what suspension to do

[Palmer72bronco]

ok i know i write on here alot about advice, so one more time. i have a bronco build coming up with a 76 frame and fiberglass body and my plethora of parts. right now it has a 31/2 WH lift kit that looks good on bronco when i got it. Now do know what to do, i have a buddy who owns a machine shop and fab business. we talked about doing a 4 link front and rear. but he said that the coilover shock would cost $600-700 a corner. thats not including material. would be fun to do but pretty expensive not sure. He has built buggys to crawlers, so i trust his opinion. what has anyone else done. if i do not go that way, what can i do to my WH lift to get more flex and open it up. can i use coil springs and shocks on the 4 link? All advices appreciated it. pretty lost, any advice helps

[sbolt19]

Depends on what you want to do with the Bronco. Do you want a daily driver? A crawler? Something in between? You can build an extremely capable, well rounded rig without having to go full bore with a 4 link with coil-overs. About the only time I would really do a set of coil-overs is if I was building a comp crawler. I'd say to just rebuild using a stock type suspension, that way you don't have to change much. If you aren't too worried about costs & want the comp type suspension, then the skys the limit (meaning your wallet will only stop you). As far as getting more from the WH suspension, you could swap out to rubber bushings up front, remove a leaf or two in the rear, get some extended radius arms. It kind of depends where you wanna go.

[Justin]

Also factor in that you can sell off parts to help fund it. I suspect you'd be able to sell a well priced 3.5" WH lift in a few days within the club.

[crawlercreations]

I 4-linked my rear and built some custom extended, wristed radius arms for the front. Coils and shocks on all 4 corners. It flexes like mad and drives very well on the road. Coil-overs are definitely high on the bling/cool factor but really not needed in a full bodied rig IMO. Coils and shocks ar emuch cheaper and work almost as well besides the very fine tuning coil-overs afford you. I will try to post up some pictures of mine flexed out in the coming days.....I know I don't have any shots of it with the wristed radius arm in action but the rear will give you a good idea.

When I build my buggy I will probably go to coil-overs just because my buggy will be very small so space will be an issue.

[Palmer72bronco]

that sounds awesome can you send me some specs and pics, so i can start hording parts.

[Jesus_man]

I've got 11-leaf national rear leaves and they flex pretty well (3.5" lift). My front does not, but that's a combination of stiff front coils and stock radius arms. (from our calendar)


Again, the question is, what are you going to do with the rig?

J.D.

[crawlercreations]

Here are a few shots of mine flexed out. The front is WAY more lively now that I wristed my radius arm but I don't have any shots of that.

[sbolt19]

how does that ass end ride with the coils compared to the leaf setup? That reminds me of a guy I saw about 12-13 years ago driving through Denver. He had an EB that was coils all around, it was a mustard yellow EB if I remember right.

[crawlercreations]

My wife and I joke that it is our cadillac since it rides so nice actually! It is soft and smooth. Not too soft though....I can still travel down the highway at 75-80 m.p.h. without any kind of sway or unstable feel. I had the WH 3.5" leaves in the back before I built this suspension and it rides nicer than those did.

[Jesus_man]

Wait... I think the Ram 3500 in the background has ya beat on the RTI score:



Really, that does flex nice! It's amazing what flex can do for stability! What springs did you use in the rear?

J.D.

[crawlercreations]

Wait... I think the Ram 3500 in the background has ya beat on the RTI score:



Really, that does flex nice! It's amazing what flex can do for stability! What springs did you use in the rear?

J.D.

It definitely has me beat lol! The uglier body I was running cut down WH 3.5 lift coils but their retention system sucked and they were too soft for my liking. With the black and red body I am running stock 1975 Bronco coils and it is way nicer!

[Jesus_man]

I should have asked before, but what are you running for front coils currently? With my upcoming suspension upgrade, I fear my stiff coils will be my new limiting factor.

J.D.

[crawlercreations]

I should have asked before, but what are you running for front coils currently? With my upcoming suspension upgrade, I fear my stiff coils will be my new limiting factor.

J.D.

Cage 5.5" lift coils. They feel nice on the road and flex out very nicely off the road.

[sbolt19]

Cage 5.5" lift coils. They feel nice on the road and flex out very nicely off the road.

Hey, I'm 25% of the way there. I am running the same coils. Now I just need to do the rear end & extend the radius arms.

[Palmer72bronco]

i heard that coil spring specialist will custom make spring for you. anyone use them and how were they. i just do not know what springs to use i see some guys use stock springs, i just not sure what to use

[crawlercreations]

I have never heard of them but I imagine they would be ok as long as they are into the high suspension travel. Some spring makers really don't know how to build a spring to flex a lot and can lead to breaks in the coil. If I were you I would use something from one of the bronco vendors like wild horses. I was very happy with their 3.5" lift springs in the front of my bronco. If you buy the 5.5" lift springs you can make the rear 4-link accommodate the lift springs rather than install them under the frame as I did. Just mount them on the outside of the frame like the fronts are.