UJOR Build Thread

[Sheep Shagger]

What I'm trying to get at here is if I go with the coil conversion and aim for 4" of lift am I still going to have a better performing setup than my current setup with all stock suspension? I get that the word "better" is very subjective, but to me that means tighter turning, less wander/easier to keep in center of lane, better control and bump compliance on rough roads, and less body roll.

I have never, and never plan to go wheeling with any of my 4 wheel vehicles so maximum wheel travel and articulation are not as important to me. I have motorcycles for the rough stuff.

It kinda sounds like you are going after this for the wrong reasons. Stock is IFS, you will always be able to make IFS handle better than a fixed axle on the road with similar money thrown at it. The only reason to use a solid axle is for 4x4, if you are not interested in that capability, you should be looking at something other than a solid axle with coil or leaf spring conversion.
Im sure that many will disagree with the above, and since this is a 4x4 conversion thread I won't get into an argument about it, as ujoint makes some great quality products.

 

[pugslyyy]

I have never, and never plan to go wheeling with any of my 4 wheel vehicles so maximum wheel travel and articulation are not as important to me. I have motorcycles for the rough stuff.

I would just make sure that you have a good limited slip in the rear and drive it.

 

[villageidiot327]

MG, thanks for the comments. Is it right to assume this will be roughly a 1:1 relationship? How much more bump travel does this kit provide over stock? What I'm trying to get at here is if I go with the coil conversion and aim for 4" of lift am I still going to have a better performing setup than my current setup with all stock suspension? I get that the word "better" is very subjective, but to me that means tighter turning, less wander/easier to keep in center of lane, better control and bump compliance on rough roads, and less body roll.

I have never, and never plan to go wheeling with any of my 4 wheel vehicles so maximum wheel travel and articulation are not as important to me. I have motorcycles for the rough stuff.

Related to bikes, I'm still getting used to the idea that it is common on these conversions that while geometry is critically important, the spring rates and lengths are a big part of determining the ride height of the vehicle. In the two wheel world the ride height is usually set by geometry changes and the springs are determined mostly by the rate needed to support the weight of the vehicle and the load (with sag usually being a set % of total travel). But then again, there is a whole lot of difference between a 500lb, 1-wheel drive motorcycle with a set of forks in the front and a simple linkage in the back vs a 7500lb+, 2-wheel steer and 4-wheel drive van. Lots to learn.

Jeff

Maybe you ought to check out Weldtec's stuff. I have his 4" kit on my van, less body roll, 5" of bump travel, turns nice n tight, rides smooth. Will clear a 33" tire. though I'm running more like 31's (were on before the lift)

A solid axle rig might not be for you, and that's ok, that's why there's options.

 

[ujoint]

Got it, so if we were to order of turning radius from largest to smallest it would be this - 4"/33" leaf, stock, 6"/35" leaf, and then the 6"/35" coils?

I can live with what I have, just want to make sure it will not be getting any worse when I finally put the front wheels to work.

Jeff

Yea pretty much. The stock 2wd would fall in between the leaf and coil kit most likely. I'l trying to find some time for some real tests soon.

Huck giving the UJOR kit a good incoming inspection -

Thats awesome!

 

[ujoint]

SoCal 7.3 is on the ground! Still a ton of work to do. Off to Rhino next week, bumpers, finish the front clip swap, roof rack, Aluminess ladder & nerf bars.

 

[QuadsBC]

You send a lot of vans to paint, what is the (approximate) going rate for a color change on a full size van?

 

[stormlover]

We've been playing with sPOD's for several years and we've mounted them every friggin place we could! So, now we have a few options to make our (and your) install easier. We have 2 under hood mounts, one for the 6.0s and one for everything else. If you're not familiar with the sPOD its a great way to run all of the accessories that we install on our rigs. The greatest thing is that only one small loom needs to go thru the firewall and to the dash. If you make changes it gets done at the Source. Makes adding and switching things around SO easy. Here are some pics, more details and prices here

http://www.ujointoffroad.com/bumpersextras.html

The entire UJ sPOD family

09/up dash mount

Hey Chris I thought you and others might be interested in my sPod mod. I tried your 6.0 mount that attaches to the pass side upper radiator support. There's not much room to add anything under the hood on a van with a 6.0 and thought I'd try something different. So, fabbed another mount on a hinge with a spring. The spring holds the Spod source unit firmly down when the hood is shut.



The hinge allows the unit to lift up and out of the way to check the oil or change the fuel filters.



I used the Jeep JK 6 switch panel mounted to the bulkhead above the visors. It has an Air Zenith gage as part of the OBA system.


As for lights, based on advice in this thread I gave up on the light bar idea and went with Baja Designs XL80 LEDs mounted to the Aluminess bumper on either side of the winch. You guys were totally right about how trendy and ineffective a 52" lightbar is mounted to the roof.

 

[mk216v]

As for lights, based on advice in this thread I gave up on the light bar idea and went with Baja Designs XL80 LEDs mounted to the Aluminess bumper on either side of the winch. You guys were totally right about how trendy and ineffective a 52" lightbar is mounted to the roof.
View attachment 384398

Hey Joe,

You found a 52" roof-mounted light bar ineffective?? Wow, I'm incredibly surprised. I've found the complete opposite to be true in my travels. In fact, it's been one of the most important pieces of safety equipment on the van. This is from my G-Wagen, but still gives some idea of light from the Rigid 50";

 

[DzlToy]

Baja Designs makes an excellent light bar, so I can only assume that your 52" bar was not one of theirs. LED light bars are certainly a place where it pays to buy quality. A high CRI index LED light bar from a company such as Baja Designs, simply cannot be compared to a $100 Chinese light from eBay. A curved bar will produce less light than a straight bar, but a 50" Baja Designs OnX Series produces approximately 37,000 Lumens. Your crappy LED flashlight in your kitchen drawer produces 100 lumens if you are lucky. I don't care what the eBay ad said.

Not know what bar you had, I can propose three possibilities:

1) cheap POS light bar, over advertised, low CRI

2) not connected or installed properly

3) light was damaged or not functioning properly.

Having installed a Baja 50" light bar, I can assure you that 37,000 Lumens and "ineffective" do not go in the same sentence together. They are blindingly bright.

Retail cost on that bar is $1700 because it is made in the USA from the best materials and components. Slapping "CREE" on a cheap eBay light bar doesn't make it comparable. LED's are binned and tiered. Additionally the cheap bars have a terrible CRI.

 

[mk216v]

For reference, my Rigid E1 50" "combo" above is 23,000 lumens;
http://www.rigidindustries.com/led-lighting/150312

 

[ujoint]

You send a lot of vans to paint, what is the (approximate) going rate for a color change on a full size van?

Every van is different but we average 5-5500 in labor for a complete color swap plus material.

 

[mk216v]

Every van is different but we average 5-5500 in labor for a complete color swap plus material.

Whoa that's damn fair! That's body off, painting engine bay/jambs/etc?

 

[villageidiot327]

Whoa that's damn fair! That's body off, painting engine bay/jambs/etc?

doubt thats body off/engine bay, but id say jambs and exterior for sure.

 

[ujoint]

Whoa that's damn fair! That's body off, painting engine bay/jambs/etc?

doubt thats body off/engine bay, but id say jambs and exterior for sure.

Yea, no body off but yes on the jambs.

 

[stormlover]

Baja Designs makes an excellent light bar, so I can only assume that your 52" bar was not one of theirs. LED light bars are certainly a place where it pays to buy quality. A high CRI index LED light bar from a company such as Baja Designs, simply cannot be compared to a $100 Chinese light from eBay. A curved bar will produce less light than a straight bar, but a 50" Baja Designs OnX Series produces approximately 37,000 Lumens. Your crappy LED flashlight in your kitchen drawer produces 100 lumens if you are lucky. I don't care what the eBay ad said.

Not know what bar you had, I can propose three possibilities:

1) cheap POS light bar, over advertised, low CRI

2) not connected or installed properly

3) light was damaged or not functioning properly.

Having installed a Baja 50" light bar, I can assure you that 37,000 Lumens and "ineffective" do not go in the same sentence together. They are blindingly bright.

Retail cost on that bar is $1700 because it is made in the USA from the best materials and components. Slapping "CREE" on a cheap eBay light bar doesn't make it comparable. LED's are binned and tiered. Additionally the cheap bars have a terrible CRI.

The one I tried was from Inspired Engineering. From what I could tell it fell somewhere in the middle on quality. Not a cheap Chinese bar but decent with Osram LEDs. http://www.inspired-engineering.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=IE-5000C

Perhaps "ineffective" isn't the right word. I couldn't find a rain gutter or A pillar mount that I liked and what I fabbed with help from a welding buddy didn't pan out too good either. But I installed it for awhile and it was noisy with noticeable glare off the hood. Perhaps mounted a bit higher on a roof rack on the penthouse would have been the trick but I've got a solar panel there.


Anyhow, in the end it came down to what I needed it for besides the "look" per say. I'm not driving off road at 80 mph so don't really need a pencil spot. My main need was for finding a campsite late at night with tired eyes. With the stock lights I couldn't see **** especially when turning. The HID upgrade from Redoval is ok for midfield and near field lighting but the high beams are awesome. So, that serves as my flood and the Baja XL80s in a driving combo are pretty sick for illuminating the distance I need to react to animals on the side of the road with good braking and reaction time . They pack a punch with 9,500 Lumens each and the wiring is rated for submersion as well. I was impressed with the quality as soon as I held one in my hand.



Basically what it boiled down to is what I needed was a light setup with a good flood for turning/situational awareness on the trail. For peripheral fill and spread I added a flush mount LED in either side of the Aluminess bumper.



I'll make anyone interested in the 50" curved bar from Inspired a smoking deal! Sorry Chris for the thread hijack but figured but the ujoint thread is the go-to for info and feedback. cheers!