Why are coilovers better?

[ttfhell]

I'm sure there are a lot of reasons, but a few that come to mind are: ability to run 2 springs with completely different spring rates on a coil over. Able to get a lot of travel with out worry of unseating a spring. Mel works closely with king to get the valving and spring rates just right for a jk. Other companies may just be using a generic coil over setup using theoretical numbers. Although coil overs are not the only rebuild able shock, once you purchase other high end shocks that are with springs ect, you come close to the cost of coil overs anyways. I haven't seen many instances where a spring/shock combo produced more flex than coilovers (metal cloak lift may be close). Coil over shock bodies are pretty massive, looks to me that they hold a lot more fluid volume, which is good for high speed stuff. I just rode in and fallowed my a rig on coil overs during tds. I in no way could keep up and while riding along, the faster we went the smoother it was! That was just on the evo bolt on's, double throw down and evo lever must be insane. The ability to do 70mph down a wash that my rig was getting beat up on going 20mph is just awesome. I haven't seen any that went to coil overs switch back to coil and shock. These are just my observations and may not be fact, so flame away!

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As the guy The Duff was riding with above I can tell you that they are awesome. I had a Teraflex 4" kit before which is a solid kit but if you go over any wash board type roads at 15plus you feel it let alone any whoops. I just have the bolt on kit and front air bumps and it is night and day better. My motto on the weekend was if its feels too stiff, go faster. Worked every time. Better than this is even at the lowest hight it's at 3" or so there is enough articulation to help on these rocks the same day you haul ass down the road.
Best purchase yet.


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[wayoflife]

So sorry if this is a newb question or if it was already answered.

So the shock and coil allow for a true vertical movement but your control arms move still move in an arc correct?
IF the above is true does the coilover pivot as the contol arms drop lower to allow for a full range of motion?

As mentioned earlier, coil overs come with joints (typically heims) that allow for a high degree of rotation. This allows the entire unit to follow the axle, 100% bind free, even as it arcs with the control arms to allow for a full range of motion. You simply cannot beat it.

 

[FuriousDz]

As mentioned earlier, coil overs come with joints (typically heims) that allow for a high degree of rotation. This allows the entire unit to follow the axle, 100% bind free, even as it arcs with the control arms to allow for a full range of motion. You simply cannot beat it.

Thanks for the response, guess I missed that before.

 

[wayoflife]

Thanks for the response, guess I missed that before.

It's all good and a good question to have asked. :yup:

 

[JK&Beyond]

Wow! This is great info guys. Thank you, WOL especially, for clearing these things up. I knew these King coilovers had to be special since they are Mel's bread and butter, but I didn't realize how incredibly functional they were. Thanks for turning my uninformed question into a thread of awesome wisdom. :clap2: :rock:

This kinda stuff is the reason I joined Wayalife.

 

[TheDuff]

So what length are you using, 12" or 14"? I heard a rumor that mel uses the 12, what's the story and any reasons for one or the other? Go

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[wayoflife]

Wow! This is great info guys. Thank you, WOL especially, for clearing these things up. I knew these King coilovers had to be special since they are Mel's bread and butter, but I didn't realize how incredibly functional they were. Thanks for turning my uninformed question into a thread of awesome wisdom. :clap2: :rock:

This kinda stuff is the reason I joined Wayalife.

LOL!! Well I'm glad it's been helpful to you. I have run a lot of different lifts, coils, shocks and suspension components and if there's a reason why I now run coil overs, it's because there really is nothing better out there available.

So what length are you using, 12" or 14"? I heard a rumor that mel uses the 12, what's the story and any reasons for one or the other? Go

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It's no rumor, the bolt on kit uses 12" coil overs up front and 11.25" in the rear. Unlike other kits, the EVO bolt on coil overs use the entire length of the shock and will give you all 12" up front and 11.25" in the rear.

On the EVO DTD setup, you would use 12" coil overs up front and only 8" ones in the rear but, because of how the mounts are designed up front and how the EVO Lever works in the rear, you get a full 14" of vertical travel out of both. With the DTD towers, you don't want or need anymore travel as you would push the limits of the drive shaft operating angles. If you want to run 14" coil overs up front, you would have to run them as single coil overs only.

 

[mcpuck]

This kinda stuff is the reason I joined Wayalife.

Yup! :yup: :thumb: What he said ...

 

[piginajeep]

As the guy The Duff was riding with above I can tell you that they are awesome. I had a Teraflex 4" kit before which is a solid kit but if you go over any wash board type roads at 15plus you feel it let alone any whoops. I just have the bolt on kit and front air bumps and it is night and day better. My motto on the weekend was if its feels too stiff, go faster. Worked every time. Better than this is even at the lowest hight it's at 3" or so there is enough articulation to help on these rocks the same day you haul ass down the road. View attachment 18801 View attachment 18802 View attachment 18800 View attachment 18803
Best purchase yet.


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15 mph is'nt even making the DTD work. You can easily do 60-70 in the whoops. The higher speeds is where it really shines.

its fucking amazing how smooth it is!!!!

Of course if you are driving that fast you need a full cage:yup:

 

[ttfhell]

When will that new cage be ready?!? Safety third is my motto.


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[SoCalDozer]

I am thinking about upgrading to coil overs at some point in the future but I don't like the idea of having to cut the trunk space in the back and installing the towers for the coil-overs. In a 2 door the space is limited as it is. Is there a coil over set up that doesnt require cutting/setting up the trunk area?

Fits on a 2 door no problem. Only person I know with one is Andy, don't know he screen name. He has it on his jk that he had at suds n grub couple weeks ago

 

[wayoflife]

Fits on a 2 door no problem. Only person I know with one is Andy, don't know he screen name. He has it on his jk that he had at suds n grub couple weeks ago

Andy Brown, he runs the Intrepid Ultra4 car and yes, he's got a 2-door with the DTD.

 

[SoCalDozer]

Andy Brown, he runs the Intrepid Ultra4 car and yes, he's got a 2-door with the DTD.

Yeah that's the PSC rig right?

 

[wayoflife]

Yeah that's the PSC rig right?

Yup, that's the one.

 

[Rascal3]

I was out doing some Jeep shopping today and ran across this build with coil overs and some other stuff.

 

[Rascal3]

. Looks like it will be nice once done.

 

[Rascal3]

one more pic.

 

[TheDuff]

15 mph is'nt even making the DTD work. You can easily do 60-70 in the whoops. The higher speeds is where it really shines.

its fucking amazing how smooth it is!!!!

Of course if you are driving that fast you need a full cage:yup:

the first run we did (literally 10mins after we arrived at tds:crazyeyes we where fallowing the group over some small rocks through the main wash at maybe 10mph. I mentioned to russ that it was harsher than I had expected (still better than my lift though). Russ told me that we had to go faster, I thought he was crazy and just messing with me. but as I would later find out, its true, if its rough go faster!:rock::rock::rock: I should of got some footage of us tearing through some washes at 1am the next night... well acctually we had a hard time just staying in the washes lol, we made our own short cuts too

 

[Beyrgut]

So to play devil advocate here, what are the drawbacks to running a coilover setup? It's on my long term upgrade list so I have plenty of time to dig in and research it but any info on where to look at comparisons, opinions, etc would be awesome. I am thinking if it was a perfect suspension setup then the traditional coil-shock setup would not be so prevalent in all vehicles not just jeeps.

 

[Sharkey]

The major drawback is price.