Budget lift! In the rear are stock front CJ7 springs i got for free, with new poly bushings installed. In the front, are my original rear leafs, with the overload swapped for the original lower leaf from the original front leafs, & again new poly bushings. The shackles are homebrew, 2" longer than stock. The frame plates for the leafs are from the design on zuwharrie, which actually moves the rear axle back ~ an inch, which is why i have that 1" spacer on the rear pinion flange. The front shocks are Monroe Sensatracs, the rears are Gasmatics. Probably should have gotten Sensatracs for the rear too. Front app is front K5 i think, the rear are stockers from the rear of a CJ7 with the lower bushings changed (shock p#s coming soon) . Front shock mount is 1" square stock roughly where the orginal mount was, welded to frame & bumpstop, with a support that goes back to the top of the frame thru the wheel well. In the rear, since the axle went backwards, i flipped the spring plates side to side to move the shock in front of the axle, and then took a piece of 2" angle iron, and notched it to fit around the frame. Welded on top, and down the inside of the frame. The upper mount is the same distance from the frame rails as stock, to keep body roll down to a minimum since the front sway bar is gone. It works well. Front brake lines are front 83 Accord lines, with a piece of wire loom to protect them should they touch the tire. The rear line is a front line from a 90 300ZX. No change to the steering- a drop pitman arm probably couldnt hurt, but is not necessary; i do 70mph every day w/o any bumpsteer. Thoughts: Rear shocks are a bit stiff, but not unbearable. Theyll get better as they break in. A shock for a lifted application, with the uppers moved in towards the center an inch or two would probably work better; the front shocks have lots of travel (9") but the rears do not (~6"), plus moving the upper would soften the rear up a bit. The springs soak up the bumps alot better now than stock, its just a matter of finding a soft enough shock that will fit under the zuk. Definitely do not need the swaybar with it set up like this; it handles just fine. Update: Suspension mods summer '13, see folder v2 below for info. |
v2 |
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