EPK5
1/2 ton status
Lot of scratch, wonder what kind of travel numbers it has, nice setup though, would go well with the LSX swap I am planning.
CK5
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Looking for good, solid mid travel options for a K5
- Thread starter EPK5
- Start date
EPK5
1/2 ton status
or, I could continue to read a little further down and see the exact travel numbers, duh.
Last edited:
But read the 2nd sentence in the description...
The ORD kit you can install yourself and save thousands.
EPK5
1/2 ton status
I wonder if the in-house bit is included in the 9k price. I didnt see that for some reason. Getting old I guess. My concern is that the ORD kit is designed for low speed rock crawling, how will it hold up to desert bashing? I do know that ORD really puts out a great and bullet proof product so it should be fine.
63chevyll
1/2 ton status
What reading...... I was after the pictures
79rustyk10
3/4 ton status
That looks like a really well engineerd setup, However it wouldnt be too hard to build something similar.
Use off the shelf extened ford radius arms(looks like thats what they did), make a crossover steering setup, and mount the shocks.
I may be over simplifing things, but that suspension setup isnt very complex.
The fab work really looks top notch too. My favorite thing about the go fast desert stuff is probably the skill, and the quality of the work in the custom parts.
Use off the shelf extened ford radius arms(looks like thats what they did), make a crossover steering setup, and mount the shocks.
I may be over simplifing things, but that suspension setup isnt very complex.
The fab work really looks top notch too. My favorite thing about the go fast desert stuff is probably the skill, and the quality of the work in the custom parts.
It has King shocks and limit straps with johnny joints, rod ends, and tubular control arms. Upgrade to the air bumps for high speed desert stuff and romp on it, I would be pretty confident with it.
Given that our system actually started life as a way to get better ride and wheel travel for general offroad transportation rather than pure rock crawling, I think you're going to do pretty good with it for your use. We've considered what we would change to race it (especially since the Ultra4 modified class came out) and it wouldn't be a whole lot. Maybe heims on the lower arms and add a bypass on a trussed front axle.
Leaves can do pretty good but the steering gets annoying even with a shorter travel system and with crossover. At that point you really need to add a panhard bar but that starts introducing some binding into the system and by the time you figure out how to fix that problem, coils or coilovers look pretty good.
Keep in mind that for your use you're going to drop over $300 each in the front shocks. When you do the math on adding that quality shock to a coil spring with coil buckets vs. just mounting coilovers with a set of tabs, the coilover system usually wins. Same effect to some degree with the leaves, custom good leaves are not cheap, you'll pay $600 min for the pair and have more to add in shackles and hardware.
Our coilover kit with a set of long travel 64" leaves out back will probably keep you pretty happy. Add airbumps of course, maybe only in the front to start off.
You should also get wrapped around the idea of running the rear shocks through the bed floor since all the better shocks are long and there's not much room to keep them under the floor. It's not a given but it should be considered since it's easy.
So, conclusion:
Long leaves in the rear is a great system no matter what you do in the front, at least at the level we're talking about.
Better leaves in the front can be OK if you run some beefy brackets, run a panhard bar and plan on eating some bushings. 12-14" of vertical is probably a safe target, we can get you that with our custom leaves without too much trouble.
Coilovers up front give better control of the axle and no parts eating bind along with a solid 14" of vertical and maybe even 16" if you want to push it.
Plan on $300+ in shock per corner and a set of air bumps at least on the front.
Truss both axles. Forget about the ground clearance, you don't really need it that much.
There's my book on the subject.
Leaves can do pretty good but the steering gets annoying even with a shorter travel system and with crossover. At that point you really need to add a panhard bar but that starts introducing some binding into the system and by the time you figure out how to fix that problem, coils or coilovers look pretty good.
Keep in mind that for your use you're going to drop over $300 each in the front shocks. When you do the math on adding that quality shock to a coil spring with coil buckets vs. just mounting coilovers with a set of tabs, the coilover system usually wins. Same effect to some degree with the leaves, custom good leaves are not cheap, you'll pay $600 min for the pair and have more to add in shackles and hardware.
Our coilover kit with a set of long travel 64" leaves out back will probably keep you pretty happy. Add airbumps of course, maybe only in the front to start off.
You should also get wrapped around the idea of running the rear shocks through the bed floor since all the better shocks are long and there's not much room to keep them under the floor. It's not a given but it should be considered since it's easy.
So, conclusion:
Long leaves in the rear is a great system no matter what you do in the front, at least at the level we're talking about.
Better leaves in the front can be OK if you run some beefy brackets, run a panhard bar and plan on eating some bushings. 12-14" of vertical is probably a safe target, we can get you that with our custom leaves without too much trouble.
Coilovers up front give better control of the axle and no parts eating bind along with a solid 14" of vertical and maybe even 16" if you want to push it.
Plan on $300+ in shock per corner and a set of air bumps at least on the front.
Truss both axles. Forget about the ground clearance, you don't really need it that much.
There's my book on the subject.
I would venture to say that ORD would be your best bet as far as link kits go. The BMS kit requires in house fabrication for the engine cage. If you're capable of fabricating at home, get the ORD kit. Talk to them on the phone about what they would do for the upper coilover mounts and the engine cage on an Ultra4 K series rig. The engine cage is a must for anyone wanting to soak up some big bumps. The front frame section won't handle the constant abuse without. I know cause of amount of flex with just vertical shocks and leafs. I'm doing atleast a cross bar on my suburban and it's just a trail rig.
