By Tony Konovaloff
There is no doubt that a spring over rig has a very cool stance when you look at it. You just may want that for your rig but do you need it. And you have to be honest with yourself and admit there is a drastic difference between wants and needs. Like I have said many times, how you wheel your rig should be the main factor in determining any changes you want to make to it.
Spring Over
Spring over set ups definitely have a cool factor. They allow you to run much larger tires and raise the body and frame substantially higher than a spring under set up. But at what cost? There is not only a significant money cost but also a price to be paid for what it does to the rig and how it performs. And there are places and situations that almost require a spring over and large tires, places such as Alaska and Iceland. Both of which have very unique needs when wheeling in their respective backcountry.
What are the benefits? More than likely less winching in the rocks, additional tire clearance for the body, body and frame clearance when wheeling, possibly better articulation and the ability to cross deeper water. Do you need these features and find yourself in these situations?
The most important consideration for me though is the lean factor. You can’t get away from the fact that a taller rig has a higher center of gravity and will tip over sooner. Sorry this is just simple physics. A tall rig may be essential for deep water crossings but not a great feature for a daily driver or off camber situations.
There is much more to a spring over than moving the spring perches re installing everything and driving away. You will have to rework all of the mounts for the springs, possibly even have to cut and turn the axle housings. Move the shock mounts, longer brake lines will be mandatory, relay rod and pitman arm changes, maybe a high steer kit. Longer drive shafts, etc. Don’t forget that those massive tires may require a gear change or a reduction gear to get all the benefits out of them.
While a spring over conversion may add some articulation clearance, the larger tires that usually accompany the change will take some of this away.
Axle wrap may become an issue. For some reason all the spring over 40’s I have been around run an anti-wrap bar.
Increasing the u-joint angles can cause some undue stess on an already stressed part. Front driveshafts are usually pretty short to begin with and even the rear shaft on a 40 is ridiculously short. Spring overs make this worse.
Could you do some engineering to keep the stance of a spring over rig a little lower, yes. Possibly go with a reverse camber spring like some older pickups and blazers used to run. But this requires more engineering or experimentation as I don’t know of a complete kit available anywhere. And I can’t say I have ever seen this done.
If you do decide to go the spring over route definitely spend some time with someone who wheels a spring over rig and do lots of research. A call to Kurt at CruiserOutfitters is definately worth it. Or give a call to Georg at Valley Hybrids. These guys have lots of experience with spring overs. And they are both great guys to deal with.
For some this is well worth it but you should also look at the other side of the coin.
Spring Under
When we look at our rigs most of the engineering has already been done. The stock suspension only needs a few changes to function really well. You can maintain good road manners and off road performance with the stock spring under set up. And it is far cheaper to bolt on a few improvements versus re building and reworking.
The stock springs will more than likely need replacing just as they would with a spring over. But by staying with a spring under you only need to replace parts, there is no rebuilding of the suspension. And there are a lot of options out there when it comes to spring choices.
You will get better road manners by far if you leave the axles in the stock location. No changes to the steering, axles or driveshafts are needed. Longer brake lines should be included as the stock lines are a bit short for any kind of hardcore wheeling.
Yes, you are limited to a certain tire size due to fender clearance but you won’t need to change the diff gears either. But just how big do you really need to go. I can only point to Rubicon where my 33 9.50’s were never a problem. Nor did my buddy Eric have a problem with his 33’s on his spring under wagon. If you are really brave you can always consider trimming the fenders and even modifying the wheel wells. Drag racers have been using wheel tubs for years to create more clearance for big tires.
The wife won’t complain near as much when climbing into the rig. Not that she doesn’t complain about the current stance of my wagon but I don’t want to carry a ladder just to get her to come with me.
The Real World
We took five spring under rigs to Rubicon this past summer including two wagons and two 40’s. Not once was clearance under the rigs a problem. And believe it or not I did not put a single scratch on the skidplate I had previously added to the bottom of my rig. Anyone who has been to Rubicon knows this is hard to avoid.
I took some body damage on my wagon but it was self inflicted by the driver. Eric did not get a single dent in the sheetmetal of his wagon (although he did bend the rear driveshaft). We seem to swap this honor around on different runs. And I did put a dent in the front diff cover but like a lot of dents I can only point to the driver, most of the time it can be avoided.
Did we pull more cable than a spring over rig? More than likely but that is why the winch is on my rig in the first place.
Articulation is something to think about but lets be honest these are solid axle, leaf sprung rigs. This in itself limits the articulation. If articulation is your goal you need to dive off the deep end and four link the suspension.
I think there is a perceived advantage to having a spring over rig but there is far more to a rig than just clearance. Our rigs are a complete package and you have to consider the whole package when you are making changes. And spring overs are a drastic change that is not easily reversed.
If you find yourself making a lot of deep water (or deep mud) crossings then maybe a spring over is the way to go. But for an all around rig leave the springs where they were when they left the factory.
