anyone with 4 link and coilovers on s10?

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Wiz_kid53
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anyone with 4 link and coilovers on s10?

Post by Wiz_kid53 »

im in the process of putting a 12 bolt under my 86 s10 and I was wondering what spring rates and overall travel people are running on their trucks.
a buddy of mine that does mud trucks is building my 4 link and hes thinking 6" of travel will be fine but doesn't know where to start spring rate wise
the truck has a sbc and a th350 under it and makes roughly 550hp at the crank n/a and will be primarily street driven with a few track days a year and probably a lot of street racing
ive done a lot of searching online and cant seem to come up with any solid info on the subject, no real specifics on travel, angle, lb/in rates, nothing! everything I can find is about front coilovers. am I missing something or is everyone tight-lipped about their suspension set ups?
406shark
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Re: anyone with 4 link and coilovers on s10?

Post by 406shark »

Wiz_kid53 wrote:im in the process of putting a 12 bolt under my 86 s10 and I was wondering what spring rates and overall travel people are running on their trucks.
a buddy of mine that does mud trucks is building my 4 link and hes thinking 6" of travel will be fine but doesn't know where to start spring rate wise
the truck has a sbc and a th350 under it and makes roughly 550hp at the crank n/a and will be primarily street driven with a few track days a year and probably a lot of street racing
ive done a lot of searching online and cant seem to come up with any solid info on the subject, no real specifics on travel, angle, lb/in rates, nothing! everything I can find is about front coilovers. am I missing something or is everyone tight-lipped about their suspension set ups?

I run Strange DA rear coil-over setup on mine.

I run part number S5006A which uses a 12" spring. If you have the room under your truck you could try a S5007A which uses a 14" spring.

You want to mount your rear shocks as close to vertical as possible.

With running a 4 link and coil-overs you don't really need a ton of travel in the back. My S5006A has about 5.5" of travel, and I've never come close to using it.

You need to determine where you're going to mount the shocks... see what the measurement is at ride height... then buy shocks that have an installed height that will work for you.

The coil-spring rate is based on your rear weight of the truck ready to race. Almost every S-10 pickup with a stock bed and rear mounted battery that I've seen uses a 110# rear spring.

I run a 85# rear spring on mine... but my rear weight is only 943 pounds. Much much lighter than most. I run a CM round tube chassis, fiberglass bedsides, one very small and light weight battery near the back of the cab, a 5 gallon fuel cell... and that's about it.




Jeff
Wiz_kid53
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Re: anyone with 4 link and coilovers on s10?

Post by Wiz_kid53 »

Thank you, I'll look into all of that. what would be the benefit of going with a 14 inch spring over 12 inch? Chassis set up is my next learning hurdle lol
406shark
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Re: anyone with 4 link and coilovers on s10?

Post by 406shark »

Wiz_kid53 wrote:Thank you, I'll look into all of that. what would be the benefit of going with a 14 inch spring over 12 inch? Chassis set up is my next learning hurdle lol

The longer shock that uses the 14" spring allows for 1" more travel.

There isn't much room under the bed of a S-10, or most stock floor cars... makes it hard to properly fit the longer shock body for the 14" springs.

Have you already installed the 4 link? If so, figure out where you can place the upper shock mount bar... then measure where the different shocks would fit attached to the lower shock mount locations. If your 4 link setup has adjustable lower shock mounts I'd measure from the center hole of them... then measure up the shock manufacturers "recommended installed ride height" to find out where to place the upper shock mount bar. That will allow you to change either up or down to fine tune based on desired ride height... or different tire diameter.

If you're still building your setup, buy a couple chunks of steel and drill holes that would measure out at the installed ride height. Then install the bars you made to mock the rear in place. Once everything is done, all you have to do install your shocks.



Jeff
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Re: anyone with 4 link and coilovers on s10?

Post by Wiz_kid53 »

we still haven't put the 4 link on yet, its currently still a bunch of parts laying on the floor. thank you for all your help, Jeff! I really appreciate it!
Wiz_kid53
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Re: anyone with 4 link and coilovers on s10?

Post by Wiz_kid53 »

since we haven't started fabbing anything yet Im going to order the 14" shocks and we can make them fit since we will be making the brackets either way, worst case scenario they might need a little angle but I can compensate with a heavier rate spring depending on how much angle, unless im missing something, seems pretty straight forward to me though
406shark
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Re: anyone with 4 link and coilovers on s10?

Post by 406shark »

Wiz_kid53 wrote:since we haven't started fabbing anything yet Im going to order the 14" shocks and we can make them fit since we will be making the brackets either way, worst case scenario they might need a little angle but I can compensate with a heavier rate spring depending on how much angle, unless im missing something, seems pretty straight forward to me though

Do yourself a favor and order double adjustable shocks. It's cheaper to buy the right part the first time. ;)



Jeff
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Re: anyone with 4 link and coilovers on s10?

Post by af2 »

406shark wrote:
Wiz_kid53 wrote:since we haven't started fabbing anything yet Im going to order the 14" shocks and we can make them fit since we will be making the brackets either way, worst case scenario they might need a little angle but I can compensate with a heavier rate spring depending on how much angle, unless im missing something, seems pretty straight forward to me though

Do yourself a favor and order double adjustable shocks. It's cheaper to buy the right part the first time. ;)



Jeff
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