HOGIE Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 So it's time to talk coilovers. I've paid Beebani for his UCA and LCA assembly as well as the coilover mounting brackets. I want to go disc brakes and get rid of the kingpins and go ball joint so the torsion bars are gone too. They will ship soon so I need to decide on the coilovers I'm going to run. I've done my research and I've decided QA1 as other have done before. These are what I'm looking at and will be using the QA1 7HT400 springs I really couldn't find the specifics of what people used so if you've used these ad had issues or success please let me know. QA1 Proma Star Double Adjustable Coil-Over Shocks http://www.qa1.net/suspension/street-performance-racing-shocks-struts-and-pro-coil-systems/custom-mount-shocks/proma-star-double-adjustable Thinking of using DD301 or DD303. Probably too expensive for me Ultra Ride Coil-Over Shocks http://www.qa1.net/suspension/street-performance-racing-shocks-struts-and-pro-coil-systems/custom-mount-shocks/ultra-ride-7031 Thinking of using US301. Not offered at US303 on there site. Proma Star Single Adjustable Coil-Over Shocks http://www.qa1.net/suspension/street-performance-racing-shocks-struts-and-pro-coil-systems/custom-mount-shocks/proma-star-single-adjustable Thinking of using DS301 or DS303. The 301's have a Mounting Recommended Ride Heigh, Spring Length, Compressed Height, Extended Height of 9.5-10", 7 ", 8.75" and 11.125", respectfully. The 303's have a Mounting Recommended Ride Heigh, Spring Length, Compressed Height, Extended Height of 10.75-11.25", 7/8/9", 9.5", 12.75", respectfully. Quote Link to comment
KoHeartsGPA Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 Assuming for the 521, right? Quote Link to comment
HOGIE Posted March 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 Details, yes for the 521 2 Quote Link to comment
d.p Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 Sub'd. One question I have is how are they measuring 'recommend ride height?' Quote Link to comment
G-Duax Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 d.p, eye to eye on the shock. I'm just going to go with the shock he recommends in his adds: 3855 (stock lower arms), but with poly ends (3855P). You don't want to run the Heim joint ends on the street, they will wear out in a year due to road grit working it's way into the ball section. And I will be running the QA1 US502 on the rear (4-link). Quote Link to comment
HOGIE Posted March 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2017 G-Duax. The DDR3855 is no longer available, from what I've searched. Quote Link to comment
d.p Posted March 2, 2017 Report Share Posted March 2, 2017 d.p, eye to eye on the shock. I'm just going to go with the shock he recommends in his adds: 3855 (stock lower arms), but with poly ends (3855P). You don't want to run the Heim joint ends on the street, they will wear out in a year due to road grit working it's way into the ball section. And I will be running the QA1 US502 on the rear (4-link). ah ok.. other than being adjustable and losing bump stops/kingpins what else you gain? In the end is worth it to do all this shit? Quote Link to comment
bigboy620 Posted March 2, 2017 Report Share Posted March 2, 2017 I'm in the same spot as you but looking for the best fitment on my 78 620. I was planning to use the qa1 MS302 coilovers shocks but still haven't decided on the springs. Quote Link to comment
HOGIE Posted March 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2017 I was instructed by Beebani to use the bearing style, not polly. That's why the parts numbers I'm looking at are 301/303. The part number DDR3855 is superseded by DD302, which is a polly mount shock. Confusing I'm concidering using the some variation of the 303 shock, probably 8" spring, and raising the shock tower to gain additional suspension travel. I've read that an issue that can arise is limited travel with the shorter 7" springs and 301/302 shocks. Quote Link to comment
G-Duax Posted March 2, 2017 Report Share Posted March 2, 2017 ah ok.. other than being adjustable and losing bump stops/kingpins what else you gain? In the end is worth it to do all this shit? I am not losing the king pins, and my Bilsteins dampened the stock spring rate of the torsion bars just fine. Am ridding myself of the pain in the ass of trying to run a performance exhaust around the torsion bars. Hogie, every single tuner car that I have seen that went to spherical bearings for rod ends on custom suspension arms, and not put Seals-It rod end boots on them, have had the spherical bearings go to shit with in a year. Guess we need Beebani to pop in here and explain the no poly thing. Guess if there is a reason for not using poly ends, I could always add the boots on them. 1 Quote Link to comment
HOGIE Posted March 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2017 Hogie, every single tuner car that I have seen that went to spherical bearings for rod ends on custom suspension arms, and not put Seals-It rod end boots on them, have had the spherical bearings go to shit with in a year. This is good information to have. Thanks Im going this route to because I want disc brakes and I thought if I was going through the trouble of swapping everything over to disc I want to get rid of the king pins too. The swap to coilovers came along with all that. Removal of the torsion bars will allow me to run the 240sx long style exhaust manifold off my KA, still to come. Also I'll be stoked to have the additional ease of adjustments with the coilover and ballpoint setup Quote Link to comment
Farmer Posted March 10, 2017 Report Share Posted March 10, 2017 Hogie, this is what I bought for my 620. First link says it not available anymore but gives substitute. I went a little longer shock than Beebani https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-aln4855b springs https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-9-400/overview/ 1 Quote Link to comment
G-Duax Posted March 10, 2017 Report Share Posted March 10, 2017 Farmer, do you have a side shot of how your truck sits with the longer shocks? Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted March 10, 2017 Report Share Posted March 10, 2017 The second hand parts business must be going well. 1 Quote Link to comment
Farmer Posted March 11, 2017 Report Share Posted March 11, 2017 Farmer, do you have a side shot of how your truck sits with the longer shocks? Best shot. this is with two inch drop spindles also 1 Quote Link to comment
2wheel-lee Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 I have Beebani's LCAs and UCAs with his coilover shock mount. I raised the upper shock mount about 3/4", if I recall correctly (find my build thread, and it's probably there). I am also using Hardbody 2" drop spindles. I am currently using 550# springs, but I'd like to upsize them to 600 or 650. I first tried 400 or 450 pound springs. Under the weight of the truck, they nearly completely compressed within the shock's stroke. Useless. Your spring choice is based on a number of factors, but one of them often not mentioned is the amount of overall travel you're looking at and how much sag you want. Keep in mind that coil springs are rated in how many pounds required to compress them 1". With the 301s, you only have 2-3/8" of shock travel, so a much stiffer spring is required vs if you're using a 6" stroke shock. See how that works? A 400# spring would require 400 pounds to compress 1" - almost 1/2 the shock travel. But if you were using it on a 6" stroke shock, 400 pounds would cause it to sag 1" - 1/6 of it's travel. There are a few other things to talk about, depending on what you're trying to do. I don't have mine driving yet, because I've been having to rework the LCAs to have a place for the bump stops to hit as well as to get enough - or any - negative camber. Are you going to run drop spindles? How low do you want to go? Here's where I'm at. 2 Quote Link to comment
HOGIE Posted March 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 Hogie, this is what I bought for my 620. First link says it not available anymore but gives substitute. I went a little longer shock than Beebani https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-aln4855b springs https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-9-400/overview/ Thanks for the links Farmer. I didn't see a part number listed for the superseding part. Quote Link to comment
HOGIE Posted March 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 2wheel-lee thank you for your post. This is what I'm looking for. I don't know if I'm running drop spindles. I haven't sourced them yet would like to. How low? Probably not as low as yours, but maybe, and definitely lower than farmer sits but it will drop down once the motor is installed. I like the idea of raising the shock tower and running a longer shock to have more travel rather than a stiffer spring on shorter shocks. I was hoping to decide on a set up and have everything ready to install all at once but it seems to make sense to install the shock tower and control arms then decide what shocks and springs will work best Quote Link to comment
Farmer Posted March 15, 2017 Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 QA1 Precision Products ALN4855B - QA1 Aluma Matic Coil-Over Shocks 2 Quote Link to comment
HOGIE Posted April 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2017 I received my upper and lower control arms and coil over brackets. I was hoping for enough input from others to decide which size coil overs to run and have them ready when I installed the control arms and bracket but it seems the best thing to do is install the control arms and brackets and measure to figure out what shocks and springs best fit my needs. The new hardware. I'll post pics here when I take the next step 4 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted April 7, 2017 Report Share Posted April 7, 2017 You going to paint or powder some of those parts? Quote Link to comment
HOGIE Posted April 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2017 You going to paint or powder some of those parts? They will be painted or powdercoated. Only parts that can't be painted or coated prior to install are the upper coilover perch and LCA stabilizer because they have to welded in. Quote Link to comment
Farmer Posted April 7, 2017 Report Share Posted April 7, 2017 Powder coat them when you do your frame Quote Link to comment
HOGIE Posted April 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2017 I'm a little scared of what powdercoating the frame would cost but I like where your going here. I'd of course have to get all the four link stuff welded in first too lol Or I could get the whole frame galvanized. I saw a Landcruiser frame fresh back from the galvanizers last week and it sure looked nice Quote Link to comment
G-Duax Posted April 8, 2017 Report Share Posted April 8, 2017 Some of the epoxy coatings perform as good as powder coat, if the base metal is prepped correctly, and don't require a giant oven. Quote Link to comment
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