by Joshua Weinstein
I recently upgraded my suspension to give me a bit more lift. The lift consists of 2 Old Man Emu MD rear springs (these will go in the front) and 2 1" aluminum spacers, which will be installed under the rear spring perches. Installing the front is like any other spring installation, however, it is necessary to rent a coil spring compressor due to the extra length in the coils (compressor is around $6 per day). For the rear end, you must fabricate some spacers.
I called Online Metals and ordered 2 1" inch sections of 4" diameter 6061 aluminum rod. They will cut them to any size. You have to do is drill 2 holes for the bolts. The centers of the holes must be 2.75 inches apart and each is .625 inches from the edge of the spacer. Using a drill-press, drill out ½ inch holes in the spacers. The bolts I used to s ecure the spring perch, spacer and spring retainer were 3/8" coarse thread bolts that are 2.5" long. The length for the bolts in a typical application would need to be around 1 inch, however, I currently have Expeditionware spring retainers, which require a longer bolt. Well, that's pretty much everything, future things to look at are lengthened shocks and brake lines. Just drop me an e-mail if you have any questions.