Why don't you just put a solid axle up front, ala Dents or RacerX??

 

I got a buddy who.turned his ranger edge to coil over. It worked for him. One could simply fabricate the mounts for a coil over. The problem is if it'll all work right together

 

I'm sure it can be done with the right geometry and knowledge, but fawk.......I'm getting a headache just thinking of it.......but that's the fun part I guess!!!

 

It's not all that hard the t-bar ford ranger crowd has been doing it for some time. www.Offroadwarehouse.com was making brackets for the rangers for awhile.

Here is some info it's for a ranger but should give you and idea.
http://sweb.uky.edu/~mwke224/Coilover Conversion for Torsion bar Rangers.pdf

Also you can search coilover conversion at Ford Ranger Forums - The Ultimate Ford Ranger Resource

 

ive thought about this too biggest road block i see is the upper A-arm. would love to do it myself

 

Custom tube A-arms?

 

any ideas if a 2wd upper a-arm would work??

 

or trade your truck for one with coils :shrug:

I only say that because there have been members that have done it

 

I think he's trying to retain 4x4

 

For the amount of work required I'd SAS

 

IFS would probably be nicer on the road?

 

you want to take a 4wd torsion bar truck and make it coilover. all custom work really, nuthing on the 2wd coil over trucks will work with a cv axle in the way. coils and a 4 link is the way to go if you really want to do it but that is pretty much for a SAS anyways

 

i would prefer a-arm and coils for high speeds off road. i like my 4wd for the dunes and desert washes, but i also do things youd want a 2wd with long travel for. jus personally i wudnt mind the both of best world. A-arm 4wd with coilovers. also IMO 1 step closer to 4wd long travel.

 

Build it up dude!

 

I'm not as knowledgeable on the torsion bar truck since I have 2wd but I'm not sure why so many are making this out to be so hard and saying just go SAS for the amount of work. SAS requires wayyy more parts, time, cutting, welding, $$ and ultimately is for a completely different intended purpose of off-roading.

Secondly, seems to be fairly easy to accomplish. have custom arms built, buy coilovers, fabricate a simple bracket to mount coilover in, remove torsion bars. DONE. Not to complicated.

 

another option would be to cut out your stock shock attachment and use shock hoops. then you can go with an even larger coilover.

 

i would definately go with a shock hoop. im pretty sure ppl have made custom upper arms for these in the past. most expensive part would most likely be the coilovers

 

It would not be hard 2 brackets would need to be fabricated.1 would bolt/weld on the upper shock mount.The other would weld on the lower control arm. Add coilovers and limit straps,remove t-bars,set ride height and get a alignment.You wouldn't gain any extra height over what you could crank your t-bars to but would gain better ride quality.

If you want lift get a normal lift kit then add the coilovers.


If your wanting long travel then you will need control arms fabricated.

The only real geometry you would need to do is where to weld the lower control mount on at.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

12" DIY Do it Yourself Shock Hoop Kit

Wouldn't these work for the upper shock mounts?
Then just weld mounts to the lower a arm.

 

The times ive given this some real thought, on how to do this within a reasonable budget while maintaining 4wd ive though about 3 criticals:

1. Uppar control arm
2. Coilover / strut
3. Shock hoop.

I think that building a tubular upper arm with proper ball joint angles for a lifted truck is critical. In my opinion, one could "economically" retrofit a coilover/strut setup from a toyota tacoma setup, the lower mount on those setups are made to work with a CV, and the times ive look at them closely they seem to be very similar down there to our trucks (LCA, CV axle, shock mount, etc) ... also the valving and spring rates should be good to go for our trucks, I think the most "complicated" thing would be the upper coilover mount... since something hefty and custom needs to be fabbed up to support the weight of the vehicle and with the proper placement for the height of the truck and geometry of the front end.

 

wouldnt we also need to look at lengthening the axles/cv joints to something better? i dont think that our trucks could take the beating in a long travel set up.

 

there was a link somewhere on here to an h3 build that did this

 

My wet dream thead. Rod halls h3.


Tubed uppers. Cake
Hoop. No problem
Clearing the cv and setting travel limits. Not hard
The hope this will ever be done outside of a thread.... unlikly.

 

yes, that was bebe's build over on pirate 4x4. her rig is epic,.....totally custom too though. she never really says what the totals were for the build but id guess it to be roughly 7k+

dont get me wrong though, its an amazing H3 none the less. it makes me want to eventually do something sick to my truck that way.

i just think it would be sick to build something like a baby raptor. maybe call it like the baby GM t-rex of something like that.

 

Heres a link from Dezert Rangers on BabyJakes build: dunno if this will help or not

J-Armed Colorado

- Kevin

 

Dam nice Colorado in that build!

 

:yeahthat:

 

thanks for all the reply's. the reason I asked was they make all of the long travel kits for the Coil overs and I was curious if my truck could be converted to coils but ya if i go that far then might as well for SAS

 

not sure if your still thinking about conversion but i have a front end for sale

http://www.355nation.net/forum/classifieds/61817-front-end-frame.html

 

If it were your rear end I would definitely be interested. I've been looking around for Z71 rear end because they are slightly longer than the Z85. Something with a G80 locker and 4.10 gears would be tits if I could find one off a salvage truck

 

my axle is for sale but shipping would kill the deal its 3.73 g80 shock tabs and leafs perches for soa done

 

Hate to piss on your parade. This won't work without all new arms and make them wider to fit the coil. The biggest issue is that the cv shaft is in the way of where the coil would Mount. I know my mom's envoy had coilovers and 4wd. It's not that simple on 4wd. Clearances are a big issue.

Front 04 gmc envoy setup

There weird lower control arm.