[jonifschevy]

Just went and talked to a shop that builds sand buggies and prerunners. They said they could do custom upper and lower a-arms with King dual rate coilovers for $3500 and I would need to have custom axles made on my own. My question is this: Where would I go to have custom axles made that would run at more angle than the stock axles? If I can get these that mean I can have a truck that is 4wd and that I can launch in the dunes.

 

[Dark Eternal]

Yes this is doable. Look into cornay joints for your CVs, and you will also need new tie rods, brake lines, and I would build some sway bar disconnects.

BTW my guess is this will end up costing you well over 5k, probably more like 6-7k in the end. Its very possible though, and would kick some serious ass.

 

[KoTToN]

i dono the answer to any of your Q's but :rocking:

 

[Alden]

Where would I go to have custom axles made that would run at more angle than the stock axles?

Currie can build extended front axle shafts for you, that will still allow you to get the full amount of travel you want, while still operating 4wd.

This is very doable... but i would make sure you do it the right way the first time around. There is a big difference between a truck with 20" of wheel travel that isn't setup or tuned properly, compared to a truck that is done right that performs well with only 15" of travel.. I would much rather have the truck with only 15" of travel.

Also, if you do it right, it'll cost you a ton of money... like in the $8-$10k range. Like DE said, on top of the $3500 the guy quoted you for the kings and the upper/lower arms... you will also need new tie rods and brake lines.

I'm assuming you will be running a upper uniball and hopefully a lower uniball too. In that case, you will need a new fabricated spindle to accept the upper and lower uniballs.

For $3500, I hope it replaces the torsion bar with the king coil overs. Cause if not, the stock torsion bar isn't going to give you hardly any travel. And if you run the King coil overs, you have to have a tower/shock hoop that is strong enough to support the whole front end of the truck, plus the force of jumping/off roading. You will need a lot more than just a normal shock hoop... you will need an engine cage hoop with a lot of bracing and support, because if you ditch those torsion bars... that is all that is going to be holding your front end up.

You have a lot of options for the rear end, but if you want to match the front ends wheel travel you are going to want at least long travel leaf springs like Deaver. A correctly built 4 link with coil overs will provide even more travel.

Tires is also an issue... just by putting longer arms on, isn't going to give you more clearance. A long travel suspension is totally different than a lift kit. If you want to clear 33-35" tires, you will have to run fiberglass fenders in the front, and either pull your bedsides or run fiberglass in the rear too. If you want a long travel suspension.. and you also want to run big ass tires, you will have to incororate a drop down subframe to lift the front end, while still using the longer arms.

Also, if you plan on jumping the truck a lot like you said, it would be a good idea to add a bed cage and a in-cab roll cage for safety. I've seen high roller pre runners launch on dunes and land on their grille, face first.. and if you don't have a cage or a 5 point harness, you will get hurt bad.

Anyways, you have a lot of options. But if you do it the right way and want 17" + of travel, you will end up spending a lot of money.

 

[Alden]

http://www.californiasupertrucks.com/project.vehicles/CST02/

here are some pics of CST's long travel 4wd. It never became a kit, but it'll give you an idea of what is involved. The truck has a 9" subframe lift which lets him clear those 37" crawlers, new upper/lower arms, longer cv's, fiberglass fenders, uniballs, new fabricated tie rods and spindles, etc. That truck probably only has 15" of travel, but it is still very functional, especially for the dunes.

 

[brock]

ya man, 3500 seems kind of low... my 2wd kit without the coilovers was 3400... and usually with 4wd LT kits you have to go custom... like the chevy that HnM is doing right now... and please tell me the shop thats doing your truck isn't named "Atomic Motorsports"

 

[jonifschevy]

The $3500 is just for the upper and lower a-arms, with the shock hoops with king dual rates and no torsion bars. That price does not include the new cv shafts, he said they would be very expensive though. That's why I am thinking I might ditch the 4wd and just go 2wd and buy a jeep for crawling around with later. If I ditch the 4wd I will be getting uniball upper and lowers as well. Its a small shop, just one owner/fabricator and a worker. Right now he has a buggy frame he is finishing up with 27" of travel in the front and 30 something in the rear. It would be about all I could afford to have him do the front next month and I would have to save for a couple months to get the Deavers for the back and a bedcage with king shocks. Although it will be less money than the front. And I love to go fast in the desert. I think he said I would have 18" in the front if he ditches the 4wd and he said with deavers in the rear I would be looking at 16-20 depending on what shackles I used in the rear. I dropped my truck off to him today to get the fiberglass fenders put on, thats what got me talking to the guy about doing this to my truck. If he does a good job doing the fenders with tubular supports(he is removing my inner fenderwells) I will probably have him do the front. Oh yeah, how do I post pictures and what resolution should I set my camera at to have the site accept them?

 

[Alden]

Well, i'm assuming he will install uniballs with the new upper and lower arms. So add a fabricated spindle to the $3500. You will need longer and stronger tie rods, hopefully with heim joints, which will cost ya. Make sure the shock hoop isn't just a cheapo shock hoop that is bolted onto the frame in two places. It needs to have oversized bolts and a ton of bracing and support. It will also need to extend into the engine compartment if you expect to get 18" of travel. You will have to fit a large coil-over in a pretty small space. I'm sure there is a lot of other stuff, and this doesn't even include the rear end.

After it is all said and done, you will be looking at close to $10,000 for it to be functional with 18" of travel.

 

[brock]

i dont think you will be able to get 18" out of a 4wd truck... unless its like +6" per side... ill be pulling 21" out of a 2.5x10" dualrate king... i would strongly suggest for you to go post on desertrides.com/forum and dezertrangers.com's forum... ask about the shop... see what they have to say... there are a lot of resources on there... be careful on dezertrangers though... theyre camburg nazis....

 

[HBjeff]

yeah getting a jeep is a good idea. they kickass offroad with very few mods. you will save money in the end

 

[Alden]

He should just buy the CST Project Truck... they only want $70,000

 

[HBjeff]

F that. just freakin SFA his current truck. who would wheel that CST project truck and scratch it up? :insane:

 

[Silverado]

Why doesn't CST put that kit into production?

 

[HBjeff]

doubt the demand would be very high to justify the investment.

 

[Alden]

F that. just freakin SFA his current truck. who would wheel that CST project truck and scratch it up?

I was joking.

Why doesn't CST put that kit into production?

That whole setup would cost like $10-$11k, just for the suspension. There is a lot of custom work done on that thing. Shocks alone would be $1600 and up. This is not including gear swap, wheels, tires, performance mods, etc. I don't think there would be very many people who would pay that much just for a functional lift kit. There is a reason they are selling that truck for $70,000. And there is a reason why nobody in there right mind would pay that much for that truck.

I would much rather have full throttles regular cab linked trucks with coilovers. I bet they have more travel than CST's "long travel" project truck.

 

[jonifschevy]

It was a good idea while it lasted(1 day). The axles would be the REALLY expensive part of it. So I might just take off my torsion bars and have new upper a-arms built and put in coil overs. Then I will keep my 4wd. ARB makes and air locker, so I will probably do that as well.

 

[Dark Eternal]

is your a half ton? they dont make one for the half ton

 

[Alden]

Where are you going to fit that coil?

Your CV joints are in the way.

 

[Alden]

Yeah, most of the shocks I see that are in the stock location on lifted trucks are all bent in from the upper arm hitting against it at full droop. Considering a shock is about 2" wide, and good coil-overs are 2.5-3" wide, you would have some major clearance problems. And I would be worried about the cv's rubbing against it too at full compression. Not to mention the space between the lower shock mount and the upper bucket shock mount would be really tiny for a coil-over to fit. Yes... they do make coil-overs that short, but if your whole point was getting a lot of travel out of a 4wd, a coil that short wouldn't be much different than the suspension on the nbs ford f-150's.. and they aren't known for much travel.

 

[Dark Eternal]

just FYI - the torsion bars are NOT the limiting factor in the travel of the ifs. Its the control arms. Unless you run longer arms you will never get anymore travel :read: