AT THE HELM'S SHOP

At The Helm · **Posted:** Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:09 pm

Also went out for a little day trip to one of our local remote alpine lakes. A little r&r was much needed after a hectic summer. :dizzy:

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 18, 2016 3:23 am

At The Helm wrote:

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

You're our Guinea pig for all of this. Keep us updated with everything you used and need when all is said and done. Who knows, might get yourself in the clevis and top mount business too :twisted:

PALiftedKK · **Posted:** Fri Aug 19, 2016 9:01 pm

At The Helm wrote:

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

That's a whole lotta droop!

Looking at full compression, have you broken a grease zerk at all? Does the tereflex bump stop have enough give for the zerk?

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sat Aug 20, 2016 1:45 am

I haven't broken any fittings yet but I am drilling some holes next time I'm in there. The teraflex bumpstops are a bit more firm than oem but still have some 'give' for the zerk to sink in.

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:48 pm

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:52 pm

Custom clevis done..

PALiftedKK · **Posted:** Mon Aug 22, 2016 2:24 pm

At The Helm wrote:

Custom clevis done..

Any intention of manufacturing these to custom specs in the future? Custom as in you offer them in set amount of clevus lift.

If i were to stick with a ifs d30 for a while longer id buy that clevis for sure! Paper thin clevis holding up the front end doesn't sit well for me.

jeepingpatton · **Joined:** Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:54 pm **Posts:** 24

Hey ATH, nice work.

Just a heads up. Instead of making the clevis, just recess the top of the shock into the top plate. Hopefully you can see what im talking about with the pics and the link I provided down below.

Thats how I was gonna do it except with Kings

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=42773

At The Helm · **Posted:** Tue Aug 23, 2016 12:47 am

PALiftedKK wrote:

Any intention of manufacturing these to custom specs in the future? Custom as in you offer them in set amount of clevus lift.

If i were to stick with a ifs d30 for a while longer id buy that clevis for sure! Paper thin clevis holding up the front end doesn't sit well for me.

No, sorry not interested. Just gap your factory clevis and add a top plate if you need a little more ride height..

jeepingpatton wrote:

Hey ATH, nice work.

Just a heads up. Instead of making the clevis, just recess the top of the shock into the top plate. Hopefully you can see what im talking about with the pics and the link I provided down below.

Thats how I was gonna do it except with Kings

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=42773

Yep, I most definitely thought about doing that. I would have to hire a machine shop to make me some new longer clevis adapters though. That's a darn fine idea with 6" Kings though! Hmm

jeepingpatton · **Joined:** Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:54 pm **Posts:** 24

Well If you need another set, I know where theres a set sitting in a tool box :POPCORN:

At The Helm · **Posted:** Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:40 pm

jeepingpatton wrote:

Well If you need another set, I know where theres a set sitting in a tool box :POPCORN:

I'll keep that in mind....
I did rebuild the top mounts to be sucked up to the body as close as possible and slimmed down the spring perch so it isn't as tall, and got some KJ clevises. According to my measurements its still about .50" too long at full compression, but I'm going to double check on the Jeep setup that way when I have time.

At The Helm · **Posted:** Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:00 pm

Ripped out another table...This one is just a little 2'x3' light duty table for cleaning parts, boxing up stuff for shipping etc. Seems like there's never enough horizontal space to work on!

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sat Aug 27, 2016 12:26 pm

Hokay so the KJ clevises with adapters do work after all! Apparently measurements vs real work don't always line up exactly :banghead:

The clevises I built will also work but I'd much rather use the clamp-on factory clevises for ease of installation and shock servicing. In the pic there is still a little bit of shaft showing in the pic which is taken up by the spring perches.
Also went back to 12" springs but 450 lbs this time.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Aug 27, 2016 3:38 pm

450 lb springs should be just about perfect I'd say ( IMO) :wink:

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:19 pm

tommudd wrote:

450 lb springs should be just about perfect I'd say ( IMO) :wink:

Let's hope so

The 400 pounders I had cranked down about 25% and still wouldn't hold the ride height I wanted.

jeepingpatton · **Joined:** Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:54 pm **Posts:** 24

At The Helm wrote:

Hokay so the KJ clevises with adapters do work after all! Apparently measurements vs real work don't always line up exactly :banghead:

The clevises I built will also work but I'd much rather use the clamp-on factory clevises for ease of installation and shock servicing. In the pic there is still a little bit of shaft showing in the pic which is taken up by the spring perches.
Also went back to 12" springs but 450 lbs this time.

Im glad that worked out for ya. But yeah 475 is what I run. That combined with the stiffer rear spring (more than JBA or OME) and it rides like a magic carpet. Now you can add a cradle drop (9/16"-5/8" using stock bolts) and compensate the cradle drop with some clevis space. But now your getting into stuff that SOME FOURM MEMBERS SAY WOULDN'T WORK, but obviously does from what I have seen. Next set of JBA clevis I bend I will be throwing those POS in the garbage and going with the design that you came up with. If priced at 1000-1200 then you will be selling them like hot cakes.

My plans were to offer them in Fox or King shocks but I wasnt about to pay to be a vender and all of that mess. Just too much of a headache

Side note. Make sure you have a "inner lip" on that lower seat seat so the spring dosent slide off. And also you remember my old rear bumper? Well im in the process of beefing it up and mounting a winch. Maybe something you can look into if your interested in that crazy stuff.

Oh and something else. Those pressed KK clevis gives people extra 9/16" lift, (3/8" longer than cast clevis) so sell those bad boys and make some extra money.

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sat Aug 27, 2016 10:46 pm

jeepingpatton wrote:

Im glad that worked out for ya. But yeah 475 is what I run. That combined with the stiffer rear spring (more than JBA or OME) and it rides like a magic carpet. Now you can add a cradle drop (9/16"-5/8" using stock bolts) and compensate the cradle drop with some clevis space. But now your getting into stuff that SOME FOURM MEMBERS SAY WOULDN'T WORK, but obviously does from what I have seen. Next set of JBA clevis I bend I will be throwing those POS in the garbage and going with the design that you came up with. If priced at 1000-1200 then you will be selling them like hot cakes.

My plans were to offer them in Fox or King shocks but I wasnt about to pay to be a vender and all of that mess. Just too much of a headache

Side note. Make sure you have a "inner lip" on that lower seat seat so the spring dosent slide off. And also you remember my old rear bumper? Well im in the process of beefing it up and mounting a winch. Maybe something you can look into if your interested in that crazy stuff.

Oh and something else. Those pressed KK clevis gives people extra 9/16" lift, (3/8" longer than cast clevis) so sell those bad boys and make some extra money.

Yep definitely got a retainer for the spring in there. I looked into having them machined from aluminum but unless I'm buying in bulk they're rediculously expensive. So I just did it dirt style.

I'm not sure that I'm going to sell any coilovers. Yes I am sure there is a niche market for them just like bumpers but not sure I want to get into it.

What I'm still not 100% sure on though is if 08-09 KKs with the cast clevis are the same length as the KJ clevises.

jeepingpatton · **Joined:** Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:54 pm **Posts:** 24

The cast KK clevis are kinda hit or miss. I have seen a few, like 1 set thats been longer than the KJ cast clevis. But the 2010+ pressed steel clevis should be 3/8" longer.

BTW, that setup looks sick!!!! I wish I had a plasma table.

At The Helm · **Posted:** Sat Aug 27, 2016 11:35 pm

Gotcha. I did try installing with the pressed longer KK clevis (which yes is 3/8" longer) and had issues with it contacting the inner cv boot because of the extra suspension drop.

Some more CNC plate goodness. The welds are kind of jacked because of all the clamps I have to work around for fixturing.

TIJKK1220 · **Posted:** Sun Aug 28, 2016 1:56 pm

So after jumping over to the kj clevis you still needed to clearance the upper mounts?

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