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well i didnt see my post (did i not look hard enough?)
i worked on it a little saturday, i lifted the passenger front tire off the ground 41" and 3 tires were still on the ground and the other was touching the pallete forks (duh ) the only reason i stoped is because one of the front leaf packs had fanned out pretty bad.
here are a couple pics i already posted.
i know there is invisible steering and driveshafts. i have to save up a little more $ now.
d60 front d70 rear, front leafs are wrangler packs with extra main leaf (spring eyes cut off) and a rancho full length AAL (advertised for 2" lift)
Aren't you the fellow that had so much trouble with the motor swap out last year?
Sounds like you've proceeded along nicely in your skillset.
I am seriously considering going with leafs as well. It makes upgrading the front axle so much easier it seems- plus, leafs are less apt to do wierd things on you when you're in a hairy spot.
I can get a Waggy D44 front complete for $100, and already have the springs. As it happens, my front bumper I made seems to be pretty damned perfectly suited to use for a spring hanger as well. I put the ORGS SBS system in a couple months back, so there's no worries there, and I've ordered the XJUnireinforcer from Detours, so that's about 80% of the unibody reinforcement I wanted to do. Reinforce the entire unibody with 3/16" channel front to back and weld your cage into the reinforcement and unibody flex is basically a non-issue.
Looks like the answer has presented itself to me. GREAT thread... keep it coming..
Lol, I did see your previous thread on it. Was just curious how it had come along since then. For some people they just start flying through everything to get it done. And for people like you and me it's a slow but mostly fun process. So now that I know you are the latter(sp?) of the two I will wait a lil' while before I ask for another update.............
I do plan to swap out the front leafs in the future so I can raise my steering up. Right now Im building a rear 4link and coils onto a 14bolt, with disk brakes, 5.13 gears, and spooled.
I do plan to swap out the front leafs in the future so I can raise my steering up. Right now Im building a rear 4link and coils onto a 14bolt, with disk brakes, 5.13 gears, and spooled.
One day I may go back to links in the front, but I will definitely link the rear first. It would be much easier to do a nice link suspension on the rear (especially since I have an MJ) than on the front. It would also eliminate axle-wrap where it occurs most; at the rear axle. I also like having the rear flex a little better than the front, since it's more natural to focus on the front anyway, having the rear flex more means you can forget about it a little more. Look at Camo's buggy for instance, the guy spent like $20,000 on his 60s and countless hours, and he was running a linked rear and leafs up front. This is fairly common on buggys for the same reasons I stated above.
Leafs are cheap, simple, easy, and still very effective. And for some of us, they're probably temporary also until we have the time and money to build a nice front link suspension. I have yet to hear anyone make the claim that they are ideal.
I read Ashman's 9 page thread last night over on Pirate about the leaf swap he's done. Watched the videos and was very impressed with how the vehicle maintained a flat body angle through all but the most outrageous terrain.
What I don't understand, then, is why he's going to coils out back. He had something that worked extremely well onroad and as a trail rig. He took coils out of the front and went to leaves presumably because they work better, now is going from leaves out back to coils.. because they work better. Huh?
I'm certainly not calling into question his fabrication skills or anything of the sort. Just don't understand the contradicting logic. Does it have to do with the weight of the vehicle- leaves support the engine better while the coils work for a severely lightened rearend?
I'm kinda up in the air if I'm going to go leafs or not. I have a lot of projects on my plate already-- a solid axle swap for my 89 S-series Blazer, 350 into same, 4.3/700R4/231C into the XJ. I want to put a Wagoneer D44 up front but am not sure if it would be more work to put leafs in or to weld the brackets on the D44 for the coil setup.
I read Ashman's 9 page thread last night over on Pirate about the leaf swap he's done. Watched the videos and was very impressed with how the vehicle maintained a flat body angle through all but the most outrageous terrain.
What I don't understand, then, is why he's going to coils out back. He had something that worked extremely well onroad and as a trail rig. He took coils out of the front and went to leaves presumably because they work better, now is going from leaves out back to coils.. because they work better. Huh?
I'm certainly not calling into question his fabrication skills or anything of the sort. Just don't understand the contradicting logic.
And why the hell did I pull my working d70 rear out and put an equivalent 14bolt in?
I like trying stuff.
My d30 with stock UCA, and non adjustable LCAs were not worth adapting to my new d60 I added last year. I hated those links. The poly joints didnt last long and I always had issues with Death wobble. It was easier to put leafs on the front and sell the old lift components. I also had better faith in a leaf spring front axle to not have Death wobble like my stock links did. I hated those little links.
I used XJ rear main leafs on my front.. The Maine leafs are pretty thin for the kinda weight on the front. I would go with a Thicker main leaf and/or a mil wrap design second time around... a stock toyota rear leafs would be Ideal. IMO. I chose the XJ leafs to keep it all XJ, and like the idea of added flex from the longer leaf. I really wish I had those shorter mil wraped toyota leafs sitting around!!!!
I have shackle in back on my 84 toyota, and Im still satisfied with my shackle in front choice on the Cherokee. I did not want to make a HACK square tube drive shaft or spend $$$ on a long travle shaft needed to go shackel in back. Re using the stock drive shaft was a BIG plus to shackle in front. Since My shackle is 3/8in thick It doesent get hurt when I bump it and I made them "Anti kick back" so that when I bump they can not easily snap my main leaf.
So why am I doing coils on the rear first?
I had 2in lift blocks in back that I didnt like and S-ed afew leaf packs from all the hopping on hill climbs over afew years. The stock brackets for the main leafs were junk and the bolts were rusted. so I cut the mounts and decided to do a rear 4-link. The 4link in the rear with some stock jeep coils mounted under the frame will give me some added height I need, and this is cheaper then buying some 8in lift XJ leafs with HUGE arch.
With Higher arched leafs in rear and flatter ones in the front like I have under the frame rails my springs were verry un-ballanced. Also to brevent hopping and s-ing leafs I had to make my rear leafs really stiff.
Thanks. I'm stil ltrying to decide if I want to keep the coils up front or go to leafs. The leafs would make it very easy to put a 44 up front, that's for sure. Of course, so would a EB D44 but they are probably a bit more than the $100 I can get a Wagoneer 44 for from a buddy.
post pictures of your spring hangers, the frame side. i plated the frame with 3x4x1/4 angle up to the control arm mount and need ideas on where and how to mount the spring hangers. i've only seen Ashman's and that's the way I going now, with XJ rear springs up front.
post pictures of your spring hangers, the frame side. i plated the frame with 3x4x1/4 angle up to the control arm mount and need ideas on where and how to mount the spring hangers. i've only seen Ashman's and that's the way I going now, with XJ rear springs up front.
Like you saw on mine I made mine out of pieces of plate,But Im not doing that again. Its time consuming, lots of welds, and it warps alittle when you weld it up.
For the 4link Im gonna use some 3/8in thick box tube cut the top off and round off the edges. It makes a much cleaner looking hanger or control arm mounts...
3/8in is not really needed, but will look good in proportion to my huge 1.25in rodends with 3/4in bolts. 1/4in plate next to 1.25 rod ends and a 3/4in-1in bolt looks kinda silly though its strong enough.
front leafs make axle upgrades easier/more options/cheaper, right?
waggy front leafs ok? How much lift do they give?
Any more info on the BDS leafs?
Would you guys recommend on a DD with highway use and occasional wheeling?
Reason I ask, is that I plan to go Dana 44 HP, I was going to go long arm but some asshat broke into my rig a while ago and stole my jj's and other material for it. I'm not done with the stroker yet and I'll still need to upgrade the rear axle so money is a BIG concern. There are a lot of Waggy's getting parted out around here and I could prolly get the leafs real cheap (vs building long arms & crossmember)
Any newer observations?
BTW...the rig is currently at 7-8" and plan on going 35-37" shoes next year
stock replacement 7 leaf Waggys gave me 6-7 inches with the rear mounted snug to the frame rail and a 4 inch shackle up front. 3.5" BDS YJ springs gave me about 8" and are only about $60 each.
I really like it, but if you already have an F100/150 HP D44, just do coils. If you're still shopping for an axle get a Waggy and do leafs. check out my thread on Pirate, link in my signature.
I really like it, but if you already have an F100/150 HP D44, just do coils. If you're still shopping for an axle get a Waggy and do leafs. check out my thread on Pirate, link in my signature.
But, I'm under the impression the waggy is a low pinion regular rotation vs the f150/250/350 being high pinion reverse rotation
I can usually find the leaf sprung hi pinions for about the same price as the waggys 'round here. Common consensus round here is that the RC axles are a bit stronger than the standard rotation and the extra clearance of the high pinion is a freebie.
I guess it all kinda depends on what kinda deal I find, I'll prolly wind up buying front and rears, hoping to get a 60 or 9". Motor's getting forced induction as well as strokin to 4.7 so I need the extra strength
I'm having this done this week, I'm using CJ rear springs (will these be long enough? They look perfect!) and a Waggy D-44 LP. Also I'm swapping in the rear AMC 20 I got from the Wagoneer, the only thing that will suck is they have 2.72 gears. I'll be switching them to 4.88's and when I wear out my 32's I'm going to re-lift it and run 36-37's.
Gil, if you can get a leaf-sprung RC D44 for the same price as a Waggy, go that route, though it will be a lot wider and have 8 lug outers.
TB-XJ, i wouldn't even THINK about running 32s with 2.72 gears. I wished for more gear with 3.07s and 28s, and 4.88s with 33s is perfect. wait to do the swap until you can do it right.
Like you saw on mine I made mine out of pieces of plate,But Im not doing that again. Its time consuming, lots of welds, and it warps alittle when you weld it up.
For the 4link Im gonna use some 3/8in thick box tube cut the top off and round off the edges. It makes a much cleaner looking hanger or control arm mounts...
3/8in is not really needed, but will look good in proportion to my huge 1.25in rodends with 3/4in bolts. 1/4in plate next to 1.25 rod ends and a 3/4in-1in bolt looks kinda silly though its strong enough.
You guys gotta think about tubing for your hangers & CA mounts. I used to cut all my mounts out of plate with my plasma & while not as time consuming as other methods, it still took alot of time.
Use 3x3x3/16" tubing for JJ & RE joint mounts, 2.5" wide leaf spring hangers & whatever else needs 2.625" ID.
Ash, 3/8? WTF is up with that, you're welds not up to par or something? 1/4 is overkill in a double shear application like a CA mount or spring hanger, that's a 1/2" of steel with a 9/16" bolt through it, what's gonna happen? Not to mention that when you weld thick arse metal (like 3/8?????) to thinner metal which one do you think is gonna suck up the heat & get brittle.............I'll give you a hint, it aint the 3/8.
) the only reason i stoped is because one of the front leaf packs had fanned out pretty bad.
