Climax Offroad Long Travel Suspension Kits

[TomRox]

I put the RE 1430’s on the back
Lifted 2” more
With the First rides it seems they are much softer and much better ride
Now looking at the front
But there is a new problem

 

[TomRox]

 

[TomRox]

On compression the axle is displaced rear
Didn’t have thAt before
What did I do wrong?

 

[Colderweather86]

Did the axle slide off the centering pin?

 

[txroadkill]

Looks normal to me. Mine gets close to touching the body in the rear during flex. Keep in mind the shackle is in the rear and as you flex the spring flattens and moves backwards thus moving the tire in the wheel well. Add bump stops to prevent body damage and Rox on.

 

[TomRox]

The spring thru bolts are centered on the hole on the spring plate

 

[TomRox]

The rear movement: It’s not as bad as it looks
The tire is barely grazing the fender flare
Melt off a little plastic from the friction and we will be fine

Night and day difference in ride quality moving over to the RE1430 springs

The springs are much more compliant, much softer ride, much more travel

I ordered a set for the front axle

 

[txroadkill]

Are you bump-stopped? If not a harder stuff could make it contact worse. Seen several Roxors with dented rear corners from stuffing too hard while wheeling.

 

[TomRox]

 

[TomRox]

I am just grazing the plastic which had a different profile than the metal, not too worried about it, but thank you for the pro tip

 

[Max A.]

The more arch of the spring the more wheel base growth you will get apon compression. The rear axle moves rearward as the spring compresses because the shackle swings rearword. This is 100% normal when fully compressed. I talk about it some in my build thread.

 

[TomRox]

How long does the front driveshaft need to be extended with the 2.5” springs?

 

[Rxr-Ron]

Here is my journey with the kit. This is not a full walkthrough of how to complete the installation, just what I experienced during the process.
First thing to to think about before you begin are the three basic rules of business:
Good
Fast
Cheap
You get to pick only two. Good and fast will not be cheap. Fast and cheap will not be good. Good and cheap will not be fast.
We were warned, we get what we pay for. Keep this in mind when you choose the springs. My rig is a 2023 HD All Weather. My primary objective was to soften up the ride. The HD's are notoriously over sprung to handle a LOT of weight.
My secondary objective was to add a little bit of lift.
Being a single income household (by choice) we approach most things with budget in mind. I chose to go with Crown standard duty springs, a decision I should have pondered for a while longer. These springs can be had for just under $100.00 each plus shipping. While they worked, they WAY too soft for anything more than driving on smooth pavement.
The journey begins.
Max had my kit to me extremely fast, I was impressed with the quality of cut and thickness of the material. Well done Max!
I marked the front driveshaft at ride height.

We put'er up on jack stands.

Disassembly began.

Look at he front spring pack. Holy smokes, that's a lot of spring!

I eased the front axle down onto jack stands. I did not disassemble the steering linkage nor the stabilizer. They remained in place all along the way. The sway bar was removed and put on a shelf.
I mocked up the front supports without using the thru-frame bolt provided in the kit. The front plate was positioned, then bolted in place via the stock front bumper bolts. I tack welded the lower plate on both sides. The driver side was slightly misaligned from the factory, Max mentioned this could happen.

I welded the snot out of it.

The front rear supports were mocked up. Springs were placed and bolted in snug, then the front axle u-bolts were installed and torqued to 65 foot lbs. Then I welded everything directly to the frame. A forever fix.

The front was a bit of trick, not much room to weld in a tight spot. I did manage to weld both sides of the bottom plates.
I welded the steering box mounts on the outside of the frame. We don't beat our rig up, weld one side is better than just spot welds. A little peace of mind.

With this part on the front done, time to work the rears.

Drill as straight and level as you can. Easier said than done on my part. I broke one pilot bit, and bent another. I drilled a wee bit high at 2 -1/2 inches on the frame to reduce lift in the back, and get a little closer to level with the front.

I mocked up the other end, bolted in snug.

 

[Rxr-Ron]

Here is my journey with the kit. This is not a full walkthrough of how to complete the installation, just what I experienced during the process.
First thing to to think about before you begin are the three basic rules of business:
Good
Fast
Cheap
You get to pick only two. Good and fast will not be cheap. Fast and cheap will not be good. Good and cheap will not be fast.
We were warned, we get what we pay for. Keep this in mind when you choose the springs. My rig is a 2023 HD All Weather. My primary objective was to soften up the ride. The HD's are notoriously over sprung to handle a LOT of weight.
My secondary objective was to add a little bit of lift.
Being a single income household (by choice) we approach most things with budget in mind. I chose to go with Crown standard duty springs, a decision I should have pondered for a while longer. These springs can be had for just under $100.00 each plus shipping. While they worked, they WAY too soft for anything more than driving on smooth pavement.
The journey begins.
Max had my kit to me extremely fast, I was impressed with the quality of cut and thickness of the material. Well done Max!
I marked the front driveshaft at ride height.
View attachment 14309
We put'er up on jack stands.
View attachment 14306

Disassembly began.
View attachment 14307
Look at he front spring pack. Holy smokes, that's a lot of spring!
View attachment 14308
I eased the front axle down onto jack stands. I did not disassemble the steering linkage nor the stabilizer. They remained in place all along the way. The sway bar was removed and put on a shelf.
I mocked up the front supports without using the thru-frame bolt provided in the kit. The front plate was positioned, then bolted in place via the stock front bumper bolts. I tack welded the lower plate on both sides. The driver side was slightly misaligned from the factory, Max mentioned this could happen.
View attachment 14310I welded the snot out of it.View attachment 14311
The front rear supports were mocked up. Springs were placed and bolted in snug, then the front axle u-bolts were installed and torqued to 65 foot lbs. Then I welded everything directly to the frame. A forever fix.
View attachment 14312
View attachment 14314

View attachment 14313
The front was a bit of trick, not much room to weld in a tight spot. I did manage to weld both sides of the bottom plates.
I welded the steering box mounts on the outside of the frame. We don't beat our rig up, weld one side is better than just spot welds. A little peace of mind.
View attachment 14320
With this part on the front done, time to work the rears.
View attachment 14315
Drill as straight and level as you can. Easier said than done on my part. I broke one pilot bit, and bent another. I drilled a wee bit high at 2 /12 inches on the frame to reduce lift in the back, and get a little closer to level with the front.
View attachment 14316
View attachment 14317
View attachment 14318
I mocked up the other end, bolted in snug. View attachment 14319

Then weight was applied, and welded to the frame.

Paint everything.

And here is where the heartburn began. I jacked it all up and removed the jack stands to see how the springs would react to the full weight of the rig. The rears looked ok, they maintained some arch. The front dang near reversed arch!!! A big no-no. In my shame, I did not take a picture. I put the front back up on jack stands and took it all apart. I am glad I saved the stock rear springs, time build a bstrd pack.
I removed one main spring from the stock rear springs and used them to add-a spring on the front. They were plenty long enough, plenty thick enough.

The stock centering pin was larger in diameter. I had to drill out the locator holes in the Crown springs.
Not an easy task drilling through spring steel. I resharpened the bit after each one and kept it wet with cutting fluid while drilled on my drill press. BTW, do not use these cheap grippers while working on springs, they will fail. One of these now resides in Valhalla with it's next of kin. After many colorful expletives, I got the spring packs reassembled and installed. The front now sits just about right.
I should probably trim the added spring a bit.

Now that I am feeling better about the removal of sag in the front, I cut down and reinstalled the front bumper.

Measuring for the shocks went ok I reckon. I used KYB Excel-G front and back. 344044 fit the front perfectly, no need for a longer jounce bumper.
The back did not go as well. I could not find anything that fit both extended and collapsed measurements. I split the difference and went with 344429. I gave up a little on both ends of the measurement. I would think is better to hit bottom on extension than to bottom out when collapsed. I will be installing a set of sumosprings in the rear to make up for that, and stiffen the back up a little bit.
I did have the driveshaft lengthened a bit at Dynamic Driveline, located in North Little Rock, AR. Great folks. $185.00 complete. I also installed longer front brake lines.
I test drove around my neighborhood. The ride improvement was quite astonishing. The driveway to my shop is rough, it soaked it all up, and honestly did it softer than my F-150 4x4 four door truck.
With a smile my face, and the hard part being done, I had to add couple of finishing touches.