CK5 - The Full-Size GM Off Road Community

I have a digital camera I just bought and I took a bunch of photos of my new suspension...

try this...
http://coloradok5.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=9453&ppuser=3311

http://coloradok5.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=9454&ppuser=3311

http://coloradok5.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=9455&ppuser=3311


fabricator: Randy Ellis ( www.randyellisdesign.com (http://www.randyellisdesign.com) )
labor hours: 58
parts:
8 m02153bk bushings
2 king coilovers w/ res. and dual rate springs
5 left handed 3/4 rod ends
1 right hand 3/4 rod end
6 high misalignment bushing kits
5 left handed 3/4 - 16 jam nuts
1 right handed 3/4 jam jut
40ft of 1- 1/4 .281 DOM
10 ft of 1 -1/2 .120 chromo
8 ft of 1-3/4 .120 chromo
4 ft of 2" .120 round
4 ft of 1/8 plate
3 ft of 3/16 plate
2 ft of 1/4 plate
18 1/2" grade 8 bolts
4 res. standoffs
4 hose clamps
5 ft. 1 -1/2 .120 round
2 ft. 3/4 .120 dom

Post them in the Members Rides section and then link the here using:

yourimagelink here (minus the spaces)

anyway to do it faster?...
It keeps saying i'm going over the kb or something

http://coloradok5.com/photos/data/9454/3311coil2.JPG

this it?

Ah, there is a Kb limit, so your pics must be too big. You could always go to Webshots and then put regular URL links to them here, but you wouldn't be able to put the actual pic in the forum....

If you go to download.com you can get a Media Resizer program to make the pics smaller to fit in the CK5 requirements. Or someone on here may have it. Mine expired. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I resized mine the dumb way. I uploaded to webshots first...then saved the webshots pic to my documents...then uploaded the pic's. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Rene

LOL, that'll work! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Didn't know Webshots does that.. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Here is one:

http://coloradok5.com/photos/data/9453/3311coil1.jpg

Cool!

I guess webshots automatically re-sizes.../forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Cool deal Juan!!! Is your tie rod frowing? /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif

rene

Looking good man! I give you another year and you'll have less sheet metal than me! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Of course, that'll take some doing, I'm now down to nothing but a cut down hood skin... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

just took it out fireroading...
holy shiznit!
night and day performance to my old leaves. Randy (the fabricator) said I can beat the piss out of it and not worry. It handles like a dream on the highway and corners like it should in the dirt. Oh..me so hungry for dirt /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

so its only coil in the rear, then?

From the pic it sure looks like they are up front.

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From the pic it sure looks like they are up front.

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LOL!! i'm insane! nm...i can't type today /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

no coils in the rear... yet
i'll definitely end up linking the rear next summer...
coils will come in when I can afford them
I saved and saved for this recent transition. I was tired of longing for better performance and instead of spending a bunch of money on custom springs in the front.. I saved up and bought the "end-all". I just wanted to do it right the second time instead of doing it wrong another couple of times. I didn't want to end up paying more than i would have if I'd done it the right way the first time. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

So how much $$ if you dont mind me asking? I want to do that someday.

Dan

Very Nice /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/pimp.gifThose pics really make me want to wait and go ahead and do coilovers on my mog axles. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif


Eric

Nice---vey nice what size Kings, how much travel, can you take some close ups of the links. again---very nice

Cool, by the way by clicking on the "Edit Photo" link you can rotate the pics, I did it for ya. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

Looks great Juan! I can see why you are getting so many more looks now. Have fun with it.
Nick

Do you mind if we ask how much Randy charged ya?

well...
it was $2900 just for labor /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
add around $1300 for the kings
and of course materials are extra /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

/forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif

All of a sudden $3K for a coil kit sounds much more reasonable!

Looking good! /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif


I can sympathize about the costs involved. It really isn't possible to understand what it takes to fabricate ANYTHING unless you've ever tried to do it yourself....

I always laugh when I read posts about how someone wants to do some exotic rollcage, rock sliders or suspension and makes it sound like "well it's just a bunch of tubing and a few bends!"

Now that I've been to "the other side" and built a few things myself, I am much more realistic about how long things take to build and I'm much more impressed when I see things like Watson's rig or BadDog's....or yours!

I used to see just a bunch of cool mods.......these days when I look at those mods there are little spinning odometers in my head that also tally up the HOURS and DOLLARS!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif

yeah...that's what I always add to the equation also.
As most of "y'all" know I'm a high school teacher. I don't have time to tear down my truck and have it not running for weeks at a time (my truck is actually semi-daily driver). Not to mention I don't have money to buy a tubing bender(a good one is a chunk of change), a good mig welder, and assorted other tools. If one was to add to this the time to learn to engineer suspension and actually tune and re-modify and make a link suspension work, he/she would realize that that's a lot of time and money.

I am a guy who wants to play A.S.A.P. I enjoy doing light installs like axle swaps etc. but my limited mech. experience doesn't allow me tackle huge projects. I don't want to break my steering off driving down the road. I've seen it happen and I value my life and that of my passengers. $4k+ was worth it.

I want to be able to travel highway speeds (at least 80+), go fast offroad (over 30mph)and actually have the truck not destroy itself and crawl with highly modified rigs. This was a long standing plan for myself. I don't make a lot of money but I also don't have kids right now. I went out less and bought virtually nothing for the blazer for at least a year. The end result is something to see and Randy says I can jump her and not worry. That's cool. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I would never go the doctor and tell him I could do as good a job at a given surgery as he/she could. Yet, that is what some people seem to think /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gifabout fabrication. Russ and Stephen have the time and knowledge (I know Russ has spent countless hours researching and fabbing and re-fabbing with great results). When I chose Randy Ellis to be the fabricator I did so because he has the experience and knowledge to build fantastic, well-functioning rigs. I can't match that so I farm it out. Besides, I weld like a blind monkey.

$ well spent, that suspension can be left under that frame and as it turns into a buggy, it'll still work just as good. Heck, you could probably put a cab on it and use it as a pre-runner/driver.

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as it turns into a buggy

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Not a whole lot left of the truck except the front of the cab - just curious - what is your "definition" of a "buggy"

I guess if you force me to think about it I'd have to say a buggy is defined as a vehicle that didn't start as another vehicle, ie. full tube frame, no stock beginning for the major suspension and drivetrain support structure.
Truggy? That one's a little fuzzy since the term popped up from full tube vehicles that were laid out with conventional truck construction. I think for our use it should mean a less than full body vehicle that started with a full body vehicle, or at least the frame from one.

So I guess if Juan's going to use his front susp. on future vehicles, technically it would always be a truggy since no matter what, it's based on the K5 frame. But it can become more buggy-ish. It still has a windshield in the factory frame and is close to full width. He's got a long ways to go! ha ha

my wife says my truck is just plain "truggly"
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

oh, and 14inches of travel (compared to my estimated 6 inches of travel with 4 inch TUffcountrys and ranchos)

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Besides, I weld like a blind monkey.

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/forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif

Marv

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$ well spent, that suspension can be left under that frame and as it turns into a buggy, it'll still work just as good. Heck, you could probably put a cab on it and use it as a pre-runner/driver.

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Now the question is... Which would you do first, front or rear? Give me specifics as to why...

I think I might go with King's in the future, but not real sure where I would benifet. Found out with Frisbie's install on his M1009, he got a much better ride with the front suspension done and with leaves in the rear. Of course, the ride got better with his rear coilover swap, but with good comes the bad - Body Roll!

Here's my thought. If I am going to spend the money on Coilovers, Im also going to move the axles forward/backward and get some approach/departure angle. Stephen, given your build and rebuld stages, what did you learn - give us some input on this subject if you dont mind. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

Lastly, why are you spending the extra on the reservoir when it's probably not needed in our world. (less heat and shock fade)

Watson, did you have issues with the frontend unloading when driving up, oh lets say, 5 foot tall rock ledges (ie. Disney Oklahoma). I had wondered if a person moved the frontend outward for a near 90 degree approach, if you hooked the winch cable to a loop centered on the front axle, if you could actually controll the frontend unloading.

If I were to choose the rear suspension first (hey, Im on a budget guys), what would the ride be like? Better than leaves? Newbie questions here...

I chose to do the fr /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gifont first mostly because the weight of my rig is mostly in the front. Couple this with steering and correct triangulation needed to make the truck steer and drive well on the street. Also, I figured that hopefully, Watson will be making a coilover "kit" in the near future and kits are normally cheaper than total custom fab. I chose to have the res. added to allow me to fireroad in Baja California on surf trips and not have the shocks fade. I love going fast. The coils are actually a pretty progressive rate so I have an all around spring set up that should allow me to tackle the rocks and fireroad with the prerunners.

I did the front first for the steering control mainly. My custom leaves had 12" of vertical and used up all of a 12" shock in articulation so it worked pretty good, the panhard bar was the kicker, and I think I'd have some front axle wrap with the leaves so the front got the nod.

If you don't mind the steering with front leaves, doing the rear gets you good axle control and good rear flex, minimal steering, etc. The front on leaves would work fine, you would just want to look at making the stiffness of the two work together so you don't get all of the flex in the rear with the front not working at all.

I think doing the rear is easier, there's less to do because of steering.

If you're (you meaning anyone, not just Neil) serious about doing a long travel suspension, I'd recommend putting in some cheap springs so you can get the rest of the truck finalized and save the money for it and do it all at once. Either that or plan on going through a lot of parts and the associated money for them. I've had 4 different front and rear spring setups on my K5 before I switched to the coils, and 1.5 full sets of those were custom packs. That's easily over a grand on springs alone I could have saved if I'd gone from TCI's to coilovers. But that's not really my job description...

Also, keep in mind that going with coilovers compared to custom leaves is dragging the last 5% out of the suspension and that's the most expensive part. Custom leaves can get you most of the perforomance for a small part of the cost and installation hassles. But if you want that last little bit, there's not much choice.

The coilovers definitely try to unload in the front. There area lot of factors that come into that effect, I did get some of that with the soft leaves even. I run a tiedown strap on the front, and went to triple rates and between those, it works really well now. Doing triple rates was a big improvement, the tiedown strap is not nearly as important as it was before. Rear suspension geometry has something to do with this too, my rear's pretty neutral (doesn't jack up) and that helps also.
I'm not a huge fan of using the winch to suck the front down, seems like if you need the tie down, you may need the winch also. A short strap does the trick for me but doesn't let me pull the front down to the stops like a winch would.

I do have to say the rough road ride is one of the major benefits, mine's not set up for going fast (not enough front bump travel due to the high pinion and low ride height) and it still works nice.

Remote res? I don't think King will sell a shock without one. I wouldn't want an emulsion shock anyway, it's nice to be able to at least run moderate speeds for a half hour or so without fading the shocks.

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Of course, the ride got better with his rear coilover swap, but with good comes the bad - Body Roll!



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There's ways around that too. Triple rates really help out since you can put in a lot stiffer spring, and a swaybar really helps out. Even with the full body mine wasn't bad.