James Dean

My first order of business was to correct the ever famous sagging suspension, especially in the rear. I didn't want to do a full 4" lift with a kit or a SAS, I just wanted a more rugged, beefier stance. Plus have more load capacity. I ordered Old Man Emu's Torsion Bars and 901 Heavy Duty rear coils springs from 4X4 Connection. The coils give 1.5" of lift and add 350lbs. load capacity over the factory coils. Upon realizing the 3.5" lift the new coils springs provided over the worn out originals, I then ordered 1.5" Upper Control Arm Spacers from 4Crawler Offroad to put in at the same time as the new OME torsion Bars. I didn't want to achieve my front lift by cranking up the torsion bars. I have plans to custom build new upper control arms to remedy the offset the 1.5" spacers create.

I was able to achieve 15.75" clearance from rim to wheel well up front and 15" from rim to wheel well in the back. Easily 1.5" - 2" higher than when it was new on the lot. The ride although a little stiffer, is still smooth with better handling than with the worn out original springs and bars.

After my even, beefy stance was achieved with my lift I worried about what added weight with gear and towing would do for my look. So back to Desert Rat for a pair of Air Lift Air Bags. Part # 60812 is supposed to give 1000lbs. of leveling lift. I also found some Rancho 5000's that were about an inch longer than stock to correct my travel zone.

The heart of my on-board air system is two Viair 480c pump and 2.5 gallon tank from Arnott Air Products. This feeds to a Firestone pneumatic controller and gauge thru 1/4" airlines and compression fittings provided by Michigan Truck Spring. I cut a second hole for a tank pressure gauge in addition to my bag psi gauge. This allows me to have both control over my air bags in my coil springs for ride height and leveling, as well as to have a quick release fitting on both sides of my ride for tire filling after crawling. The combination of a 100% duty cycle pump at 100psi and a 2.5 gallon tank makes quick time out of returning my 31s to road pressure after crawlin or filling my Zodiac in San Carlos. This also provides me with more than enough air if and when I install lockers.









For more info, pics and the full write up see jamesdeancreations.com

4JOGGER

Good job.

Just wondering. Are there longer airbags so that bump stops can be eliminated?

James Dean

Those are the bags listed for it at stock hieght. I don't know if there is a larger one from another application that would work. I think it's designed to push on the stop and expand on the springs.