I am building a street legal 4 seat rail (Gotta haul grand-kids ). I have toyed with the idea of using coil only on the rear and doing away with the torsion bar set up. I have 3X3's on the rear with disc brakes W/Emergency and Type 1 IRS Tranny. Engine is an 1835. Very little off road except maybe to a favorite secret fishing hole. I built my grandson a street Baja and got bit by the bug again after many years, time for MY OWN toy.
This rail will be mostly show and go, but I want it to handle on the street. What type of rates would I use if I go with the coil over. I used Adam Werks 3 inch lift spring kit on the my Grandsons Baja (With help from this site) That he is enjoying more than the law allows (Couple of speeding tickets already!) but had a bad experience with the owner (3 month delivery wrong parts) and WILL NOT deal with him or his attitude again. He does make an excellent product if you can put up with the wait and the attitude. But I would like to raise the rear up, not stock. Believe I can accomplish this with the coil overs.

Go coil over if you can afford it. Spring rates will be determined by the weight on the rear of the car. Engine, trans, fuel cell, occupants etc...

Since you are doing mild off roading in it you could still go torsion bar. It is just that coil overs offer a much nicer ride and allow great speeds in the rough stuff vs a torsion type rear suspension.

It is just a question of $$$$.

Seems I never have enough of that $$$. My take home pay just barley takes me home! But thanks for the advice. I am going to try the COIL over route. Would you or anyone else know of a shock company, off road house, person or anyone that can help me with the selection? I do not have a clue where to begin on selecting the length, rate, Rebound all that is Greek to me. The frame is no where near ready so I really can't weigh it, But I cant put it together without the "STUFF" so I am sorta caught between a Flat Rock and a flat tire! I did call a company out in Calif an Off Road Supply house, (Don't remember the company name) for assistance on selecting shocks and the young man that was helping me didn't know the difference between a bus driver or a screw driver. I knew more than he did and I don't know nut'en 'bout them. Sorta scared me A LOT!

Coils is the way to go and more than likely will be my next upgrade on my baja. I'm not sure what is going on in the rear torsion housing but my car has a bad lean to one side now. Might of striped the splines or something like that. Have not had time to open it up and look with the house construction going on.

Thanks I am already headed that way. Only problem is my piggy bank is empty and life keeps getting in the way! Good thing I m not in any real big hurry. When I get to a point that is worthy of pictures I will post them. My Biggest challenge now is determining what shocks length, rate, brand, all that good stuff.

What cv's are ya running? You can put a 12" c/o on it but with type1 cv's you won't need more the 8-10" of travel out of it. If you have type2 you can get it to cycle 12 ish. I think for what yor doing the 3x3's help to tame the torsion and if you ad a pair of ranchio 9000 that have some dampening adjustment you could dial it in nicely. Also more pocket friendly

If you going to go coil over now is the time I found a set of fox coil overs on CL had Lee at Race Shock rebuild and revalve them have $500 invested. A set of new 28 mm bars and used Fox shocks rebuilt and revalved run about the same. Watch my videos, mine rides good. Watch Dalton's rail vids. I have sat on his cooler video taping on Boulder Mountain while he is driving. It is like riding in a Cadillac.

perrib wrote:

If you going to go coil over now is the time I found a set of fox coil overs on CL had Lee at Race Shock rebuild and revalve them have $500 invested. A set of new 28 mm bars and used Fox shocks rebuilt and revalved run about the same. Watch my videos, mine rides good. Watch Dalton's rail vids. I have sat on his cooler video taping on Boulder Mountain while he is driving. It is like riding in a Cadillac.

"Boulder Mountain" I don't know if that is the real name but the road was full of boulders.. next time we need to go early with a strap and some winches to see if we can make the road passable again. I still have not banged out the dents .

Perri... Got the car back up... Kenny and I are looking to do some riding..

.
Go with what you can afford. Too many people have great ideas of what they want and never finish the project due to funds. Although coil over suspensions are great, if it takes you three years to afford the build, you are better off going torsion and enjoying your finished project rather than looking at it in the garage.

To many projects listed on craigslist with the title "no time or money to finish".

Exactly^^^^^^^^im helping a guy that tore his car apart 3yrs ago put the same stuff right back on

I have not read this thread yet ...

Here is what I tell people with any project.

"keep it drivable... when you have money, buy the parts ... when you have enough parts saved up, perform the upgrade. "

If you take the car down you might loose interest in the project.

drive the car ez until upgrades allow for more speed or your upgrade money will go for repairs.

^^^^^ This is great advice.

I went this route with my Thing and have enjoyed many miles of fun because of it. I have "plans" for upgrades but until time and my wallet allow it I still get to cruise the Thing instead of looking at it month after month dead in the yard.

Great post Dalton.

oops, double tap.