Coil Nut Spacer Mod

I used 2000 Chevy Tracker 4cyl front coils on my 1997 Geo Tracker. Using coils that lift the front, you will notice the control arm spring perch becomes a worse angle. Combined with the Hagen widening mod, my lower spring perch needed some re-adjusting. I used a couple of nuts to create a solid spacer and then welded it to the control arm.



I put the nut spacer right next to the control arm drain hole to make sure the placement was exact on both sides.

Hagen Widening Mod Follow-up

After doing the Hagen Widening Mod, I noticed my bump stop towers was touching the springs!



Using a cutting wheel I cut 3/4 of the way around the tower and used a hammer and jack to close the gap on one side, then I welded it.



Closing the bump stop tower gap.



After the tower has been welded and painted I tried putting the spring back in place and put the control arm under weight. Now the tower doesn't touch!

Finally have my rig back on all 4 wheels..

So I still have strut adjusting and steering caster to do, but I was able to roll it out of the garage finally after a month of working on it off and on.





I'm making progress but still have a ways to go.

Lifted Geo Tracker with 2003 Jeep Liberty (6cyl) Front Springs and 97 accord rear springs. Just trying on a different spring setup. I was thinking the jeep coils would be stiffer, but they are actually softer than the 2000 Vitara coils I had on there previously.





I wonder if this angle is going to kill my CV's. Time to do a droop test.

Your sidekick looks awesome. I wonder if the front springs had something to do with linear vs progressive coils? They definitely feel differently offroad.

I wouldn't have guessed the jeep coils were softer or lighter rated. That's awesome it worked well for ya.


Do your springs bow out at all? Or are they straight in the perch?

Your sidekick looks awesome. I wonder if the front springs had something to do with linear vs progressive coils? They definitely feel differently offroad.

I wouldn't have guessed the jeep coils were softer or lighter rated. That's awesome it worked well for ya.


Do your springs bow out at all? Or are they straight in the perch?

Thanks! The Jeep Liberty coils are rated at 383ppi vs the stock geo springs at 500ppi, I still need to do an offroad test to see if they bottom out too easily.. The springs bow a little bit, but not much with the welded nut spacer I put in there. I will need to cut and weld the towers again because the bowed spring is barely touching again and makes a rubbing sound. More details to come this week. I will also confirm the cv angles are going to work.

Nice build!  You are going a similar direction as I am, CHEAP!  I have the 4 cyl Gen 2 Tracker springs on the front of my rig.  I am parting out an 03 XL7, so I am going to try those springs.  I have a front bumper I built on it, but I am wanting to build another that will be heavier, so I am thinking I may need the heavier rate XL7 springs.

Since I added the liberty springs, I decided to put a little more curve on the front bump stops.

Here is a better picture of the nut spacer in place

The more I play with the front end suspension, the more I realize you shouldn't try to push the limit with coil height. These Jeep Liberty coils are lifting it more than 3in.
3 inches should be the max you go for when lifting with coils due to cv angles. Once you try 4in lift coils or any higher you will have a hard time rotating the arm to set the spring into the groove.

So I cut one half coil off the springs and the result was the same lift height. I think this has something to do with where the cut coil ends rest on top. I went out to test the cv angle and flex. No binding and good flex!
I think I'll cut another half coil off and see how much that drops it.

My goal for fender height is 35.0in in Front and 35.5 in the back. My current Measurements are 35.75in in Front and 34.25 in the back.





Looks Like I need to do some trimming on the back.

Looks good.  We have cut the lower spring pads and angled them to help reduce some of that bend when at ride height.

I had my front end apart working on the alignment for the forth time adjusting the regal top slot holes... I noticed that when I turned the wheel hard it actually pushed on the passenger CV, the steering became stiffer, and the diff moved 3/16in. So I cut off the flange from the stubby and sliced off a little more and re-welded... problem solved. In the end I had to grind the head of one of the bolts for clearance. Nothing like doing a job twice..

I had my front end apart working on the alignment for the forth time adjusting the regal top slot holes... I noticed that when I turned the wheel hard it actually pushed on the passenger CV, the steering became stiffer, and the diff moved 3/16in. So I cut off the flange from the stubby and sliced off a little more and re-welded... problem solved. In the end I had to grind the head of one of the bolts for clearance. Nothing like doing a job twice..

I switched to using round headed bolts with a hex head. 

Some other front springs to try might be Ranger or Trailblazer front ones. I have heard good things about that.

Some other front springs to try might be Ranger or Trailblazer front ones. I have heard good things about that.

I have heard bad things about ranger coils, like they are too large of an opening and don't seat right.

Besides, I absolutely love these liberty coils on the front of this tracker. They ride so soft and are perfect for wheeling.