homemade coil spacers

[94Gexplorer]

does anyone see a problem with this coil spacer i made heres a couple pics on drivers side is 4 washers(to make up for sag) 1/4 thick and pass is 3
they gave about 2"
oh and they cost me 10 bucks

 

[4x4junkie]

Looks a bit ugly... but certainly not unsafe.

 

[kstrayhorn]

Oooh there's something I want to do. Maybe I will make some of my own when I get back in town. What did you make them out of??

 

[jhclance]

He said he used large washers and welded them together so they can not shift. I like to use 1/2 inch thick steel but then that is what i have to work with washers work too

 

[kstrayhorn]

oh, haha, I guess I should read. I guess I didn't know they made washers that big. I guess the paint made it look like he made a mold and filled it with urethane or something, I don't know what I was thinking.

 

[kstrayhorn]

If you don't mind, could you post pics of them when in place?

 

[Albino 94LTD]

oh, haha, I guess I should read. I guess I didn't know they made washers that big. I guess the paint made it look like he made a mold and filled it with urethane or something, I don't know what I was thinking.

Change your radius arm bushings and put the old ones front end down, under that coil seat. Softer ride and about 1" lift. Torque the spring retainer nut to about 40ft/lbs

 

[94Gexplorer]

yeah ill get pics of them tomorrow im trying to modify my radius arms right now and its a pain i should have just got drop brackets

 

[kstrayhorn]

Bumping sothat this stays on my posts page.

 

[94Gexplorer]

here they are installed like i said im working on the radius arms so the axle isnt quite straight right now
driver side

and passenger side

 

[Maniak]

yeah ill get pics of them tomorrow im trying to modify my radius arms right now and its a pain i should have just got drop brackets

You installed pic (post 10) looks like your running Duff axle beam drop brackets? Did you get those without the RA drop brackets?

If so, are you just extending the Radius arms to get more travel/more camber (more towards stock)?

~Mark

 

[kstrayhorn]

Alright, thanks for the pics. So install under the spring. What albino said has me confused though.

 

[Maniak]

Alright, thanks for the pics. So install under the spring. What albino said has me confused though.

What he was saying as an option was to take the front piece of the Radius arm bushing and use it as a spacer instead of a bunch of welded washers or the f-150 lower spring seat.

I don't know how it would last, but it is an idea...

~Mark

 

[Albino 94LTD]

Alright, thanks for the pics. So install under the spring. What albino said has me confused though.

OK, first off, you realize we are talking about a 1st Gen X (91-94) right?

So, the radius arm bushing goes under the coil spring plate where he added the washers.

top pic is the front section of a RA bushing sitting just how you would put them in. You might want to trim out the area that would sit on the RA bolt.

bottom pic is them installed under my coils

 

[kstrayhorn]

Oh, ok. Thanks for clearing that up, but I think I will try out the washers first. They give more lift and I'm not too concerned with how it rides. It also seems easier to do the washers.

Kendal

 

[Albino 94LTD]

I don't know how it would last, but it is an idea...

~Mark

I ran much less of a poly ring for about 10,000 miles, including Moab 2010 and no issues. The only reason I switched to RA busings was I replaced mine and wanted that little bit more lift.

Right now I am at max lift for the drop brackets and still able to align so my Duff 2.5" is more like 3.5".

 

[Maniak]

What got me thinking they wouldn't last was remembering what happens with post style shock bushings. If you use rubber ones and tighten them down too much they tend to split over time. I was figuring the RA bushing would split too since it would have quite a bit a weight on it.

If you used poly RA bushings they may not have that issue (which it looks like you use)

We haven't used a Poly RA bushing on our X in upwards of 150k miles so that was all I thought of.. Rubber RA bushings..

As for miles. I have well over 100k miles on a set of f-150 lower spring seats and I didn't have to every worry about them breaking. (that was with the Duff 2.5" lift springs which have been replaced with Duff 3.5" lift spring and no more f-150 spring seat)

But, if push came to shove.. and I didn't have the money for the f-150 spring seats I could see those RA bushings doing the job.

~Mark

 

[94Gexplorer]

i got my duff kit from a buddy for $50 and it was missing the drop brackets for the radius arms so i lifted it some more and extended the radius arms about 12" its suppose to be a 3.5" lift but it it was more like 2" by the time i got it and it was on 2 different rangers

 

[kstrayhorn]

So I am still confused with all of this radius arm and drop bracket and all of this other jargon. What if I just put the washer spacers on it, would that be alright for just a little bit of lift? I am not looking for much lift, but I don't want to have to do all of this other stuff y'all are talking about.

 

[Maniak]

Basically you are just trying to put something under the spring that will lift it some.

If whatever you put under the spring is < 2" tall once the spring is back on you should be align-able. If whatever you you put under the spring is 2" or taller you "might" not be able to align it.

3 different things were mentioned in this thread that you can put under your springs..

f-150 lower spring seats.. also called f-150 spacers
Washers placed under the factory spring seat (preferably welded)
The front bushing (bigger piece) from a set of Radius Arm bushings.

Its basically your choice. but the f-150 spring seats is most common, then washers (or something similar) and this is the 1st time I've heard of someone using a RA bushing but I can see it working.

~Mark