Homemade coil spacer?? help!

[acrid]

this thread is funny, the guy just asked a question, and was given an answer. If he didn't want to do it, he wouldn't of asked. To me, it is better to ask about something you don't know, judge the difficulty level, and then decide whether or not it is feasible, and SAFE. I wouldn't have posted any links if I didn't think they were SAFE.

you can take a horse to water, but you can't make 'em drink.

lol

 

[Storydude]

Wow...I guess I should be dead already then. After seeing as a Chunk of 2.5 inch Thickwall Pipe, and 3 Wall Box Plates with a 2 1/8" hole drilled in them per side are all that has been holding the front end of my XJ up for over a year now. Many Wheeling trips, and over 15K onroad.

Pipe cost me a DOLLAR at the scrapyard, and the Box plates were .49 each.

Welded them together with my HF mig(Oh NO!! I'm gonna die for SURE now) and slid them in.

And I guess the 2" blocks, and Dakota leaves are just begging to fail on me at speed one day too.........



It's a COIL spacer....Do some thinking about that....WHAT holds up your Jeep? The Springs. ANY material you use is going to be in Compression...and that's it. As long as it cannot compress, all is well. And to the poster recomending wood, well, the FIRST Model A's used WOOD frames....As have Sailboats, Traincars, Airplanes.....guess it's not a good material either?

 

[HaleYes]

you can take a horse to water, but you can't make 'em drink.

Agreed



I use an old Sears catalog for coil spacers. I can fine tune my suspension with pin-point accuracy by adding or subtracting pages. Hey, don't knock it till you try it...

 

[Urban Redneck]

...And to the poster recomending wood, well, the FIRST Model A's used WOOD frames....As have Sailboats, Traincars, Airplanes.....guess it's not a good material either?...

Ever stop to think that if it was such a good material for autos, planes and the like...why did we stop using it? Hmmm...got rot? The technology has evolved past the use of wood for those applications, for good reason. Everyone else is a moron, execpt you, because we spent more than $2.50 for spacers. Stand back NASA, there's a new design engineer on the block...

 

[Wil Badger]

sorry but model "A"s did not have wooden frames.A very early model "T" might but even then i don't think so.my step father was president of "The Antique Automobile Club of America" saw many types of old cars most of them being model "A"s and "T"s can's say i remember a wooden frame

 

[sarbuck]

the bodys were made with a wooden frame,covered by metal sheets.

the frames were steel.

my aunt owned one. hasta

 

[Wil Badger]

yes some had wooden frames for the body .not all and mostly model "T"s. step father had 3 model "A"s, 1 coupe,1 sedan,and 1 truck.i have been to many events and saw many cars.

 

[rev.xj]

My pappy said "son, your gonna drive me to drinkin if you don't stop driving that, hot.. rod... lincoln..."

 

[Storydude]

Ever stop to think that if it was such a good material for autos, planes and the like...why did we stop using it? Hmmm...got rot? The technology has evolved past the use of wood for those applications, for good reason. Everyone else is a moron, execpt you, because we spent more than $2.50 for spacers. Stand back NASA, there's a new design engineer on the block...

Stop using it? You need to get out more. there are at LEAST 25 makers of planes STILL using Fabric, and Wood, as are Motorboats, And Sailboats.

Wood is not the best choice, but it WILL work. Ever hear of Teak?

Say what you want, my spacers, and total lift cost under 50 bucks....and does the SAME thing as a more expensive lift.....Leaving more money for "Lockers, Rails, Sliders...."

 

[sarbuck]

Well,if you're happy with it,that's what counts. But....blocks on top of your axles are not really a good way to go. ymmv.. :repair:

 

[Gil BullyKatz]

Screw the spacers...

At Barrio Fabworks we had a extra pair of stock coils laying around...

We cut them in half and welded them end to end to my 4 1/2" coils...

We ended up with a 9" lift...

To further strengthen the "union", we we placed hose clamps every 2" to minimize stress at the welds...

Works fine... No problems so far

Go Ghetto or go home...

The $35 I saved bought us a dime bag...

Happy Fabbing for cheap bastards!

 

[Storydude]

Well,if you're happy with it,that's what counts. But....blocks on top of your axles are not really a good way to go. ymmv.. :repair:

Wow..then I guess the designers at Ford, chevy, and Dodge need a lesson in Axle Wrap, and Wheel hop then?

Because EVERY maker put blocks under at LEAST one model of truck at one point or another.

 

[Roll-over]

um... I think what he meant was that blocks are not a good idea on poorly designed leafs that can't last 10 years under the load they were designed for... Though not a bad idea in the eyes of (Ford,GM, CryCo) the person being paid to fix it.

 

[OT]

Wow..then I guess the designers at Ford, chevy, and Dodge need a lesson in Axle Wrap, and Wheel hop then?

Because EVERY maker put blocks under at LEAST one model of truck at one point or another.

They do that to save money.
Manufacturers are all about saving money.
The best method for adding lift to the rear of ANY vehicle will always be springs.
Hell, lift companies advise to stack blocks on some of their lower end kits for the Chevy and ford lifts.
Why?
To save money.
Out of all the lifts I install on EVERY make of truck, I may use a new spring pack in the rear once out of every thirty lifts.
It makes me sick to install blocks on anything much less stack them, but the engineers think it's okay.

Yes, it's done.
But, just because you haven't ruined a set of springs or slung a DS or snapped an axle shaft because of wheel hop, doesn't mean that your el cheapo method is good.
The fact that you haven't means that you don't wheel often enough or don't wheel anything other than bunny trails.

XJs are prone to axle wrap as it is.
No need to exacerbate the problem with more leverage on the axle.

Take your argument somewhere they don't know any better.

 

[Storydude]

They do that to save money.
Manufacturers are all about saving money.

Isn't that what this thread is about?

The best method for adding lift to the rear of ANY vehicle will always be springs.
Hell, lift companies advise to stack blocks on some of their lower end kits for the Chevy and ford lifts.
Why?
To save money.
Out of all the lifts I install on EVERY make of truck, I may use a new spring pack in the rear once out of every thirty lifts.
It makes me sick to install blocks on anything much less stack them, but the engineers think it's okay.

But you do it anyway.

Yes, it's done.
But, just because you haven't ruined a set of springs or slung a DS or snapped an axle shaft because of wheel hop, doesn't mean that your el cheapo method is good.
The fact that you haven't means that you don't wheel often enough or don't wheel anything other than bunny trails.

Ooh...I thought making something that DIDN'T BREAK was the point? And FWIW, Of ALL the off-road vehicles I've owned(the XJ being one of FIVE) I've ran blocks in the rear, and NEVER spit, Split, or broken a spring, D-shaft, or Shock. Maybe because if I cannot get over it, I don't mash the Stupid Pedal to try.

XJs are prone to axle wrap as it is.
No need to exacerbate the problem with more leverage on the axle.
Take your argument somewhere they don't know any better.

No more than any other Spring Over Vehicle......Unless you count the underrated STOCK springs....which I DO NOT have.

This whole thread was about a person wanting to SAVE some money, and lift his junk on the cheap. Looks like if you are not running a 1500.00 Lift you are not poopie here. FWIW, there are MANY ways to lift a vehicle...and not all of them come from UPS.

 

[OT]

Isn't that what this thread is about?
This thread may be about cheapassedness, but that doesn't make it right.



But you do it anyway.
Yup, that's what the company pays me to do.

Ooh...I thought making something that DIDN'T BREAK was the point? And FWIW, Of ALL the off-road vehicles I've owned(the XJ being one of FIVE) I've ran blocks in the rear, and NEVER spit, Split, or broken a spring, D-shaft, or Shock. Maybe because if I cannot get over it, I don't mash the Stupid Pedal to try.
You call it a stupid pedal and say that you don't use it. I call it momentum and sometimes it's needed. If you aren't using it from time to time, then you must be on the bunny trails.



No more than any other Spring Over Vehicle......Unless you count the underrated STOCK springs....which I DO NOT have.
Still prone as it is, right? Thanks for helping me make my point.

This whole thread was about a person wanting to SAVE some money, and lift his junk on the cheap. Looks like if you are not running a 1500.00 Lift you are not poopie here. FWIW, there are MANY ways to lift a vehicle...and not all of them come from UPS.
Right, it's just that your method is the least desired.
I'm all for saving money. Just do it with FABRICATION and leave the ghetto fab to the low riders.
If you can't fabricate the right way, then spend money the right way.

 

[Storydude]

You know...After seeing the singlemindedness around here, your comments do not suprise me. Unless you dropped Large cash on a trail rig, you ain't poopie.

Tell me again, WHY I would put a 1K lift under a 200$ XJ? When Spacers, and Blocks (Along with Dakota leaves...Funny you missed that one) work just fine to fit the 31's I use? That I have LESS than 1K TOTAL in my Rig, COUNTING repairs I've done in the last 3 years I've owned it?

I understand the limitations of the Cheap Assed XJ, and drive within my limits.

And as for Axle Wrap..ANY leaf spring vehicle has Axle Wrap...It's the nature of the Leaf Spring. Sure, Blocks don;t help it, but then again, Neither do 150Lb tires, and Crazy Crawl ratios.

Want to elminate Axle Wrap? Go to a 3-4 or 5 link rear suspension.

And Momentum has NOTHING to do with using the Skinny pedal. Momentum should already be established BEFORE hitting ANY obsticle....Not trying to build it ON it.

 

[Gil BullyKatz]

seriously now...

Wanna go cheap?

I put 3" blocks on my XJ a few years back...

It worked for a while...

Then it flattened my main leafs till I cracked the mains on both sides...

Not to mention what it did to my spring perches...

Those that attended Winterfest saw the final result of going cheap...

Spacers and blocks are band-aids...

Do it once... Do it right

 

[acrid]

I think what we've got here is a train wreck. It's amazing how this thread has digressed into some kind of monster.... lol. serious tho, we can all argue about what is better, but like i said before, what works and what is safe has nothing to do with price, and everything to do with common sense. If i had to worry about how hard i hit the brakes or gas, or whether or not i'll clear that obstacle with my rig (ghetto, or otherwise), then I shouldn't have a license.

Stupidity should be painful, but it's not.

the point of this thread was lost a long time ago, people. We should be helping those that don't know, instead of worrying about whether or not FORD ever used wood. And yes, for 10's of thousands of years, humans have used wood for structural support. Hell, my grandfather handmakes 3/4 deck all wood sailboats, so there, but what does that have to do with coil spacers???? And since i'm on a tangent, last time i checked a proper weld is many times stronger than the material itself if done properly. Maybe my bumper's gonna fall off because (oh no!!) it's welded. LMFAO, if saving money is ghetto, well then, it's all good in the 'hood.

let this thread die. lol.

 

[OT]

Agreed.
That's a wrap.