86+ D60 w/ Leafs.

[Burnside]

and so the frame on the bII is clean from all the ttb junk. And since there are ways too many red rangers out there and not enough bII's, and since I <3 my bII, I'm going to build the bII. It saves me a lot of hassle plus its what I truly want. I'll stretch the wheel base where I can and live with what I end up with.

So anywho after getting all the ttb off i put an exploder leaf pack on a jack and held it here and there and this is what I am looking at.

This is the explorer leaf on the utmost forward position I can mount it. Some tabs off the front or bottom of the bumper would work this is doable.

This is then how forward the axle would be pushed- I like it.

Now this is where I gotta come up with something. This is where it would leave the rear.

(This picture was taken at an angle and is decieving. The eye of the spring is almost centered under the body mount bolt, it's a tad closer to the front of the truck)


That is right under the body mount. Options:

a. Johnny U has his chevy parked in my front yard and I was doing some measuring on his ORD rear flip kit shackels. The hanger is off-set on the mounting flange, biased to a side leaving just enough room to have bolts in it. If i used a pair of these it would allow me to mount a hanger in front of the body mount, but as far back as possible. It is also a drop hanger so the shackle would not interfere with the body mount in its travel. WIth the shackle angle toward the back of the truck, and the leaf swinging down to meet it, I think it'd come together. But that would put the rear of the spring a lot lower than the front of the spring and I wonder if that'd mess up pinion angles or give me a fugged up shackle angle.

ORD shackle flip kit.

b. home made leaf pring bracket under the body mount.

c. use the ord hanger but without shackle, then go front shackles and hang them off the front bumper.

 

[NMB2]

thats a tough one, you might be able to get away with putting the shackle hanger in front of the body mount like mine.

 

[dangerrangerstx]

im going to use rear wagoneer springs w/o the over load

 

[Bray D]

What are you thinking as far as steering? Full hydro would be easiest. If you don't plan to do that, I'd take into consideration my steering linkage before I decided on the final axle location (spring mounting configuration).

 

[Burnside]

Full hydro no doubt.

 

[1badexplorer]

Full hydro no doubt.

X2 you will love it. I can steer my 44 boggers on my EB better than my ranger can turn p235s

You can maybe use rear front leaf hangers off a 80-up ford f250. the leaf is right by the body mount also. THey straddle the mount. I will try and post some pics.

 

[Bray D]

Full hydro no doubt.

Good choice.

Are you dead set on using an explorer pack? I'd consider runnin 63"ers up front, with the long side toward the rear. That would allow you to have the same mounting point off your bumper, but would push the rear back another 6", hopefully enough to clear the body mount bracket. I'd solid mount the rear and shackle the front. May lose some approach, but it will help driveshaft wise as the suspension droops.

 

[JohnnyU]

Don't Chevy 63's have a centered pin? Besides, that'd be a pretty long spring for up front. I think a creative bracket would be easy enough to fabricate, and be better than an off-the shelf part for this application.

That being said, there are a few GM spring hangers that have a fairly wide footprint, but also have the clearance to let us work around the body mount. I need to dig around and see just what's out there.

 

[NMB2]

I'd solid mount the rear and shackle the front. May lose some approach, but it will help driveshaft wise as the suspension droops.

i disagree, driveshaft is a non-issue. The gains of using the shackle in rear are far better and worth having to make a long-slip shaft.

I would consider a shorter leaf.. mine are only like 40 some inches.

 

[JohnnyU]

Josh:

http://www.illusivefabrications.com...log&file=product_info&cPath=41&products_id=70

 

[NMB2]

"Our front springs feature a full military wrap on the front and the 1/4 wrap on the rear. Spring rate is 220 lbs per inch. Leaf pack is 6 leaves. Springs are 47" long as measured along the top leaf. Pin to center of front mount is 22" and pin to center of the shackle mount is 25". New poly bushings and left side spring pad are included with springs."

those are my front leafs. running them the way i do i got about 4" stretch and with the shackle so much lower than the front, i did have to use a shim to correct pinion angle.

 

[Bray D]

The 63" springs don't have a centered pin, that's why you have to move the front mount forward 6" in order to retain the factory axle location when installing them in the rear.


Shorter leaf, good call. That'd also take care of the issue. Didn't know of any shorter springs so I suggested the longer (fairly common) ones.

Front vs rear shackle:

What are the advantages of having it in the rear besides approach angle? I thought that was the only tradeoff. Front shackle = shorter-slip shaft and less approach, Rear shackle = longer-slip shaft and better approach?

 

[JohnnyU]

The 63" springs don't have a centered pin, that's why you have to move the front mount forward 6" in order to retain the factory axle location when installing them in the rear.

They sure look centered (or nearly centered) to me....

TOP: RBV rear spring
BOTTOM: 88-98 GM rear spring

 

[bradz71]

You can maybe use rear front leaf hangers off a 80-up ford f250. the leaf is right by the body mount also. They straddle the mount. I will try and post some pics.

My buddy did this on his 5-ton truck, he used the rear front hangers off the F350 and dropped them down. Its shown post number 2:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=805965

I think you could modify that ORD shackle flip kit and it would be perfect.

Also just for good reading and ideas, check out this guys front spring mount, not sure what page its on, but its good reading. Check out post 312, I'm sure there's better pics but you can get the general idea:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=687621&page=13

Check out the Toyota SAS stuff, they have alot of good builds and info on what springs will push your axle forward and what kind of lift them have and so on.

Figure this stuff might help you out.

 

[Bray D]

They sure look centered (or nearly centered) to me....

TOP: RBV rear spring
BOTTOM: 88-98 GM rear spring

Are you fawkin smokin crack Unes? Look at the spring eyes. The right eye is much further out on the GM spring compared to the RBV spring. I've got em on my truck. Pushed the front hanger 6" forward and it didn't pull my axle with it.