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Stock Suspension Kit

WheelHorse

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 22, 2004
Messages
2,491
I searched stock suspension kit and came up empty handed.

Has anyone installed this from JBG:

13756-stock-suspension-system-1976-77

Looking to completely replace the suspension system in your vehicle, than this kit was designed for you.
Kit Includes:
-Stock Height Coils
-Rear Leaf Packs with bushings
-2 JBG Superride Front Shocks
-2 JBG Superride Rear Shocks
-Black Polyurethane C-Bushings
-Black Polyurethane Radius Arm Bushings
-Black Polyurethane Trac Bar Bushings
-Heavy-duty U-Bolts with nyloc nuts

STCKSUSPNSNKIT.JPG


Background info:

My '77 is close to all original. First owner had her for 10 years, managed 17K miles, next owner for 26 years spun the odo to 75K and she's pretty much a survivor. Which means, I'm sure the suspension is in need of some new components. Plus a winch has been hanging off of the front since new, of which I recently removed to help fund the suspension upgrades.

I know the latest craze is luber and I do love a luber, but I don't love what seems to be double the cost for a kit, or the potential of sacrificed ride quality if you try to cheat the lift. Plus, I'm rocking a brand new inverted Y set up and don't feel like throwing it for a loop. I'm thinking that I'll go the opposite of the crowd and keep her at the stock height for simplicity's sake.

Expectations:

I'm looking for a Buick - Bronco ride. This thing will be a mall crawler, cruise night cruiser. In fact, my A/T's will be replaced with H/L's. Eventually, I'd like to add at the least a front sway bar. I do currently have the big bearing HD leaf package on the Bronco.

General consensus:

I'm looking for input here. Every Bronco provider says their shocks are valved for EB's. Anyone have experience with JBG shocks? Should I forgo the JBG shocks in favor of say Bilsteins?

I see the kit does not provide shackles...are they a must if I stay at stock height and the rig has low miles with no signs of abuse?

Thoughts...feedback...further questions?
 

MarkH@Wildhorse

Contributor
Full Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2012
Messages
282
Loc.
Stockton, CA

Chicago71Bronco

Sr. Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2012
Messages
367
Loc.
Chicagoland
Jason - call me before you order.

Shipping on that is going to be high and I've had my eye on a new rear leaf set. My current setup (factory leafs plus add a leaf from 10 years ago) is sagging. Maybe we can order together and split the shipping.
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,346
Background info:

I know the latest craze is luber and I do love a luber, but I don't love what seems to be double the cost for a kit, or the potential of sacrificed ride quality if you try to cheat the lift. Plus, I'm rocking a brand new inverted Y set up and don't feel like throwing it for a loop. I'm thinking that I'll go the opposite of the crowd and keep her at the stock height for simplicity's sake.

You're on the money with your thinking I'd say. The new Y-linkage is reason enough in fact. Although, if you really wanted a lifted truck (which it doesn't sound like you necessarily do) you could always find a taker for the new-ish hardware.
That said, keeping it stock is the next best thing. And the prices ARE higher for a lifted suspension. And should be. Not because each component is necessarily that much more expensive, but that there are way more things to buy/do/think about when lifting.
Simplicity is good.

Ride-wise though, there is no real correlation any more. A "stock" replacement setup does not mean it either rides like stock (not that great), or better than stock. So it's good that you're asking the question now.
I haven't personally ridden in a rig with this kit on it, so can't help with that recommendation. I would expect it to ride at least as good as stock (that's the hope and expectation), but you can't assume either. I've had stock replacement springs before, and they rode like crap. Way worse than stock in fact.


Expectations:

I'm looking for a Buick - Bronco ride.

Sorry. Not going to happen.
Not with off-the-shelf parts anyway. Unless I've missed something in the parts currently available, that kind of ride is just not an option. Except with custom made springs and custom valved shocks, and a strict weight-reduction and height reduction regimen.
I have owned 6 Buicks and loved most of them, including the current one.

You can have a very good Bronco-ride of course (For a Bronco...). But you can't have one that rides that well. But you can still find a happy medium I think.
I realize you might have been just taking a bit of poetic license with your wording, but I thought I'd throw my opinion in there too, with my own little exaggerated opinion.


This thing will be a mall crawler, cruise night cruiser. In fact, my A/T's will be replaced with H/L's. Eventually, I'd like to add at the least a front sway bar. I do currently have the big bearing HD leaf package on the Bronco.

Anti-swaybars are good. Let's you go with the softest rate spring you can find, let the shocks lighten up just a bit, and still have friendly cornering characteristics.
You may end up with bars at both ends, but I'd be very curious to see how one-only works at each end too.
I think we sell more pairs than individuals, but I could be wrong on that. I think ultimately having both ends is better, but that's only theory. Not from personal experience.


General consensus:

I'm looking for input here. Every Bronco provider says their shocks are valved for EB's. Anyone have experience with JBG shocks? Should I forgo the JBG shocks in favor of say Bilsteins?

Shock performance is not only hit-or-miss, but is probably the thing most prone to someone else's individual tastes and expectations not matching your own.
So again, good you're asking this now, rather than after the fact. Hopefully someone will have first-hand experience then, and can tell you what their feelings are on it.

All the shocks out there have people that like them, are indifferent regarding them, or hate them. Take your pick.
I think there are a lot of happy Bilstein users out there now. Including the ones using just the off-the-shelf 5100's and 5125's.
There are a lot of happy users too, that rolled-their-own, so to speak. By having the much more expensive 7100's custom valved.
The downside is that, in many cases at least, they didn't get it right the first time, so had to go through a couple of variations on the valving to get it right where they wanted. For THEIR particular needs/likes/preferences.
Oh, and then there's singles vs duals! But we won't go there right now.

Adjustable Rancho 9000's have a huge following as well. I'm a fan, but also didn't like the way the particular ones I had worked in all situations. I'm still going to try different part numbers to see if there are differences, but that's a long-term proposition for me. Gonna take awhile.


I see the kit does not provide shackles...are they a must if I stay at stock height and the rig has low miles with no signs of abuse?

Most kits don't.
Nothing wrong with stock shackles in good condition. Only reason to change them out is if they're deteriorated sufficiently (rusted out) or you keep breaking them due to hard use.
The latter won't be an issue with yours it sounds like, so unless yours are rusted out shadows of their former selves, keep your stock ones and just replace the bushings.
Oh, that's the other reason for new shackles. Sometimes it's just easier to write the check than it is to remove that pesky inner sleeve if it's rusted in good enough! Ask around. You'll get an earful on that subject.


I love the way our kits are designed to work. But I'll be the first to tell a customer that they ride "firm, but not harsh" for a reason.
Even the stock height ones need to be somewhat of a careful compromise between comfort, load capacity, reliability, and on-road handling/safety.
What that means is that you can only go so soft before you start to get wallowy and unable to carry a set of tools or a weekend's worth of gear/parts/tools/food and get to the trailhead safely and with your family still happy about the drive. ;D
At some point then, soft is bad for a commercially available suspension for a 4000+ lb truck. Period.
The way ours (and likely many others) are designed to work, you get the best of those characteristics, with a little leeway for the end-user (back to that in a minute), including more potential wheel travel than stock, but with a street handling character that usually overcomes the need for anti-swaybars.

The "leeway" I mentioned is an option you have with 9, 10, and 11 leaf packs that would not be as easy to accomplish with fewer leaves.
You can remove two or three leaves to help keep an empty and light Bronco from riding high in the rear, and also soften up the ride.

So going with the softest riding front coils and removing a few rear leaves (because only YOU know how you're going to use the truck), and sourcing the shocks with the best ratings from the most users, and you could get as close as you're ever going to get to a "good riding" Early Bronco.
The shock choice will probably include at least a passing glance to the adjustables, or finding a custom-valve setting you might like on a set of Bilsteins. Duff has always claimed one of the best riding shocks for EB's as well. Might be worth getting a few opinions on those as well.
But I bet that, while the choice of springs will likely be a reasonable result the first time, the choice of shocks will very likely involve several attempts until you find the one you like best.

After all, only you can make that determination in the end.

Best of luck at it too. And even though that convoluted mess was practically guaranteed to add to the confusion, I hope that helped a bit anyway. :)

Paul
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
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Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,346
Good call Chicago.
Hmm, I hear a "mini Mass Buy" in the works!

Paul
 

jckkys

Bronco Guru
Joined
Mar 15, 2012
Messages
5,196
The '77 front sway bar helps street driving manners and of course is original. One of the mounting brackets was welded to all '77 front axles. The original springs have several issues. If you have the 4900lb. GVW pkg. the rear sits 2"-3" higher than the front. The overly soft coils bottom out regularly and need about a 2" lift to render a decent stance. The rear springs ride like crap and those are the ones your butt is sitting on. The 10 or 11 leaf pack would help a lot there. I bought my '77 new in Chicago, actually Libertyville, and got it to Az before the road salt could destroy it. There is member who did a great job restoring a '77 and has pictures of the engine compartment the helped me remember how mine looked when new.
 
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WheelHorse

WheelHorse

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Nov 22, 2004
Messages
2,491
Good call Chicago.
Hmm, I hear a "mini Mass Buy" in the works!

Paul

As Ops Mgr here at work, I could receive several sets of leafs, via skid, if it worked out to be cheaper and the interest to co-ship was there.
 
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WheelHorse

WheelHorse

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 22, 2004
Messages
2,491
Paul,

I was being a bit poetic with my Buick comment. However, being realistic, going off road is far fetched where I'm located, let alone, going somewhere to go off road.

I've been perusing the site for further info and most everything I came across pertained to lifted rigs. I had also noticed there's been some sagging springs being sold out there as well. Ironically, out of the entire board, I could only find two members who had mentioned running JBG stock style leaf replacements and not much feedback.
 

matts70

Sr. Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2009
Messages
443
Loc.
Northwest Indiana
I'm running stock JBG rear leaf springs. They're better than what I was driving--add-a-leafs and 8 shock absorbers on a 2.5" lift--by a wide margin. JBG springs are the heavier-bigger rear axle style. They won't ride like a Buick:) I looked at shipping plus the extra cost of the 10-pack leafs and chose JBGs to save money at the time. If I had it to do over again, I'd pay the extra money and order a pair from WH. If you find yourself in LaPorte County, IN soon, I'll take you for a spin.
 
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WheelHorse

WheelHorse

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 22, 2004
Messages
2,491
I'm running stock JBG rear leaf springs. They're better than what I was driving--add-a-leafs and 8 shock absorbers on a 2.5" lift--by a wide margin. JBG springs are the heavier-bigger rear axle style. They won't ride like a Buick:) I looked at shipping plus the extra cost of the 10-pack leafs and chose JBGs to save money at the time. If I had it to do over again, I'd pay the extra money and order a pair from WH. If you find yourself in LaPorte County, IN soon, I'll take you for a spin.

Mind if I ask what shock absorber you're running on your rig?

I've seen some complain about the rough ride of an 11 pack, only to find out it was their shocks.
 

briancave

Jr. Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2013
Messages
115
I recently replaced the shocks, springs and bushings on my stocker with the kit from WH. All of the components seem top notch and customer support was great when I had a few questions. It's a super complete kit. The only hitch I had was that the rear of my truck sat a little high with the WH leafs. I removed a leaf which was a bit of a hassle but it looks right now. Not sure if that was because of not having a hard top or something else. This is my first Bronco, so I can't compare the ride to other kits, but it rides a lot better than it did with the old 5 leaf springs and shocks. The thing that really made a difference on the street was the front sway bar that I also got from WH. Night and day handling difference on the street. Not sure that a rear bar would help all that much.
 
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WheelHorse

WheelHorse

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 22, 2004
Messages
2,491
Matt and Brian, thanks for the response.

It seems like the 10 leaf (stock height) progressive rear is the way to go from WH's.

I'm going to have to figure out on how to phase this cost wise.

I want the Bilsteins for stock height (phase 1) and it seems the stock height 10 leaf is the way to go from WH's for comfort (phase 2) May have to be Sept.

Sway bar for Phase 3. Maybe for Christmas.

Briancave...did you use this kit Item #: 0100WHNET

Wild Horses Stock Suspension Kit
 

matts70

Sr. Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2009
Messages
443
Loc.
Northwest Indiana
If you're doing all street driving, you could consider some good Monroe shocks for SUVs or light trucks that are made to help them ride/handle better. That might save some money. Probably can get them them from your local parts store. The only reason I went with the Ranchos was because I didn't know what I wanted, it seemed cool to be able to adjust them, and the Ranchos were on sale at the time. If I had to do it over again--I'd go to my local parts store and buy shocks.
 
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WheelHorse

WheelHorse

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 22, 2004
Messages
2,491
Matt,

Everything I've read so far on here, going back some years in thread searches, is the Bilsteins make the Rancho's feel subpar...for those who have gone from Ranchos to Bilsteins. Of course, there's been different Rancho's either 5 or 9K but anyone who went with the Bilsteins never had anything negative to say; moreso, everyone seemed to sing high praises of Bilstein's unsurpassed quality and pleasant road characteristics. This by no means is scientific with any sort of NVH test, merely subjective and to some degree, speculative, based off of peoples opinions.

I've found them for $76 a shock with free shipping.


Front #24-185493 Collapsed Length: 12.17 Extended Length (IN): 18.98
Rear #33-185590 5125 Series, Monotube, 21.54 in./13.58 in. Extended/Collapsed Lengths, Eyelet Ends

The Bilstein reminds me of Ricor Intiminators with their deflective disc technology as well. They make a huge difference once installed in non-cartridge motorcycle forks.

I need to double check, but those numbers I listed above were the only numbers I could find on here with one user saying they were for a stock Bronco.
 
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