How much longer again? Dude, I would be MOZE'EE'N on over to some verbally whip some arse... But I know, that wouldn't work, never does for the most part! lol.

 

yeah, no point in getting mad at it, It would probably just make em take longer, lol. Word from the fab shop is the coilovers, without the coils...will be here monday or tuesday

 

Howdy Folks, I know its been a while and ya'll are dying for an update, but I'm afraid the only progress that has been made is getting the coilovers in the mail finally, and after struggle for many hours, finally getting one bolted on for the inital mock-up....other than that, its still on jack stands >.< It'll be about another few weeks before I can get the correct coil springs and finish setting up the coilovers but until then, heres other updates:
My Brothers married now
And I will going into the Army Special Forces on April 23rd 2012. Yep, I'm gonna be a Green Beret!

 

HOOAH!

Sorry you're having to deal with the 'hurry up and wait' crap! lol.... I fell ya!

 

You mean you are going infantry, special forces will be your designation if you pass selection.

 

Thats AIRBORNE Infantry I have you know, and stop making it sound like I have a choice, because I don't. I HAVE to make it through selection, period.

Anyway, I will be finally getting with an "Expert" from F.O.A. to finally order the correct coil springs. I gave up on waiting for the Fab shop to get the scales needed to measure corner weight, so I decided to just contact the pros and ask for a recommendation.

That, and the old man wants the Yota out of the garage so we can continue work on a jeep >.< So we're ,pst definitely going to be completed by christmas!

 

Finally got around to reading your thread through, looking forward to when the LT is complete. Cheers!

 

Never did I say or imply that you have a choice. I was simply letting you know that your primary is infantry, if you do not meet what is deemed to be acceptable by the recruiter, you will be infantry. btw, the recruiter that got you in is not the sf, airborne or paratrooper recruiter, they are two different people, after all, I didnt spend 1 1/2 years listening to half of the infantry guys say they should have been selected. Also, no one HAS to make through selection, if you dont, 11B.

 

...anyway, Staying on topic:

According to two pro sources, I'll be using an 18" coil spring with a single spring rate of about 600lbs per inch. Just in case anyone was wondering.

I was ill informed and didnt realize that coilovers are a lot more of an in-depth project.
So for anyone else who might be interested in doing/ IS doing a similar build: Go with a single rate 18" coil spring for 8" travel shocks and aim for 600-650 lbs per inch spring rate.

 

Unless you have an aftermarket bumper, winch, plan on running 37 inch projects for race, going for crawling. Their is so many factors that not everyone will use the same spring. Also, wouldnt a progressive rate spring be better for higher speed deserts? Heres what i mean: say at 50 mph you are on terrain that is highly unpredictable, a progressive rate would be better as it will be soft to start and firm up on the larger hits to ensure less to no bottoming of suspension components. Imho a progressive will offer alot smoother ride. A single rate spring will offer either too soft on some terrain, or too firm on some terrain. Adjustability is also limited, here's why: when a progressive is tightened, the spring rate will be able to attain a wider range of soft to firm, exhibiting finer adjustment and tune-ability. A single rate can get harder and softer, however requires more adjustment to change its characteristics, resulting in possible damage to the shock assembly.

 

CANT Wait moze! Best wishes on ur goals in the service! Ull get the blueberry sussed up, dont worry!

 

Thanks Chef, I'm definitely ready to shred some trails again soon!

As for the progressive vs single rate, Yes, I'm well aware of the superiority of dual rate coilovers, but according to Total Chaos, for an 8" travel shock (since I'm keeping 4x4, it'd be 10" or more if I left the CV shafts out) dual rate isn't needed. My yota is in no way a race truck, maybe it will be some day in which case I'll change the configuration, but for now, considering the kind of wheeling I'll be doing, a single rate spring will be more than enough. Its not going to be a dedicated baja truck, so just the single spring is all I need because I wont be needing to do any serious tuning.

Both Total Chaos, and F.O.A recommended the 600lbs coil springs after explaining to them in detail, exactly what I had and didnt have on my truck. The good thing about this total chaos kit is it comes with room for improvement, such as secondary shock tabs and the ability to increase travel just by removing the CV shafts. Which I highly doubt I'll ever do, this thing is a trail rig, not a baja/race truck. If I was making a dedicated pre-runner, I'd opt for dual rate for sure. Until then, I'm settled on single springs. Worst case scenario is they're too soft/hard in which case I HAVE the hardware for dual rate still, if I decided to go that route instead. The biggest reason I bought the GEN. 2 CADDY kit was cause of the possibilities of customization
.

 

Not only for race trucks, you miss-interpreted what i said. A progressive will in fact be a smoother ride, however, if you go with single spring rate, what happens after lights, a winch, more steel or anything that comprises more than 100 lbs is added? Then the need for different springs arises. If a pregressive was added, the tune-ability would be greatly improved, possibly new springs would not be needed and money would be saved. I'm just saying the offer a greater amount of flexibility when it comes to adding/removing weight to/from the front end. Not downing your choice, so don't take it that way, just offering some helpful input.

It kind of sounds like performance is taking a back seat to just get on the road. I think you should do a little more research, talk to third party users, people who have used either type of spring, rather than a manufacturer. They might have used the springs on another type of vehicle, and the ride impression they were given may not pertain to your application.

 

I know that dual rate is better, trust me. If I could use it, I would, but for 8" of travel, dual rate can't be used. Hence the extra shock tab on the lower control arm on this particular kit.
The bottom line is this: Yeah I've got more travel over stock, but I'm still restricted by my cv shafts, I'd rather keep 4 wheel drive and have a much-better-than stock ride, than not have 4x4 and have super awesome and smooth dual rates, because to go dual rate, I'd have to have longer shocks. I appreciate the thought sean, but I'd rather find out for myself if a single rate will be all I need or not, because asking other people will yield one of two anwsers: It Sucks, or its Great.
For now, I'm gonna listen to the guys at Total Chaos who have probably built more yota's and set-up more coilovers than any of us have, combined.

Springs will be ordered on monday!! Happiness!

 

A lot of people run a single spring over dual springs. Call up king or fox and a whole lot of race trucks avoid dealing with the retainer and multiple spring rates even on 10 and 12 inch shocks.

 

Im just saying not to rely on the manufacturers opinion. You think when I bought the tundra I asked toyota how good of a truck it is? nope. I checked out forums and compared its issues and pros and cons with the big three issues and pros and cons. Yes the ford hated everyone else, as is the same with the others, but if you sift through the bs, you will have real world facts that will lead to an educated decision. Case in point, for the warranty on the front shocks on the tundra, I asked what options I had, bilstein, fox and rancho were the options the dealership will pay for. Did a little research, bilstein has evidentally fixed the post bending issue with a larger diameter post. People with the foxes and the 2 inch leveler experienced a stiffer ride with the rancho, and too springy with the fox. So in this case, by doing research and seeing what the CONSUMER has said, I made an educated decision and went with the bilsteins.

But, I'm outta this one, just going to focus on my truck build and no one else's.

Started looking into the supercharger kit, 500hp and 550 ft lbs sounds soooooo sweet.

 

So how much are you wanting to spend on tires Sean?
Anyway, now that you guys' pissing match is done, lemme just say I'll take those 600# springs off your hands when I take that RE off your hands for your engine swap. Dunno exactly what I'll use em for, but I'll figure something out!

 

I've only seen up to 700lb springs, so I guess I pretty much have to do a 3.4 swap instead of a big heavy hulking 350 or 4.3 o.O
BUT a motor swap is years away considering the whole military thing...kinda puts a kink in a lot of future build plans. At least It'll be back on all fours soon though

 

your killin me man, finish this thing already

 

Ok, ok. You've all waited long enough, but I'm happy to announce there has been progress...rather major progress, like, a few days from completion progress...after only 6 or 7 months O.o...ANYWAY!

Here ya go!:

These springs are actually HUGE, a lot bigger than expected, Getting them on was fun...but honestly, grinding down Heim spacers was more of a PITA than getting the springs on. And their BLUE!