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Zuk Mod Installed.......w/o any modifications

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Old Jan 12, 2008 | 11:57 AM
  #1  
mattk's Avatar
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Zuk Mod Installed.......w/o any modifications

Just installed rear coil springs from a '98 Jeep Wrangler on my pickup. Had the famous rear end sag going on and this made a huge differance. Going to pick up up some new shocks tonight and get them on there, but wanted to post up pics of my install. I didnt have any modifications to put these on and they worked out great. Check out the links below:

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...topBefore2.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...StopBefore.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...afsBefore2.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...eafsBefore.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...rLeafAfter.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...oilInstall.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ilInstall2.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ilInstall3.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ightBefore.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ightAfter2.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...eightAfter.jpg
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Old Jan 12, 2008 | 02:27 PM
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Whats holding them in? Pressure?
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Old Jan 12, 2008 | 02:33 PM
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Pressure for now. I am going to run them like that for a while and see how it does. They are pretty tight in there, I dont think they are going anywhere. If it becomes a problem I will hit a couple spot welds on it and should be good, but I dont think this will be in issue.
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Old Jan 12, 2008 | 02:46 PM
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thats pretty cool man
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Old Jan 12, 2008 | 06:31 PM
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Woohoo! Someone else on the bandwagon.

I did this last summer on my '86. Huge difference. I was and still am pleased.

What do you think of the ride quality? New shocks make a big difference.
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Old Jan 12, 2008 | 06:34 PM
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Like the way it looks and rides now. Nice and level!!! Putting on new shocks here soon so should make even more of a ride quality differance. Glad I went with this instead of new leafs!
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Old Jan 12, 2008 | 07:19 PM
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Why not just new leafs? Is there some advantage to the Zuk mod?
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Old Jan 12, 2008 | 09:19 PM
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From: NW Ark on wooded ten acres...Ozarks at large!
When I thought about putting the coils on mine, I talked directly to Zuk about it. The way he explained it, and from I've seen from experience, the leaf pack and the coils share the load of shock and weight = less work for each.

For example, I can put 1600lbs in the rear of my 4rnr. With just the leaf pack, the springs will flatten all the way down (even if they're in good shape) giving a crappy ride while loaded and also just plain tax out the metal faster. With the coils added, the leaves flatten but not completely and the ride is still quite nice. The coils keep the rear elevated and provide suspension while the leaves aren't doing that job any longer at that point.

Unloaded it will not ride as soft as with just the leaves, but the way I look at it the leaves are more or less shot anyway giving a crappy ride. Adding the coils is cheap and alot easier than replacing the leaves and restores the ride. It's not a cadillac. It's a truck and it rides like one. I would not, however, say this for someone who wanted lots of flex for rock crawling and such. The coils will limit the up and down travel. On the other hand, Zuk does have Toyota truck he's added a single coil to (mounted from the differential to a crossmember under the bed) and appears to still have plenty of flex from the pics I've seen. The difference is probably due to the single coil being smack in the middle and not either end of the axle.

I hope I explained that all well enough. My brain is tired.....long day.

Last edited by thook; Feb 5, 2008 at 01:40 PM.
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Old Jan 12, 2008 | 11:09 PM
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I still think my air ride is going to be better.....
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 01:28 AM
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From: NW Ark on wooded ten acres...Ozarks at large!
Then, go for it.....
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 02:28 AM
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I bought some after market helper coil springs and I installed them on my 4runner and the ride sucked that was after installing new shocks.

maybe the jeep coils are softer my truck sits nice a level but the ride sucks

when I get it back on the road I am going to buy some add a leafs and cut the coils out for me it was the worst mod I have done.

on a bumpy road I felt I was going to lose control many times after installing them made the truck bounce all over the place.
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 04:46 AM
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I'd definitely put some spot welds on those or something. Seems kinda dangerous for other people on the road if something goes wrong ie: flying metal springs through windows....
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 05:15 AM
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Pretty sure you can't weld to a spring...

Back when lowering trucks was all the rage, the coils usually got an acetylene torch treatment which screwed them all up and dropped the truck. Welding would transfer too much heat to the spring.

A new top hanger with something to hold the spring in is the ticket. Although I'm pretty sure when Zuk first tested the mod he did it just like above for a while.

If it was my truck I'd feel better with something holding it in.
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 05:34 AM
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I just meant he needs something to keep it in there, I have no experience with coil springs but I have never personally seen a set-up where its just sitting there.
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 05:50 AM
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Good point! Didnt think about welding to the spring. The heat will drop the coil and mess it up. The set up I have right now is tight. I dont think it will go anywhere, but I will keep it eye on it. The pressure of the leafs and the weight of the truck keep enough pressure on there to hold it in place.
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 05:55 AM
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People say the same about lift blocks and they sometimes let loose.
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 06:42 AM
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That's interesting. Glad it fixed your sag. Get some spring retainers and weld them in so that it grabs the top of the spring. That way, you know they won't go anywhere...especially under flex. You can buy them from most online lift places. Mostly Jeep sites have them. Good job!
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 07:01 AM
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I will look into the spring retainers and try to get them installed here in the future. Better safe than sorry!!!!
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 02:49 PM
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can the springs be out of any year wrangler? or just a 98?

nice!
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Old Jan 13, 2008 | 03:39 PM
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I think they can be from '97-00. Dont quote me on that but I read that somewhere. PM sent to you MIKEMOKAS

Last edited by mattk; Jan 13, 2008 at 03:46 PM.
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