'88 Eliminator... Feb. 2009 - Jan. 2026

[Smokeyyank]

Looking good! When I got my truck from Troy he had some cut ZJ springs on it. For a rear sway bar why wouldnt the ZJ one work? Sucks on ruffstuff, I got the stuff I needed from Barnes a few days after canceling the ruffstuff order. 

[neohic]

The ZJ rear bar is too wide. For where I want it to live it’d crash into the leaf springs. Originally, the ZJ sway bar ties into the control arms which are spread wider than our leaf springs. Reusing the current front as the rear just fits so much better. If handling feels weird, I’ll look into getting a WJ bar for the front. 

 

Ruff Stuff… … I just want to cancel the order but they need to pick up the phone or reply to an email for me to do that. Buddy of mine has heard a similar story from others in his fabrication circles too. 

[neohic]

Chasing more low might not be worth it. This morning I went out to put a second coat of Eastwood Rust Encapsulator Plus on the floor and I played around with some coil options.

 

 

I took the rear ZJ coils and cut one full coil off the big end. With everything back in I gained another 1/2” of drop when compared to the SCCA coils. I also took out the factory bump stops to see what was going to be the next thing to crash into something else. There’s another 3/4”  between the top of the differential and the frame/engine mount. Worth it?… probably not. Who am I to question the suspension tuning of the Archers anyhow?

 

 

With the bump stops out I put the SCCA coils back in to see if they’d settle at all. In the past, I’ve tried rear ZJ coils and they’ll net about a 3” drop. With cutting a full coil off they’ll get you about 3 3/4” drop. The SCCA coils drop about 3 1/4” or so. Good to know, but I’m sure I’ll just leave well enough alone when things get finalized.

 

Finally, poking around I found a couple of bad tie rod ends. I ordered everything from the steering box to the knuckles to just be done with it and not have to worry about knocking loose stuck threads.