Project Jinxy, Part 3

We used Fox 2 1/2-inch 14-inch-travel coilover remote-reservoir shocks in the front of our project Jinxy. We mounted them in the hoops and checked for clearance as the axle twisted and, with a few shaves of the grinder, made them fit without any rub. The bottom mounts were easy, as we retained and used the original shock mounts directly above the axle. Coil selection is hard to make without first knowing the weights and how you want to use the truck. And then when you figure this all out, you're still usually wrong and need to swap out coils.

We started with two 14-inch coils rated at 350 and 550 pounds. After initial test runs around the block, we decided to call back Poly Performance and swap out the bottom 550-pound coils for 16-inch-long, 500-pound-rate coils. The longer bottom coil took up the extra slack in the shock and gave us a little softer ride. Luckily Poly Performance has an easy coil swapping policy where you only have to pay shipping to trade out coils as long as your originals are not scratched.

How Well Did Our Buildup Work?
Jinxy got thrown into the Oceano Dunes for a little high-speed testing to see just how well our buildup went. We're glad to say Jinxy made it home in one piece (eventually). The front setup seemed to work beautifully and soaked up bumps that would have sent us flying before, but the rear could not keep up and limited our funtime as it kept getting thrown in the air.

I continued to run it up and down the whoop-de-doos for the camera until I ran into a little snag. I was taking a gradual turn (OK, really it was a powerslide at 45 mph with tires deflated to 12 pounds) when one of the tires ripped right off the bead. The wheel dug in and almost threw Jinxy onto its lid after so many years of work. But luckily, when the dust cleared, the driver side decided to come back to the ground and we were only stranded, instead of stranded and screwed. Of course, all this was done over a sand hill, just out of site of any camera.

And of course, both of our spares were 200 miles away. So there David Kennedy and I sat, trying to figure out how the hell to get the tire untwisted and reseated with only a Hi-Lift jack and no compressed air. But after Kennedy advised releasing the vacuum suction inside the tire and a friendly duner came by with some compressed air, we were back on our way out of the dunes, realizing that we had pressed our luck enough that day.