Another SOA!!! YAY! (1 Viewer)

[skiakhokie]

I'm getting all my ducks in a row for a SOA. I want to make sure I take the time to figure it all out so I can do it in a weekend (ha, yeah right, i know, but I'm gonna try). Here's what I have so far. I have been reading through the tech sites religously but this is my first one.

SOA-
Stock springs
1.5 shackles
no shackle reversal
ubolts- all pro
spring perches- all pro***
cut and turn, rotate pinions up*
4 degrees extra for caster**
re locate front and rear shock mounts
stock drive shafts...? hopefully

Steering-
Saginaw box and pump from junk yard
Hi steer from Marlincrawler
SOR PS conv. kit

Anything I'm leaving out?

*- pipe cutter? I did a search on ebay for a pipe cutter and it brought back a bunch of what look like c clamps with a little pizza cutter. Is this going to cut through my axle or am I looking at the wrong tool?

**- I'm not sure what caster means. My understanding is that it's basically the angle at which the steering arms come off the knuckles? I want to rotate this 4 degrees up so relieve some of the linkage stress...? I've been reading like a mad man and don't know if I've grasped this concept just right.

***- my stock setup has a spring perch on one side and on the passenger side there's another bracket mounted on the pumpkin that keeps the ubolts in line. I'm hoping to cut this and relocate it to bottom of the axle...?

I know you guys hate talking about SOA's caust there's a million ways to do it. But I promise I have been doing all I can to figure it all out through the tech sites. I'm just hoping that everything I've come up with sounds right.

The theory is so simple...

Mike

 

[skiakhokie]

oh yeah, and traction bars from Jk custsoms

 

[cruzer]

Sounds like you are moving in the right direction...i do think it will take you a little longer than a weekend though!

Brake lines need to be extended in some way shape or form.

with out doing the SR you may be able to get away with just adjusting the length of your front shaft for now...

I would buy and Angler Grinder and cut off discs or grinding wheel to do the cut part of the turn...it is a much more versital tool than a pipe cutter and you will need it anyway to do the cutting/grinding on spring perches ect ect....the kind of pipe cutter you are looking for is a Larger pipe cutter used in Plumbing applications used to cut..well large pipe

Stew

 

[Ron]

Hi ,
I agree with cruzer, dont bother with a pipe cutter,after cutting off the shock supports and the two lugs close to where you want to cut, the axle shaft is not square so a pipe cutter just tries to follow the angle of the shaft n ends up with a spiral cut [on ours any way] we used a 4in angle grinde with a cutting disc in the end and it works ok, no need to make the first cut perfect,we centre punched two marks on the shaft and the doughnut so we could keep the distance after we had cut it,even after we turned it it had not moved,so ok ,only make shure you grind a champher on at least one edge to re weld properly [tack it up and offer it up and recheck every thing] we did and followed the SOA Tech article n it worked out ok
We even went so far as to bolt every thing up to the springs and torque the u bolts up prior to welding the shaft up again to make shure we had the caster angle correct as it varied with the amount of torque we put on the u bolts
It took us 2 days to get it set as we wanted it n 1 day to put it back together,we got some more mod yet to do and its been up on stands for over 1 week[not working all the time on it
Dont do it quick or you may make some mistakes n it will take you days to put it right
Good luck
Ron

 

[skiakhokie]

I have an angle grinder, my only concern with that was just having the free motion enabling me to not make a straight cut. I thought the pipe cutter would do a perfect straight cut. I'll talk to the guy that's going to help me and see what he thinks.

 

[RHINO]

the pipe cutter you looked at is what you want,, a big c-clamp with pizza cutters. the better cutter to get though will have 3 cutters, instead of 1 cutter and a roller. the latter kind will walk on you if your not carefull. the grinder works well too, whatever you want to use. BTW the good pipe cutter will cost closer to $80, you might try to rent or borrow one.
i'm a little concerned about your grasp of caster though based on what i think i read in your post, so,,, just to be sure i'll go over it quicklike and you can make your own judgement. stock cruiser has a 1* caster, that means when you look at the side of the truck the top of the knuckle will be leaning back a bit toward the rear, likewise the bottom will favor the front. if you want to increase caster you want to tilt it back more, (lowering the pinion) hense one reason for the cut-n-turn.
hope that helps, good luck.

 

[xumFJ40]

Nice thing about using a "good" pipe cutter is that it cuts an accurate circle and the cut is "wedged" and perfectly preped for welding. Good buddy used this method with much success.

Her is a visual aid of caster angle.

Hope this helps.

 

[skiakhokie]

I got the caster deal, thanks. So I'll need a pipe cuter and angle measuring tool. Other than finding a welder what else am I forgetting?

If stock caster is 1+ then why does everyone increase it? What's wrong with stock?

 

[Eternal]

Just a pipe cutter suggestion is don't buy one unless you are gonna buy a good one(rigid etc.) cause a cheap one is not gonna run true for you. Best bet is to rent one. Probably cost you $10 for the day and when are you ever gonna need another one anyway unless you are getting into pipe fitting(10 yrs exp)

 

[RHINO]

nothings wrong with stock, it is actaully better on steering components. but more caster does help a rig track down the road with less wander.
i would suggest no more than 4*, esp if you will be running offset rims.
i run 36" tires and 2" BS wheels, 1* is great for me, but thats me.