coil over conversion installed

[M Hankel]

Cool deal that you're now "coiled" too. Congrats on that.

So I have a silly question. Why couldn't someone machine a spring locator out of mild steel (or buy them?) and then weld it to a bolt-in bracket like the ones Atomic makes? That would eliminate the weight of the Tahoe being on the shock itself and then you could just use a stock style poly mount for the upper shock/coil over without the worry of the weight crushing the poly? Very similar to how an older muscle car would still use the stock upper spring perch for a coil over setup. Like the drawing I made below.....

Will the 2.5" spring physically fit inside the upper Tahoe shock mount or is it too big?

Mike

 

[Atomic]

Well thats interesting....to partly answer why not, I just wanted to use bolt on parts, and once I got mine working I was done with R&D lol.

 

[04blackout]

M hankel could possibly be a genius!

howabout this... if that will actually work, would you even NEED a spring cup, or could you just push the coil up into the stock perch? that is, of course, assuming that it would even fit up there

 

[Atomic]

The spring must be supported evenly otherwise the loading gets all weird which a coil spring cannot handle. At minimum you need a cup to evenly distribute the load.

 

[04blackout]

The spring must be supported evenly otherwise the loading gets all weird which a coil spring cannot handle. At minimum you need a cup to evenly distribute the load.

ok, good enough for me. thanks for clearing that up

now, about those williams washers you linked earlier... what size do you think i would need? im gonna order a few tonight and that polyurethane off ebay too and see if i cant make something happen with the stud top

 

[Atomic]

Slightly larger OD than the poly you bought...but I think the guy in the PT thread tried poly and it didnt stand a chance. I think his current one that is working is derlin.

 

[04blackout]

Slightly larger OD than the poly you bought...but I think the guy in the PT thread tried poly and it didnt stand a chance. I think his current one that is working is derlin.

in his pic of the two, his poly was red and the delrin was black...

looked to me like the problem was that the bushings would deform under load and get fatter and eventually smash around the washer... if the hardened steel washer was fat enough, i wouldnt THINK the poly would be able to squeeze around it

 

[YukonXL04]

So... May be a stupid question but do you need a bushing there? If so what other material options are there? Surely there is something that can handle the weight...

 

[M Hankel]

M hankel could possibly be a genius!

Lol... Definitely not a genius but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night!!

Mike

 

[Bomba02]

Cool deal that you're now "coiled" too. Congrats on that.

So I have a silly question. Why couldn't someone machine a spring locator out of mild steel (or buy them?) and then weld it to a bolt-in bracket like the ones Atomic makes? That would eliminate the weight of the Tahoe being on the shock itself and then you could just use a stock style poly mount for the upper shock/coil over without the worry of the weight crushing the poly? Very similar to how an older muscle car would still use the stock upper spring perch for a coil over setup. Like the drawing I made below.....

Will the 2.5" spring physically fit inside the upper Tahoe shock mount or is it too big?

Mike

You are a genius hankel, it would be like a camber plate but stationary. Thats how coil overs or struts are held in the shock towers and still have the poly mount in older cars or sports car. Think your onto something!

M hankel could possibly be a genius!

howabout this... if that will actually work, would you even NEED a spring cup, or could you just push the coil up into the stock perch? that is, of course, assuming that it would even fit up there

Your gonna tackle installing the stud top! Im pumped to see results on that cause that would allow to go a little lower and more travel on shock. How is the upper mount looking did you get your camber kit in and align?

So... May be a stupid question but do you need a bushing there? If so what other material options are there? Surely there is something that can handle the weight...

I agree with you, but over on PT with atomic included they mention you need some pivot to avoid binding. blah blah.....haha so i think you need a material that can with stand the weight but flex....feel me lol

Lol... Definitely not a genius but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night!!

Mike

This is great love it hopefully you slept good!!

 

[YukonXL04]

Can you run a dual "hoop" mount like the lower, but up top too and atomic can remake his mount to with brackets and a hole in each kinda like the lower one. That would allow pivot. And if the bottom holds then the top would too. Something like this http://www.qa1.net/qa1_motorsports/...ts/custom-mount-shocks/single-adjustable.html

Now I know nothing about this, just throwing out ideas. I don't see anything about weight limits on their website...

Edit: nevermind I'm an idiot lol.

 

[Tahoewhat]

Threads getting real now!!!! ha ha..

 

[04blackout]

My only issue with the stud top is that it looks to me like he smashed both the top and bottom bushing between TWO pieces of metal... would you want the poly bushings to only be separated by the metal of the shock mount?

I guess if I had to describe it it looked like from top to bottom was... steel washer, poly bushing, steel washer, shock perch, steel washer, poly bushing, steel washer
I would think you wouldnt want the steel on steel on steel at the perch... or did I see that wrong?

 

[Atomic]

I dont think the bushing on top is doing anything for him. You need washers on both sides of the lower bushing so it gets compressed evenly.

 

[04blackout]

Ok, so the top isnt even a problem... the real issue is just the lower bushing getting crushed?

So i would want the 2 pieces of hardened steel to be on either side of the lower bushing... then the top really wouldnt make much difference right?

 

[Atomic]

Right....a bushing on top would only do anything if you were applying force in that direction...which means the shock would be overextended and you would have a whole different set of issues to deal with.

 

[04blackout]

update

well, i made a little 130 mile round trip drive tonight to pick up some gym equipment for the house, so that puts me around 375 miles on the conversion... so far so good. still waiting on my camber kit to arrive and still gotta get the rear springs, but for now everything seems to be going fine

i just want to say, this thing still rides rough... it is still bumpy... and my wife still isnt the biggest fan of how it rides BUT IT IS ALSO STILL a slammed truck on 24's so theres only so much you can expect from this setup. ive been giving alot of consideration to dropping down to a 20" rim just to make it ride a little softer, but at the same time, i really love the look of my 4's so idk. time will tell

 

[Tahoewhat]

i just want to say, this thing still rides rough... it is still bumpy... and my wife still isnt the biggest fan of how it rides BUT IT IS ALSO STILL a slammed truck on 24's so theres only so much you can expect from this setup. ive been giving alot of consideration to dropping down to a 20" rim just to make it ride a little softer, but at the same time, i really love the look of my 4's so idk. time will tell

My Tahoe can be bumpy at times here w/ the crappy roads, but going over the same route to school (about 40 miles return trip - freeway) and work everyday it has been 100x better for me. No more jarring around feeling like the front end is falling apart. Now it cushions the ride, but I am not on 24's either and i know 24's ride bad (tried it out once, but was too low to turn) so went back to 20's with a 285/50/20 nitto420 tire. Now i have, (till alignment) 26/70/17 spare tires up front and honestly feel the ride is a little softer, but yet harsher at times, if that makes sense.

So, my question is what sidewall do you have w/ the 24's? In the sig pic, it appears your is quite small 35 or so sidewall. That will kill the ride quality, even if all stock. (friend had 24's on his truck and rode like crap and they have strut / coil setup. Changed to 22's and rides 90% better and he is not going back to 24's ever. lol.

--EDIT, just noticed it in your sig, you do have 35 sidewall. See if you can get a 40 series or a little bigger. I honestly think that is what is killing your ride, because my setup has not yet bothered me because of being bumpy. B/c trust me if it was still bumpy i would of sold it already. See if someone will let you borrow some smaller wheels / tires and go for a week and see. Wish you were closer, i would trade ya for a while, or you could try my spares out on all 4. ha ha.. (they are black already.lol)

I will be going to 22's though.

 

[04blackout]

But it looks sooooooo killer........

 

[Tahoewhat]

But it looks sooooooo killer........

Very true, but killer looks comes with the ride quality being diminished. I would not go as far as 20's. Heck im going to 22's.

Will say this, my tahoe does not ride well on setting 8 all around. I think we both just have to keep adjusting and messing with the shock settings to the ride we desire. I have not left mine alone yet.