Bomba02
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2013
- Posts
- 371
- Reaction score
- 8
Coil Over Conversion UPDATE
*****UPDATE******
I haven't updated this thread in a while been busy with life. With that said I'm sad to say that i have removed the coilover swap. I was bummed, I loved the coil over feel made it a race car. I couldn't dial it in correctly, bouncing, height. I believe my spring rate was not high enough to correctly support my truck. Atomic piece and knowledge was great! With a new born and winter approaching (kid-o's hockey season) I needed the truck working correctly and ready to go as its my DD. So I have reworked the front suspension yet again to stay low and look for a good ride. I think I've tried all front suspension options now for these trucks minus bagging. I'm going to write a new thread on my new front set up as well within the next couple days. Ask any questions needed.
Thanks for reading Billy
So i finally walked the talked. I finally ditched the T-bar set up and have gone coil over.
1st off I’d like to say a BIG thank you to Tahoewhat (Mike). Surprised during all of this he didn't change his phone number as i probably used up all his unlimited text with questions and insight on the swap. Also his great write up. So thank you.
Also big thanks to:
Atomic - For the brackets and calculations info and insight
Digitalfiend - Punching out stud top bushing for me and all other insight
04blackout - His thread and his opinion on the swap
Links I used for info and studying
http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59830
http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57560
http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60498
http://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...2/99-07-4wd-front-coilover-conversion-518118/
http://www.mediafire.com/view/w2aacdwv8ih2gl4/coilovers_install.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/view/95y297f209crn5x/coilovers_about.pdf
***** I have countless hours into reading and studying these links before I did my swap*****
Parts i Ordered
* Atomic’s lower bracket/hardware
* Digitalfiend one off custom stud top bushing and washer
* (2) Qa1 DS301 coil over shocks http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-ds301/overview/
* Qa1 spanner wrench and thrust bearing kit
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-7888-110/overview/
* Qa1 steel bearing upgrade http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-com8t-102pk/overview/
* Spacer 3/8” (bottom) http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all18571
* Bumpstops http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ens-9-9101g/overview/
* Hypercoil 7” x 2.5” x 1300lbs
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007I8ATPS/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
* (2) Qa1 stud top conversion http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-ss110sdm/overview/
* Anti-seize
Parts on order
* Spacer 1/2” (top) http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all18572
* Pro comp shock mount conversion kit http://www.summitracing.com/parts/exp-690001
* Qa1 steel bearing upgrade http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-com8t-102pk/overview/
Finally after racking my brain and others on the swap and slowly collecting my parts list I was ready for the swap. Let me tell you finding time to set aside to work on the truck is hard with the family and work. Finally had a chance to work on it and my buddy let me use his shop to do the swap. He stuck around cause the swapped caught his eye and he was eyeing my T-bars for a project he’s doing.
INSTALL
First thing i did was look at all my new parts and it felt like christmas morning lol. I marked a center line of travel on the piston for adjustment measure. I then next built both shocks, I screwed the lock ring and coil adjuster ring onto the shock, then I installed the thrust washers and thrust bearing. I heavily coated the shock threads, rings, washer, bearings with anti-seize. I then placed the coil onto its seat. I uninstalled the eyelet mount. I then placed the top spring cup onto the spring and screwed down and tightened the stud top mount. Repeat for the other coil over.
So I dove right in, removed the front tires, front shocks, and bump stops. I started on the driver side so i could do a mock up make sure all looked good before i stripped the truck completely of the T-bars. So I removed the t-bar adjustment bolt and the key lock, air hammered the t-bar out and left it hanging for test fit. I bolted atomic lower bracket onto the lca. I then placed my coil over into the truck. I took a jack stand under the spindle and lower the lift until the stud top was in place and installed nut (at this point I could tell it was gonna be low). I reinstall my the tire and lowered my truck of the lift for adjustments. Adjusted the truck until it could be driven while paying attention to center mark on piston for travel issues. I repeated on same producer on the passenger side. However i did not get as lucky on the passenger side T-bar i had to use a C-clamp to remove the key.
I then took an air hammer and punched off the jounce stop cups to allow for more travel. I did not trim my bracket like others have as my buddy (who owns shop) said my shock would never touch that bracket. At the moment I’m testing his opinion.
Driver side
Passenger side
I have not installed the front bump stops as of yet.
All in all it took me about an hour and half and one beer to do the swap (beer got warm to).
SIDE NOTES
I did my calculations to get my ride height which i thought i was gonna be an inch lower then my current set up. It ended up being slammed. I didn't measure with rings at last thread forgot to. Im adjusted about half way up the threads on the coil to get 30”(ground to fender) and 15” (center hub to fender) on driver side. My passenger side sits about an 1/4 inch higher driver side. Im like 1/4 way up the threads on the passenger side and sits at 30 1/4. So all in all i can go lower and go figure truck doesn't sit true side to side. Unfortunately with my tire set up i can not be this low at the moment. I need to be able to run my 285 45 22’s.
So i have the pro comp adaptor and steel upgraded top bearings on the way. Going to switch to eye let top mount which if i left ride height as is and added the 1.5 inch it will bring me to 31.5 ish. Which is what i was looking for.
ALIGNMENT
I went for alignment the next morning. As i was in the parking lot i knew they were not going to be able to fix my camber due to the fact if they pushed it out the tire would be hitting the inside of the fender. My toe was messed due to having a gear box and pitman arm installed. Toe fixed and cambers at -4ish at the moment. So lifting it with the pro comp i should be able to align the camber.
IMPRESSION
So to start my buddy that owns the shop and hung out while I did the swap was questioning it working. As he stated in his automotive knowledge and thinking that the parts I had would not work with my truck. As in to small of a shock and spring. I told him to hold on and watch.* So I finished and I asked him if he wanted to go for ride in his 1st coil over Nali. I had the shock set to the 5th click as I didn't know what to expect and had truck sitting at 30 3/8.* We went for a mile ride and I was impressed with ride. Even my buddy noticed a different and was impressed how the conversion worked out. Bumps were smoother and not as jarring. My nali is awd so on full lock turns the front would ratchet on its self now with the swap she turns crisp and clean at full lock which is nice.
The next morning I re measured the truck and it was 1/4 off from settling. As I mentioned before driver side is way up on threads and passengers side isn't. The truck was low so I cranked the coils a full turn and a half and went to setting 6 on shocks and went for a alignment. After alignment it rode good with toe fixed.
I had to take it to Boston which is about an hour ride. So loaded the family up and sports gear and took off. It rode good, handled bump well not as jarring. Due to being to low, lower then I thought, at 70-75 there are a couple bad bridges and huge dips I stuffed the tires into the fender wells. I haven't installed bump stops yet and only hit metal to metal 2 times big holes I couldn't get away from.* On the way home I clicked driver side up 1 more click cause it was hitting inner fender more then pass.* The way home was nice and smooth only one scrap.
I'm going to go to the pro comp as I need to come up a bit and re adjust coil overs and go for new alignment hopefully. I do not like the slammed front look ass end jacked in the air even tho it's lowered I like level look.* Hopefully work on it this week so I can put some more miles on if parts come in.
Beside it being lower then I thought it was going to be I'm 100% happy I did the swap. The ride has improved over the T-bars. I was looking to get rid of the jarring over bumps which has improved a bunch I believe once I raise it up a bit it will ride even better and I can fool around with the shock settings.
Digitalfiend stud top washer and mount doing work
Minute i pulled it out of the shop
Even tho i like low i want truck to be level it looks like the back of the truck isn't even lowered the way it sits.
Thanks for reading its my 1st big thread so take it easy on me.* Ask any questions and ill update with new info and pics as time goes on.
Thanks Billy
UPDATES
7-20-2014
This week, i got my parts to install pro comp adapters. I just finished the install. I added a 1/4 inch washer on the driver side in-between pro comp adapter and spring perch so truck would sit level. After install with springs one thread up the truck sat at 31.5! With weight on truck there was 3/4ish of the piston showing. I cranked them up to 3 threads showing and sitting right under 32. Looks good. Also added bump stops. installed coil over with out spring and compressed until it almost hit top and cut bump stop to fit.
Will drive it later and add pics and more ride info.
7-25-14
Updates:
So I finally got to get a good trip on the pro comp mounts. Around town and back roads it drives ok. The highway is a different story, big rolling bumps the truck oscillates 2-3 times after and a few bigger bumps I'm pretty sure I hit the bump stops. I'm thinking this is occurring because I don't have a lot of down piston travel for suspension to soak it up. Also re-measured my ground to fender and I'm 31.5 on driver side and 32 on passenger side with coil adjusted about the same. I'm going to crank up driver side a little and see how much it effect passenger side as I'm hoping in my head it will drop a little. The truck still just feels smoother driving it and steering is crisp, hard to explain but you can feel it. Also I like to drive it like a race car some times, I don't baby it, man does it handle and react great.
Thoughts:
So in my head it was smoother with stud top cause I was able to get in middle of piston travel. So now my heads turning cause I need to address this issue. I need to either lower the mounting somehow on current set up, and then use coil over to get back up to correct ride height with correct piston travel.
OR
I'm going to go back to stud top and add some washer to try to raise starting height and adjust from there. Learning towards this.
Side notes:
>My spring might be not rated high enough for my truck. I have 1300 pound spring I couldn't find any thing with a heavier rating. Stronger spring could change the game and hold truck up easier therefore adjusting would be different.
> Thinking I could of got away with the Qa1 DS303 coilover a little taller might of worked well with stud top.
Billy.
Pro comp adaptors installed
[/COLOR]UPDATE 8-9-2014:
I have some good news to report back. After a long week of picking Richard (atomic) and Mike (tahoewhat) brain, and fooling with the suspension, Im back in the game.
I turned the coil overs up to try to get into more of the middle of the travel of the shock. I gave a shot for a few trips and on the highway it was oscillating out of control wasn't safe. I was worried and feared the worst i was going to have to remove the swap which I REALLY LIKE. After talking to Richard about a million things it could be, he said try turning the shock setting all the way up and give it a try. So i jacked the knob all the way up, it took me all week to take a test run. Finally yesterday i got out to the highway and headed towards those damn bumps, i hit them doing 70-75 and WOW just turning them it rode great to compared before. Handle the bumps damn good, i even kinda like the ride at setting 18.
I hope i have some adjustment still so Im going to go down a click at a time and hit the same bumps until it goes out of control so i know my adjustment range.
At the moment the things all jacked up, fronts at about 32.5 and 32.75 and the rear i have aired up to 33.25 which is like 30ish psi. I also think I'm not 60% downward travel on piston so I'm going to switch back over to the stud top with some more spacing on the stud top, that way i can get to 60% of travel and i want the truck to be around 31.5-32 up front and that will let me air out the back to 32.25 which i usually run 5-10 psi in the bags. Hopping that works and lets me get into right ride height i want. Ill be doing that once i have some free time for now I'm driving like it is.
Im VERY HAPPY i solved the issue and did the conversion, it handles great and the wheel just feels smoother and easy to turn. I have a little more dialing into do and get the correct ride height. I will post up more results and updates as i changes things.
Also tossed my 22's on, this is pretty much how she sits now. lowered the back a little since.
*****UPDATE******
I haven't updated this thread in a while been busy with life. With that said I'm sad to say that i have removed the coilover swap. I was bummed, I loved the coil over feel made it a race car. I couldn't dial it in correctly, bouncing, height. I believe my spring rate was not high enough to correctly support my truck. Atomic piece and knowledge was great! With a new born and winter approaching (kid-o's hockey season) I needed the truck working correctly and ready to go as its my DD. So I have reworked the front suspension yet again to stay low and look for a good ride. I think I've tried all front suspension options now for these trucks minus bagging. I'm going to write a new thread on my new front set up as well within the next couple days. Ask any questions needed.
Thanks for reading Billy
T-Bar to Coil over conversionSo i finally walked the talked. I finally ditched the T-bar set up and have gone coil over.
1st off I’d like to say a BIG thank you to Tahoewhat (Mike). Surprised during all of this he didn't change his phone number as i probably used up all his unlimited text with questions and insight on the swap. Also his great write up. So thank you.
Also big thanks to:
Atomic - For the brackets and calculations info and insight
Digitalfiend - Punching out stud top bushing for me and all other insight
04blackout - His thread and his opinion on the swap
Links I used for info and studying
http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59830
http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57560
http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60498
http://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...2/99-07-4wd-front-coilover-conversion-518118/
http://www.mediafire.com/view/w2aacdwv8ih2gl4/coilovers_install.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/view/95y297f209crn5x/coilovers_about.pdf
***** I have countless hours into reading and studying these links before I did my swap*****
Parts i Ordered
* Atomic’s lower bracket/hardware
* Digitalfiend one off custom stud top bushing and washer
* (2) Qa1 DS301 coil over shocks http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-ds301/overview/
* Qa1 spanner wrench and thrust bearing kit
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-7888-110/overview/
* Qa1 steel bearing upgrade http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-com8t-102pk/overview/
* Spacer 3/8” (bottom) http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all18571
* Bumpstops http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ens-9-9101g/overview/
* Hypercoil 7” x 2.5” x 1300lbs
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007I8ATPS/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
* (2) Qa1 stud top conversion http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-ss110sdm/overview/
* Anti-seize
Parts on order
* Spacer 1/2” (top) http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all18572
* Pro comp shock mount conversion kit http://www.summitracing.com/parts/exp-690001
* Qa1 steel bearing upgrade http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-com8t-102pk/overview/
Finally after racking my brain and others on the swap and slowly collecting my parts list I was ready for the swap. Let me tell you finding time to set aside to work on the truck is hard with the family and work. Finally had a chance to work on it and my buddy let me use his shop to do the swap. He stuck around cause the swapped caught his eye and he was eyeing my T-bars for a project he’s doing.
INSTALL
First thing i did was look at all my new parts and it felt like christmas morning lol. I marked a center line of travel on the piston for adjustment measure. I then next built both shocks, I screwed the lock ring and coil adjuster ring onto the shock, then I installed the thrust washers and thrust bearing. I heavily coated the shock threads, rings, washer, bearings with anti-seize. I then placed the coil onto its seat. I uninstalled the eyelet mount. I then placed the top spring cup onto the spring and screwed down and tightened the stud top mount. Repeat for the other coil over.
So I dove right in, removed the front tires, front shocks, and bump stops. I started on the driver side so i could do a mock up make sure all looked good before i stripped the truck completely of the T-bars. So I removed the t-bar adjustment bolt and the key lock, air hammered the t-bar out and left it hanging for test fit. I bolted atomic lower bracket onto the lca. I then placed my coil over into the truck. I took a jack stand under the spindle and lower the lift until the stud top was in place and installed nut (at this point I could tell it was gonna be low). I reinstall my the tire and lowered my truck of the lift for adjustments. Adjusted the truck until it could be driven while paying attention to center mark on piston for travel issues. I repeated on same producer on the passenger side. However i did not get as lucky on the passenger side T-bar i had to use a C-clamp to remove the key.
I then took an air hammer and punched off the jounce stop cups to allow for more travel. I did not trim my bracket like others have as my buddy (who owns shop) said my shock would never touch that bracket. At the moment I’m testing his opinion.
Driver side
Passenger side
I have not installed the front bump stops as of yet.
All in all it took me about an hour and half and one beer to do the swap (beer got warm to).
SIDE NOTES
I did my calculations to get my ride height which i thought i was gonna be an inch lower then my current set up. It ended up being slammed. I didn't measure with rings at last thread forgot to. Im adjusted about half way up the threads on the coil to get 30”(ground to fender) and 15” (center hub to fender) on driver side. My passenger side sits about an 1/4 inch higher driver side. Im like 1/4 way up the threads on the passenger side and sits at 30 1/4. So all in all i can go lower and go figure truck doesn't sit true side to side. Unfortunately with my tire set up i can not be this low at the moment. I need to be able to run my 285 45 22’s.
So i have the pro comp adaptor and steel upgraded top bearings on the way. Going to switch to eye let top mount which if i left ride height as is and added the 1.5 inch it will bring me to 31.5 ish. Which is what i was looking for.
ALIGNMENT
I went for alignment the next morning. As i was in the parking lot i knew they were not going to be able to fix my camber due to the fact if they pushed it out the tire would be hitting the inside of the fender. My toe was messed due to having a gear box and pitman arm installed. Toe fixed and cambers at -4ish at the moment. So lifting it with the pro comp i should be able to align the camber.
IMPRESSION
So to start my buddy that owns the shop and hung out while I did the swap was questioning it working. As he stated in his automotive knowledge and thinking that the parts I had would not work with my truck. As in to small of a shock and spring. I told him to hold on and watch.* So I finished and I asked him if he wanted to go for ride in his 1st coil over Nali. I had the shock set to the 5th click as I didn't know what to expect and had truck sitting at 30 3/8.* We went for a mile ride and I was impressed with ride. Even my buddy noticed a different and was impressed how the conversion worked out. Bumps were smoother and not as jarring. My nali is awd so on full lock turns the front would ratchet on its self now with the swap she turns crisp and clean at full lock which is nice.
The next morning I re measured the truck and it was 1/4 off from settling. As I mentioned before driver side is way up on threads and passengers side isn't. The truck was low so I cranked the coils a full turn and a half and went to setting 6 on shocks and went for a alignment. After alignment it rode good with toe fixed.
I had to take it to Boston which is about an hour ride. So loaded the family up and sports gear and took off. It rode good, handled bump well not as jarring. Due to being to low, lower then I thought, at 70-75 there are a couple bad bridges and huge dips I stuffed the tires into the fender wells. I haven't installed bump stops yet and only hit metal to metal 2 times big holes I couldn't get away from.* On the way home I clicked driver side up 1 more click cause it was hitting inner fender more then pass.* The way home was nice and smooth only one scrap.
I'm going to go to the pro comp as I need to come up a bit and re adjust coil overs and go for new alignment hopefully. I do not like the slammed front look ass end jacked in the air even tho it's lowered I like level look.* Hopefully work on it this week so I can put some more miles on if parts come in.
Beside it being lower then I thought it was going to be I'm 100% happy I did the swap. The ride has improved over the T-bars. I was looking to get rid of the jarring over bumps which has improved a bunch I believe once I raise it up a bit it will ride even better and I can fool around with the shock settings.
Digitalfiend stud top washer and mount doing work
Minute i pulled it out of the shop
Even tho i like low i want truck to be level it looks like the back of the truck isn't even lowered the way it sits.
Thanks for reading its my 1st big thread so take it easy on me.* Ask any questions and ill update with new info and pics as time goes on.
Thanks Billy
UPDATES
7-20-2014
This week, i got my parts to install pro comp adapters. I just finished the install. I added a 1/4 inch washer on the driver side in-between pro comp adapter and spring perch so truck would sit level. After install with springs one thread up the truck sat at 31.5! With weight on truck there was 3/4ish of the piston showing. I cranked them up to 3 threads showing and sitting right under 32. Looks good. Also added bump stops. installed coil over with out spring and compressed until it almost hit top and cut bump stop to fit.
Will drive it later and add pics and more ride info.
7-25-14
Updates:
So I finally got to get a good trip on the pro comp mounts. Around town and back roads it drives ok. The highway is a different story, big rolling bumps the truck oscillates 2-3 times after and a few bigger bumps I'm pretty sure I hit the bump stops. I'm thinking this is occurring because I don't have a lot of down piston travel for suspension to soak it up. Also re-measured my ground to fender and I'm 31.5 on driver side and 32 on passenger side with coil adjusted about the same. I'm going to crank up driver side a little and see how much it effect passenger side as I'm hoping in my head it will drop a little. The truck still just feels smoother driving it and steering is crisp, hard to explain but you can feel it. Also I like to drive it like a race car some times, I don't baby it, man does it handle and react great.
Thoughts:
So in my head it was smoother with stud top cause I was able to get in middle of piston travel. So now my heads turning cause I need to address this issue. I need to either lower the mounting somehow on current set up, and then use coil over to get back up to correct ride height with correct piston travel.
OR
I'm going to go back to stud top and add some washer to try to raise starting height and adjust from there. Learning towards this.
Side notes:
>My spring might be not rated high enough for my truck. I have 1300 pound spring I couldn't find any thing with a heavier rating. Stronger spring could change the game and hold truck up easier therefore adjusting would be different.
> Thinking I could of got away with the Qa1 DS303 coilover a little taller might of worked well with stud top.
Billy.
Pro comp adaptors installed
[/COLOR]UPDATE 8-9-2014:
I have some good news to report back. After a long week of picking Richard (atomic) and Mike (tahoewhat) brain, and fooling with the suspension, Im back in the game.
I turned the coil overs up to try to get into more of the middle of the travel of the shock. I gave a shot for a few trips and on the highway it was oscillating out of control wasn't safe. I was worried and feared the worst i was going to have to remove the swap which I REALLY LIKE. After talking to Richard about a million things it could be, he said try turning the shock setting all the way up and give it a try. So i jacked the knob all the way up, it took me all week to take a test run. Finally yesterday i got out to the highway and headed towards those damn bumps, i hit them doing 70-75 and WOW just turning them it rode great to compared before. Handle the bumps damn good, i even kinda like the ride at setting 18.
I hope i have some adjustment still so Im going to go down a click at a time and hit the same bumps until it goes out of control so i know my adjustment range.
At the moment the things all jacked up, fronts at about 32.5 and 32.75 and the rear i have aired up to 33.25 which is like 30ish psi. I also think I'm not 60% downward travel on piston so I'm going to switch back over to the stud top with some more spacing on the stud top, that way i can get to 60% of travel and i want the truck to be around 31.5-32 up front and that will let me air out the back to 32.25 which i usually run 5-10 psi in the bags. Hopping that works and lets me get into right ride height i want. Ill be doing that once i have some free time for now I'm driving like it is.
Im VERY HAPPY i solved the issue and did the conversion, it handles great and the wheel just feels smoother and easy to turn. I have a little more dialing into do and get the correct ride height. I will post up more results and updates as i changes things.
Also tossed my 22's on, this is pretty much how she sits now. lowered the back a little since.
Last edited:
