either that or I'm pretty sure fox offers shorter shocks than that. Or even look into qa1. Since being lowered you'd wanna make sure you have enough shock travel so when the truck hits a bump it hits the bump stop first and not bottom the shock out first, but still have a little bit of downtravel to soak up dips In the road and etc. so the ride won't be uncomfortable. But i'd worry more about compression in your case. Hope this helps.

 

Well I currently have a quarter of an inch between the bumpstop and control arm lol(and that's aftermarket shorty bumpstops). But thanks for the quick replies! Definitely gives me some things to research into. I sent a PM about the coilover brackets and am interested in getting on the next batch if possible. If someone who has bought them before can PM me or post what the pricing was itl'l give me an idea of what to save.

 

If the truck is that close to bottoming out I don't think the coilovers will solve the rough ride problem. Part of the rough ride is because youre practically riding on the bump stops. What you would probably want to do is raise the truck up a little bit so the shock can actually dampen.

 

You can order a dixon bros shock hoop/brace from woolworth motorsports and your upper shock mount is raised and it will tighten up the front end as well

 

I tried looking into a Dixon bros style hoop before I did my current hoop setup and the problem is that you would have to change the lower shock mount. That hoop is set up for the width of the kit (4.5" wider per side?) so the geometry of the hoop just wouldn't work with stock width. You could do a different style hoop and cut off the bumpstops but if I were lowered I would probably want to keep them. You could mount them somewhere else?

 

Finally got around to welding on my shock tower braces and finishing my coil over install (I have had the shocks on for 6 months)

Heres a pic of the finished product, clearances are defiantly tight and full droop and my UCA will hit the coils when they over extend so limit straps are key to controlling that.



for every one wondering Jeep TJ daystar bump stops mounted in the inner holes of the stock bump stop mounts work perfect on a superlifted truck and you could easily trim them down and mount them on a stock height truck if needed.

more pics in my build thread, this is a great sight!

 

I'm not so much interested as solving the rough ride problem as I am gaining clearance OVER bumps in entrances and exits to places. The bottom of my torsion bars and torsion bar crossmember look like they've been in a grinder!

The bumpstop bracket is going to be cut off/modified/removed in some fashion and moved upward to gain more clearance. The coilover setup is a way for me to gain ground clearance, stop scraping, and effectively get a front suspension that actually has a dampening ability.

Thanks for the input so far though!

 

I would think it should be fine being on a 2wd truck. He would have to weld some new mounts on the LCA but a fab shop could do that in an hour.

 

Well with the hoop mounted on the face of the frame was really what killed it for me. With all the angles and bends you'd have to work with given from a Dixon hoop would make the spring rub on the frame and/or the Uca. A hoop mounted on top of the frame like mine would work if you had new mounts on the a arm. Stock ucas really limit the room we have to fit the c/o's. I was lucky to get a hydro bump and c/o to fit between them with about a mm to spare.

 

Hey guys,

I've gotten a few PMs lately about these. I will be running another batch. I'm just waiting on the shop to finish up a couple of other things for me, but I'm hoping to be able to run more of these soon. I don't think at this point I can get a September ship date for them, but I'll let you know.

Mike, your setup looks good! Any pics of the coilovers themselves? Clearance definitely is an issue with coilovers on these trucks. I tried to bring them as tight to the frame as I could without worrying about any contact there, but the UCA swings in quite a bit on downward travel, so yes, the limit straps are a must, especially if you've got the ride height set with a steep angle on the suspension to begin with.

 

is there a list for the next run or should we just PM you?

 

I PM'ed!

 

Pm sent out ready for my conversion just need the brackets. These beautiful shocks are staring me in the face every time I go into the garage! Hope to see something by OCT.