Linda

You got a good deal! I have seen some inexpensive sets on eBay, but they were located on the opposite side of the country from where I live (Az).

I didn't have the chance to try out the Michelins with the factory suspension. The tires wouldn't fit. The 2" lift the Kore kit added did the job.

The Kore suspension is an improvement over stock even with the big tires, but it doesn't have the flexibility that I want. The front coils are a little stiff, but better than the stock ones. I am considering replacing the rear leafs with a set of custom ones.

Thanks for posting a picture of your truck. I have been trying to convince my husband that he needs to use the XLs on his truck. He also has a '92 W250 Cummins.

Cowhand

The KORE springs are WAY too stiff....the upper rate on the VR coil is probably well in excess of 500#. If low speed articulation is what you were after, you went in the opposite direction with the KORE stuff. You'd have been better off with the factory coils

To answer your previous question regarding how low you can go, I run a 360# coil rate, and Pauly Garcia is running something around a 330# rate. Both work well if you have the right shock, properly valved, to back it up. The only purpose of the coil is to hold the front end of the truck up and extend the shock after it's been compressed.

The OEM rears don't move very well either, you'll need a leaf pack with 8-12 thinner leaves to get it to flex.

KORE, Carli, Thuren et.al. are designed for high speed, not crawling.

LanceD

heres my frame flex

Linda

That's interesting. I figured the factory spring rate to be in the ball park of 400# to 425#. Okay, maybe a bit higher for snow plow attachments. 330-360 sounds about right for a really soft spring. Do you experience a lot of body roll at that rate? Just asking. I had 160# coils all around on my old ZJ and it did just that. I had to keep the front sway bar on it to make it street-able. But it sure was a fun 4x4 on the rocks.

I have many years of experience in suspension systems engineering, but it has been with smaller lighter weight vehicles. The truck is just a fun project to see what I can do with off-the-shelf parts, but it looks like this project is going the other way pretty fast. What I learn from this one will be applied to the ****** Wagon repower.

I am not a big fan of suspension kits so buying the Kore setup was a long process. I think I got what I wanted out of them for the front suspension. The coils I got from Kore are not the VR coils, in fact the ones I got are not even progressive. If they were I would not have bought them. Progressive coils are great for racing, but not for axle articulation. The ones I got from do have a slightly softer rate than the OEM coils, but not as much as I hoped for, but they are okay. My ramping tests show that the front axle is getting a little more articulation with the Kore coils than it did with the OEMs, but nothing to write home about. That's okay. I was planning on getting most of the flex out of the rear anyway. This truck isn't going to see the really tough rock crawling trails. At best, maybe ones like Upper Ajax (that's an Arizona trail that rates around 4 on a scale of 5).

The rear is still pretty rough, but better than stock. Like you mention, the OEM springs on the Dodge 2500s have a lot to be desired. [As a side note, my 1966 Power Wagon rides just as rough and those springs are 40 years old.] I'll be buying a set of custom leaf springs to replace the OEM stuff.

The other issue is the limited movement of the front control arms. Yes, I am still using the OEM short arms because it didn't make sense to make more changes at this time. I am not sure what to do with those, but I'll go through the calculations and simulations and work something out.

Thanks for the comments on the Kore. Yes, I know it's more of a racing suspension, but Kore was the only company that came close to what I wanted. And, as any 4-wheeling fanatic will tell you, it is just the begining.

ptgarcia

I was really surprised at how soft my coils were also. I was expecting somewhere around 360#-380# springs so when Don told me how soft they were I was pretty shocked. But I can tell you, they rock! They do absolutely everything better than the stockers. And the truck does not exhibit noticeably more body roll than stock. And I have yet to get these things to bottom the shock. They even work like a champ while towing...go figure.

Cowhand

Factory springs, depending on the tag numbers, start at around 440# and go up. I don't have much body roll, but some of that is shock valving and some is front sway bar (still have it).

IIRC, the linear rate KORE springs were around a 530# rate....


You'll be hard pressed to get any decent articulation out of short arms. The difference in ride quality and handling alone is reason enough to do the long arms.


You can source custom coils through Coil Spring Specialties. Pauly and I both run them, you can order any ride height and rate you want........

Linda

That's the company I used for coils for the ZJ suspension project. They were great to work with.

From your signature it looks like you have done quite a bit of modifications to your truck. Do you know of a company that makes a swaybar disconnect for the Dodge trucks? Or if there is a good home grown method? I have the Solid Steel Industries steering box brace. That brace pretty much negates the use of spacers for adjusting the position of the OEM sway bar on a lifted truck. I am not currently using the sway bar, but I would like to have that option.

JKM

Where can we pick up a cost effective long arm kit for these trucks?

Cowhand

Linda,

I don't have a need for a sway bar disconnect...matter of fact, I'm looking at aftermarket sway bar set ups. I wish I could help you on that one. Maybe you could adapt something that's already available.

JKM,

You might try Don Thuren....I think he's working on a long arm set up.

Linda

I have some ideas as far as home-grown. There are several good designs made for J**p products that might be adaptable.