To coilover or no??

[pkrfctr]

Getting ready to start the build on the new jeep. Trying to decide between doing coilovers vs standard springs and shocks. I'm kind of a coilover newbie so school me. Clearly coilovers will be more money. I can get the same travel/articulation out of either setup with custom shocks. So what are the benefits of one or the other?

 

[LT.]

Rollovers will generally give you more suspension travel. Springs and separate shocks will generally give you a more compliant ride and better street performance, ease of installation, and less expensive.

I have had both coilovers and bolt on suspension systems. Overall I have been happier with a bolt on suspension then I have been with my coilovers.

 

[I Lean]

Benefits of coilovers: Compact/easy packaging and mounting. Dual/triple spring rate availability, and easy spring rate changes. Easy ride height adjustment.

Cons of coilovers: Cost. Potential for noise during use from coils rubbing shock bodies.

Benefits of separate spring/shock: Cost. Easy bolt-in, if the rig had coils originally.

Cons: Less compact. Potential to lose a coil during articulation, with factory-type mounts.

I'm purposely leaving out tune-ability, since you mentioned "custom shocks" with the coils. So either one will be able to be tuned equally for damping. Spring rates will not be as easily changed with a coil/shock, but on the other hand you may not NEED to tune anything if you get a coil/shock package engineered for your vehicle already.

 

[UNSTUCK]

Have you considered running struts? Worth looking into.

 

[Jay5.9L]

Have you considered running struts? Worth looking into.

Don't those fade more and change dampening characteristic with heat?

 

[pkrfctr]

looked into the ori struts but very mixed reviews on them. The main draw, for me, was the claim of no sway bar needed or unloading but my suspension engineer friends are overly skeptical of those claims.

Carl and LT thanks

 

[1993yj]

I run ORIs and no sway bars and they work great. I only do slow crawling, no high speed Desert racing so the heat fade is not an issue for me. When I was switching from leafs to links I was originally going to do coil overs, but when looking at only having to package the struts and not fit sway bars, and the expense of ORIs being cheaper than cool overs and sway bars (at least the options I was looking at) it was an easy decision. The other benefit to me was how easy it is to tune/adjust the ORIs myself compared to how hard I have heard it can be to get cool overs dialed in, with trying different combos of springs/spring rates, etc.

As for your skeptical suspension engineer friends, have any actually used them? For me, they hold up to their claims and I wouldn't swap them out.

 

[pkrfctr]

I run ORIs and no sway bars and they work great. I only do slow crawling, no high speed Desert racing so the heat fade is not an issue for me. When I was switching from leafs to links I was originally going to do coil overs, but when looking at only having to package the struts and not fit sway bars, and the expense of ORIs being cheaper than cool overs and sway bars (at least the options I was looking at) it was an easy decision. The other benefit to me was how easy it is to tune/adjust the ORIs myself compared to how hard I have heard it can be to get cool overs dialed in, with trying different combos of springs/spring rates, etc.

As for your skeptical suspension engineer friends, have any actually used them? For me, they hold up to their claims and I wouldn't swap them out.

Good input, thanx

 

[Jinx]

Brent runs ORIs on his yellow bronco and they are pretty cool...

If when I link the front of the scrambler I will be looking VERY hard at these...

That being said, my toy will never see a grocery store and I see Mrs. Pkrfctr taking kids to school in your new ride...

 

[UNSTUCK]

You can get ORI's with bypass's. That cools them down quite a bit. KOH racers run them with no problems so I'm sure they can handle whatever you or any of us can dish out.

 

[Jay5.9L]

Didn't know they made them with a bypas. How's the cost vs a coil over ?

 

[UNSTUCK]

CO's cost vary a ton by the different companies, so it's hard to say. Cheaper than some and more than others. But at least you don't have to worry about buying different spring rates when you find out you hate the ones that came with the shocks.

 

[thenag]

My main reason for not going with coil overs was; everything that I saw you needed a very high stable mounting point. I built an xj, so building a very high sturdy mounting point was more than I wanted do, especially in the rear, I didn't want to have to do what rockmonkey or badger did to get coil overs in the rear.

If you are doing a buggy-ish wrangler mounting will not be an issue.

Nathan

 

[pkrfctr]

definitely more fab worked involved with CO.