Hey WT,what d'ya think?

[rockhound]

What's your take on the cheapest, easiest, most practical and flexiest suspension set-up?
The newest thing I see is rears up front, but you have to stack or build packs? And doesn't it move front axle too far foward.
what about Chevy, mazda, ford ranger/bronco's rears pros and cons?
i.e., shackles, hangers, axle placement
Are AOR's worth the expense? Hey, no guess work.
Where does Alcan rank in the perameters set.
Not into funky blocks , or boomerangs, just staight up functional and purty.
Any body else out there got the final word on droop, stuff, stability and wow factor?

[brainlessfool]

you sould read $300  it has a lot of info! 

[WHITE_TRASH]

Yep my current buildup basically covers that topic very well.  You might also want to check out an old thread of mine called Ive been busy.  I did the more straight forward suspension setup, no inboarding or whatnot.  Another good thread is ShawnB's buildup.  It covers using 79 caddy rears on a yota.  Overall Ive covered most of the bases right there.  But of course if you have any questions after you are done with that little homework assignment feel free to ask.

[rockhound]

Ahh, you're gonna make me earn it , huh?
Couldn't you just put a kit together and mail it to me?
I'll take a set of mazda's out back, (same as the ford ranger/bronco's?) with quarter elliptical buggy spring, cut from Downey main leaf, extended shackle and relocated stock toy hangers.
Up front I'll try rears up front,( built with two packs?) selecting and cutting leaves to level truck.
Or maybe caddy's or chevy's rear with All pro fronts, Ooo, how about custom AOR's with those trick joint bushings.All around.
Talk about homework, now I need to research the different combos available and compare the ride quality and the price, to find out what will be the most performance for the money.
I can't decide. There is something to this suspension stuff. The gears, traction, steering, flip U-bolts and MCO7 is a no brainer.

                Year    Length   Width    Center-pin      Droop   Stuff      Price    ?
Chevys?
Mazdas?
Fords?
Alcans?
All Pros?
AOR's?
What else?
See, When you think about it, It's not an easy decision!

[WHITE_TRASH]

So far the nicest setup for both performance vs. price is the caddy's.  I put those on ShawnB's 85 and they are an extremely insane setup for what it is really.  They ride really nice and flex till sundown and beyond, Im thinking about getting another set and puting them on my truck but leaving the inboard hangers so its just gonna be insane.  I just havent made up my mind yet.  I posted a bunch of flex pics etc in the thread under his name.

[rockhound]

Allright, now your talking. I remember seeing a pic, w/' how's this for flex 'caption. I'll look closer.
So...you're not going to send me a kit?

Hey, are those front and rear? If the 'fronts suck', what next?

[WHITE_TRASH]

Oh hell yea I can send you a kit.  But the question is do you really want to pay for all the research, time, fabrication tricks that Ive had to learn along with all the blood Ive shed in the name of being the cheap b*std that I am? 
The reason the front sucks so bad is its just off the shelf skyjacker 5" springs.  They are a real improvement over stock and all the other generic mass produced crap but they still suck.  Im going to be building a new front spring setup this summer so he can keep up with me!  (yea right hes got a sick setup) 
When you are looking at the pics of his and my truck keep in mind that he is running 35's on alloys and Im on 38's on steelies with the rears inboarded.  He still has almost the droop as I do!  he beats me on compression but I have bumpstops that only let the spring go flat, while his invert big time.  Overall Im really happy with the way both trucks turned out so far but they are really built for different kinda things.  I dont care about creature comforts nice ride etc, He has a wife and son who also ride in the truck from time to time so his needs to be far more streetable than mine is.  So in the end its really up to you.  All I can do is guide you on your quest. 

[rockhound]

And I appreciate your input and knowledge, thank you for sharing it.
Don't have much need for creature comfort. Looking for maximum performance.
I am willing to scrounge around and experiment. But there are too many options available.
You have narrowed it down for me. After I build my ultimate dual set up, I'll let you know how your advice has worked to influence the suspension set up.

[Hyena]

You can also check out my new thread in the suspension section under "new suspension".  It is about how i am puttung my rears up front with a new crossmember.  So far all i have done is basically the crossmember made, it has pictures and lengths of what i did to make it.  Check it out if you have time.

[rockhound]

Well, finished the rears up front and chevy's rear. added hoops and shocks, Marlin's 4.70's ultimate dual. Completely diferent truck on the trail! Marlin rocks!

[rockhound]

Where's the d*** picture?