Hello, I have a coilover shock question. I just sas my 03 xterra w/ a 78' bronco axle. No kit all fab. I have 21-23" from eye-let to eye-let (top hoop mount/bottom axle mount). I was wondering what size coilover to go w/? Will 12-14" travel be to big?
Thanks,
(ALL THOUGHTS WELCOME)!!!

how bout some pics

Here's a couple of pics...
(newest ones start on page 6).
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2042182840101726294OPaVnw?vhost=good-times

Just some constructive criticism, if you still have access to the welder you were using you may want to cut off the shock hoops and plate your frame. Where the shock hoops on my buddies sas xterra connect the metal tore right above the weld. There is a lot of stress on those bastards especially with coil overs! Otherwise looks good so far, tall for my taste but it looks like you put a lot of thought into it

Alex, I was thinking of doing that, But that last beer said, It'll be ok'. So i didn't. Thanks for the info. and the extra work...lol

Is that the CAGE Bronco set up? If you already a mentioned that, sorry.

Yes on the Cage long arms 78' bronco. NICE alittle heavy, but strong...

When it comes to fabrication going overkill is NEVER a bad idea, it could save your or someones elses life. If that coilover bracket breaks especially at highway speeds you are going to lose complete control of your truck.
You need to redesign that mount, I would have welded your hoops to 1/4" plate and then welded that to the frame. This would give you much more surface area holding onto the frame. You can also think about tying both mounts together over the engine, this would dramatically increase the strength and stiffness of your suspension setup.

Hope this helps, Cage makes great products. Also are those the tires you will be running, if so you probably want to lower the truck down as your center of gravity is pretty high right now.

Hoops will be reworked this weekend. Yea, She sittin pretty high. I want to drive it first to see how it is.(clearance wise). I still may ditch the 2"BL. & cut the well for shock.

What size tires/rims/backspacing are you running. It looks like you can come down more than just the 2" from the body lift.

Do you have access to a tube bender? If so when you rework the hoops now would be the time to add a cross engine brace that bolts onto your hoops. It's not that hard to make and it will provide you with a much more rigid design.

Hey man. I've got '79 bronco axles on my Frontier. A 14" is slightly too long a shock to run easily; you'll have to cut into the engine bay to make the hoops long enough. A 12" is long, but workable, and a 10" is just too short for how much travel you'll be getting with those long-arms...

I have close to 15" of downtravel up front, but (obviously) no way to use it all right now.

No bender
Rims: 17x9 4.53 backspacing w/ 12mm offset
Tires: 35x12.50
Front axle is moved up a couple "s, and rear perch is adjustable front or back 1". Im trying to get it so I dont rub anywhere. My old lift I rubbed all the time. Thought I was gonna rip a fender off sometimes.

996 Thanks for the info. I think I can get 12s in there. Was thinking of 10" spring on top and 14" on bottom. or how do you determine what springs to go with?

I didn't go with coil-overs, due to the cost of 'em. But springs ought to be picked based on the weight of the truck, and whether or not you want a progressive spring. I'm running bronco coils right now, as the front end of the frontier is about as heavy as the front end of a stock bronco, more or less, and I like the flexiness of it. I don't like progressive springs for a rock crawling rig, 'cause I don't like for it to be harder to stuff the axle the farther it gets stuffed; I like the predictability of normal springs.

I have a similar setup and started with 12" coilovers. When fitted, I either had too much lift, or not enough "stuff" to optimize useful articulation. I ended up swapping them for 10", but might go to 12" someday .
Your hoops look much stronger than others I've seen. I don't think you need to remove them to add plates at this point. The ones I've heard of breaking were 2-point connected with shitty welds. Yours are 4-point-connected, so if the welds are decent, You've got many other places more likely to fail under stress.
Nice job so far. It'll be great to see how it turns out....

EDIT:

I've had a chance to sleep on this (It's morning in the UK) and wanted to add. I definitely think that the frame mounting point should be kept an eye on for signs of fatigue. It would also be worthwhile to consider strenthening options that do not include grinding off your current welds. Good luck and keep us posted on your rig...

Thanks, Jeff. I plated the hoops much stronger, less worry.. http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2069330150101726294bbIIHM?vhost=good-times . Also went with the 12" coilovers, they'll be here monday. Hope I don't have to rework the hoops.

Good choice on the plating the frame, better to be safe than sorry