xBLAKEx's 1988 Supercab Build

[brinker88]

Trucklite makes some badass LED license lamps. All you have to do is drill a 1" hold and they pop right in. This is what I have.

http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wc...10001&storeId=10001&productId=64062&langId=-1

Oh and btw, those Weld on D-rings above are outlawed at most offroad parks due to them sheering off. The reason they sheer off tho is bc people cant weld lol.

 

[wizkid00104]

Look at my buddy's rear bumper. He got this little LED surface lights that screw right into the bumper. Obviously the don't work well with a bent license plate, but I think he got them at the local auto parts store for a few $.

I have also seen light up attachments for the screws that hold the plate on, maybe on LMC truck.

 

[xBLAKEx]

Hah I've taught myself how to weld over the past month or so and i think my results are pretty solid. I was going to get some weld on tabs, was that what you were talking about or the other half tube style? Those lights seem reasonable, but there's no prices.

I need to figure out how to throw some power into the bumper for whatever i put in there.

And I've kinda looked at the local places and didn't see what i wanted, even though I'm not sure what i want. Hah that license plate has seen better days.


So I'm also trying to decide if i should take out my overloads [ they are from a 2500! ], and add a leaf from my original pack to still have around the same height in the rear. Because I've noticed that the OL are preventing full articulation, or drop on the other and the side being forced up. But I think my shocks might be short, but i don't know because I haven't been able to cycle my suspension. I don't have a forklift or a ramp. I'm just disappointed over all. My brother got even higher on that rock with no tires coming off the ground. In a cherokee.

This was when i went to Reno, I should have gotten out and checked but i didn't.

And my brothers rig. Even though he has xj coils, the rear can articulate way more then my rig, he has no overloads.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

The main reason he's getting more flex is he has a solid axel up front and you have the ttb. You've gotta heavily modify ttbs to get good flex. IMO its easier to sas it instead of trying to modify the ttb setup.
Here's mine with 1/2 ton runnin gear and suspension and only front wheel drive with a open diff.
View attachment 8082

 

[scooter]

The main reason he's getting more flex is he has a solid axel up front and you have the ttb. You've gotta heavily modify ttbs to get good flex. IMO its easier to sas it instead of trying to modify the ttb setup.
Here's mine with 1/2 ton runnin gear and suspension and only front wheel drive with a open diff.
View attachment 8082

Reread....
He is talking about the rear axle.

Its easy to measure if your shocks are too short, but i suspect your overload spring is hurting it also.
When i was 1/2ton i used the stock leaf and just made some shackles that were about 3in taller to lift it. The stock sprigs will flex good!

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I know he was talkin about the rear axel. He's limited on the amount of flex he'll get without lifting a front tire with the ttb though. It wasn't designed for large amounts of flex. He can have alot of flex with his rear end but still do poorly 4wheeling and is actually more likely to tip over with the ttb because the tire won't drop and will pull the truck over (I learned the hard way and rolled a Bll lol).

 

[xBLAKEx]

I absolutely agree that it is much easier to dial in a straight axle. But i didn't have the money to sas her at the time, nor do i now. I have been thinking of building a early bronco D44 little by little, and then once i have everything i could swap it in. One reason I've been thinking this is because I know i need gears and lockers, but i don't want to dump the money into the D28 and not even really a D35. There isn't much of a difference in price for gears for the D35 and D44. I still have to research a lot more on the D44 though. Know of some rebuilds on here? And I'm planning on swapping in an explorer 8.8 with disk brakes some time. Would like to rebuild both before i put them in.

Anyways back to the rear suspension, I think I'm going to pick up some center pins and weave in one of my old leafs to replace the overload. Is it better to weave one in the bottom of the pack, middle, top?

How can i easily measure my shocks?

Lots of questions i know, you guys on here have been great!

 

[scooter]

I know he was talkin about the rear axel. He's limited on the amount of flex he'll get without lifting a front tire with the ttb though. It wasn't designed for large amounts of flex. He can have alot of flex with his rear end but still do poorly 4wheeling and is actually more likely to tip over with the ttb because the tire won't drop and will pull the truck over (I learned the hard way and rolled a Bll lol).

I hope i grow up to as smart as you.

Edit: im gonna leave that ^^
But add this.

actually more likely to tip over with the ttb because the tire won't drop and will pull the truck over

Call me after you do some real hardcore wheeling and expain how WRONG that statement is.
I have wheeled with everything from $1500 sammys on leafs to $200,000 supercharged Top Truck Challenge/KOH Champ rigs and i can tell you have no idea what your talking about.

 

[scooter]

Anyways back to the rear suspension, I think I'm going to pick up some center pins and weave in one of my old leafs to replace the overload. Is it better to weave one in the bottom of the pack, middle, top?

How can i easily measure my shocks?

Lots of questions i know, you guys on here have been great!

To measure your shocks just take one off, pull it all the way extended and measure how much of the shaft is showing. Vola!!! Thats how much travel your shocks have.

As far as adding leafs, i really dont know, never done it.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Scooter- Ha ha ok son how about we take it to pm's so we don't ruin this guys build tread.

 

[racer1044]

If your looking at adding leafs into your springs there isnt really a science to it. I had a new stock leaf pack and a use pack that came off the truck. I cut the eyes of the old main leaf and ran that under the new main leaf then used the next two from the old pack in between the new leafs. That pack plus my stock blocks and a drop shackle leveled the with the front of my skyjacker 6 inch lift and rides decent.

 

[xBLAKEx]

To measure your shocks just take one off, pull it all the way extended and measure how much of the shaft is showing. Vola!!! Thats how much travel your shocks have.

As far as adding leafs, i really dont know, never done it.

Thanks! I think the stock mounting location for the shocks could be a big contributor to not being able to maximize me articulating.

If your looking at adding leafs into your springs there isnt really a science to it. I had a new stock leaf pack and a use pack that came off the truck. I cut the eyes of the old main leaf and ran that under the new main leaf then used the next two from the old pack in between the new leafs. That pack plus my stock blocks and a drop shackle leveled the with the front of my skyjacker 6 inch lift and rides decent.

Yeah i figured it wasn't science, but maybe one way has better results then another.

 

[xBLAKEx]

Earlier today i decided to just take out the overloads and figure out what to do as i went. I decided to use the leaf before the overload and the overload on my old ranger pack to replace the Chevy 2500 overload. Wanted to try and keep the same height in the rear, and those two together was pretty close to the thickness of the 2500 overload.


The Old Set Up

Right off the bat i ran into a problem, my u-bolt just snapped where the run was.. I would have been way more bummed if i didn't have an extra set.

Cut the ranger overloads down to 12", didn't want them to be short nor to long. Also had to cut a couple inches off the leaf i used to make it equal distances from the center pin hole. Never knew it but one side is longer then the other. Does anyone know why?

What I replaced the 2500 overload with.

Old pack

New pack

When the axle was just hanging by the shocks i pushed one side back to extend the shock out completely. Measured the shaft at 12". I jacked up the passenger side until the rear drivers tire would barley come off the ground. Measured the drivers shock shaft and it was only at 10"! And the other shock could be compressed way more.

Tire barely off the ground and the shock shaft read 10" out of 12" of travel..?

Other shock not bottomed out..

The things I could think of are, The stock shock location it preventing the shocks to fully compress and extend, and possibly the shackles are bottomed out? What do you guys think of it all? I want more out of the rear end.

 

[Ford78]

I think your shocks are running out of travel. Ether need longer shocks or do like i did and move the lower shock mounts higher up on the axle to get some of the down travel back out of the shocks. It also looks like u have alot of up travel on the shocks that u will never use, so i think the best bet would be to move the lower mount.

 

[Ford78]

Heres what i did,

and heres the flex i get with new springs,