Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) 4link coil conversion opinions wanted

[Mhannink]

Unfortunately, Rancho shocks and airbags WON'T let you offroad with the best of them. The Rancho's will overheat and self destruct on the first sustained high speed blast and the shafts are too skinny to take a hit. King or Fox is a great way to go.



The airbags won't give enough articulation for a rock crawler unless you mount them forward of the axle, which will put extreme strain on your tubing based 4 link.

ok so yeah maybe thats a little exaratory lol but it gets the point across.



im aware of the problems w/ the ranchos but i dont do a lot of high speed rough roads i am thinking of fox but they are veru pricy. as for the air bags you can get bags that can move a lot if not then ill either not use them or move them up the link bars. i know it stresses the bar but im also putting massive ones on so it might hold it if its not too far up the bar.

 

[CSchafer]

The rear end has quite a bit of room for airbags if you go inside the frame rails with a crossmember and down to the axle tube. For shocks try a re-valved dirt bike shock with a teeter toter setup for more travel. I'll be looking forward to seeing some pictures.

 

[Mhannink]

well ya'll just an update most of the parts i ordered have come in and will be installing at the end of the week. the desgin i finally went w/ is just a parellel set up like original. i know its not perfect but because of room i went w/ that outside the frame rails. im using 1/4 thick steel and biggger. im putting johnny joints at the axel ends and rubber bushings at the frame ends. im also adding coils and lifting it 4in in the rear and 6 in the front. this will level it and i will stick 35's under it on 17 mojavie teflon wheels its gonna look bad *** lol pics will come later when i get a chance and if ya'll have any ?s about the install if your thinking of doing the same thing then please ask.

 

[CSchafer]

Sounds good, make sure to get us pictures. What do you have in mind for a panhard bar?

 

[San Felipe Bob]

Trophy truck 3 link fer sure!

I'd be building a Trophy truck type 3 link system... .



Gobbs of wheel travel.

Insane strength!



SFB

Baja Style

 

[Joispoi]

Eventually, I'm going to install 4 link rear suspension front and rear in my ford (which is getting a 12v heart transplant in the somewhat near future- shortblock is arriving soon ) So many projects..... so little time



I made the rear links already and installed 2 of them as traction bars. ( I'm running 38" tires and they tend to wind up the springs pretty bad. ) In addition to the pan hard bar, I'm installing a bar that will truss the frame rails where the panhard bar connects to the frame. This way the lateral force is distributed to both sides rather than abusing one frame rail.



I used rubber leaf spring bushings as the ends. They absorb some shock and will last a long time. They also allow for articulation. I'll use air bags instead of coils or leaves.

 

[Mhannink]

not to worry there will be plenty of pics as soon as i get a digital camera. anyways sfb if you would look higher up in the thread you will see we did discuss a 3link system and i am rather partial to it. i even did try to get one to fit in there but it simply cannot be done w/o major modification of the exhaust and removal of the fuel tank. this makes it rather impractical to me and so i went w/ my original idea of a parellel link setup yes i know theres less wheel travel but its fine for what im doing. as for the panhard bar it will just be some dom w/ rubber bushings like those found on the links im making which are basically just rubber suspension bushings something u would find in the leaf springs. anyways the lift will be in next week and pis will follow asap.