Hey all, i'm thinking of buying a 5" bolton rocky road spoa with the dostech shocks, ott steering (the complete bolton kit), i'v looked around and it seems to be the best buy for money, as i dont have welding abilty. I'v heard of there wrap around spring pads been weak? Is there been any probs with the kit? I'm only going to be running 31's and stock springs. does any one have any pics of a samurai with that kit.
thanks
 
http://www.rocky-road.com/boltonspoa.html

Your going to have to do some welding but you could at least drive it to a muffler shop with it lifted and putting the shocks on in the parking lot, here is a kit I have used a couple of times http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/(look under samurai) that I'm real happy with,also r.r. sells a rear springs up front kit for like fifty bucks and get a couple of used rear spring to go with it your kidneys will thank you for it!

I am parting a truck that had the RRO "bolt-on" SPOA.

It appears that the original installer just bolted it on and wheeled it.

Although this SPOA perch kit is called "bolt-on", a better description would be "self-aligning" so that, unless the stock perches are bent, you always retain the stock differential angle when installing these perches.

Back to "bolt-on and wheel"...

Examining the rear perches on my parts truck, I noticed that, although they are now welded, the front edge of the OEM perch is bent downward where the apparently unwelded RRO perch allowed the axle to rotate under heavy axle torqueing! 



I suspect that the owner, discovering that his pinion angle had changed because the RRO perches had not been welded in place, loosened everything back up, rotated the axle back into position, then welded (or had welded) everything into place.

I'ts dark outside right now, but I'll get a picture of the damaged perches tomorrow...

So, it might be a good idea to weld those suckers after you install your SPOA!

thanks for the replys

yea i'v read about rro spring perches ruining axle housings, but rro go on about how strong they are etc etc so i'm kind of stumped. So do you recon its worth while buying their spring perches? it sounds like i might be better off buying all the rocky road kit accept there spring perches? i prefer the rro kit to sky as it has longer and better shocks (i think), according to rocky road lol. I'm in New Zealand so i can only go by the internet, also what does the kit flex like.

thanks for the replys

yea i'v read about rro spring perches ruining axle housings, but rro go on about how strong they are etc etc so i'm kind of stumped. So do you recon its worth while buying their spring perches? it sounds like i might be better off buying all the rocky road kit accept there spring perches? i prefer the rro kit to sky as it has longer and better shocks (i think), according to rocky road lol. I'm in New Zealand so i can only go by the internet, also what does the kit flex like.

You just said the magic word, NEW ZEALAND!

Not trying to be mean to one of the larger aftermarket suppliers, BUT, given their continued difficulties with shipping items in a reasonable amount of time, I would seriously consider Breeze, Sky or -even better- someone in your part of the world.  Especially Breeze.   They are in Canada so it might be a bit easier to get their SPOA shipped to you what with the semi-common postal system and all...

SPOAs are wonderful (even RROs!) but they ain't worth a pile of beans if you can't get them shipped to you!

Good luck to you!

Personally, I would buy just the spring perches, and do it yourself on the rest of it.  You can then flex test the zuk after SPOA and get the measurements of the shocks you need.   Plus you could pick up rear set of sammy springs to do the RUF setup while your at it... you would save alot more $$

just my thoughts, thats the way I went except for the RUF, which I am going to do now.

ok i think i will go for Sky's Stage 2 Samurai Spring Over Conversion ( http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/suspension1.htm ) with out there shocks or shock mounts, and get the shocks and shock mounts from rro, from what i'v read sky spring perches seem to be pretty decent. 1 more question do the sky perches self align?

 Only problem is i'll have to pay for 2 packages shipped from America and have faith with r.r lol. All of the above will cost $668 abit better than rro's bolton spoa kit for $719 and i get strong spring perches .

Thank you all for the good imput

...1 more question do the sky perches self align?

Probably not.

The key to getting everything to align is to slap the FRONT perches on so that the spring surfaces of the old perch and the new perch is EXACTLY parrallel.  You can do this with a magnetic dial level purchased at your local hardware store.

This pretty much guarantees that your caster will be close to factory spec.  You can mount the rear perches so that the third member points up a bit to improve the driveline angle but it is better to follow the instructions that come with your perches.

finally, visit Ack's FAQ (the link is in my Signature) and do a search for driveline for an informative article on driveline geometry.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/samsuspension.htm

 

okay, i'm slow,  but i really don't recomend the rr spoa.  it did ruin my housing.  they're only made of 1/8 or thinner steel,  and mushroom,  mine were welded on but still flattened, or mushroomed, whatever its called.  i don't have a picture,  i had to scrap the housing, it had a hole big enough to stick my pinky in.  it pretty much did the same thing as in ack's picture,  but bent the stock perch so much it tore off the housing.

have to go with fuelish the sky kit is really nice it is what I run needs to be welded and you need to add lower front shock mounts but has been good to me so far.

Yea i think i will defiantly go for sky perches,

Thank you all for the good imput

all this great info as i just got my rro bolt on spoa in the mail yesturday....