Spring over... Almost done!

[Bounty__Hunter]

This month's (Feb '04) issue of 4Wheel Drive and Sport Utility magazine (one of the better rags out there) has a huge write-up on SOA's.
Page 62 shows just the bent draglink that you need, made by www.tandjperformance.com . I couldn't find it on the website, so give them a call. It can't be too much, but who knows.

You can see half the draglink in this pic:

 

[redrooster]

I would drive it first and see if you think you even need the trac bar. I you have a welder you should be able to fab up a drop bracket and weld it in place.
Back to what I was saying about the Caster. If you don't know what this is then stop and look it up before doing a Spring over. For example If you put a Scout Dana 44 front end in a Jeep and set the proper Caster, then the pinion yoke will point toward the ground. This will make your Jeep steer straight but your driveshaft and pinion will hit everything in the woods. That is why people do "cut and turn" jobs on the knuckles. Scout knuckles should be perfectly vertical (zero degrees). I'm not sure about the setting on a Jeep.
What you'll get if the Caster is not right: odd tire wear, loss of turning radius, harder to turn and more strees on your steering box. In effect you are turning into the ground.
To fix this, find out what degree the knuckles should be on your front end and rotate the axle to that position. You can check it with a magnetic angle finder. Then weld your perches on there and hopefully you pinion angle will be ok.

 

[Joopin]

Allright! Thanks bounty. I just called the company and they are lookiing it up for me.
As for the caster in the front redrooster, If you said "caster" istead of "the front end up too far" I would have known what you were talking about. I just did what the instructions said that came with the SOA kit I bought from RE. It said to add 4-5 degrees to the pinions stock angle. I was told that the stock angle is apporx. 5 degrees... I did drive it today to a shop to get regeared. I took out the rear shaft, capped the tailshaft and drove it in "front wheel drive" to the shop. I did notice a little vibration but I was thinking it was cause of one of the u joints. One of the caps fell off during installation and I had to put all the pins back in the cap. That is getting replaced as well. If it is too high I will just have to cut the perches off and reweld them on at the correct angle. Like I said earlier this was my first soa so I am finding things to do that I didn't think of before the project although I did read up on the procedure for about a year!
As soon as I get the jeep regeared and the sye put in I will measure for my cv shaft and have tom woods mail that sucker to me.

Another question, has anyone had a problem with the front shaft after a spring over? I was thinking of getting it lengthened but if it's not necessary I wont.

 

[Snitty]

it limits flex

if you get a Zlink bent right... there will be no limitation on flex at all...

if you can't find a place to buy a link, you can have one made... we made our own out of blackpipe... WAY stronger than the stock draglink... we couldn't get the pitman arm to budge so we didnt' go with a dropped pitman arm.... word of the wise... DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO to get that pitman changed. we haven't had a problem with it... but then again... its an offroad only vehicle... the owner doesn't intend on cruisin the highway with it...

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

If the dirtrections recommended pointing the pinion up about 5* from stock you'll lose almost all your caster, and that's a bad thing.

I'd think you would want the new front spring perches to be parallel the old perches, this would guarantee the same caster as stock and good safe handling.

 

[Joopin]

well I may have F'd up then, I am talking to snitty about it now on IM... will get hurt by running around with a wrong caster in the front? vibrations? ujoints busted?

 

[redrooster]

Here is another thing to think about: The springs will start to flatten in a few months. Yep that is right. Been there, done that.
I see from the pictures that your shackles are in the front still. If you set the caster and additional 5 degrees forward like the instructions said then your caster will get worse as the springs flatten (i.e. the shackle will move forward as they flatten). At least the company addressed the issue in the instructions.

 

[Joopin]

so your saying I should keep it as it is and the springs flattening will compensate for the steep caster angle? I did do an AAL as well, full leaf, no shorties. I did that to keep the springs from flattening out as much.
I was talking to snitty about this and he said that RE sells shims to put inbetween the perches and the pack. I may do that, but I'm not going to do anything until I get my jeep back, put the cv shaft in, and make sure this is an actuall problem!

 

[redrooster]

I don't know what AAL is but you are correct. Just make a guesstimate about where you think It should be. In a few months you may end up torching the welds off your perches and moving them, but it's not like you don't enjoy that, right?
I originally had mine SOA on 2.5 Ranch springs. It was huge when I first did it. After a few rides it had dropped about 2 inches. That was the best riding suspension I have ever had though.

What about the rear traction bars? If you don't want to fab some, Sam Patton (Sam's Offroad) sells some nice ones that use a shackle at the top for flex.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

AAL= Add-a-Leaf.

Have your caster measured to ensure it's within stock specs. Like I said, the SOA perch should be parallel with the stock perch in order to have the proper caster.

Keep in mind the location of the tierod against the leaf springs, you may have to lose a little caster here to keep them from interfering, but not enough to affect handling.

 

[Snitty]

i'm quite sure we'll get past this... its a small problem to tackle, but a large problem to worry about

 

[laneiac]

MORE has a new steering correction kit. Check into that, not too bad of a price.

 

[Joopin]

whats the website for that MORE place? I've been there before but I forgot how I got there!

 

[far_right]

its mountian off road if you want to do a google search for em

 

[Joopin]

thanks

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

www.mountainoffroad.com :twisted: