4link and coils vs leafs in the rear.

[Stomis]

So Ive been thinking about ditching my plans of a 4link in the rear of my trooper and going with leafs + traction bar.

Heres my train of thought towards going against my original 4 link plans.

• Towing. Now that Im putting a diesel in the trooper Ive been considering building myself an offroad trailer that can double as a utility trailer.
• Inconsistent weight load. Daily driving Im going to be empty in the rear of the truck. When I go camping Im gonna be packed to the gills. I dont know or have any experience with how coils handles this without going to airbags.
• Cost. As much as I want to do things correctly the radius arms up front cost me a boat load to make them tough. The 4 link is going to be twice the materials.
• I dont NEED a trick suspension like a double triangulated 4 link.

Theres quite a few of you guys that follow my build and even more that have experience in this area. I know coils will ride better but Im concerned Im gonna get serious sag in the ass when I load the truck up or be way too tall with it unloaded.


As far as what I would use for springs, probably 56s. The one thing I was looking forward to with a 4link was the departure angle not ruined by shackles. 64s would destroy my departure angle and I think some custom rate 56s with the long side forward would work great in my case.


Im really looking for feed back on this considering Im damn close to diving into the rear of my truck after I get back from the honeymoon in a couple weeks.

 

[blazinzuk]

Thats kind of a hard one.

Links and coils are the better overall suspension design, less friction, complete axle control, rides very nice, responds faster to road surface irregularities, etc.

But leaves are easier to setup.

I don't really see an issue with towing on either leaves or coils, its more of a spring rate problem. That and the fact that leaves don't move as freely as coils do you lose some side to side stability with coils.

I would imagine with rear coils you might have to run some type of a swaybar back there to help with the sway. But once again it depends on spring rate.

I will bet that if you go coils you will need some type of helper bag in the back when towing.

What coils would you plan on using.

I mean its not like your towing 10k on a bumper pull or anything like that. Tons of JKs and TJs tow decently large tent trailers around with coils in the back.

Like I said its really a matter of finding the correct spring rate.

Coils with the right spring rate will work better than leaves with the wrong one and vice versa.

I think I would find a way to make coils work in it. Just for the ride overall. An expo rig (IMHO) needs to ride nice or it can make for a very long day in the seat

 

[folkenheath]

Just get a larger difference in the dual rate coils and put the dual rate stopper where you want. Then you get soft ride and droop up high, but a stiffer spring rate the moment you put a load on it and hit the dual rate. You can always adjust the dual rate height for more articulation or whatever later on too by simply turning the collar, which is a lot easier than changing your whole suspension around.