Some More Front Suspension Levelling Kit Questions...

[JHansen]

This post kinda goes along with the control arm post that I made-but I figured if I lumped it all into 1 it would be 3 pages long and everyone would go to sleep before they got through it So I split it into 2... .



As stated in my previous post I've got 315/75R16's on the factory 16x8 alloys on the Silver Cloud-replacing the worn-out 285's I had previously. No contact in the wheel openings yet-but I want to correct the nose-down stance anyways-this is just a good excuse to finally do it. So here's what I'm curious about:



1. Still up in the air between levelling spacers and coil springs... . can somebody with the Skyjackers supply a part # for just the springs themselves? I've already got the #'s for the Tuff Country and Daystar spacers stored away already-but I'm leaning towards springs. My truck came through with 046 and 039 springs from the factory-pretty heavy from what I've been able to find although I guess some have 047 and 046? How do the Skyjackers ride compared to the stockers?



2. Leaning towards Bilstein shocks to replace the stockers (which were toast about 10000 kilometers in-gotta love that factory stuff don't you ). Anybody got any idea if you can get the front ones 2" longer to compensate for the levelling kit?



3. I'm not even gonna fool around with the track bar-I don't want the axle uncentered. On my XJ I used a press to take out some of the bend to lengthen the bar-not even gonna try on this one. Seems that if you're in the market for a replacement adjustable track bar that DT is the place to see-so anyone got a contact # or preferably a URL for them? And is there anyone else making one?



4. I haven't looked that closely (guess I should)-but has anyone had trouble with brake line or ABS wire lengths with the extra lift at full droop. I wouldn't foresee trouble with just 2"-but I've gotten bit in the butt before by things that I couldn't see coming



5. While we're at it I don't suspect it will be long before some of the other lubed-for-life factory steering parts develops play... anyone making greaseable stuff yet for the 2001's? I'm not planning on changing it out until I have to-but when I do it'll be greaseable stuff going back in-I don't care if warranty will put the stock crap back...



The other post I made was specifically about control arm issues-so I won't touch on that in this post. Hopefully I got everything in here that I wanted to!



Thanks in advance

Jason

 

[Dave Fritz]

Jason,



1. Skyjacker's spring is # D25. They ride better than my 046/039 OEM springs because the progressive wind provides some "soft" movement before the steeper piched coils begin to compress. Due to the weight of my bumper, winch, and camper, the D25's only put my about 1 1/4" higher than a stock truck.



2. Dunno about the Bilstein shocks. Skyjacker and Rancho have shocks that are long enough.



3. DT's web page is here. I have a DT bar installation page with photos and a description of my installation.



4. No trouble with the CAD vacuum cables, brake lines or ABS cables at full drop. I did have trouble with the front driveshaft double cardan joint binding under certain conditions, but yours probably won't bind unless you haul a lot of weight off road. FWIW My high pinion reverse cut Dynatrac axle solved that problem.



5. Moog makes replacement ball joints and tie rod ends with zerks. I have not found a source for greasable stabilizer bar ends.

 

[JHansen]

Dave comes through again!

I should just start e-mailing you first I guess Dave! Thanks again for the info-beginning to get pinned down the direction I'm going to travel. The Skyjacker springs seem like the way to go-I've got a line on a hardly-used set from another TDR member that I'm gonna go for. Still working on the control arm deal-may have to turn out the steering stops for now until I can have a set fabbed that meets my tough criteria. I'm going to try to lay hands on an actual Bilstein catalog to see if I can find something longer-guess RS9000's wouldn't be such a bad thing either... .



And I do have plans at some point in the future for a reverse-cut 60 up front. Reduced driveline angle, better wheel bearings, stronger axle shafts and the stronger gearset are all plusses-but I desperately want to get rid of the CAD. My XJ seems to run just fine without it-pretty sure the Ram will too. Probably overkill for my truck-but barring some dolt smashing into it I plan to run this truck for a very long time...



Thanks again Dave



Jason