Eddie Money
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"Added by eddie, posted by 410custom"
First up lets install that long travel suspension shall we?
Time to clean up the shop, took a bunch of work just to get to this point!
Truck was hand washed and spray waxed in place, had to remove months of built up dust from under the car cover!!
Notice something missing? That's right! We removed the front bumper in favor of a new bumper/winch setup (more on that later)
I had some help in the shop
Disassembly complete! Time to build her up
Step 1, mock up front suspension
Remember we are planning to run the True Travel Dynamics +2 kit along with the superlift drop brackets and extended knuckles
I need to mock up the suspension so we can measure for new shocks, this way the shocks can be ordered
The frame rails were first scraped and wire wheeled clean where we will be working
Next the upper shock mount needs to be cut off, after much debate I decided a sawzall would make a clean cut....sure enough!
The stock shock bucket is only designed to handle the load of the shock absorber, while the torsion bars handle the weight of the vehicle.
For our suspension we will be using coilover shocks to suspend the truck, no more torsion bars!! So this piece has to go!
Sawzall with Milwaukee torch blade made such a clean cut there was very little grinding to do to remove all remnants of the oil shock mount
Shop dog approved
Here you can see what is left after careful cutting with saw
Now much grinding and prep to do so we can measure, place and tack weld in our new dual shock mount
After the grinder
All remnants of the old bucket erased
Time to tack weld in the new shock tower, instructions from the suspension kit say to start with it 1-3/4" back from the front UCA hanger
Hard to see but it is set with 1.75" exactly at the metal for the front UCA hanger
The AC canister is just a bit too low, the canister brackets were un bolted to gain us some clearance
After MUCH deliberation and testing the fit of BOTH brackets from the kit the shock tower was finally tack welded in place. TACK WELDED> Final welding will come MUCH LATER
Weld through primer is used to protect/coat the back side of the new tower as well as the now clean frame rail surfaces
New tower tacked in place, 3 large tack welds used placed in a spot where I can cut them again if needed.
Now we moved our attention to the superlift drop brackets, they need to be in place in order to correctly locate the LCA and knuckle
UCA (upper control arm) was hung using the stock bolts and alignment shims, perfect for mock up.
Now the UCA, LCA and Superlift knuckle are loosely bolted in place using the correct spacers and hardware provided with the True Travel kit
Now we are getting somewhere! I spent much time with this setup checking the travel, let me tell you this kit is impressive, it will travel way further then we need it to before hitting frame/maxing out the uniballs in both the full stuff and full droop positions.
Time to measure for shocks. Looks like a 10" stroke, 2" body threaded body and bypass shock will fit the bill
King 2.0 coilovers with a 10" stroke are 17.5" collapsed and 27.5" fully extended. Yes we will be using KINGS
So I fabricated a shock "placeholder" which allows us to check shock tower alignment and test shock length in all 4 front shock positions.
The Superlift bump stop was bolted up just for testing, to see where "stock" up travel is, I know from the True Travel instructions that this kit is designed to use 7" of shock stroke at the shock mounts, This will give me my full droop and full stuff positions.
Next pictures will show the wheel travel available!
I can tell you the superlift drop brackets and knuckle have this long travel kit cycling cleanly, same angles as the stock LCA suspension.Last edited on Sun Aug 8th, 2021 05:47 pm by Eddie Money
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I know my crazy! Do you?
2007 Sport 4door 4x4 4.0L SOHC V6 Ranger
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