Cut and Turn SOA - Does this look right? (1 Viewer)

[1973Guppie]

So with the help of my good friend cruiserbrett we did a major overhaul of my FJ40 a year and a half back. When we did the cut and turn I used stock springs front and rear. Over the past year they have settled quite a bit in the front and rear. I was getting some vibration on the rear dshaft when the rear end was loaded up with camping gear, etc. I used a long add a leaf from man a fre to solve this and it worked quite well. Now no problems with the rear. The front however has settled quite a bit now and I have noticed that the front pinion is angled up too much, maybe a few degrees. It has not been a major issue, the only symptom is when I am driving in high 4wheel drive I will get some vibration above about 25 miles per hour. I mainly am doing slow rockcrawling so not a huge issue but I would like to set the angle better if I can. The other issue is that the front driveshaft is hitting the bellhousing (see pic). I think if I could turn the pinion down a little this would not happen as much. The bumpstops I have will keep it from grinding too hard on the bellhousing too much. I have grinded some metal away from the bellhousing and plan to grind some more off where the dshaft is hitting (shiny metal).

I am trying to figure out the best way to remedy the above issue. I REALLY don't want to pull the axle and recut and turn. The pinion angle was not like this right after the rebuild and SOA was done which leads me to believe that if I added a leaf in the front spring packs it may remedy the situation by lifting the transfer case a little and straightening out the dshaft angle. I have also thought of lengthening the shackle length to increase the lift as well, or buying some new aftermarket stock height spring packs from an aftermarket vendor. What I am looking for is opinions on 1 - is the issue I am having going to cause major problems down the line if I leave it at the angle, ie: shot ujoints, pinion breakage, etc? AND 2 - opinions from others on what I can do to remedy this hopefully from people who have had similar SOA cut and turn issues. Any and all comments appreciated!

Noah
nbwebmail@adelphia.net

 

[1973Guppie]

ttt

 

[1973Guppie]

afda

 

[1973Guppie]

hrswr

 

[cruiserbrett]

Noah,
It needs to be redone since the springs settled, honestly. You will not get rid of the vibrations, more like somewhat lessen them, but without the pinion parallel to the t-case out put, youre just compromising...

I have a front housing I will give you if you want to redo...

-Brett

 

[1973Guppie]

wouldn't new springs bring it back to where it was when we initially finished the SOA? or shims, man I really don't want to tear this POS apart again..

you coming to the xmas party next weekend, 3rd, sat night?

Noah

 

[CruisinGA]

longer shackles could help to some degree.

 

[1973Guppie]

my plan for now is to add a few leafs in the front packs to try to get it back to where it was when we first finished the soa, I just checked some old pics and it was near perfect right after the soa so it has to be the springs settling, any others out there have similar experiences? i may also have the front shaft redone to a smaller diameter tubing as well as grind out the bellhousing, both of these should help the clearance issues. Any other comments appreciated.

Noah

 

[HawkDriver]

longer shackles could help to some degree.

Yeah, but they might need to be about 12 inches long . That is some serious angle there. Good luck.

 

[BiffS]

how is the overall camber? is it close to zero or perhaps even the wrong way? shimming that may help to line it up. That and more lift. I rotated mine 12.5 degrees over stock, but i'm a friggin pavement princess.

This pic gives you some idea of what that looks like on mine.

 

[ajfriz]

if it was from sagging springs i would think that new springs or add a leafs should help bring it back.

 

[nuclearlemon]

you said you used stock springs though...stock springs are pretty much sagged out normally were they new? or had they been rearched before you lifted? are you sure the springs aren't broken?

either way, looks like you need a new front end and to start all over if you don't do something with the lift in front...thats way off

 

[cruiser ken]

Some 6* shims would help (but you will gain caster). How does it track currently?

 

[vt78cruiser]

How about adding a set of OME 2.5" and remove a leaf? That would give you lift you needed and keep your rig flexin'.

 

[1973Guppie]

to be honest I really don't want too much more lift. I like the height it is right now. I need new tires though, 35 mtr's. The pic makes the angle of the pinion look worse that it actually is as I took it at an angle. I wish I knew how to resize images cuz I have a pic of my dshaft right after the SOA was done and it was lined up perfectly. The stock springs I used were not new, they are used and had little arc to start with, they are now nearly flat, almost inverted. I am thinking that an add a leaf on each side will help. Cruiserbrett has some leafs from an fj60 that I think I will try, one long and one short per side. The cruiser tracks great on road right now, no problems at all, drives great. I just get vibrations when in 4wh over 25mph and I do bottom out the front on everything as the front springs have no rebound right now.

Noah

 

[Trollhole]

It's pretty simple. If you had good castor when it was initially cut and turn and it was set correctly then all you will need to do it to rotate the housing back to where you originally was. How so? If castor was correct originally then it's obvious that the springs sagging have caused even more positive castor. Easiest way to fix this is with shims to put the axle back to it's original position. Just hope you springs aren't sagging to where you cannot shim it enough safely to fix it.
IMO

 

[1973Guppie]

Just ordered a set of man a fre add a leafs, longer ones, gonna swap those in the front packs and see what happens, if shims are needed I will add those as well. I used the add a leafs in the rear packs and it helped greatly. Anyone know where to by shims at?

Noah

 

[Trollhole]

Try Napa. And having your pinion that far up will cause drivline problems under load. Under load the pinion will want to move even higher Causing major problems, Broken ds, pinion, u-joint.

 

[1973Guppie]

So here's an update on this, I swapped in the add a leafs from man a fre and some 2 degree shims and it has made all the difference in the world! I took it out to a local field and flexed it up. Still has lots of flex. Driveshaft has plently of clearance from teh bhousing now, around 2 inches at least, maybe more, and this is with either end stuffed up to the bumpstops. It tracks fine on road. I can take my hand off the wheel and it goes perfectly straight. It does feel a little different in the front end, but I think this is due to the tighter suspension up front. Another benefit is that the springs up front can handle much more than before. It seemed before that I would hit the bumpstops on almost everything, those stock 40 springs were shot! Once the front add a leafs break in a bit I think it will be even better as I think it will probably settle about 1/4 inch after awhile, my rear add a leafs settled a bit after awhile. The steering arms sit angled up just a bit more than before but not much.

Anyhow, thanks for everyones help! Let me know if anyone has any opinions.

Noah

 

[1973Guppie]

another.....