Could someone measure their Series front suspension for me?

[dfritter]

So, I woke up and thought to my newly 24-year-old self, "Gee, older self, how about we start the day off right and put in those Pro Comp's you got for christmas... it shouldn't take long!"

And after putting one of the fronts on I gave up. Basically my problem is this: the damn shock is bottomed out the second I install it. It compresses just enough to get onto the two pins, but when you settle the thing back onto the ground, it has absolutely zero suspension travel.

Now, the problem I have is this: I either have the wrong shocks, or my springs are totally and completely screwed. Neither are old; the springs came out of their original wrappers to go on just a few months ago, and the shocks were brand new. The springs are RM Para's, and are already fucked (if you'll excuse my french, I have nothing but pure hatred and loathing for those damn springs, since they've been nothing but trouble) as the thing sits with a ridiculous lean that's now nearing 2 inches.

The shocks came from Rovers North, and the boxes say they are series shocks, but the part numbers on the bodies don't match up with Pro Comp's chart for 88" ES9000 shocks. Furthermore, Rovers North now only appears to sell ES3000's for Series trucks.

So, I measured the distance between the framerail (not the bumpstop... because I don't have them) and the axle, and came up with 4.5" inches. Could someone with a Series truck that sits properly and whatnot take that measurement off their truck, since it should tell me what's wrong?

PS: No, the springs haven't been flattened, the damn thing hasn't even been off road with them on, and yes, the frame is square; not that that would affect this problem much.

[ANDYD]

Well, Happy Birthday,

Sounds like you are having a challenging one!
Have you called Rover North to see if they can confirm you have the correct shocks? (part numbers).
The way you describe doesn't sound right, there should be resistance both up and down on the shock so I would presume you should sit about mid-way through the shocks travel?
Before you lose all hope, sounds like we need to have a club "meeting" at your truck to figure out whats going on with your RM springs.
Where are you located? (not shown on your profile?).
We have a gathering on Sunday for a local run, if no one has replied to your dimension request by then I will measure one of the series trucks for you.
The one shock you did install was that on the low side (leaning) of your truck or the higher side?
Cheers,
Andy

[shawn doherty]

My 109 measures 4.5" from the axel to the frame rail in the rear and a little less up front. I have stock springs.

[seapotato]

even if your springs are pooched, the shocks should still have a bit of uptravel.

if the axle is hitting the bumpstops ( and I assume series trucks have some sort of bumpstop from the factory) there should be a bit of room left for the bumpstop to compress.


So, what you do is, jack the truck up, jump on the tire to get as much droop as possible on the axle, measure that pin to pin length, then stuff the tire hard against the bumpstop, and measure that.

you want a shock that encompasses those measurements with a bit to spare in each direction, so the shock doesn't act as a bumpstop.


Other peoples measurements wont' be as good as your own. 8)

[dfritter]

Thanks for the help guys, Rovers North sent me shocks for something else entirely, although the boxes were marked Series IIA/III.

As for the lean, I'm reverting to my original diagnosis of a bum temper in one of the left rear leafs.

I'm getting them all recurved at Abby Spring on tuesday to sort out the lean, with an additional 1" of curve put in. Also, I'm hoping they can wrap them tighter, as the front wraps are actually hitting inside the frame bushing on the front horns, otherwise I'll have no choice but to go with dropped spring hangers/military shackles as well.

That said, I'm replacing all the suspension hardware at the same time since my front end seems to be binding a bit more than I'd like.

Again, thanks!

PS: I'm in Tsawwassen, up the hill from Bill!

[ANDYD]

Sounds like you are taking the best route, getting it sorted from the base up and covering all the angles!

Good luck and let us know how it go's .... hopefully we will see you and your truck out on the trails this summer!

cheers,
Andy

[dfritter]

Oh you definitely will be seeing it around; once this semester's over I'll be working on the Rover full time for a couple weeks to get everything sorted out properly before I take it out and about! I really wish I could've made it to Hale today, but alas... with the birthday party I endured last night, just driving the Rover from Cloverdale to Tsawwassen this morning was a test of endurance (and Motrin's ability to quell a self-induced headache).

[DaveB]

Don't know if you need this anymore, but the ProComp ES3000 numbers that fit correctly on my series truck were 318546 & 321546. I can't recall which were front and which were back...

Dave