Oh man, that is awesome, you dont happen to have any pictures of the whole truck do? I would like to see how they have the thing sitting at ride hight. Also, would stock F-150 springs and a shackle flip be to soft for the rear of my K5? I believe they have around 125lbs/in spring rate.
-
Forum membership has its advantages....
Long Travel K5 4x4?
- Thread starter K5Blazer
- Start date
drtdevil93
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 1,769
- Reaction
- 11
this is something i hear constantly. hear is the simple truth: FLAT SPRINGS SUCK. THEY ARE BAD IN EVERY WAY. we do everything we can to get arch into a spring without too much ride height. thats where reversed eyes came from. a high arch spring moves much better than a flat spring. movement is good, very good. proof from detroit: look at a stock dodge rear, or a stock ranger rear. they put a ton of arch, and flattened out the middle of the spring. you get the arch, with out too much ride height. now in a off road application, that will break, thats why our spring dont use that method, but their thinking is right. look at how successful quarter-elliptic springs are built. lots of arch.
on the front of a k5 done how we like it the front eye is triple wrapped and reversed, giving it more arch, and decreasing front end dive. we make the rear of the spring about 6" longer and we move the rear shackle back equally. this will give you almost 13" in the front. its hard to get anymore than that due to the short driveshaft.
in the rear the front eye is usually standard, but triple wrapped. the rear of the spring is about 6" longer, and the shackle mount is moved back equally, with the shackle in the original upward position. this gives as much as 17-18" of travel.
put some nice big shiny shocks on it, the thing will handle better than you can imagine.
erik
ps ARCH GOOD!!!
on the front of a k5 done how we like it the front eye is triple wrapped and reversed, giving it more arch, and decreasing front end dive. we make the rear of the spring about 6" longer and we move the rear shackle back equally. this will give you almost 13" in the front. its hard to get anymore than that due to the short driveshaft.
in the rear the front eye is usually standard, but triple wrapped. the rear of the spring is about 6" longer, and the shackle mount is moved back equally, with the shackle in the original upward position. this gives as much as 17-18" of travel.
put some nice big shiny shocks on it, the thing will handle better than you can imagine.
erik
ps ARCH GOOD!!!
so i take it these majorly arched springs have a very low spring rate or the thing would ride like a brick right. Us K5ers that have been keeping this thread going like to use soft flat springs for a nice flexy ride off road when we are rock crawling and such. most of our aftermarket springs that are arched like that are really stiff. thats why we run rear shackel flips and stock soft 1/2 ton springs for great flex and articulation. what are the spring rates on those Deavers and Nationals on average?
A thought hit me a few months ago concerning the rear. What would the effect be if one would take say a 8" spring on the rear, and to keep the ride height low, hook up a 4" drop shackle. On springs like you guys do, would this be detrimental or helpful?
Futhermore, there's a few of us K5 freaks who desperately quest for knowledge in how to turn the stereotypical K5 into a desert running beast. What we are yearning for is for someone to do a full blown write up with pictures. I would even volunteer my services for this project if I could find someone to donate their time and vehicle and we could setup a time and date. The information well on this subject, IMHO is pretty dry. I've gotten good information, but would like to have a day with camera and notebook and just take everything in.
I'm not here, nor was I here, nor will I ever be here.
Futhermore, there's a few of us K5 freaks who desperately quest for knowledge in how to turn the stereotypical K5 into a desert running beast. What we are yearning for is for someone to do a full blown write up with pictures. I would even volunteer my services for this project if I could find someone to donate their time and vehicle and we could setup a time and date. The information well on this subject, IMHO is pretty dry. I've gotten good information, but would like to have a day with camera and notebook and just take everything in.
I'm not here, nor was I here, nor will I ever be here.
i think it would be better to run the rear springs under the frame like the fronts and have the shackel pivot in the frame. from the searching i've done on here, guys are doing this with like a 10-12" shackle. also to keep arch and low ride hight they are going spring under. Aaaaah, its all backwards from what we are used to!
i have a shortbed 72 4x4 and am looking for info
From what i found a simple set up is a shackle flip and some super long springs.
Im thinking the easiest way to find out the info would be to talk to someone at a place like deaver springs
From what i found a simple set up is a shackle flip and some super long springs.
Im thinking the easiest way to find out the info would be to talk to someone at a place like deaver springs
drtdevil93
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 1,769
- Reaction
- 11
the problem is this: most people are used to superlift, skyjacker, etc. these springs are a good price, but are not properly built. i know, because the place we get our material mass produces the majority of their springs for them. their priorities are always cheap springs. a high arch spring will ride softer, all other things being equal. the probelm is they use way thick material (.401, .499) with few leafs. we use .237-.291 material, and have a lot of leafs, they move a lot, have a similar spring rate, and are very progressive. see, you can have one of their springs rated at 200 lb/in, and one of ours with the same rate, and ours will ride much softer. why? its just like a shock with high speed valving vs. low speed. when moving slow, they have the same rate, but when you hit a bump or something where the spring needs to move quickly. thats why ours work. but remember, the rate is actually the same, so things like cornering, etc. arent hindered. all you need is a good quality shock to control the movement, and you end up with a rockcrawler that is actually very street driveable (much better than stock by most accounts), and will blast across the desert with ease.
this is not just theory either. we have set up many successful rockcrawling trucks. the problem is we dont do lots of them, so they just arent seen as much. we do maybe 3-4 k5s a year.
our last one should be in offroad magazine pretty soon, and there are pics i posted of it on rdc.
erik
this is not just theory either. we have set up many successful rockcrawling trucks. the problem is we dont do lots of them, so they just arent seen as much. we do maybe 3-4 k5s a year.
our last one should be in offroad magazine pretty soon, and there are pics i posted of it on rdc.
erik
I believe Erik is refering to race-dezert.com...right here. The thread is back a page or two:
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.race-dezert.com/cgi-bin/wwwthreads/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=shop&Number=21580&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&part=>Chevy 4WD??</A>
]
Michael <A target="_blank" HREF=http://mkparker.com/goose>mkparker.com/goose</A>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.race-dezert.com/cgi-bin/wwwthreads/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=shop&Number=21580&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&part=>Chevy 4WD??</A>
]
Michael <A target="_blank" HREF=http://mkparker.com/goose>mkparker.com/goose</A>
elcaprerunner
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 951
- Reaction
- 3
My buddy is doing a '73 Chevy 4x4 pickup that is straight axle. He was going to run Nationals front and rear but now is just doing them in the rear and instead in the front he is doing a reverse 4-link system like Jeeps have in the front with coilover but the mounting points will be farther back so he gets more travel. I know his budget is not very big so I don't think it will be too terribly expensive to do. so take that into consideration.
DIRT'S FOR RACING, PRERUNNERS ARE FOR GETTING THERE!
DIRT'S FOR RACING, PRERUNNERS ARE FOR GETTING THERE!
elcaprerunner
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 951
- Reaction
- 3
I will, but it will be awhile, that thing is going slow.
DIRT'S FOR RACING, PRERUNNERS ARE FOR GETTING THERE!
DIRT'S FOR RACING, PRERUNNERS ARE FOR GETTING THERE!