A.Wilson013's Build Thread

[A.Wilson013]

It acts like a slide hammer and over extends the shaft. That's what happened to my toytecs. How much did those coils cost you? Thinking of doing the same to mine. I've got the cdc calving and set to soft it's still pretty solid.

Mike, they were $240 shipped through DSM.

You could get kings at a fairly lower price... I just didn't want bright blue springs =/

Here's a link to the 14" 700lb Kings for a 2.5" Coilover if you're interested... I didn't shop around at all, so you may be able to find them cheaper.

King 3.0" Coil Springs in 14.0" Free Length

 

[NateMob]

DSM is who i got my 14" 700 Kings from. I liked the blue, and the extra green in my wallet for half the price of Icon springs. Good call vs running a shit ton of preload. My ride has improved considerably and i have no problem utilizing my bumpstops while crawling or going fast through the rough stuff.

 

[GX4SEVEND]

How difficult is it to swap out the coils? Haven't really looked into it yet with the icons and CDC.

 

[NateMob]

How difficult is it to swap out the coils? Haven't really looked into it yet with the icons and CDC.

I dont thing the CDC upgrade would effect anything at all. I did the swap using a couple of those sketchy Autozone strut compressors. NOTE: I have "Extended Travel" Icons, not sure if this would be possible on a standard travel setup.

1. Remove both coilovers from truck.
2. I used spring compressors to take load off of adjustment collar, then spun the collar all the way up to the top cap to create as much room as possible.
3. Tightened spring compressors until i could get the bottom coil retaining cup off the lower shock shaft mount.
4. Remove coil.
5. Drink beer, have sex, take a nap. Either way i took a break.
6. Install new coilover in reverse order, you will need to use the compressors again to make enough space to get the lower retaining cup back on.
7. I went ahead and turned down the adjustment collar an inch or so, that way i wasnt adding all the preload with them on the truck.

OR,

Take them to a shop and pay someone to do it.

Good luck Gents! It is well worth the effort.

 

[A.Wilson013]

I dont thing the CDC upgrade would effect anything at all. I did the swap using a couple of those sketchy Autozone strut compressors. NOTE: I have "Extended Travel" Icons, not sure if this would be possible on a standard travel setup.

1. Remove both coilovers from truck.
2. I used spring compressors to take load off of adjustment collar, then spun the collar all the way up to the top cap to create as much room as possible.
3. Tightened spring compressors until i could get the bottom coil retaining cup off the lower shock shaft mount.
4. Remove coil.
5. Drink beer, have sex, take a nap. Either way i took a break.
6. Install new coilover in reverse order, you will need to use the compressors again to make enough space to get the lower retaining cup back on.
7. I went ahead and turned down the adjustment collar an inch or so, that way i wasnt adding all the preload with them on the truck.

OR,

Take them to a shop and pay someone to do it.

Good luck Gents! It is well worth the effort.

Thanks for the step-by-step, Nate. I wasn't sure if the Autozone compressor would work with the tighter coils.

Fingers are crossed that they'll get here Tuesday. I would like to get them put on and get an alignment before my week long trip with [MENTION=82154]GSPRunner[/MENTION] . If not I'll probably just lower the front a little more and air down a considerable amount.

As for my build, my 5th wheel showed up this morning. Need to sand it down a bit and throw some paint on it.

 

[the great him]

To gain height up front but still keep a nice ride I used top plate/top hat spacers to raise the front but still keep the softer suspension... I'm not sure how the icons are set up for the upper mounting into the strut tower, but if the studs are removable then you are good to go that route

 

[NateMob]

To gain height up front but still keep a nice ride I used top plate/top hat spacers to raise the front but still keep the softer suspension... I'm not sure how the icons are set up for the upper mounting into the strut tower, but if the studs are removable then you are good to go that route

This is an option with the Icons, but there are two problems with this approach.

a. Since our trucks arent designed with a droop stop (think opposite a bumpstop) this allows then for more suspension "extension" resulting in even greater angles and more stress steering components and our CVs.

b. Without proper larger or extended bumpstops now in the front you are running a much higher risk of bottoming out your coilover at full compression. You dont ever want the entire weight of your truck coming down on the internals of your $1200+ coiloivers.

Saying that, its obvious there are two effective solutions for both of these problems.

A. A properly dialed limit strap setup that limits droop and over extension.

B. Larger Bumpstops or some spacer of some kind equal width to the width of the top spacer being used.

All that being said, I've got a set of 1/4" spacers waiting on me in my garage to toy around with to see what it will feel like to dial out that height from the preload. I already have the parts to remedy both problem areas and my RCVs have a greater operating angle than normal CVs.

 

[Hepar]

Indeed, gentlemen. I think you're probably the most busy, Jared... Perhaps see if you have an open date and see if we can make it work.

Lol. My issue is that any free time I get, I make a run to the coast.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Matching spare/Jack/Jerry Can

Well I got my matching spare painted/mounted yesterday. Today in preparation for my upcoming journey I made a trip to Mule Expedition Outfitters and picked up a Jack (TJM Ox), 2.6gal Jerry can, Jerry can holder, and Trasharoo.

Still finishing up the install on the jerry can holder, but it's in place, and I am pretty happy.

DSC_0019 by awilson013, on Flickr

 

[Brilliant]

Well I got my matching spare painted/mounted yesterday. Today in preparation for my upcoming journey I made a trip to Mule Expedition Outfitters and picked up a Jack (TJM Ox), 2.6gal Jerry can, Jerry can holder, and Trasharoo.

Still finishing up the install on the jerry can holder, but it's in place, and I am pretty happy.

Looks good man, and that little jerry can is really cute.

Hows the finish holding up on your wheels?

 

[A.Wilson013]

Looks good man, and that little jerry can is really cute.

Hows the finish holding up on your wheels?

Haha, thanks for the compliment... maybe ments?

The Jerry can may not be the most manly thing in the world, but it fits my needs for now. I was going to get the 2 Gallon Rotopax, but that would give me .6 less gallons of fuel, and cost me nearly twice as much. The larger jerry can was just a LITTLE more expensive but would have been 10x as difficult to mount where I wanted it.

As for the wheels. Up until about 6 months ago the paint held up REALLY well. It has faded (was gloss black when painted... You can see the contrast between my rear driver and my spare) over the years, but never did chip until recently. I plan to re-do them all in the next month or some once I am out of school for the rest of summer.

The paint used is Rustoleum Professional. I freaking love this stuff. It's the easiest paint to work with ever. Well, that I have worked with atleast.






Leaving tomorrow evening with [MENTION=82154]GSPRunner[/MENTION] to see how much of the WABDR we can conquer before being shut down by Smokey the Bear and his wildfires. I know I will be taking a boat load of photos, hopefully he will do the same.

 

[GSPRunner]

A buttload.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Well, the WABDR was mostly a success. No equipment failures, decent weather, awesome views, and great people.

The trip was approximately 1100 Miles round trip; (about half of which were offroad) took us 6 days to complete. The route was from Seattle to Stevenson, Stevenson to the Nighthawk Border Crossing, and back to Seattle.

We ran into only two closures for fires: Ellensburg to Cashmere, and a small chunk of road before Lake Chelan.

The most interesting part of the trip was acting as an ambulance for a fellow WABDR traveler. He was in a group of 4 dualsport riders. On a steep uphill covered in large rocks he had a false neutral that resulted in his bike going over him, breaking his fibula.

His party called the local search and rescue team, who dispatched life flight and the fire department.

Upon arrival they gave him two options: expensive flight, or rough ride sitting up in an f450.

He chose option 3: being strapped to my sleeping platform and getting a free ride to the hospital.

Here are a few pictures I have edited...

DSC_0019 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0031 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0047 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0056 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0058 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0066 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0070 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0075 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0082 by awilson013, on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/118613423@N07/14951636166/in/set-72157646231221788/
DSC_0179 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0189 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0196 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0200 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0203 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0374 by awilson013, on Flickr

 

[NateMob]

thats awesome, living the freakin dream up in the PNW!

 

[541joseph]

Well, the WABDR was mostly a success. No equipment failures, decent weather, awesome views, and great people.

The trip was approximately 1100 Miles round trip; (about half of which were offroad) took us 6 days to complete. The route was from Seattle to Stevenson, Stevenson to the Nighthawk Border Crossing, and back to Seattle.

We ran into only two closures for fires: Ellensburg to Cashmere, and a small chunk of road before Lake Chelan.

The most interesting part of the trip was acting as an ambulance for a fellow WABDR traveler. He was in a group of 4 dualsport riders. On a steep uphill covered in large rocks he had a false neutral that resulted in his bike going over him, breaking his fibula.

His party called the local search and rescue team, who dispatched life flight and the fire department.

Upon arrival they gave him two options: expensive flight, or rough ride sitting up in an f450.

He chose option 3: being strapped to my sleeping platform and getting a free ride to the hospital.

Here are a few pictures I have edited...

Is the 4th picture down silver 2nd gen taco mike?

 

[A.Wilson013]

Is the 4th picture down silver 2nd gen taco mike?

Yessir.

Please edit your comment to delete all the pictures... Don't need them all twice, haha.

Thanks man.

 

[541joseph]

Yessir.

Please edit your comment to delete all the pictures... Don't need them all twice, haha.

Thanks man.

That's awesome mikes good people. I would love to come wheel with you guys sometime

 

[A.Wilson013]

thats awesome, living the freakin dream up in the PNW!

It was good man... Really good.

I wish there had been a BIT more hardcore shat along the way, but perhaps that's not what you want when you're SO far from any sort of civilization/cell reception.

ON ANOTHER NOTE

I followed your step by step guide to replace the coils today. Went PRETTY well, until I tried to compress the new springs and put them on. The compressor I rented was too bulky, so the coil could not slide on to the strut. Had to take them to a local guy to have them on. He didn't charge TOO much... but more than I would like to have paid.

In this first picture you can see what my preload was set at to get me just under 23" hub to fender. Stupid STUPID amounts of preload.

I forgot to take a picture of the coilover once installed, but here they are put together...

I set them at EXACTLY 1" of preload and am sitting at 23" hub to fender. MUCH better. I'll get it aligned and report back on how much the ride improves.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Winch Stolen

Long story short, my brand new winch and an old Army pack full of AR-15 parts (one lower reciever with serial, rest was hand guards, grips, butt stocks, etc.) and about 30 pmags (empty) were stolen out of my garage.

Police report filed, but I am in the market for a new winch.

:boom:

Pretty good idea who it was since it was stolen the same night I took it off my vehicle and put it in the garage rather late at night. Probably the punk that parked next to me. They only took the pack and the winch. Left all my high-end bikes, snowboards, hunting equipment, etc.

Of course po-po cannot do anything but put the items in their system and if they pop up they pop up.

 

[the great him]

Long story short, my brand new winch and an old Army pack full of AR-15 parts (one lower reciever with serial, rest was hand guards, grips, butt stocks, etc.) and about 30 pmags (empty) were stolen out of my garage.

Police report filed, but I am in the market for a new winch.

:boom:

Pretty good idea who it was since it was stolen the same night I took it off my vehicle and put it in the garage rather late at night. Probably the punk that parked next to me. They only took the pack and the winch. Left all my high-end bikes, snowboards, hunting equipment, etc.

Of course po-po cannot do anything but put the items in their system and if they pop up they pop up.

Fuq!!! God I hate thieves right along with child molesters... I know your pain, I've had a shotgun stolen and had my warn 9.5ti stolen as well as other things... Tools ect. Hate hate hate thieves.

I'll keep an eye open down here for some winches, and if I see a good deal on one I'll let you know so if you want I can snag it for you. -I'll only look at warn winches FYI.