I have been on a long jurney trying to get a suspension that actually works well on the road & the trail. It has been a big learning curve on what just works & work a lot better. I have used several products & brands of shocks & coils to get me here where I am at today.
I have had two sets of Old Man Emu coils springs and have found them to be good with drivability and handling on/off road, but not great. Again good but not great. I want a suspension that performs great on & off road. I have learnd about dual rate coils & have found several manufacturers that offer them for my 80 series rig. OME, Icon & Redline Slinky. All three have great attributes but one stands out to me for the longest suspension travel is the Slinky long travel coils. These longer coils allow my rig to have longer shocks which means my tire goes further down, has more traction & control.
Let me explain dual rate, these coils have a soft plush & firm stable feel. While just going down the road it has a soft feel but just under that is a strong firm stable heavier coil. Two coils in one, a cake & eat it situation... just simply awesome. Here is a pic of both my single rate OME & my new Slinky dual rate coils, note how much taller the silver coils are.
I have found on my rig that 1" of travel at my shock equals 2" at the tire. I am now running 2.25" longer shocks which means 4.5" more downtravel at the tire.
The top 160lb rate section of the coil almost stacks at ride height while the rig is just about to sit on the stronger 260lb rate. This provides the soft plush feel going down the road. Once a bit more weight goes on the coil they finish compressing then it goes into the stronger part of the coil. Does that make since?
Here is a pic while installing to show how long they are.
Here is some poser shots.
Below is the new Slinky coil verses my old coils that were much shorter. The theroy behind the longer coil is they are still pushing down giving better traction at full exstension of the longer shocks rather than the tire just dangling there without downward preasure.
I'm now driving up curbs on purpose & blowing though 6" tall parking lot stops like they were 1" reflector bumps. These coils are the bomb & can't wait for the Icon shocks.
