Thunderbird Coils

[acousticrawk]

before with 2" BB:

after with s-10 pack and t-bird coils:

Thanks to Nosigma!

looks good. did you use v6 or v8 coils? how are they riding? i have a 4cylinder so im thinking about the v6 coils for sure. what leaf combo did you use in the rear?

 

[selarep]

I used V6 coils from a 93 cougar, and it was the lightest one I could find (GVW that is). to be honest, they are great for lifting, but they ride like ass all over town, they are way to hard. At 1st I was so happy at how much they lifted I didnt care much about the ride quality. Now I'm hating it, time to get some proper 4" coils instead of these 5".

 

[acousticrawk]

really.. hmm.. my jeep rides really bad now and the stock suspension. its shot. i dont know if ill be able to tell a differance. how much were youre coils? im trying to find them new from somewhere but havnt had any luck. does the rear end ride ok? how do you like it? what spring set up did you go with?

 

[jeep/bronco]

nosigma you said you have tried numerous packs for the rear what combo netted you the most articulation?

 

[selarep]

really.. hmm.. my jeep rides really bad now and the stock suspension. its shot. i dont know if ill be able to tell a differance. how much were youre coils? im trying to find them new from somewhere but havnt had any luck. does the rear end ride ok? how do you like it? what spring set up did you go with?

I DONT like it, the front rides like ass. I'll sell you the front coil set up for $30 shipped.

The rear is an s10 pack that has 4 leafs plus the overload. I'm using all 4 plus the last small one from the XJ pack. No overload. It rides like hell too.

I'm getting some RE coils here in the next week to fix this mess... going cheap for me didnt work out!

 

[xjh3]

Ok, after an XJ bastard pack, my rear is at about 4" while my front is still at just under 3". Could I use some 93 Thunderbird springs to accomplish no more than 3.5" in the front? Nosigma's write-up talks of this much lift before his centering spacer and of a good ride while Selarep's experience leaves me weary in both aspects. Would either one of you recommend cutting the coils to net me around 3.5"? If so, how much would you recommend I remove?

 

[mike86xj]

to the people complaining that the ride is too rough

It's not necissarily the coils, the increased angle of the control arms will be transfering more shock to the body rather than the springs.

if you were to do a long arm conversion or drop brackets it would help a ton

 

[xjh3]

I realize that is some of it, but I'm sure not all. Although now that I think of it, Nosigma got ~4" on short arms and said the ride was ok. Selarep got ~5" on possibly even stock arms, that's pushing it and could be more the result of the control arm angle rather than the spring like you stated.

My main concern is going through the trouble of putting these in and having much more that 3.5". Do you think it would be possible to take compression off the springs while still under the vehicle enough to cut and rotate them if I needed to? I'd like to do this this weekend if at all possible.

 

[evil dead]

cutting springs increases their rate (just ask the lowrider set)
so your ride gets stiffer the more you cut

 

[gill41083]

ok, i have worn out 4.5 re springs for the rear, im thinking of getting the v6 coils, i assume my re 4.5 springs have settled to 4, i got them used for free, what i need to know is do i use the top of the strut or make the flat plate or just stick them in? i haul a good amount of tools/junk in the back along with a 33" spare on the roof and i just want it to sit close to being level or even a little high in the front to compensate for a winch in the future. i have gathered alot of good info here but i just wanted to make sure im doing this right as i have gotten some mixed answers!!!!

 

[TRAILREADYXJ]

to the people complaining that the ride is too rough

It's not necissarily the coils, the increased angle of the control arms will be transfering more shock to the body rather than the springs.

if you were to do a long arm conversion or drop brackets it would help a ton

X2, especially for those running over 4.5". I haven't ran the T-bird coils, and have no first hand experience with them, but this is just a general rule. I have ridden in a rig with the same springs/shocks as mine (Rusty's) that had longarms, and it rode way better than mine with shortarms, both at ~5.5" (4.5" springs+spacer)

And for the rear, a bastard pack can ride great, but you have to make sure your shackle angle is good. My bastardized rear was almost as smooth as stock, once I fixed the shackle.

Shocks also play a huge role in ride quality.

 

[Kahn Strictor]

For those of you that have used the Thunderbird coils/McPhearson strut top plate combo......did you simply remove the three mounting bolts and leave the plate to float around or did you drill three holes in each fenderwell to bolt it down as it was in the Thunderbird?

Wm

 

[citizenatlarge]

For the above post, from post #40 in this thread... Good Luc ! <- crap. my 'lc' buttons out! lol!!! NTM- '93 NOT '83

IMPORTANT NOTE:

If you are using the top of the mcphearson strut you MUST use these:

Simple make or find a "J" bolt and hook the coil to fit INSIDE the mcphearson strut cap. If not it will pop out (like they did on me).
There are 3 bolt holes on the cap, use 2 or 3 of them with the j bolts.
That it is all.

 

[Blaine B.]

Hahah what does the sticker on the Tbird coil say??

 

[ReftonsRed]

opps i meant a 93 cougar, not 83!
it settled at 22.5" from the center hub to the bottom of the flare.
so about 4.5". the rear is about 4" now.looks great though...

figured id throw this out here, the older t-bird and cougar springs ,like an 83, gives about 2.5 inches. I pulled a set of these by accident but threw them on just for kicks. Had to make the adapter plates, and they rode rough so I didnt stick with them for too long.

 

[1988cherokeexj]

ok sorry for bringing this thread back up but i just got some coils from a 83ish tbird v6 and im wondering what i need to do to make them fit my cherokee. do i need to make some kind of adapter or will they just go on?

thanks
mike

 

[Kahn Strictor]

ok sorry for bringing this thread back up but i just got some coils from a 83ish tbird v6 and im wondering what i need to do to make them fit my cherokee. do i need to make some kind of adapter or will they just go on?

thanks
mike

Grab the top of the Mcphearson strut and drill the center hole out to 2.10in, it will fit around the stock bump stop shaft and it will hold the coil perfectly. Simply make or find 4-6 "J" bolts and fasten them through the holes already in the cap to hook the coil to fit INSIDE the Mcphearson strut cap, if not, it will pop out.

Wm

 

[1988cherokeexj]

i dont remember the 83 that i got them from having a McPherson strut

 

[mekcanix]

the car I pulled mine from had the struts and it was a 93 that i got mine from worked great till i need the nose up a little bit more then i bought RC coils which have worked great. The T bird coils worked well for me this article helped me out.

 

[mgonos]

just thought I'd ass that I got the t-bird springs from a base model 86/87 and with the strut top it gave me 3.5" over stock - I added a 1" BB to get to my final ride height. I also got some rockyroad ca drop brackets and bilstein 5100 shocks. It rides like a dream and does great on the trail. For the rear I did the bastard pack using a combination of a early 80's dodge van (longer main spring to correct shackle angle) and s10 blazer springs. Great lift if your on a budget - the drop brackets make a world of difference and cost 200 to my door-

-mike