The front leaf spring thread. who's doing it now? what have you learned?

[vintagespeed]

i am not happy with the approach angle of my current bumper. i will have something custom fabricated, that will mount the winch up higher.

Huh? I was gonna leave this thread alone until I read this one. You're rebuilding your bumper to get more approach angle?

What about those big shackle thingys sticking out BELOW the bumper, dont they use up some of that approach angle? :laugh3:

-jb

 

[TB-XJ]

I am using the rear CJ springs up front, they are 2.5 inches wide, they are not the thinner front springs, I believe those are thinner width-wise. I appreciate the advice.

 

[dennisuello]

Huh? I was gonna leave this thread alone until I read this one. You're rebuilding your bumper to get more approach angle?
What about those big shackle thingys sticking out BELOW the bumper, dont they use up some of that approach angle? :laugh3:
-jb

I will move the axle forward a little, plus i will be running 38s, so my approach angle will be pretty good.

 

[Big Red]

Good thread by Brett. I'm thinking seriously of doing SOA with 2.5" aal in XJ leaf packs up front on my hp44 swap. Anyone have some more input on this conversion from the last post 9/04? Are all you guys using the LCA mount and welding on shackles to the under sides of your aftermarket bumpers or bumper mounts? Are any of you running shackles to the LCA and running a fixed mount up front (shackle reversal set up popular on YJs and CJs)?
Troy

 

[BrettM]

Good thread by Brett. I'm thinking seriously of doing SOA with 2.5" aal in XJ leaf packs up front on my hp44 swap. Anyone have some more input on this conversion from the last post 9/04? Are all you guys using the LCA mount and welding on shackles to the under sides of your aftermarket bumpers or bumper mounts? Are any of you running shackles to the LCA and running a fixed mount up front (shackle reversal set up popular on YJs and CJs)?
Troy

i hope you don't mean XJ packs up front.

Ashman tried this, I tried with MJ packs. Now he has Toyota packs and I have YJ packs. XJ/MJ rear springs are too long for a front application unless you use a trackbar/panhard.

 

[scottiebobbie]

i did mine last month, still got to do shocks and get tires and some finishing up stuff. before i did mine the main thing i wanted to find out was what size springs to use to level the truck and i never really found that info so i guessed, and i know that it will vary depending on if you do a reversal and the way you hang the spring. i ended up doing a shakle revesal and BDS 2" YJ's up front and the rear is 6" spring w/ 2" block. i am not sure what tires i am gonna run, wating to see if i can find some used ones to fit the 17" h2 wheels.

 

[burntkat]

nice red Xs......8(

<use photobucket.com-- MUCH easier to post pics to forums>

I'm really interested in your shackle reversal, as I am going to be building my leaf conversion soon and wanted some ideas.....

 

[scottiebobbie]

pics not showing up? i can see um

 

[JeepFreak21]

pics not showing up? i can see um

That's cause you're logged into the photo hosting service. Everyone else see's

Billy

 

[Big Red]

ScottieBobbie, do you have any pics of the shackles in the rear mount? Did you use the LCA mount or drill a clean straight hole in back of the stock LCA mounting hole? So you think you are around 8" lift f/r? I was looking to get that from leafs up front, right now I have 8" skyjacker coils on a 5.5" re xduty kit bumped up 2" in the back with blocks. I think I will either get the 3.5" YJ BDS leafs or the ones you got and do a shackle reversal. How does it ride on the street/offroad?
Troy

 

[XJ_ranger]

That's cause you're logged into the photo hosting service. Everyone else see's

Billy

i can see them and have nothing to do with image station... try clicking the quote button on his post, and then they popped up for me....

 

[scottiebobbie]

can everyone see these? for the shackle i took a piece of 2.5" 1/4" thick flat bar and cut it about 16" long and drilled a few holes in it then welded the hangers i made to it and then welded that to the bottom of the unibody all along the sides and a few plug welds. i did not want to use the factory LCA mount.

 

[onetallmj]

Back to the tech portion of this thread..........

Considering going leafs up front and using the good ol' D44 HP from a Ferd.

I have seen posts over on Pirate that there is supposedly a leaf sprung HP D44 that is 5 x 5.5 bolt pattern, stock. I guess its out of a "special camper edition" F150.

Anybody seen one or can confirm this? This would be an ideal set up since you could just use wheel adapters/spacer for the rear axle to get your wheel stud patterns to match. I think I saw where it was like 62 or 63" wide also. I will have to search over there some more.

 

[BrettM]

I think it is more like 65" wide. Big Red has come across one of these recently, PM him.

 

[Big Red]

I have that 1 and the matching ford 9" like Brett said they are 65-66" wide. I'm debating whether I want to run it with the 9" or keep my axles I have and get Yukon alloys and Longfields u-joints for the front 30. I got the pair from Coors on Pirate out of Redlands, CA near Redding.

 

[onetallmj]

well if you want to get rid of the D44, let me know, I will take off your hands for ya!! :wave:

 

[JeepFreak21]

I have that 1 and the matching ford 9" like Brett said they are 65-66" wide. I'm debating whether I want to run it with the 9" or keep my axles I have and get Yukon alloys and Longfields u-joints for the front 30. I got the pair from Coors on Pirate out of Redlands, CA near Redding.

Redlands and Redding are nowhere near eachother. Redlands is near San Bernadino (Southern Cali) and Redding is near Lake SHASTA (Northern Cali).
Billy


PS - how about we change the name of the hasta smilie so I don't have to type SHASTA in all caps

 

[Big Red]

It was about 15 miles or so South of Redding. Anyways at the moment I'm holding off on getting these axles in my xj until I sell the ones under there now 30/44 or I might run these axles for another year or so and then build my 44/9" as I find deals and more $$$.

Who else has some front leaf spring advice and pics??? Thanks for bringing this thread back Billy. Is your XJ still for sale???
Troy

 

[chadc]

I have pretty much finished the leaf conversion on my AJ (asshole jeep).
Used the waggy 44 wanted 6 lug to match the isuzu 44, 4.5 yj springs, used 4.5x4.5 angle for the crossmember(looks like you started something Brett). I also plated the frame with 1/8 in flat steel, only to the rear hanger. I didn't use angle because the flat stock was a freebie, and easier to work with, but more welding. Shackles are in the front, I want shorter and better ones, plus probably an add leaf.
Still gotta do the little things, figure out what to do with shock mounts, have to drill some holes through the front crossmember so I can plumb the winch, 1.5" hole saw through 1/4" in a hand drill, that'll be fun. Need a front driveshaft to mate to the 241 flange. etc,etc.
I haven't driven it much, just about to enough to upset the neighbors, but I like the way it feels. Steering feels solid turn the wheel or hit a bump and I don't get nervous, and suspension travel seems good, but can be improved. Thats comparing it to my old long arm.
I'm gonna be changing some things, I wish I had gone with full width, wider is better, the 15.5s are pretty much covered with stock flairs. I think I'm gonna change the shackle angle, I think I want less. Also gonna make all 4 shackle hangers with johnny or re joints.
for practicallity, $, and all around wheeling I'm beginning to wonder why I ever messed around with the coils. But that might change when I get it in the woods.
Next is to fix the campers special leaf pack I have in the rear
I'm done running my gums
chadc

http://grovestreet.com/jsp/picview.jsp?album=15160

 

[BrettM]

lookin good, but a few things:

-if you put johnny joints in the shackles, you may get too much side to side movement from the axle when you steer. this could be countered by a panhard (trackbar) or hydro-assist.

-steering. I didn't see any in your pics. I sure hope you're running crossover or high-steer, when I was using the stock Waggy inverted T it was scary. also, for steering arms, you will want to get one that is fairly short (i'm using partsmike) or a longer pitman arm so that you get full steering.

-tires/wheels. looks plenty wide to me, but I guess our trails may be pretty different, what backspacing are you using?

-wheel travel. you need to let the leafs break in after a few trails before you can expect good travel out of them.