Bandit Runner's Build Thread
- Thread starter Bandit Runner
- Start date
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
I used 5/8" spiral hose wrap, and it fit perfect on the coils. Here is the link:
https://shop.andersonprocess.com/dobratz-di-020-50b-spiral-hose-wrap.html
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
I can't believe you wrapped them while the springs were installed on the truck. I had a hard enough time doing it without them installed. Did you cut the wrap into shorter pieces and then install them, or use one long piece?
I had to insert the wrap on the opposite end of the springs, and then work the wrap down the entire length of the springs until I was able to pinch it between the coils at the very end. I used about 5' of wrap for each spring, but 4' would have been plenty. It took me about 30 minutes for each spring.
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
More progress on the new suspension. The weather finally got nice enough to paint the lower control arms. First, 3 coats of self etching primer:
Then 2 coats of brushed-on Rustoleum satin black:
Finally, I pressed in the Whiteline bushings and installed the 2 pairs of Wheeler’s soft Superbumps. I cut off the top half inch of the Superbumps, because they were a little tall and might be touching at ride height.
Then it was time to install the OME 861 springs in the rear. I decided to try the [MENTION=116387]Unner[/MENTION] method of installing them by using spring compressors, and not having to unbolt anything. I rented these spring compressors from AutoZone:
There weren’t many places to find a good location for the spring compressors up in the truck. The old springs came out pretty easily. Here you can see the old spring compressed, and the 861’s length that will need to be compressed to fit into position:
Comparison of old springs (SS 1.2) and the 861’s:
The 861’s are about 19 inches long, and had to be compressed to about 15.5 inches in order to fit into position. The 861 spring compressed:
The trickiest part to using this method, is to put the spring compressors in the exact same position on the new springs as they were on the old springs. Once you do this, the new springs go in pretty easily.
Now I don’t have a ton of extra weight at the rear of the truck, but I do have a heavy rear bumper and cargo box. I expected the rear to be a little high with these springs. In fact it was. I was sitting at 42.5” from ground to flare in the rear. I was even a little concerned about pulling out of the garage and hitting the roof rack on the garage door. So I put five 50 pound sand bags in the rear, and that dropped it down a good inch. I’ll leave the 250 pounds of weight in the back for a while to help break in the springs. Here’s how it sits with the sand bags:
Front suspension install coming soon…
Then 2 coats of brushed-on Rustoleum satin black:
Finally, I pressed in the Whiteline bushings and installed the 2 pairs of Wheeler’s soft Superbumps. I cut off the top half inch of the Superbumps, because they were a little tall and might be touching at ride height.
Then it was time to install the OME 861 springs in the rear. I decided to try the [MENTION=116387]Unner[/MENTION] method of installing them by using spring compressors, and not having to unbolt anything. I rented these spring compressors from AutoZone:
There weren’t many places to find a good location for the spring compressors up in the truck. The old springs came out pretty easily. Here you can see the old spring compressed, and the 861’s length that will need to be compressed to fit into position:
Comparison of old springs (SS 1.2) and the 861’s:
The 861’s are about 19 inches long, and had to be compressed to about 15.5 inches in order to fit into position. The 861 spring compressed:
The trickiest part to using this method, is to put the spring compressors in the exact same position on the new springs as they were on the old springs. Once you do this, the new springs go in pretty easily.
Now I don’t have a ton of extra weight at the rear of the truck, but I do have a heavy rear bumper and cargo box. I expected the rear to be a little high with these springs. In fact it was. I was sitting at 42.5” from ground to flare in the rear. I was even a little concerned about pulling out of the garage and hitting the roof rack on the garage door. So I put five 50 pound sand bags in the rear, and that dropped it down a good inch. I’ll leave the 250 pounds of weight in the back for a while to help break in the springs. Here’s how it sits with the sand bags:
Front suspension install coming soon…
Rock_Rat
Senior Member
Damn dude, been off of here for a while and out of commission. I have so much catching up to do it's ridiculous. Work is beating me up and my lower back (L1 and L2 are degenerates - AKA DDD!) and right knee (cortisone shot with another on the way the end of the month) haven't been doing me any favors. Not to mention the yard...all 5 acres of yard, sprinklers, gardens, Yes I'll take some cheese with my whine - thank you very much!
I'll try and get on them real soon. I'm finally feeling a lot better after weeks of physical therapy. Looking at getting an inversion table soon.
Scramble
New member
LOL. I'm just busting balls, feel better buddy. I have 2 in my back & 2 in my neck. I'm not pulling my front end apart until next year. As long as I have the welded spindles & LCA's together then I'll do it. I already have the cam bolts from [MENTION=116387]Unner[/MENTION].
theryanlopez
New member
Spring compressors on the OME springs are always a little sketchy, glad it worked out in your situation
psraff
New member
I've had one for years now and still use it. I LOVE it!! At the time Dr. Teeter was the best out there. I bet they still are. I had it due to my lower back and it's saved me thousands of dollars in chiropractic work and other therapy. To this day, when my lower discs pop when I'm on it, it's still a mixture of pain and relief. I highly recommend it.
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
Thanks Durwin. I just used satin black enamel in a can, and brushed it on. Nothing special.
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
Well the new front suspension is finally installed.
-ADS Coilovers with remote resi
-SPC uca's
-New lca's with Whiteline bushings
-Wheeler's super bumpstops
-Energy Suspension steering rack bushings
-Total Chaos spindle gussets
Drove the truck home about 15 miles from my buddy's, and could already tell the difference in the ride quality. Even with the alignment totally out of whack, the ride was super smooth when hitting pot holes, etc.
Ran into a few small issues with the install. The lca cam bolts had to be cut out, so new ones had to be purchased. A lower shock bolt was seized in the shock and had to be cut off. And, two wheel spacer studs broke off, so I need to replace those now.
Also, I had some rubbing while turning on the way home. I have the SPC uca's set at "E" setting, so I might have to change that to "F" for more firewall clearance. Or, It could be that the alignment is way off. I have an alignment appointment on Monday.
Also on the way home, I was going around a curve at about 40 mph, and the VSC started beeping at me. That was very unusual. Maybe due to the alignment way off?
I got about 2" of lift in the front with the coilovers. I will probably crank them up to get about 2.5" of lift.
Now I just need some ADS rear shocks! [MENTION=102266]SRQ-Runner[/MENTION]
Pics to come...
-ADS Coilovers with remote resi
-SPC uca's
-New lca's with Whiteline bushings
-Wheeler's super bumpstops
-Energy Suspension steering rack bushings
-Total Chaos spindle gussets
Drove the truck home about 15 miles from my buddy's, and could already tell the difference in the ride quality. Even with the alignment totally out of whack, the ride was super smooth when hitting pot holes, etc.
Ran into a few small issues with the install. The lca cam bolts had to be cut out, so new ones had to be purchased. A lower shock bolt was seized in the shock and had to be cut off. And, two wheel spacer studs broke off, so I need to replace those now.
Also, I had some rubbing while turning on the way home. I have the SPC uca's set at "E" setting, so I might have to change that to "F" for more firewall clearance. Or, It could be that the alignment is way off. I have an alignment appointment on Monday.
Also on the way home, I was going around a curve at about 40 mph, and the VSC started beeping at me. That was very unusual. Maybe due to the alignment way off?
I got about 2" of lift in the front with the coilovers. I will probably crank them up to get about 2.5" of lift.
Now I just need some ADS rear shocks! [MENTION=102266]SRQ-Runner[/MENTION]
Pics to come...
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
Just the Bilsteins that came with my SS1.2 kit. But hopefully not for long.
MattJakobs
New member
Nothing to be too alarmed on. Ever since I got rid of my spacer lift and put a real coil over in, my car would beep around corners. It happened with me for the Icons I was running and now the Kings. Their valving and spring rates allow for a little more lean on turns and the beeping is just a subtle reminder that you've got quite a bit of lean. If you run extended sway bar links, or no sway bar for that matter, it'll increase. I believe there's a way to cut it but I've gotten used to it and it also cuts your cruise control which is kind of nice when you've got some lean going on.
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
Good to know. Thanks for the info!
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
I've been wanting to do the "horned" emblem on my grille for a while now. But I didn't want it to be the flat 2-dimensional horns that I've seen before. So I decided to design my own emblem with 3-dimensional horns. Here is a 3D printed part of my design:
You can see how the horns project outward in this side view:
Still need to coat in epoxy, sand smooth, and paint.
You can see how the horns project outward in this side view:
Still need to coat in epoxy, sand smooth, and paint.
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
So as I mentioned in another thread, I recently got a tear in my CV boot. Grease was spewing everywhere. I decided to replace both OEM axles with Lotus Development axles, because I like to upgrade stuff. Probably overkill, but stronger axles make me feel better.
The fresh new axles arrived:
I'm not sure why the shafts are green, but I like it. It matches the color of my emblems and shackles almost perfectly.
I’ve never changed out an axle on my truck before, so this was completely new territory for me. I found a good write up, and went for it. It went pretty smoothly, except when I broke a LBJ bolt. Luckily I was able to barely grab onto it with a vise grips and turn it out. The first side took me about 3 hours, the second only took an hour.
Old versus new:
When I got done, I went to take a little test drive, just to make sure everything felt alright. I went down a little dirt road at a nearby park. I tried 2-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, 4-wheel drive, 4-low, and even locked the front ARB. Everything worked just fine. I was super happy, and started home.
Then I came to an area that had large boulders on the side of the road. I thought “Well let’s see how strong these axle really are!” I bumped the front tire up to a large boulder, and the tire climbed right up.
Success!
The fresh new axles arrived:
I'm not sure why the shafts are green, but I like it. It matches the color of my emblems and shackles almost perfectly.
I’ve never changed out an axle on my truck before, so this was completely new territory for me. I found a good write up, and went for it. It went pretty smoothly, except when I broke a LBJ bolt. Luckily I was able to barely grab onto it with a vise grips and turn it out. The first side took me about 3 hours, the second only took an hour.
Old versus new:
When I got done, I went to take a little test drive, just to make sure everything felt alright. I went down a little dirt road at a nearby park. I tried 2-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, 4-wheel drive, 4-low, and even locked the front ARB. Everything worked just fine. I was super happy, and started home.
Then I came to an area that had large boulders on the side of the road. I thought “Well let’s see how strong these axle really are!” I bumped the front tire up to a large boulder, and the tire climbed right up.
Success!
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
Small dual projector headlight update. Housings and cover plates are finally painted.
Housings (Low gloss black):
Back side:
Cover plates (semi-gloss black):
Housings (Low gloss black):
Back side:
Cover plates (semi-gloss black):
