Installing a 8.8 - Questions about measurements - 8.25

I've posted this @ JU - but nobody answered - some people suggested I try you guys out... ;-)

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Does anyone know where I can get my hands on a drawing, diagram, etc. of a 8.25 in a XJ? I need something that has the dimensions I will need to setup a 8.8 for my XJ. Spring perch locations, shock mount locations, etc.

Anything will help. Any ideas where I could get something like this?

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Anybody have an idea about the center-of-perch to center-of-perch measurements? I'm trying to avoid taking the 8.25 out of my XJ to measure it - I'd like to get the 8.8 ready to bolt in w/ the least amount of work... ;-)

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Any help is appreciated!

-robert

..maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can chime in on this,..but I have an 8.8 also and have been so advised right here at that the most efficient way to get the correct measurements for both your new perches WMS to WMS plus the shock mounts,..is to simply remove your old 8.25 and align it with the new 8.8 to be able to correctly position it . Anything else risks the real possibility of mis-alignment and/or vibes.-Are you going to fabricate some of those 7"-inch long custom perches(..and new shock mounts too..) out of 21/4 x 1/4" rectangular box steel for about $15.00-$16.00 as opposed to purchaseing some retail for $60.00 or something ? If you have access to a few tools and the online write-up ,save yourself some precious time and money,..and do it right the first time ."measure two,three times,.cut,..weld ,..fabricate only ..ONCE"

What write-up are you referring to on the perches? I'd like to do as much as I can by myself.

pull the axle and line them up.. once you have everything measured up.. tack weld your perches /shock mounts.. put the axle under the truck and make sure everything is kosher.. then take it back out and weld it all up.. do it right one time instead of wrong twice then right once ;D

, Here is a site with the custom-made leaf spring perches http://www.therangerstation.com/SpringPerches.html..I will attempt to send you some of the other information that I have gathered here at and other sites on the 1995-2003 Ford Explorer 8.8 axle via the "back-channel" ( email ) to save some precious bandwidth .It has hopefully some money-saveing and effiecient ideas and sources for your project.-Good luck !

While I generally set the perch-width as a function of the vehicle's spring mounts, it's nearly impossible to set the pinion angle correctly for modified vehicles with the axle off the vehicle -- you could measure your current pinion to perch angles (this'd be more accurate on a 8.25 than the D35c), and set the perches there, but even that will require the removal of your existing axle to ensure the accuracy of your measuerments...

As I said - I generally work the pad-spacing off of the vehicle's spring-mounting width (my favorite is mean-front-rear width plus about 2% to help with flex and axle centering ~ about neutral loading at 10* of axle roll)...

That measured and marked I'll drop the weight of the vehicle on the axle assembly with the entire suspension "street weighted" and mark or tack the pads in place once the pinion angle is appropriate.

With there being such a variety of center-pin placements on such a variety of spring/shackle designs and combinations, then considering that the tube diameter/perch will change the available load (and compression) on the rear springs... Too many rates and relative rates to calculate simply - far easier to make the width data clear and set the angle to your rolling config

(IMHO, of course)