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Making coil spacers

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Offline chet

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Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #15 on: March 30, 2005, 05:55:52 AM »
I have 1.5" of good quality plywood under the front. Not aproblem at all. it has compressed a small amount but no big deal.

I have steel cherokee spacers in the rear.
1991 4 door kick, 2" coil spacers, 30" Coopers, winch, locker, rust, dents, etc.

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Offline Digger

  • 1991
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  • Gender: Male
  • 1996 Suzuki X-90 4X4
Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #16 on: March 30, 2005, 06:56:12 AM »
What did you do to hold your isolators in place to keep them from sliding around on the bump stop?
Had a cool sig pic till I changed the text... sigh...
90 Tracker: "Silver", 2" BL, 1-1/2" Coil Spacers, Strut mount flip, Calmini Header, Winch, 31" Swamper radials, Sold.
98 Suzuki X-90: Calmini 2" Sus, 1-1/4" whl spcrs, 2" Exhaust, Cobra Safari Bar, Neon, Sold.
96 Suzuki X-90: Mostly stock daily driver(for now)

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Offline madvitara

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Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #17 on: March 30, 2005, 07:22:42 AM »
the plywood spacers i made lasted over a year, i only took them out when i sold the car, they where still great shape, i would do it again

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Offline 3wheelerdude

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Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #18 on: March 30, 2005, 12:38:11 PM »
Does anyone have pics and sizes for all 4 spacers. I think im gonna give a try at the plywood spacers. They kinda fit better n my budget  ;D, or even better I got plenty of thick rubber mats they use in barns for cows to walk on......should do the trick.
2000 Mustang
1996 Sidekick
1989 Tempo
1987 F150

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Offline Digger

  • 1991
  • 1
  • Gender: Male
  • 1996 Suzuki X-90 4X4
Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #19 on: March 30, 2005, 03:21:45 PM »
I now have 8 spacers made up. They are 4-1/8" outside diameter, 2-1/2" inside diameter and 1-1/2" thick. All I need to do is round the inside upper edge to sit all the way up in the spring cup around the bump stop and they're done. This material is pretty tought stuff, but was pretty much a dump find. I have enough to make several more spacers...

Anyway, I took a scrap piece of this stuff and pounded on it with a hammer. It didn't even get marked. Then to test it even further, I took the same scrap, froze it then tried to crush it in a vise. Not even a mark. Then I smacked it with a hammer while it was still under pressure and frozen in the vise and still nothing happened. Determined to make a mark, it finally took nailing it hard with the rounded end of a large ball-peen hammer against a cement floor to leave a slight rounded impression in the scrap. Tough stuff!

I think I might try to use a piece of radiator hose slipped over the bump stop, between it and the isolator to keep the isolator and the top of the coil from sliding around. I will keep you all posted on what I finally do when I mount them up.

Is anyone interested in buying a set of these(to help me recover some of the cost of the tools to make them)? PM me if so.

Anyone that used Jeep TJ spacers or has access to them, what are the inner and outer dimensions of them before you bored them out to fit the Track/Kick? I have a Jeep ZJ and TJ spacers fit it as well. I figured I could make a set for it, too, while I'm cutting them out...

Pics:



There's one of the pieces of the material under the spacers. Also pictured are the hole-saws I used and the rear spring isolator from the Tracker.
« Last Edit: March 30, 2005, 03:42:35 PM by Digger »
Had a cool sig pic till I changed the text... sigh...
90 Tracker: "Silver", 2" BL, 1-1/2" Coil Spacers, Strut mount flip, Calmini Header, Winch, 31" Swamper radials, Sold.
98 Suzuki X-90: Calmini 2" Sus, 1-1/4" whl spcrs, 2" Exhaust, Cobra Safari Bar, Neon, Sold.
96 Suzuki X-90: Mostly stock daily driver(for now)

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Offline clunk

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Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #20 on: March 30, 2005, 04:19:56 PM »
I'm determined to find the material to make my own... so far I have not been able to find any material 2 inches thick(I'd like 2" spacers)...Ive thought about JB welding 2 1 inch pieces together and cutthing them out that way..who knows.
those look great! I'm sure you'll have no troubles selling a few sets!

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Offline 3wheelerdude

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Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #21 on: March 30, 2005, 11:28:27 PM »
Digger, where you from?
2000 Mustang
1996 Sidekick
1989 Tempo
1987 F150

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Offline 3wheelerdude

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Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #22 on: March 31, 2005, 01:17:01 PM »
So how exactly will you place the spacers?? between the coil and rubber or between the rubber and the mount? and will you need to flip the mounts? longer bolts??  Wow this is alot of questions..... :-/
2000 Mustang
1996 Sidekick
1989 Tempo
1987 F150

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Offline 37kicker

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  • 97 tracker 9inch front and rear on 40" pitbulls
Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #23 on: March 31, 2005, 02:03:03 PM »
i use a plastic called uhmw 4.5in round and cut to thickness desired drill out center and shape top to fit in upper spring cup i also have these for sale plus have strut spacers avalable if interested contact me

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Offline Digger

  • 1991
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  • Gender: Male
  • 1996 Suzuki X-90 4X4
Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #24 on: March 31, 2005, 11:42:01 PM »
I'm in southwestern PA near seven springs ski resort.

These spacers go on top of the coil isolator, between the rubber isolator and the upper spring cup. The front strut mount should at least be flipped or a spacer added to make up for the added height and I'm planning on using longer rear shocks. No longer bolts needed unless you're adding an upper front strut mount spacer...
Had a cool sig pic till I changed the text... sigh...
90 Tracker: "Silver", 2" BL, 1-1/2" Coil Spacers, Strut mount flip, Calmini Header, Winch, 31" Swamper radials, Sold.
98 Suzuki X-90: Calmini 2" Sus, 1-1/4" whl spcrs, 2" Exhaust, Cobra Safari Bar, Neon, Sold.
96 Suzuki X-90: Mostly stock daily driver(for now)

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Offline Digger

  • 1991
  • 1
  • Gender: Male
  • 1996 Suzuki X-90 4X4
Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #25 on: April 01, 2005, 06:11:27 PM »
Well, the radiator hose idea worked perfectly to hold the isolator in place and keep the top of the coil from sliding around. I just got a chunk of 2-1/2" outside diameter coolant hose and cut it into 1" long rings which I slid over the bumpstop after the spacer was in place. Then I just slid the isolator over the hose section and re-installed the spring. I also found out tonight that '91 Crown Victoria shocks are almost exactly 1-1/2" longer than stock Tracker shocks, mount up exactly the same way and are cheaper than Tracker shocks. They would appear to be the perfect replacement when adding 1-1/2" coil spacers...
Had a cool sig pic till I changed the text... sigh...
90 Tracker: "Silver", 2" BL, 1-1/2" Coil Spacers, Strut mount flip, Calmini Header, Winch, 31" Swamper radials, Sold.
98 Suzuki X-90: Calmini 2" Sus, 1-1/4" whl spcrs, 2" Exhaust, Cobra Safari Bar, Neon, Sold.
96 Suzuki X-90: Mostly stock daily driver(for now)

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Offline jo-jo

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Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #26 on: April 07, 2005, 03:46:59 PM »
Quote
I have 1.5" of good quality plywood under the front. Not aproblem at all. it has compressed a small amount but no big deal.

I have steel cherokee spacers in the rear.


This is funny Chet...I was walking around the shop this morning trying to find something to make some spacers out of.

I looked all over for something that would be low hassle, and I was thinking to myself, "I wonder if we have any hard wood around here".

Then I did a search for spacer demensions (again), and your post pops up. lol

You are soooooo getting hassled, just wait until I tell the gang!  :P

Anyway, I ended up settling on the mystery material. Not sure what this stuff is, but it appears to have decent properties. These spacers are going on someone else's truck, and they only use it for going skiing and lakes off of mainlines.



UHMW is a pretty good choice for material. It is tuff, lasts in the elements, and is realitively cheap.

PVC machines well, and is pretty tuff, but more brittle and breaks down pretty quick under UV rays.

Delrin is a dream to machine, but its pricey.

I made a set out of PVC sheet. Rough cut the circles and then trued and bored them in the lathe. Those ones will be going on my Tracker as a temporary measure until I do SAS and all that jazz.

The ones above machined nice. Cut them in a cut-off bandsaw, faced, bored, and then I chamfered one side because I wasn't sure what the top of the bumpstop looks like, but I figured there would be a bevel of some sort there...probably a weld bead.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2005, 03:47:36 PM by jo-jo »

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Offline Digger

  • 1991
  • 1
  • Gender: Male
  • 1996 Suzuki X-90 4X4
Re: Making coil spacers
« Reply #27 on: April 07, 2005, 04:23:13 PM »
I just cut out another batch tonight. The spring cup is a stamped piece with the bump stop perch stamped out of the spring cup, so there is a slight radius at the base of the bump stop perch. This requires a little bit of a chamfer to the upper inside edge of the spacer to allow the spacer to seat all the way up into the spring cup. The ones you cut in look more than adequate. :) Don't forget to make up something for the rear isolators to keep them from sliding around on the tapered bump stops. Look above for the rad-hose collars I made to fill in the space...


Everyone: I have these for sale in the garage sale forum, mainly just to recoup some of the money I had to spend on the tools to make them. If you are thinking about adding spacers to your Track/Kick, shoot me a PM and we'll work something out, ok? I need help keeping my budget build in the budget! LOL!!! ;)
Had a cool sig pic till I changed the text... sigh...
90 Tracker: "Silver", 2" BL, 1-1/2" Coil Spacers, Strut mount flip, Calmini Header, Winch, 31" Swamper radials, Sold.
98 Suzuki X-90: Calmini 2" Sus, 1-1/4" whl spcrs, 2" Exhaust, Cobra Safari Bar, Neon, Sold.
96 Suzuki X-90: Mostly stock daily driver(for now)