AT THE HELM'S SHOP

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:17 am

Got a little more work done the past few days. I got the KK/KJ top plate bolt pattern drawn in CAD along with the upper shock tabs. Also turned down the adapters I have a little bit with my, um, 'lathe'. HUGE thank you to the fellow Jeeper I got these from (you know who you are) along with NaMoulton for the help with info.

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Sat Jun 25, 2016 1:20 am

Looks good. Keep the measurements and you can make the next "boiler" top plates AND coilover mounts. He used to make 3/8" plates I believe, but long stopped that...

What spring rate did you go with? If I remember right King does increments of 50. Idk if you're like me, but I found the stock 310lbs to be a little soft, but the 400lbs of the OME 927s to be a little too stiff for my KK. 350lbs would probably give a nice medium.

KrazyKK · **Joined:** Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:19 pm **Posts:** 87

What spring length did you choose? 12"? I can't wait until you get this together. I had been considering using their springs instead of OME.

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sat Jun 25, 2016 5:36 pm

Bmxer524 wrote:

Looks good. Keep the measurements and you can make the next "boiler" top plates AND coilover mounts. He used to make 3/8" plates I believe, but long stopped that...

What spring rate did you go with? If I remember right King does increments of 50. Idk if you're like me, but I found the stock 310lbs to be a little soft, but the 400lbs of the OME 927s to be a little too stiff for my KK. 350lbs would probably give a nice medium.

I took a shot in the dark and went with 400lb rate springs.

KrazyKK wrote:

What spring length did you choose? 12"? I can't wait until you get this together. I had been considering using their springs instead of OME.

12".
You won't want to use coilover springs on our oem style shocks. Coilover springs are flat at the ends |\/\/\/| and our oem spring isolators have steps to fit the non-flattened ended springs. /\/\/\/
And just for reference OME 927s are 15.50" from end to end...

KrazyKK · **Joined:** Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:19 pm **Posts:** 87

At The Helm wrote:

KrazyKK wrote:

What spring length did you choose? 12"? I can't wait until you get this together. I had been considering using their springs instead of OME.

12".
You won't want to use coilover springs on our oem style shocks. Coilover springs are flat at the ends |\/\/\/| and our oem spring isolators have steps to fit the non-flattened ended springs. /\/\/\/
And just for reference OME 927s are 15.50" from end to end...

Ah, now I understand why not many attempt this. :oops:

Still watching and learning from ya though.

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sat Jun 25, 2016 7:32 pm

I don't see why you couldn't get 16x3x400 springs and cut the ends off so they're not flat and use those... Eibach also has a vast selection of springs.

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 26, 2016 3:15 am

KrazyKK wrote:

At The Helm wrote:

KrazyKK wrote:

What spring length did you choose? 12"? I can't wait until you get this together. I had been considering using their springs instead of OME.

12".
You won't want to use coilover springs on our oem style shocks. Coilover springs are flat at the ends |\/\/\/| and our oem spring isolators have steps to fit the non-flattened ended springs. /\/\/\/
And just for reference OME 927s are 15.50" from end to end...

Ah, now I understand why not many attempt this. :oops:

Still watching and learning from ya though.

Not as bad as you think. Once you know the details you're pretty set. The hardest part is picking the springs. You need to fab up the mounts and clevis for the coilover shocks, no big deal with someone with fab skill (Morgan for example). Coilover shocks aren't too bad, ideally you'll stay close to stock lengths (for our Jeeps atleast), then figure out valving (generally high end shocks are rebuildable which means you can change that down the road). Now you're dealing with springs. This is more or less trial and error. Spring length will vary based off the shocks, I'm assuming for our application you'd want about 8-12" long springs (compressing the springs give lift, too long you might get too much, too short you crank down too much and bind coils). Luckily for me I can pull my current coilovers apart and measure the length of the JBA springs and shoot for that. Then comes spring rate, stock is 310, OME 927s are 400. Personally I found 400 to be too stiff, 310 too soft. I would probably shoot for about 350-375lbs. Hence trial and error.

TIJKK1220 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 26, 2016 11:29 am

I'll be interested to see how you like the 400# coils

I'll be going eibach springs when I reach this point and considered 500# springs.... keep me in the loop on your experiences!

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KrazyKK · **Joined:** Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:19 pm **Posts:** 87

Any updates?

At The Helm · **Posted:** Thu Jul 14, 2016 1:18 am

KrazyKK wrote:

Any updates?

Not really, Ive been super busy with my full time day job, filling orders, and a full bathroom renovation.
All I really have to do is build the upper mounts and some lower spring perches. Then install and see how the valving and spring rates feel.

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sat Jul 30, 2016 1:16 am

Got a little more work done on my coilovers, just need to test fit and cycle without the springs to see if everything landed in the right spots from droop to bump.

TIJKK1220 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 30, 2016 4:13 pm

Look at those welds!

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Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2016 12:21 pm

Wow. Looking good Morgan! Those welds doe :rockon:

What are you doing about the clevis? From the looks of it that lower piece should accept the factory clevis.

At The Helm · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2016 12:37 pm

Bmxer524 wrote:

Wow. Looking good Morgan! Those welds doe :rockon:

What are you doing about the clevis? From the looks of it that lower piece should accept the factory clevis.

Thanks guys

Yes the lower mount is ready for the factory clevis to clamp on to.

fortx4 KJ · **Posted:** Wed Aug 03, 2016 11:22 pm

Looking good. Can't wait to see those coilovers installed.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Aug 05, 2016 2:29 pm

At The Helm wrote:

Got a little more work done on my coilovers, just need to test fit and cycle without the springs to see if everything landed in the right spots from droop to bump.

Nice work ,.............as always

KrazyKK · **Joined:** Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:19 pm **Posts:** 87

To echo what others have been saying... that looks awesome.

NAMoulton1 · **Joined:** Tue Aug 12, 2014 7:01 pm **Posts:** 1054

You need to hurry up and get these in and take pictures!!!

At The Helm · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2016 2:21 am

NAMoulton1 wrote:

You need to hurry up and get these in and take pictures!!!

At The Helm · **Posted:** Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:07 pm

Took apart the passenger side last week to test fit everything and cycled the suspension..........total fail. I really should have cycled the suspension without shocks installed first to gather the much needed measurements to ensure I'm hitting the bumpstop and getting maximum droop, along with my desired ride height. I will have to do what I was avoiding in order to achieve this: build custom clevises that are the correct length (even the shorter KJ clevises are too long). The reason I was avoiding this is because breaking down the coilovers for service will be a big pita as you can't just slide the spring off the shock without unthreading the clevis or removing the schrader valve on top.
I think I've got it all figured out now will get going on V2 asap. More springs and cnc parts are on order.

A few pics for entertainment

AT THE HELM'S SHOP

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