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Ronin8002's 4th Gen custom coilover conversion

I'm going to be doing a project over the holidays to convert from the stock OEM style struts in the front of my 2008 4x4 Explorer to Fox coilover shocks.

The goal is to get a mild amount of lift (around 2.5") and increase the front suspension travel.

In stock form, the 4th Gen OEM front suspension with the OEM type struts has a bit over 4" of wheel travel.

I will be using Fox 2.0 Emulsion coilovers with 5" of travel. If my math is right, this should result in about 8.5" of wheel travel available (will probably be slightly less than that since I'll need to run limit straps)

I am going to do everything possible to make this a bolt on installation as far as the way the shock brackets are designed. So far, I've just gotten the shocks and springs (10" 750lb spring rate eibach coils) and extended lower shock eyelets.



I think it would be possible to run a 6.5" travel shock, but the front diff might have to be dropped down a bit with brackets in order to reduce the stress on the CV axles at full droop. So for now, I'm staying with a 5" travel shock.

More to come.
 



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Lower mounts done. I'll post some pics tomorrow when I test fit everything, then I'll prime and paint them.

Should have the coilovers installed before the end of the week.

Can't wait to see them.
 












Test fitting went pretty well today. First, a couple shots of the brackets:

Lower bracket on the left, upper bracket on the right:

A37FCBE5-orig.jpg


On the lower bracket, the triangle shaped tabs are for the shock (just tack welded on in these pics) and the square tabs are what hold the whole bracket onto the lower control arm. you just take the OEM lower shock bolt and run it through the holes in the control arm and the bracket, then tighten down the nut. I didn't have an 18mm drill bit so I drilled a 3/4" hole. Tiny bit looser than I would have liked, but the head of the bolt will hold it pretty tight when it's snugged down. Just to be sure though, I will be welding a nut or washer on the inside of one of the two tabs to take up the slack and make sure the bolt holds the lower bracket on even more tightly.

Another shot of the brackets:

14D14DBD-orig.jpg


and fitting it up:

8837EE46-orig.jpg


02097557-orig.jpg


I had to move the lower shock tabs more forward (close to the edge of the lower bracket) than the stock strut position so the bolt head would clear the CV boot when the suspension gets compressed. It's about a half inch clearance but its enough. The only downside to this is the increased angle on the shock made the shoulder on the upper shock eyelet touch the edge of the upper mount tab. I'll just grind a little bevel on the mount tab to clear it.

Getting close now, thanks to rangermidtn and corkey for their help so far!
 






Another thing, I think 24" of extended shock length (including the brackets) is about the max length you can get on the 4WD front suspension on the 4th gens. Really much more than that and you can feel the CVs start to bind. Fortunately mine maxes out right at 24" with the shock and brackets included, and it will be getting limit straps anyway, so I'm not worried about it.
 






02097557-orig.jpg

Now this is just my .02 cents from my own personal experiance
The part that is highlighted yellow might need to be beefed up some.
the top mount from the tubing is awsome.
From personal experiance from my first SAS. i used 2 individual tabs welded to a plate(like the one highlighted) for shock mounts only(no load bearing mounts) and i kept on haveing an issue offroading of twisting and collapsing the tabs.
i would just suggest putting a support plate across the two tabs on the knuckle side that holds the tabs at a fixed width.
And possibly a side gusset from the bolt mounting plate to the left tab for a little extra support..
In your case, those 2 welded seams on the tabs have to support the whole front weight of the truck..
On a side note. i really love the ingenuity and quality of work on your rig.. its always great to see people "stray from the pack" and create their own unique mods.

max
 






Good point and thank you for the feedback. I'll definitely look at joining the two tabs with a crosspiece. I kind of want to leave a space at the bottom so it doesn't catch and hold water, see any issues with that? Will also look at the side gussets as space allows.

Now this is just my .02 cents from my own personal experiance
The part that is highlighted yellow might need to be beefed up some.
the top mount from the tubing is awsome.
From personal experiance from my first SAS. i used 2 individual tabs welded to a plate(like the one highlighted) for shock mounts only(no load bearing mounts) and i kept on haveing an issue offroading of twisting and collapsing the tabs.
i would just suggest putting a support plate across the two tabs on the knuckle side that holds the tabs at a fixed width.
And possibly a side gusset from the bolt mounting plate to the left tab for a little extra support..
In your case, those 2 welded seams on the tabs have to support the whole front weight of the truck..
On a side note. i really love the ingenuity and quality of work on your rig.. its always great to see people "stray from the pack" and create their own unique mods.

max
 






You shouldnt have any issues with spacing the box plate up a hair to allow for water to exit.. as long as there is something there to hold the spacing would be a large improvement to keep from bending or colapsing the tabs.
Max
 






mine don't have any gussets and hold the front of mine up well, and no bending as the force is down and out just like yours, not to the side,,
545369_10152218241825165_157542046_n.jpg
 






mine don't have any gussets and hold the front of mine up well, and no bending as the force is down and out just like yours, not to the side,

Also a good point. I think my tabs are fairly tall compared to yours though... mine are 1.75" from base to mounting hole and 2.5" wide at the base. I ran another hot pass over each of the welds to build them up a little bit more. It's not a big thing to make up a little web or gusset to put in there if I decide I really need it.

I've got time anyway, I'm waiting on two 18mm nuts to come into my local fastener store so I can weld those on the inside tabs on my lower brackets. Supposed to get here Friday. Guess that makes Saturday an install day as long as the paint is dry by then haha.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this thing will ride after hearing rangermidtn's results.
 






James have you though about cryro treating your mounts? It may be a cheap way to strengthen the mounts and equalize internal metal stress from construction.
 






James have you though about cryro treating your mounts? It may be a cheap way to strengthen the mounts and equalize internal metal stress from construction.

I hadnt thought about it, didnt realize it was that common.

Ive tried to reduce/equalize the stress by backstep welding, letting my welds cool between passes, and alternating sides.
 












I'm going to be doing a project over the holidays to convert from the stock OEM style struts in the front of my 2008 4x4 Explorer to Fox coilover shocks.

The goal is to get a mild amount of lift (around 2.5") and increase the front suspension travel.

In stock form, the 4th Gen OEM front suspension with the OEM type struts has a bit over 4" of wheel travel.

I will be using Fox 2.0 Emulsion coilovers with 5" of travel. If my math is right, this should result in about 8.5" of wheel travel available (will probably be slightly less than that since I'll need to run limit straps)

I am going to do everything possible to make this a bolt on installation as far as the way the shock brackets are designed. So far, I've just gotten the shocks and springs (10" 750lb spring rate eibach coils) and extended lower shock eyelets.

0D093B17-orig.jpg


I think it would be possible to run a 6.5" travel shock, but the front diff might have to be dropped down a bit with brackets in order to reduce the stress on the CV axles at full droop. So for now, I'm staying with a 5" travel shock.

More to come.

actually Stock strut has only 1.xx" travel and Rsncho has 4.xx" travel
 






Update:

Had a minor setback with the lower brackets. When I got some 18mm nuts to put on the inside of the tabs that the OEM strut bolt passes thru, I discovered that the nut is too wide...the bolt runs out of threads before it can catch the OEM strut bolt nut on the rear side of the control arm.

So, I'm having to do a little extra work to do what I should have done in the beginning...drill an 18mm hole so the bolt will fit in the tabs more tightly. Of course, the 3/4" holes that are there are bigger than 18mm. Rather than rebuild the mount, I am installing a set of the weld washer bushings (same ones I used in the upper mounts). I finally found an 18mm drill bit also, and since the weld washers have only a 1/2" ID hole, I will drill them out to 18mm ID to allow the OEM strut bolt to fit through.

I got the weld washers put in today, so will drill them out tomorrow. I also have the gussets for the shock tabs ready to install. I was thinking about the best place to put them, and it seems to me that if I install them on the inboard side, not the knuckle side, that will give me the reinforcement I need without turning the shock tabs into a mud/water collection area. That placement will also let me weld the bottom edge of the gussets to the flat plate that the shock tabs are welded to, which, if the welds on the tabs were to give at all (I doubt they would), there will be an extra attachment point to keep them from being tipped and rotated towards the knuckle.

Finally will be able to paint the lower mounts after that, and am shooting now for installing everything on monday during the holiday.
 






actually Stock strut has only 1.xx" travel and Rsncho has 4.xx" travel

I had thought so too in the past, based on what Monroe's site had said about the specs. Looks like they changed the numbers. Makes more sense too, seeing as the OEM struts I have are 20.5" long at ride height and 21.5" long fully extended...and of course they compress some too from ride height.
 






Done:

51F878F2-orig.jpg


Need to tighten a couple of things up and take her for a drive later. Looks like I got about 2" of lift with zero preload on the springs, we'll see if the springs settle in after a drive.

No contact between spindle/uniball cup and the spring at full droop either.

Thanks again to rangermidtn, corkey, and everyone else who helped with this project!
 






Done:

51F878F2-orig.jpg


Need to tighten a couple of things up and take her for a drive later. Looks like I got about 2" of lift with zero preload on the springs, we'll see if the springs settle in after a drive.

No contact between spindle/uniball cup and the spring at full droop either.

Thanks again to rangermidtn, corkey, and everyone else who helped with this project!
 



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Done:

51F878F2-orig.jpg


Need to tighten a couple of things up and take her for a drive later. Looks like I got about 2" of lift with zero preload on the springs, we'll see if the springs settle in after a drive.

No contact between spindle/uniball cup and the spring at full droop either.

Thanks again to rangermidtn, corkey, and everyone else who helped with this project!

Looking good, let us know what you think after taking it for a drive.
 






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