Any interest in 4wd front coilovers to replace tbars?

[Atomic]

Hey guys, I have been making these for a while but wanted to see if there was any interest on this forum for this sort of thing. Its a bolt on kit that allows you to use aftermarket coilover shocks instead of the factory torsion bars on 4wd gmt800 trucks/suvs.

I did this on my truck (99 silverado) and have about 1000 miles on it and it works great. I have mine set up for drag racing so the CVs are perfectly level, but the same idea will work if you want to go lower or higher. You can get around a 4" drop with the factory spindle and LCA, or a 3-4" lift in front with the factory hardware. And the best part is you have dozens of spring rates and shocks to choose from so you can have your truck ride exactly how you want it. Weight savings is about 40lbs but that wasnt really the point of me making these.

I am at work so I cant post pictures, but they are fully welded 3/8" steel with 1/2" grade 8 hardware and powdercoated flat black. I sell the seperate lower bracket (which you need), and an upper bracket that reinforces the shock hoop (optional). Both together are $315 and either seperate is $180. The whole swap can be done for around $700-800 depending on what parts you use (brands of shocks/springs). I only sell the brackets.

Anyway, let me know if there is any interest and I will post up my full write up. I sell these on a couple other forums, mainly GMFS and performancetrucks.net.

I am new to this forum, but not to others, im a supermod on PT with close to 10k posts, and have almost 7k on FSC and about 1k on gmfs.

Thanks



EDIT:

Edit: I updated my PDFs to include details on the lifted-style upper mounts. This is the same document as before with some additions to include more information.

PDF Explaining the swap: http://www.mediafire.com/view/vkzapsyvtwu5rv9/coilovers_about_v12.pdf
PDF Explaining the installation process: http://www.mediafire.com/view/35n4kssw5cy4ddg/coilovers_install_v12.pdf

Edit1: I added the spreadsheet I made to help with picking out shocks and springs.

 

[Physh1]

I've been following your post over at PT & it's on my list to do first of the year. I'll be contacting you pretty soon for your brackets...

Cameron

 

[digitalfiend]

I saw your thread at PT too a while back. I wondered if it would work on our Tahoe's. Unfortunately, I lost the direct link - would you happen to have it handy?

I love the idea of coilovers in the front, and I love that you've put together a kit to make this easier to do. Based on your description of the kit the price seems very reasonable. Have you done this on enough 2wd or 4wd Tahoes to have an idea of what a good spring rate is for us?

 

[Atomic]

Heres the link to pt: http://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...2/99-07-4wd-front-coilover-conversion-518118/

I was going to see if there was interest for it on this site before I posted basically the same thing over here.

Spring rate depends on what shock you go with, which depends on what ride height you want. Anywhere from 1300 to 650 depending on shock.

 

[digitalfiend]

Heres the link to pt: http://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...2/99-07-4wd-front-coilover-conversion-518118/

I was going to see if there was interest for it on this site before I posted basically the same thing over here.

Now THAT is trick. And you have limiting straps engineered in - I love it. I need mounts for limiting straps in the rear of my Tahoe right now, but that's for another thread. I hadn't seen the pictures before, thank you for the direct link.

It's a bummer that you have to trim the bump stops...keeps one from easily reverting if they are so inclined in case they sell their ride. After I installed QA1's on the rear of my Tahoe I'm of the Charlton Heston mindset: you can have my QA1's WHEN YOU PRY THEM FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!!! In all seriousness, I guess you could always swap out any basic coilover shock with the right spring rate.

Spring rate depends on what shock you go with, which depends on what ride height you want. Anywhere from 1300 to 650 depending on shock.

That spring rate range is quite a bit, but it's a good ballpark to start with. Do you happen to know the spring rate of the 2WD and 4WD Tahoe torsion bars is?

 

[Atomic]

I actually dont use straps anymore because ive found I dont need them, but they can be easily added.

Yea the bumpstops do need to be trimmed, but only the corner area, it actually doesnt change having the stock bumpstop there. I highly recommend adding in aftermarket one on the bottom instead of on top like the factory one. You can easily put the torsion bars back on just now the bumpstop is on the bottom instead of the top, no big deal.

Torsion bars would have a stiffness per angle since they are being twisted not compressed like a coil spring, and also the geometry is a little different so the numbers arent really directly comparable. On my truck, which has about 1450lb over each front wheel, 900lb is close to the factory torsion bars.

 

[Bomba02]

Think i just found my next suspension mod. Looks killer man, must change the ride a ton with more adjustment spring rate to pick from.
So if i did the coil over conversion i could ditch doing the djm lca drop and lower it with the coil over set up? I had plans in the future to do the djm lca arms and reinstall stock keys for a better ride up front. Instead id go this route all day, your brackets look killer and top notch! Would this work with drop spindles? Do you have any info on spring rates for the suv's being heavier then the pickup's? i have the 6.0 in my nali prob be a little heavier? sorry for the all question just very interested in doing this in the future. If i had the money id jump on it now. Thanks for any info man, your conversion looks great!
Billy

 

[Atomic]

Thanks man. Yea it uses the stock LCA. I have not tried different spindles but I suspect you cant use an aftermarket one because of the required shock distance. I am not positive though...

the SUVs weigh around 6000lb I think, so around 1500-1600 per corner. It depends on what shock you use, but if you use the QA1 DS301 with a stud top (which would give you the most possible drop, ie, lowest ride height) you would want a 1200-1300lb spring. As the travel of the shock gets longer you dont need as stiff of a spring. I have only used QA1 shocks on mine, so I cant comment on other shock brands.

 

[YukonXL04]

question... Will this not work on 2wd yukons?

 

[digitalfiend]

I actually dont use straps anymore because ive found I dont need them, but they can be easily added.

Yea the bumpstops do need to be trimmed, but only the corner area, it actually doesnt change having the stock bumpstop there. I highly recommend adding in aftermarket one on the bottom instead of on top like the factory one. You can easily put the torsion bars back on just now the bumpstop is on the bottom instead of the top, no big deal.

I'm running really low on the front of my Tahoe...changing the bump stops has occurred to me in order to get more travel, so this is very attractive to me. Changing to coilovers allows one to get away from the torsion+jounce stops that can be troublesome. The more I think about it, the more your kit has SEXY written all over it.

Torsion bars would have a stiffness per angle since they are being twisted not compressed like a coil spring, and also the geometry is a little different so the numbers arent really directly comparable. On my truck, which has about 1450lb over each front wheel, 900lb is close to the factory torsion bars.

I see your point about the stiffness per angle. I just put new QA1 shocks on the rear of my Tahoe but the front still needs new shocks (preferably matching QA1's). I'm holding off due to my Tahoe budget being dry for the time being...but I'm also holding off to see someone with an SUV do this who has 2" drop spindles and can test the waters with regard to spring rate for the coil-over.

Do you make these kits to order, or do you make a batch of them at a time?