'89 BII, startin with leafs

[alpinestar]

First off, this is my first build, im 16 and i will be doing most of this build myself. The builds gonna start like this, im doing away with the TTB, this gonna be a trail rig, maybe alittle towards the rock crawlin' side. I would like to get a dana 30 out of wrangler that has already been leaf overed, but the odds of finding that near me are rather slim plus im trying to get one with 3.73's so i dont have to swap my rear axle just yet. so what i think i will have to do is get a cherokee front axle and take off all the mounts and re fab mounts for the leaf springs... SO... after all that, heres what i have for questions:

Transfer Case: what has everyone done transfer case wise? i was told i may need to pick up a newer one.

Driveline: im only planning on going up about 5" or so, what can my drive shafts handle? i got the CV drive shafts.

??? any other things that should be brought to mind, i know for sure im forgetting stuff cause i always am :P

oh and before i forget, this fabricator just told me today taht if i do this my camber angle is gonna be way off and its gonna be expensive to fix. WTF??? camber angle? this isnt independent suspension its a straight axle! please tell me hes just an idiot and i really dont have to worry about that....

thanks in advance guys....

[nunnya503]

Have you looked into using coil springs? I will tell you from exp. coils are easier and you can find axles for Cherokees allover. Leafs just get in the way, I would do some research. And as far as the camber angle, don't worry... Pinion angel is what you pay attention to when you get to it. Good luck, use the search option lots of people have posted nice builds using leafs and coils lots of good info

[alpinestar]

the only reason im going with leafs now is i plan to learn how to build long arms soon. i have a buddy who builds them and was originally gonna do mine, but ive decided i would like to learn how to do it myself than have him do it, so the coils are gonna have to wait.

that was one of the questions i forgot, what do i match my pinion angle to, i was told to make it the same as the yoke coming out of the transfer case, right? and i have clarified that i DO need a transfer case from a 92 or newer ranger. thats next on the parts list.

thanks for the reply

[Toreadorranger]

long arms as in links or radius arms (ford style). If you want to eventually go with coils I think it would be alot easier to run some stock length fullsize ford radius arms, then when you build your long arms just move the rear mounts. That way your not totally changing the suspension twice. Would make the second phase alot easier. I just dont understand guys who are already setup for coils who go to leafs when radius arms are practically bolt in.

[nunnya503]

It is kind of intimidating to go with coils\radius arms at first. But when you get into it a little its not bad. Just make sure you you read everything you can and do all the research possible, it really isnt that bad and like Toreadorranger said it will make the II phase much easier. I think it looks better too.

[alpinestar]

i totally agree with you guys and thats the route everyone usually goes, and i have thought about it dozens of times. but the problem with that is, i want the straight axle now, which means i cant use the stock ford radius arms just cause they wont mount right up to a straight axle. and i really want to get all the machinery and the skills that i need to be able to make my own long arms like what rusty's make for the XJ's and do it all on my own. so that will be atleast a few months before i get that far. in the meantime i just got a dana 30 out of my buddy's bronco II so the steering is already all setup which is just the normal jeep steering and its all ready for leaf springs for $70. it has 3.55's and i have 3.73's so its a step backwards in the way but for the deal im gettin on it its worth it to me. i already wont have 4WD for a while since i need a driveline adapter or a new transfer case. my buddy that i just got this axle from also has all the mounting hardware for the leaf springs, hangers and what not so i will get those tomorrow or friday as well. then it begins... CANT WAIT!!!

just some specs:
im moving the front axle forward atleast an inch. and maybe moving the rear later. i also know someone who has a 2wd parts ranger, its a newer one. he said i can have the rear axle out of it, so im gonna go see what the gears are in it and see if its an 8.8 maybe. i would be set if that happens to be 3.55 or 4.10's or something much better like that. i plan in the future to just go ahead and buy yukon 4.88's...

thanks for the help guys. i'll try to get some pics up sometime before this weekend. and i'll start hackin the fenders sometime soon :)

[alpinestar]

long arms as in links or radius arms (ford style).

sorry i didnt answer your question in that last one... i think i read what you said wrong the first time i read it...

but what i mean is long arms as in what Rustys sells, basically this right here http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=rustys&Product_Code=RK-LT10-XJ&Category_Code=sus_xj_kit

a wheeler buddy of mine makes some almost exactly like that but i think their actually longer. they flex AMAZINGLY, so thats basically the design im after. its gonna be adapted to how i want it to be on my B2 tho..

[LittleBigFoot]

Leaves are a bigger pain in the ass then you'd expect.

To get some decent articulation, you'd wanna run extended shackles. If you street this rig you'll have some issues.

And "Jeep steering" won't work with leaves. All the SA heeps I've seen have been a drag link that connects from the pitman arm to the knuckle and a tie rod that runs driver side knuckle and intercepts the drag link. Pretty much a Y.

The leaves get in the way. Unless you go with a jankety ass Z link style steering it won't work and i'd say avoid that. I ran that just for a few miles but it was 1.5" solid bar tapped for TREs.


I just switched to high steer and I'll tell ya that was expensive and a bitch.


Above some one said pinion angle was important but caster is must more important. You can survive with a shitty pinion angle. Your U joints and drive shaft might suffer but how often is the front engaged at 40 miles an hour?

If your caster is off you can get a gnarley death wobble, no return to center, and shitty steering response. At a horrible caster you don't turn the wheels, you lift the truck. It's hard to explain. But it's bad.

Camber is necessary to take into consideration. A lot of cars run negative camber to improve grip while cornering.

Big ass off road shit will use a positive camber to lower steering effort.

Just keep it simple and keep shit like that in spec and figure out the proper caster angle and use an angle finder on the top of the Cs to measure it.

[Toreadorranger]

i totally agree with you guys and thats the route everyone usually goes, and i have thought about it dozens of times. but the problem with that is, i want the straight axle now, which means i cant use the stock ford radius arms just cause they wont mount right up to a straight axle. and i really want to get all the machinery and the skills that i need to be able to make my own long arms like what rusty's make for the XJ's and do it all on my own. so that will be atleast a few months before i get that far. in the meantime i just got a dana 30 out of my buddy's bronco II so the steering is already all setup which is just the normal jeep steering and its all ready for leaf springs for $70. it has 3.55's and i have 3.73's so its a step backwards in the way but for the deal im gettin on it its worth it to me. i already wont have 4WD for a while since i need a driveline adapter or a new transfer case. my buddy that i just got this axle from also has all the mounting hardware for the leaf springs, hangers and what not so i will get those tomorrow or friday as well. then it begins... CANT WAIT!!!

just some specs:
im moving the front axle forward atleast an inch. and maybe moving the rear later. i also know someone who has a 2wd parts ranger, its a newer one. he said i can have the rear axle out of it, so im gonna go see what the gears are in it and see if its an 8.8 maybe. i would be set if that happens to be 3.55 or 4.10's or something much better like that. i plan in the future to just go ahead and buy yukon 4.88's...

thanks for the help guys. i'll try to get some pics up sometime before this weekend. and i'll start hackin the fenders sometime soon :)


All you need is a set of weld on wedges to use the fullsize radius arms.

[LittleBigFoot]

I've got a good set of radius arms from a 79 Bronco. I'll let them go cheap.

[alpinestar]

The dana 30 that i just picked up for it was just in a bronco II, he ran stock wrangler leafs and he said he would outflex any TTB lift. the steering he used was the stock wrangler steering, had no problems with the drag link running into the leaf springs. i might have to pick up a drop pitman arm but no big deal. thats $35 at "the jeep guy".

the only parts i dont completely understand is the caster camber set up. i got a guy that knows how to set up that shit so he'll probably expain it to me tonight. other than that, im gonna play it step by step. worse comes to worse, i wont be able to drive my truck next week... darn, gonna have to drive the jeep to school...

thanks guys..

about to hack the fenders last night then the god damn northwest weather kicked in. so i got lazy and decided to call it a night.

[alpinestar]

started this last night, Friday. Almost done now suprisingly. i'll finish tomorrow and post some pictures. for the most part i just need to install it and set the caster angle and i'll be almost done. all in all, the axle moved forward close to 3 inches. gives it quite the stance...

[alpinestar]

So far its been the little things here and there thats taking forever. its near completion tho, school cuts into my working time way too much. im gonna get the perches welded on the axles in the morning. maybe i'll have enough time to get the brake and steering hooked up too. but the problem i faced earlier was that my mounts were a half inch too narrow on the axle and it was running into the pumpkin on one side. i think i worked the problems out of that now tho and it should be driveable...

[JohnnyU]

I'm interested to see how you are running your steering with the axle pushed forward 3"....

[alpinestar]

its the stock wrangler steering. i have my axle rotated to 84 degrees negative? i think. the yoke is pointing upwards slightly and the steering reaches just fine. also my leaf spring perches are pretty tall to help clear the steering. one of these days when im not still working on it i'll put up a ton of pics. been really busy lately.

[alpinestar]

Pictures! its done finally.. whew!

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/69/l_02913d3960824869a3e81af21ed8b2f9.jpg
http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/106/l_42cea0a454234ae18fff40ae220bb4f5.jpg
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/76/l_75b1855130a24107987550cf7f6bde2a.jpg
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/107/l_277985bdedd04a078b2b3c938efa5888.jpg
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/105/l_cd537eee0dae47c2b277c54e772d34de.jpg
Axles forward about 4 inches....
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/112/l_6ac708bbb56548b38d1ed51227bdbc18.jpg

there it is! now to fix the steering problems haha! but it does drive down the road somewhat nicely. tomorrow, since ive ran out of daylight today, i will finish putting shocks on and cleaning some things up. sorry about the dark pics but like i said i ran out of daylight before i got done.

[slammer67]

its the stock wrangler steering. i have my axle rotated to 84 degrees negative?

how do you rotate an axle 84 deg? it seems that would point the pinion like straight up, or maybe straight down.

Hey - I was gonna ask for pics, but as soon as I went to reply, your pics showed up.

that looks pretty good, it seems you have plenty clearence for the steering.

Those don't look like stock wrangler springs, they seem to have more arch. It did seem to settle quite a bit though. I would guess that you might need to add a leaf to them to get a little stiffer, but it looks good for those tires.

how does it ride?

axle 4" foreward, wow, your gonna have a great aproach angle when you get some bigger tires on there, like 35's. you may need to trim the front of the fenders a little. How did that work with the steering angles. I'd like to see a pic pointed from the steering box down to the axle.

good work

[midget]

you have any pics of the front shackles sittin under its own weight?

[alpinestar]

i guess its no worth telling you 84 degrees negative but what i mean is it was on the negative side but you would have to know where i measured that from... anyways.. their 2" rancho wrangler springs, and they flex like CRAZY! i had it parked on a stump last night that was chest high on me and im 5' 10". i'lll post a pic when i get them. in a minute, my buddy is emailing them to me. and ya i plan to do a little fender chopping for bigger tires, i need to make my fender wells bigger tho so i can stuff them like i do these 31"s that i have on now. its definitly alot more impressive than i expected. as far as driving goes, besides that im still making upper shock mounts for the front, it steers really really well, returns to center like a stock truck but has alittle play in the steering which isnt too bad, it was expected. and its softer than stock. its definitly a trail rig and i like the way its setup right now. im thinkin of makin the rear do the same so i need longer shackles and different springs for the rear soon.

before i start on the back i need longer brake lines, bigger tires, extended drivelines, and a new set of pro comp shocks.

midget, i'll get a pic tomorrow if i can remember for ya. and i'll also try to get a pic of what you asked Slammer67. thanks for looking guys. i'll post flex pics in a minute.

[alpinestar]

Alright, here it is!!!
http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv224/alpinestar666/brendanslift068.jpg
Thats me standing next to it, like i said im about 5'10"... and its not quite flexed out there it does have alittle more room on the brake lines but not much.
http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv224/alpinestar666/brendanslift069.jpg
http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv224/alpinestar666/brendanslift070.jpg
http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv224/alpinestar666/brendanslift071.jpg
im tryin to get my buddy to build an RTI ramp but that rock works too. i did it in 2wd too haha...

[JeepRecoveryTeam]

Are you going to use those 2x4s on the trail to?

[alpinestar]

lol hey man i had to use them to get up on there, i had to get a run at it HAHAHAHAHA... but no those stay on that rock there to help us get up it. if i had 4 wheel drive i wouldnt need it. i guess i should weld up my rear too..

[slammer67]

nice flex

Those shackles seem pretty long, but good for flex, that might be part of your steeing/wandering issues. not so bad that they are at the rear of the front springs but if they were shackled up front, you'd have all kinds of wander on the road.

definitely need brake lines, I just went down to napa and found a longer line that worked with the dana 44 - I believe it was for a chevy truck. but you're gonna need way longer ones cause mine wont flex that much.

Your also gonna need some seriously long shocks at least 14" id say and a tall mount/hoop for the top mount since your ride height isn't that high.

[alpinestar]

haha yea im workin on the front shock issue. but for about $400 i can get a set of piggy back rancho rs 9000 fully adjustable shocks haha... that will be a while from now tho. but yea i was told there are some full size rigs that have longer brake lines that i could use until i wanna buy an actual steel braded extended brake line kit.

i need to put an extra washer or two on the bolts in the shackle cuz it has a hair bit too much smooth bore on it and it makes it difficult to tighten those things up enough. i mainly need to weld a brace in the center and that should eliminate the steering wander ALOT....

thanks for lookin

[LittleBigFoot]

For 75 bucks you can get a set of 28' long braided steel hoses that use the same chevy/doge/ford hard line fitting and 3/8" banjo bolt.

Foothills offroad. Look em up on evil bay.

Nice job, but watch out when you take it up to road speeds. Extended shackles can give a death wobble.

I'm fabbing up a set of shackles for the trail and a smaller set of shackles to use on the street. Pain in the ass but that's what happens when you SAS your DD.

Look into 98+ ranger rear shocks. They're 26.5" long and have room for 12 or 14" of travel and they're 26 bucks a piece at Advanced Auto. Or something like that. It's a good temp shock till ya can shell out for the nice ones.

[Bray D]

that's what happens when you SAS your DD.



Not if you use coil springs :thefinger:

[alpinestar]

Nice job, but watch out when you take it up to road speeds. Extended shackles can give a death wobble.

I'm fabbing up a set of shackles for the trail and a smaller set of shackles to use on the street. Pain in the ass but that's what happens when you SAS your DD.


actually ive already gone down the highway at 65 mph and it not bad at all.. and thats with no front shocks still. so i guess mine turned out well... and as for shocks i have a set of 12" travel rs5000 that i will fit to the front until i can afford some badass rs9000 or something else like that. in fact, any recommendations as to where to get some for a good price or what kind i should get?

[alpinestar]

oh and as for brake lines there is a guy in Portland, Or which is local to me hes called the "Jeep Guy" and he sells extended brake line kits for $65 so i might try to get those soon.

also ive got another set of shackles that match the rear on the way right now. next week i'll go pick up a new driveline for the rear and put my longer shocks on the rear and put these new shackles on, should improve it flex alot.

[MikeyFord3]

so what are you doing about the drive shaft? does your stock one fit or no?

[alpinestar]

no, its about 4 inches too short(go figure, i moved my axle about 4 inches forward) but i know someone that can lengthen drive shafts for a good price. one of these days i'll get it done...

[buildinabeast]

I am interested in seeing some pics of your swap.

[alpinestar]

so i guess nows a good time to tell you i didnt take any huh? lol what did you wanna see?

[midget]

Hey bud how long are your shackles I got my truck to sit on its own weight on the leafs and they were at the right arc but my shackles are too short and went flat horizontal.... Mine are 5" sooo I was going to lengthen them to like 8-9" I think Im using a lil softer front springs but my truck wont see any highway time so its all good.

[alpinestar]

i have 9" shackles, for flex its definitly a must. and i have 2" rancho leafs for a wrangler. i dont know how much a wrangler weighs but its about half as much as a B2 or Ranger so they seem really super soft in my truck but their pretty stiff for a wrangler and i do 60 down the highway no problem. what springs are you gonna run?

[alpinestar]

The other thing is that my shackles sit fairly flat as well but not completely. its the perfect amount to stuff my tire but it stops just before it hits my fender and it allows it to droop alot. so dont try to make them too vertical or you will lose all your downwards travel. just my .02 cents, and it seems to work well. good luck!

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Your shackle angle should be about 90 degrees to the leaf at ride height for the best performace out of the spring.

[alpinestar]

ya thats about what mine is, probably a little less. thats what i was thinking when i posted last but i wasnt sure if that would be accurate or not. thanks for clearing it up.

[midget]

OOO sweet thanks I made mine 8" and was reall worried I was gettin carried away. I couldnt test fit them in the truck until my friend brought back my cherry picker jack doesnt go high enough. The springs I have are a 2" lift spring from a 70s Jeep CJ they look tiny but the Jeep have a V8 or straight 6 so I should be fine jsut need to finish gutting all the BS like AC, airbox, doors and teh other useless stuff I have. My truck isnt meant for any kind of highway use so FLEXY is where its at for me I think Im going to buggy leaf the rear and fill the rear tires with Lead shot or Fluid here soon.

[alpinestar]

the buggy leaf, like elliptical style? ya i was thinking the same for my rear. how does that handle on the highway? cuz my truck is a dialy driver and i never intend to make it non street driveable.

[midget]

The guy I got the idea off of has it on his Yota pickup with a flatbed and says he didnt notice much difference on the road but hes running boggers and what not. Heres a link to his build in case your interested. http://www.miobi.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1021&highlight=

As far as streetability I have a nice street truck that I tried using as dual purpose but one smashed front end later I decided to get a trail only truck so I bought my ranger for less than I have in tires. You already have the B2 SASed now get a cheap toy hauler and have some fun.

[alpinestar]

well im 16 and gotta go to school everyday. plus having a job right now is nearly impossible. so money is tight and i just scrape parts together to build my truck. and in my opinion theres no reason to have a truck if you cant drive it through town and have everyone stare at you, so i dont have any plans to ever make a "trail only" vehicle. but its up to you what you want to do. if i were to go that route i'd have full widths already haha..

well thanks for the info, im thinkin about buyin all the mounts and building a trianglulated 4 link next. so i will probably give that elliptical a try to see if i cant get some flex out of the rear. but like i said moneys tight so its gonna be a few months.

[midget]

Yeah I get what you mean I didnt want to go this route but the trails around here are just to much for a truck you want to keep in good shape. I went with the smartest option although I could get plates and everything for the ranger to drive it on the street its just another insurance and license fee I would have to pay and I dont need to drive it on the street.

[alpinestar]

ya for sure, i can understand that... i dont think ive seen yours, got some pics?

[midget]

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu304/evilmidget/Picture024.jpg
This is what it looks like now almost finished with the SAS its hard to make time to work on it when Im working alot of overtime.
This was before the SAS on the trailer behind my Xterra. Sooner or later Im going to finish the Exo Cage so I can pull the doors off and maybe cut the roof off lol.
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu304/evilmidget/Picture018.jpg

[alpinestar]

wow thats a crazy lookin truck. looks definitly like a trail only rig haha. its cool. so i was wondering, you said you wanted to finish the exo so you can take the doors off, is it legal to take your doors off and drive down the road if you have an exocage? cuz here in washington any vehicle that did not come from the factory with removeable doors cannot have the doors off and drive down the road... sucks cuz i made mine removeable just for that reason....

[midget]

Hmm idk bout that its just a rule at the local club grounds yu have to have a cage if you dont have a roof or doors. What you could do as another option would be half or tube doors. Same benefits as no doors and is legal theres a a few guys that check are regs on www.pirate4x4.com forum that are wheeling some pretty intense rockcrawlers and drive them on the street so I would ask them.

O and yeah my truck is ugly but its a fun lil toy im on my 3rd set of doors trees dont agree with me very much I need a to redo the front clip but its a waste of time.

[MikeyFord3]

so ya weld the rear yet? im thinking about doing it myself but then again its my DD. so idk how fast id wear out my tires and wheel hop could be a issue

[alpinestar]

ya im gonna just make half doors, i seen a cherokee driving around today with half doors and i definitly love the look.

Mikey:
nope never did weld it. guess im too lazy but im afraid im gonna break it, we have c clip axles and if you break an axle the shaft and tire and all will just fall right out. im kinda tossin the idea around still htough. maybe i'll weld it up like a week before i put a 9" in it or something, so i have something to replace it if i absolutely must. but i definitly will weld up my next rear end. and ya tires wear fast, but its still fun to drive in the rain hahaa

[GOODOLEBOY84]

ya im gonna just make half doors, i seen a cherokee driving around today with half doors and i definitly love the look.

Mikey:
nope never did weld it. guess im too lazy but im afraid im gonna break it, we have c clip axles and if you break an axle the shaft and tire and all will just fall right out. im kinda tossin the idea around still htough. maybe i'll weld it up like a week before i put a 9" in it or something, so i have something to replace it if i absolutely must. but i definitly will weld up my next rear end. and ya tires wear fast, but its still fun to drive in the rain hahaa

i had a 84 i welded the front and rear, never broke the rear i had 31" baja claws on it, i beat the mess out of it, took it to river rock in milledgeville ga, uwharrie nc, gulches in sc, never broke the rear, but the dana 28 thats a different story lol

[alpinestar]

ya to helll with the dana 28. i have the dana 30 out of a wrangler up front right now. but yea it seems like EVERY SINGLE PERSON i talk to that has welded their rear axle up are very happy with it and have never had a problem or never broke it.. crazy.. it must be a sign haha..

[GOODOLEBOY84]

i have a 97 it was a 2wd i have swapped in a 8.8 out of a exploxer with 3inch toyota springs, and i have a d30 for the front was gonna do a 3 link but now im just trying to get it under there now so im doing leafs, but i dont know what size to get, the toyota springs gave me about 6inchs or so

[alpinestar]

well im using 2" rancho wrangler springs and ive only got about 4" of lift. which sucks alot cuz i wanted more... but i also have 9" shackles that sit pretty much straight back...

[RacinNdrummin]

Why did you move your front spring mounts from under the frame to the outside of the frame?

[midget]

Idk why he did but I did that so I wouldnt have to move the spring perches on the front axle... I have 2" lift CJ springs on my 88ranger and its about as high as it was with a 4"ttb lift it doesnt get any lower but has alot of droop im afraid my driveshaft will be a goner..

[alpinestar]

ya i moved my mounts out because it was too narrow on the axle and it wouldnt work so i moved them to where they are now and they work great. that was the mistake i made doing this, and it cost me a couple days cuz i was discouraged and mad that i had to cut my mounts back off. thats why i say always tack everything together first. then when you know for sure its perfect, weld it up. thats what im doin with my new bumper too...

speaking of which, i'll post some pics this weekend when i finish it. probably like sunday i think, im gonna be camping all weekend.

[dangeranger01]

Theres gettin to be alot of SAS'd rigs on here. Its good to see another one in WA. Im gonna be in vancouver tonight. I will keep an eye out for your B2.

[RacinNdrummin]

ya i moved my mounts out because it was too narrow on the axle and it wouldnt work so i moved them to where they are now and they work great. that was the mistake i made doing this, and it cost me a couple days cuz i was discouraged and mad that i had to cut my mounts back off. thats why i say always tack everything together first. then when you know for sure its perfect, weld it up. thats what im doin with my new bumper too...

speaking of which, i'll post some pics this weekend when i finish it. probably like sunday i think, im gonna be camping all weekend.


Were the leafs hitting your pumpkin?

[midget]

Theres gettin to be alot of SAS'd rigs on here. Its good to see another one in WA. Im gonna be in vancouver tonight. I will keep an eye out for your B2.

Hey when do we get the little Icons saying weve done the SAS my 3/4 ton swap is done now lol.

[alpinestar]

ya my leaves on the drivers side were right on the pumkin. woops... haha

hey dangeranger, next time your gonna be around vancouver let me know sooner if you got some time we can play around a little...

[89REDRANGER]

Nice swap! Mine is coming together slowly. I'm on a TINY budget, so I have to wait for good deals or free stuff to come my way. I ain't afraid to use other people's junk and make it work for my needs.

[alpinestar]

for sure. like i posted in the SAS price forum i only got a few hundred into the swap. most of the parts my buddies were planning to use and never got around to or just made for me real quick. i think the whole thing ended up costing about $300 or so... it just takes time. as of today i worked out all the major kinks.. it was riding rough due to a part of the shackles hitting the frame and sending the bumps through the truck. kinda sucked for a while and today i finally took care of it. tomorrow will be longer shocks in the rear...

post some pics of your swap man... start a thread of your own maybe...

BTW next time you guys see any updates on this truck i hope to be 3 linking the front... maybe soon, depending on the job situation. damn economy :flipoff:

[alpinestar]

So im starting over and doing this build a little cleaner this time, new rear springs, new front spring hangers, all new mounts and it should look alot better, and perform much better. so i have some questions, where should i buy leaf spring mounts and hangers? the cheapest place i have looked is BallisticFabrication.com but they dont really have alot of leaf spring parts. so i was wondering, since im running a 2.5" wide spring could i use these: http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Heavy-Duty-Frame-Link-Mount_p_1511.html as my spring hangers for the front and rear? putting a shackle on will be my only problem in the rear, i would either need 1/4" spacers on each side of the spring to make up for the extra width of the shackles if they were on the outside of the mount, or maybe go with a wider rear hanger? their option for the shackle side is: http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Frame-Bushing-Mounts_p_1651.html but where do i get the Sleeve? i have bushings, those would be easy to get but i would like to get the sleeve and everything all in one place so i know they will easily go together...

so any recommendations as to where else to go? or am i in the right place?

oh and... i already have 9" shackles so i wont be replacing those...