You really need more angle on those shackles. More than a full bodied truck. With no weight in the rear you need as much angle on those as you can without locking them up an the framerail.
The springs are actuallly 64s not 63s but somehwere along the internet they became 63s. They are 32 bushing to center to bushing.
Think of like this, 64 inches is the longest the spring can ever get when compressed. You want that shackle as close to or a little more than a 45 degree angle at ride height. tack it up and then unbolt the spring and swing the shackle back till it is 64 inches from the front mount hole and see if the shackle is going to lay on the frame or if it still has some angle.
This will force way more droop and stuff into these springs.
They are a better quality than most aftermarket springs out there. Most folks use a soft spring with no control to achieve flex while a stiffer spring with more control that has properly set up shackles will still flex as well with out the soft sloppy garbage feeling.
Shackle angle Ok will do! I see your point. I still need to finish my bed, mount a decently large spare tire, add my trail crap as well as spare parts. As soon as thats done i will recheck the angle and follow up to your thoughts!!! I have intentions to add weight as it is a bit embarrasing right now with no weight both in the snow as well as it is hard to get the suspension to really flex with no weight.
Even with a wider rear or spacer it will still rub the frame nub.
also the IFS rear axle housing is not so much of a brake upgrade but for housing beef and width.
The IFS rear is wider (which is better IMO) +1
The IFS rear is beefier too. The tubes are bigger around and allot heavier duty than the early housing. +2
The early SA rears tend to twist when wheelhop happens. I have replaced a few that look like a drill bit when ya look down the weld seam.
The early SA rears also tend to crack allot more around the spring perches than the IFS ones do.
And replacing a rear axle is not common so I wouldnt worry about one being easier to find. In reality the IFS ones are more common in wrecking yards than SA trucks these days.
Ok I have cut the boggers and ground the tube on the crossmember. I mounted one and it wasnt pretty for frame to tire clearance on rear ( no big suprise ). I shopped all day and picked up a 4 runner rear axle but it has all the bracketry for the coils and I have a big wheelin trip this coming saturday so I am embarrased to say t but iI ordered 4 spacers for now and if it ever stops raining and things slow down I will pull the 4runner axle and start cleaning brackets up but for this weekend its spacers.
Nothing wrong with spacers. I have them on my truck and have had them on 5 previous wheelers of my own and have installed at least 30 other pairs with no problems.
Spacer fear is strong on this board. I am fearless.
Hey that is good to hear! Update, we have the once a year big trip planned this weekend (yikes short notice) and I am trying to tie up loose ends. We cut all the brackets that are anywhere near the rear tire off and ground smooth, diff breathers are done, heater is slightly fixed (still doesn't blow hard air but at least it will defrost the window now), temp bracket is made for remote power steering reservoir, the small bracket that is on top of the frame that supports the front most body mount is removed to allow for bumper mounts. Front bumper tube section is cut, etc. I need to pickup up some steel tomorrow to finish the rectangular tube/round tube front bumper which should allow for my receiver style winch. i also plan to whip up some bump stops for at minimum the front to prevent screwing those spring packs up. Yeah I know text sucks I need to buy another star
Thanks liljlandon I need to get on your thread and see how things are going. I was on vacation (lazy) and haven't kept up on it. I will stop whining about spacers based off of your guys comments as well as they are suppose to be here thursday. I am starting to think I do not even have a real argument as my wheels are failry inset or more accurately center. The spacers will only give me 3" between the skinny boggers and my frame so I really am not putting a huge load on the bearings with this combination. A freind has deep wheels and 38x12.5s and has 3" gap also with no spacers.
Ok surely a stupid question but here goes.... Does the advantages of the 168 tooth flywheel out weight the cons (clearance issues) as compared to the 153 tooth? Again I am going with a 4.3 and no body lift.
Thanks I will be honest I get in a hurry when I am welding my own stuff... If your truly just starting out do what I dont and take an extra two minutes and focus on metal preperation such as a wire brush, or whatever it takes to get to clean metal.
I claimed I finally took it out for a test run on a snow run. Since I finally slowed down enough to buy a star here are some pics. My yota did fairly well thanks to the other guys plowing!! I screwed around and they had to jump on the back once for weight (the least amount of snow we were in all day but I have no weight back there as of now) and I had to be nudged once. The next set of pictures will show the green jeep plowing fresh snow that is as high as his 47s. The unfortunate part is I didn't really get to try anything out other than bouncing between ruts on what I would call non articulating ground. But it was a good test run since I haven't been behind the wheel (in this regard) in 10 years. Most of all my co-pilot was able to go who has been watching what he calls mud trucks on u-tube for anywhere from 1-2 hours a night!!! He loved it which made the work all the more worth it.
Again I wouldn't dare try to take the credit as my friends were plowing for me however you can see they were able to plow just under the height of the 47s (small tree in the road stopped him and he tried to back up to ram it and went straight down) which every time I opened my door I made snow angels..
Here is why I had to order spacers. This is my 1.5" of tire clearance in the rear non flexed. I put one on tonight (no spacer) and the front hit the springs hard at turn and my set up does not turn sharp as to try and make the stock axles live longer than a day with the diff welded.... Also chopshop thanks for the advice on the round tube as you can see I take constructive criticism well those suckers are gone!
Here is where I cut out the bracket with a sawzall to allow 2.5" x2.5" tubing which was the female receiver size tubing to slide in and be welded to the frame as a bumper mount
I had some left over rectangular tube I think its about 4x2 and heavy wall which is why I chose to only go approx. 36" wide and tube the rest under the headlights which I plan to do tomorrow now that I know where we are going Saturday and I am going to need it!
My spotter for the weekend was a lot of help as he put in a few hours and we mocked up the bumper
Once we figured out that we liked the placement we mounted it
I had made up a receiver style winch for a jeep Cherokee I had recently (good rigs ) and I went ahead and modified it by cutting off as much excess metal as I could and making it fit as close as possible for the weekend. I intend to make a simple lighter weight unit out of tubing in the near future which will not be super solid but will allow me to use it front or rear. I actually plan to make a new mount in the rear that allows it to store away higher (approach angle) but will allow for additional weight in the rear where I want it rather than the front when not in direct use
Tonight I was able to finish the bump stops in the front (to hopefully save the springs) I am not proud of my fab as I am in a hurry but i welded a plate to the originally frame mounted bump stop plate that extended forward to match my front end being forward as well as utilized the original rubber mounts that normally get held by the u-bolts by welding them to an extender than was then welded to the u-bolt flip pad. I stopped them just at or barley past flat spring which is equal to right before my shocks bottom out. As you can see I still have room for stuff but first of all it allows for turned wheel stuff as well as I will not quit until I have 40s as my crowd is a tough one.....
My standard co-pilot trying to stay warm
I cant remember if I mentioned it but I had a husky diamond plate bed box for my power-stroke that I was going to sell and try and find a thin width mid size tool box for my yota to hold parts and chains etc. however I am lucky enough to have a crazy talented friend that specializes in aluminum welding and for a small fee he is going to narrow my box. I believe this is the best option as it will allow me to make it small enough that it can set in from the tube far enough to never take abuse as well as utilized the width!! I am looking forward to getting it back. As you can see in the pic that allowed me to know where to put the tool bar protector bar that ended up about half way and will add a lot of support as I rub down trees oops sorry enviros
Last but totally not least I would have made it further tonight but my 3 year old son is huge on using his little trailer to haul his black little mud truck that is seen in some of the earlier pics that he ties on behind his jeep powerwheels..... anyway my wife was nice enough to back over his trailer so we have joined up to build a new (better) one! He bosses me around for 10 minutes and then retires and jumps on his 14 foot trampoline that happens to be inside my shop.... I know I cut his old bent up axle off and threw the spindles in my lathe to clean them up just shy of the pipe ID spec. I then spot welded the spindles in and added a tongue. Now for the deck supports, tie downs points, lumber for decking, What???? Every three year old has a reputation to withhold right??
The spacers showed up today and I am not one to give plugs but I emailed the ebay seller and told him I needed them quick and they showed up quicker than I ever imagined and they looked good! So thank you Garage Racing from ebay!!
Here is the cut I went with on the boggers. I know there are a lot of pattern options out there but this one was quick and simple and should offer a bit extra bite as well as some lateral traction.
I bent up the tube to protect the front clip. I still need to come up with another bar and strengthen it but I really do not see that happening until after the trip. If worse comes to worse and I bend it I will cut it off and bend another. We found that my winch is not free spooling so we get to tear it apart tomorrow night rather than finish up a few loose ends such as the bumper.
I know this pic sucks I had to use the night vision on my camera.... I was very happy at first glance with the flex. The extra leverage from the spacers as well as the fact that my tires do not bottom out on the side of the frame really allow it to start flexing. View attachment 486291
So my winch wasnt freespooling with one day left till the run. I tore it down and found an excellent info site http://www.tacomaterritory.com/~ccorley/Manuals,%20articles/Service_Manual_Work_Sheet_XD9.pdf We hooked it to a tree and backed up and it was very hard to even freespool it that way. The reason was the winch was simply gummed up. I was suprised how easy this task was.
) and I went ahead and modified it by cutting off as much excess metal as I could and making it fit as close as possible for the weekend. I intend to make a simple lighter weight unit out of tubing in the near future which will not be super solid but will allow me to use it front or rear. I actually plan to make a new mount in the rear that allows it to store away higher (approach angle) but will allow for additional weight in the rear where I want it rather than the front when not in direct use
so we have joined up to build a new (better) one! He bosses me around for 10 minutes and then retires and jumps on his 14 foot trampoline that happens to be inside my shop.... I know 
I cut his old bent up axle off and threw the spindles in my lathe to clean them up just shy of the pipe ID spec. I then spot welded the spindles in and added a tongue. Now for the deck supports, tie downs points, lumber for decking, What???? Every three year old has a reputation to withhold right?? 
