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Rear Suspension Rebuild

44K views 83 replies 11 participants last post by  AlvinNJ 
#1 · (Edited)
Fun Stuff... Yesterday I ordered a pair of Radflo from PRG and a pair of non-Tow springs from NAPA. Someone on here said that NAPA discontinued the springs but the counter guy told me they show stocked in some central warehouses. If they don't come in for some reason, a dealership will sell me OEM springs for $20 more, so no big deal. It floors me that the stupid things are costing $180/pair after negotiating, springs just shouldn't be that expensive. Dealership full retail price was something like $140/ea, that's just stupid rediculous, IMHO.

After I get a good look at the springs, I will be looking at Air-Lift -vs- Firestone -vs- anything else for the helper springs. I am planning to powdercoat the coil springs anyway so there will be no rush.

The secondary pair of Radflo that I am wanting still have too much lead time to mess with right now so I'll just mess with them later. To prevent confusion for anyone who's new to the site reading this, I have 4-shocks in the rear for a total of 6-shocks on the vehicle.

Updated:
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Details: http://www.clubarmada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23224&page=4


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Final Result:


Here's a couple videos of the ride. The background noise is my Dog panting:

http://s204.photobucket.com/user/Po...B87-164-0000000903EAD5EC_zps939ada07.mp4.html

http://s204.photobucket.com/user/PopsRacer/media/Lifted%20Armada/0E8FB470-391E-4D81-A626-3F8E43C49AE8-164-0000000BEDBFE8D0_zpsf7fea305.mp4.html


I added Timbren Bumpstops Part# NRARM then towed my trailer 30 miles to storage yesterday. I was skeptical when installing these but then pleasantly surprised when I towed with them. These were the secret ingredient. The AirLift 1000 bags are so weak even at their full PSI that I found I was actually still riding on full bumpstops when towing. These Timbren do very well at picking up the slack. Here's a link and pics, the rear squat when towing is at pretty much the same level as it was with the OEM Air-Shocks:

http://www.stengelbros.net/NRARM_p_1564.html

They look like this:




Unhitched:






Hitched up using the Timbrens:



 
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#3 ·
Bob,

are you not going to get the coil overs that Greg is working on?

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#4 ·
No, I don't have time to wait... This thing rides so bad that I cannot even take it hunting right now and rifle season is almost over. I have a crossbow on order from Dick's Sporting Goods and I would like to tag a few more deer before the season is over.
 
#5 ·
Another option that I didn't see you list which would also take care of the rear springs is the air-bag-it system. if I remember correctly it deletes the rear springs and you can have them set it up for lifted applications. I believe it would require welding though so returning to stock in the future might be a tad tough with this option.

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#7 ·
Yes....... the answer to your question Richard is yes. haha:D;)
 
#10 ·
That's good info to know about Air-Bag-It. Thanks for the share Bob. Have you found many other air helper spring options for us other than Firestone or Airlift? Out of the two I'm leaning toward the Firestones for when I get everything the way I want it.

Has Greg said anything about an ETA on the Radflo replacements for ProComp shocks? Prices?
 
#11 ·
Not really..... The Firestone seem to be more popular and better post-sale supported. It would be a no brainer if they weren't that gay-blue color and smack in your face obvious under the lift kit. I'm trying to keep everything Red so it will be Air-Lift, IF the NAPA coils are wound tight enough to support them well enough.
 
#12 ·
I wonder if the firestones could be painted somehow....
 
#14 ·
Then I guess cross fingers and hope Napa springs will be wound tight enough. :)

I agree with you on that the Firestone blue will throw the colors of your rig completely off. It would look more than a little odd with nearly everything red and black then two blue air bags tucked in under the back.
 
#15 ·
Radflos arrived today, picked up the springs from NAPA. I'll dropoff the springs for powdercoating in the morning. Now I need to order the helper springs. Anyone know where to get a steal deal on the Air-Lift 1000 bags??
 
#16 ·
tried Ebay or amazon?
 
#18 ·
#19 · (Edited)
They are special for the Armada Rear, not shown on the site but he has several pairs in stock.

Stupid JC Whitney promo code didn't work but it looks like they can still ship faster than Amazon so I went through with ordering from them.
 
#20 ·
Hey Pops,

What was the part # for the Napa springs?
 
#21 ·
I don't know, but there is only one part #. They were shipped from a "Brake Parts Inc." in California, I think maybe from Chowchilla??

I dropped them off for powdercoating this morning with the box and the box has the labels on it. They are supposed to be ready to pickup on Thursday so I'll see if the box is still there on Thursday. I would stop by and check but the Powdercoat shop is in another town over 20 miles away.
 
#22 ·
No worries Bob. :) I was going to stop by local napa store and price them out... I think my stock le ones are too soft and possibly worn out. :/

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#23 ·
Here the OEM were priced at $180 something per pair and I paid around $140 for these then $45 for powdercoating. The paint is terrible, it is the electronic fusion paint but there was quite a bit of bare steel exposed when I opened the box, not very impressive IMHO.
 
#24 ·
Rear Springs

Hey Pops...

I was looking into getting the rear springs from NAPA here in Canada but they weren't available anywhere... They would have to be shipped up from the States at a extra cost.

After doing some research I came to the conclusion that the OEM springs from a 2004/2005 SE 4X4 Armada without self leveling (17" wheels) would give some extra height and possibly a stiffer "ride" in the rear. Have you heard about this? When it comes down to price, I could get both springs around $180.
 
#25 ·
Hey Pops...

I was looking into getting the rear springs from NAPA here in Canada but they weren't available anywhere... They would have to be shipped up from the States at a extra cost.

After doing some research I came to the conclusion that the OEM springs from a 2004/2005 SE 4X4 Armada without self leveling (17" wheels) would give some extra height and possibly a stiffer "ride" in the rear. Have you heard about this? When it comes down to price, I could get both springs around $180.
Yeah, that's essentially what the NAPA springs essentially are.

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#28 ·
Keel us posted and don't forget to take lots of pics :D


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#30 ·
Just looking for some clarification on this. Are the nontow springs heavier than the springs that are associated with the tow package? I may be looking into this myself here real soon. The place I work has an account with Napa so there is a pretty good discount available to us.

When I change the springs I will invert my airbags so the nipple comes out the top instead.
 
#32 ·
Here's progress so far... Somehow I managed to break the handle off of my floor jack... I have a 200-lbs dresser loaded inside the Armada because it was raining too hard for me to unload it and carry it upstairs, apparantly my poor floor jack couldn't handle the extra weight. Guess I'll have to pick up a stronger one tomorrow.

If you count the coils you'll see that there is 1-extra coil in the non-Tow spring and they are wrapped just a tad bit tighter.






 
#33 · (Edited)
Picked up a floorjack from Sears going out of business sale, it was like $40, fair enough I guess...

One side finished, one to go.... The shocks are a bit shorter than I expected... I'll wait to see the final stance before saying anything but I am questioning if they might need to be exchanged for longer ones.





 
#34 ·
Looks like you have a set of ranchos for the second set?

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