Radflo Custom OEM replacement Coilovers

[mikekey]

Obligatory snark: I'll save you a bit of time by reporting to Google that they must have an outage in your neighborhood.

I honestly couldn't tell if it was wheelers directly or some person from this thread, then everyone else just starts chiming in about getting them, and I'm like, WTF, so whose the seller here?

[The Roadie]

I went out of my way to meet Johnny and visit Wheeler's last time driving up to Oregon. And talked to him a lot when we worked on a previous coilover project. I forgot I was the only one that had him in my speed dial.

[Karo]

After seeing all these front upper shock bushing failures (with the BDS or MarkMC kind of design lifts) these coilovers are on my interest. My questions is what is the difference in the design between the Radflo Coilovers and the Icon Coilovers that broke on theRoadies trail ride in 2010 in this thread:
http://forums.offroadtb.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1063&hilit=Icon+Coilover

From reading the thread i understood there was some impulse load of the shock while bottoming out. I don´t want to replace some failure (bottoming out and destroying the washer on my BDS lift) against a failure when bottoming out with a coilover and destroying a shaft inside a coilover.

So what is the difference between them? So far nobody had problems with the Radflo coil overs, but none of the real hardcore crew (with much bigger wheel/tire combo) is using them.

Here are the pictures for reference:
Icon





Radflo

[bartonmd]

There is a top-out bumper inside the damper, so it is made to top out without damaging it. It does make noise when it tops out, but they say it's made to do that.

Mike

[Karo]

Thank´s for clearing that Mike! I have another question, you got the 600#/in spring rate. From the table on this site which lists all the Eibach spring rate´s, the 600'/in spring has
105 N/KG.
http://www.ore-shop.de/Eibach-Feder-12-25-



So the spring rate is far away from the "87", "88" or "89" GM spring rate, correct? Overall i´ll trust your report about the coilovers more than the technical specifications i can read.

Karsten

[bartonmd]

They are quite a bit stronger spring than the 87-88-89, but those are just the GM part numbers, not the kg/mm ratings, AFAIK.

Mike

[TBYODA]

Do the radflo's have bump stop when you fully extended like on compression? Reread the whole thread but not see anything stated. Also does anyone pic of the top mount looking down at it?

[Moots1288]

Do the radflo's have bump stop when you fully extended like on compression? Reread the whole thread but not see anything stated. Also does anyone pic of the top mount looking down at it?

i will get you one.. It's a ball bearing

[bartonmd]

Do the radflo's have bump stop when you fully extended like on compression? Reread the whole thread but not see anything stated. Also does anyone pic of the top mount looking down at it?

You read the whole thread, except for 3 posts up.

There is a top-out bumper inside the damper, so it is made to top out without damaging it. It does make noise when it tops out, but they say it's made to do that.

Mike

[Moots1288]

[TBYODA]

Do the radflo's have bump stop when you fully extended like on compression? Reread the whole thread but not see anything stated. Also does anyone pic of the top mount looking down at it?

You read the whole thread, except for 3 posts up.

There is a top-out bumper inside the damper, so it is made to top out without damaging it. It does make noise when it tops out, but they say it's made to do that.

Mike

Do'h! I did read that guess it did not sink in ... So if I understand correctly toping out would be when a strut is fully extend, in other words the SUV is at the top it's vertical travel range relative to the wheel/ground.

[bartonmd]

Do the radflo's have bump stop when you fully extended like on compression? Reread the whole thread but not see anything stated. Also does anyone pic of the top mount looking down at it?

You read the whole thread, except for 3 posts up.

There is a top-out bumper inside the damper, so it is made to top out without damaging it. It does make noise when it tops out, but they say it's made to do that.

Mike

Do'h! I did read that guess it did not sink in ... So if I understand correctly toping out would be when a strut is fully extend, in other words the SUV is at the top it's vertical travel range relative to the wheel/ground.

Correct. Bottoming out is where the suspension is compressed, and topping out is where the suspension is fully extended.

Mike

[Karo]

They are quite a bit stronger spring than the 87-88-89, but those are just the GM part numbers, not the kg/mm ratings, AFAIK.

Mike

Mike I know, I took the spring rates from this thread (third post):
http://forums.offroadtb.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=158

So the spring rates are 70,74,77 N/KG for the 87-88-89 GM spring part numbers.
I don´t want to get misunderstood. From the table the GM part number spring #15125881..... has 50 N/KG which is the softest spring for the Trailblazer, right?
Most or many people including me run the GM part number spring #15125888 which has 74 N/KG that is a difference between the softest (#15125881) and the most common (#15125888) spring from 24 N/KG correct? So the Eibach spring rate for the 600'/in spring (part number #1200.250.0600S) has 105 N/KG, which is 31 N/KG more than the most common spring with the GM part number (#15125888). That´s what i meant with "it is far away from the "87", "88" or "89" spring rate, sorry for the misunderstood.

My stock springs were the GM part number #15125886..... with 67 N/KG. I had upgraded to the #15125888 with 74 N/KG and had really not recognized a big difference when driving, but the difference between those two springs are only 7 N/KG. Overall I wan´t to order the correct coil over setup for me, that´s why ask and explain so much.

Only for safety, these are the radfo 2,5" coil overs, correct? Don´t wan´t to go with the 2".
Karsten

[bartonmd]

Yes, these are the 2.5" shocks.

The 600#/in spring on mine feels nearly exactly like the 87 springs, because the damping is so much more digressive (not sure how this will translate, but the faster the bump, the lighter the damping. So they soak up bumps really well, but also keep you more controlled). This is just with my skids and bumper up front, without the winch. Your front should weigh about the same as mine, because you don't have a full bumper, but you do have a winch mounted all the time.

Mike

[Karo]

Yes, these are the 2.5" shocks.

The 600#/in spring on mine feels nearly exactly like the 87 springs, because the damping is so much more digressive (not sure how this will translate, but the faster the bump, the lighter the damping. So they soak up bumps really well, but also keep you more controlled). This is just with my skids and bumper up front, without the winch. Your front should weigh about the same as mine, because you don't have a full bumper, but you do have a winch mounted all the time.

Mike

Excellent Mike, thank´s a lot. You have cleared that out for me.
Karsten

[bartonmd]

No problem!

Mike

[KE7WOX]

So who is already running these coilovers?

[Moots1288]

So who is already running these coilovers?

Me and Mike Barton

[MKETrailblazer]

So sorry for me being a noob at this but I'm still confused about the radflo coil overs, do they lift the tb or would I need to add on MarkMC's lift to raise it?

[TBYODA]

Nope extra lift needed they are adjustable strut spring assembly. viewtopic.php?f=76&t=4612#p102079