Fitting 35's on a BJ74
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What about just turning the leaf springs around on an OME lift kit? According to my measurements the center pin is 30mm off set. Do you think 30mm would cause the steering linkage to bind? The only other difference I can see is the wrap on the second leaf would end up in the front, that shouldn't matter should it?
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Well I guess I answered my own question. I flipped my leafs around up front and don't seem to have any issues with clearance
lowenbrau
SILVER Star
I ran this way for a while. Destroyed two front leaves in short order though. Lift springs need the military wrap on the fixed pin end.
my springs are military wrapped on both ends, so i guess i could flip these leaf sprigs?
lowenbrau
SILVER Star
Yeah, I'd think so. You might have to make adjustments for caster using a shim.
that's good to know, thanks.
Doh!! I guess I should have known their was a reason it wasn't being mentioned with the OME lift. Not that I doubt you but what is the reason for this?
lowenbrau
SILVER Star
When you push your wheel up against an obstacle the only thing keeping your axle in place is the main leaf which is in compression but isn't straight so it bends even more. If the military wrap is in the correct place it adds the strength of another leaf before anything bad happens but with out it the main leaf bends until it hits the spring wrapper and then kinks around it.
Thanks for the reply lowenbrau, makes sense when you put it that way. I don't like the idea of drilling another hole in the entire spring pack, besides I don't have a drill press and my local spring shop refused to do it (says it weakens the springs to much having the holes that close together). So my latest brain wave is to remove the second leaf with the wrap and redrill it 30mm off set and the turn the rest of the leafs around to match. This would keep the military wrap where it needs to be and move the axle 30mm ahead with only having to drill on leaf spring per side.
lowenbrau
SILVER Star
Yeah, that's the way to do it if the springs don't have a flat spot like the Australian OME used to. I can't remember if the Malaysian Dakars have that flat spot or not. If they do, you're stuck. Drilling the pad might be the only choice.
Pretty sure they do.
Just drill the spring perches you dont need a drill press its only a few mm of steel on each perch.
Yeah, I guess drilling the spring perches is the way I will go. I was just looking for other alternatives. Without having a the vehicle on a hoist its a little more work because I will have to remove the axle so that I can rotate the perches where I can get at them to drill.
Decided to rebuild my steering knuckles (seals, bearings, ect..) yesterday, so while I had everything removed I figured for the time it takes to undo the drive shaft, brake line and front spring shackles, it was easier to slide the stripped down axle out from underneath the truck, then try to mark and drill the holes while on the vehicle. I just cant picture getting things perfect while working in such a restricted space. Either you would be drilling from the bottom while laying on the shop floor or you would have to undo everything but the springs- anyway in order to rotate the axle far enough to drill from inside the wheel well.
Hello,
Dumb questions.
So far the discussion has covered front axles using leaf springs. One hole and you are good to go.
What can be done on newer (1999 onward) Cruisers, which do not have front springs? How to move the front axle 1 inch forward?
JuanJ
Dumb questions.
So far the discussion has covered front axles using leaf springs. One hole and you are good to go.
What can be done on newer (1999 onward) Cruisers, which do not have front springs? How to move the front axle 1 inch forward?
JuanJ
I've done some more work on my middy, have changed wheels and tyres, 15'' cruiser offset rims with 35x11.5R15 pedes which measure about 36'' in reality. This has bought about some problems with the extra offset as the tyre now swings in a great arch when steering. To Clar the rear of the front guards i've moved the diff forwards a total of ~40mm now. But now on full lock the drivers side front just rubs the steering box and the passenger side hits the bloody body mount!! Aside from that they also rub hard on the top of the front guards which I'll just have to put up with.
At the rear they still rub hard on the chassis/wheel tub inner wall, things are better though than the old set.
At the rear they still rub hard on the chassis/wheel tub inner wall, things are better though than the old set.
I've been looking for a while for a solution to this on my coil sprung 78 series troopy (year 2000).
In a coil sprung front of the newer 70 series, the front diff is located front/rear by the radius arms, which I don't think can be moved without major modification (moving the chassis mounts forward, cut the off and reweld them on further forward). And I assume doing this might stuff up the steering geometry anyway, but I'm not really sure, and I suppose it would need to be engineered as well.
Not sure if dropped radius arms would move the diff forward, but they are really designed for use with suspension lifts, to correct the geometry after the lift, and I'm not sure if using those without the matching suspension lift, to push the diff forward, would stuff up the steering geometry.
I think the only option might be to cut the rear of the front guards.
I want to move up from 305/70R16 (32.8x12") to 315/75R16 (34.6x12.4") next, which I think will need some chopping at the rear of the front guards.
I also want to drive it with heavy duty 4 wheel chains in the snow, which will add an extra inch or two to the tyre diameter.
I recently put a 50mm (2"inch) body lift in, in preparation for the bigger rubber, but I still think I'll need to chop the guards, at least at the rear of the front guards, and will have to see how the rear guards do.
Maybe someone can advise on how to deal with this, or if chopping the guards is the only way.
Problem with chopping the guards is that I can't do it myself, and don't know anyone who could do it on the cheap for me, so it's going to be fairly expensive.
And if I do chop the guards, I'd like to go as far as possible, removing the outer guard lip, opening it up as far as possible, and fitting steel flares to cover the wider /wheels rubber and giving maximum clearance (for the 38's I'd like to step up to eventually.
Can't really chop and tub the front guards for additional clearance, as I will have 3 batteries sitting on top of the left front inner guard, which doesn't leave any room to lift the inner guard upwards with tubs.
Sometimes I wish I went with a pre-99 75 series, instead of the 78 series, for the ease of moving the front diff foward.
Would a little less wheel backspace than standard (I assume it's a standard 4" backspace), more positive offset, help with these issues?
I'm planning to go with some 16x10" Eastern Wheel Works steel wheels soon, and have them made up with 3.5" or 3" backspace to move them out a little (and will have them made up with an extra air hole for Staun internal beadlocks while I'm at it).
This might cause additional problems though, as the wheels are further out, I assume I'll end up rubbing on the outside lip of the guards. So I'll them need to chop the whole outside guard lip off and work out a solution for flares, maybe custom metal flares, since the lip that my current fibreglass flares attach onto will be gone.
If it's not one thing with mods that you are trying to overcome, it's something else that gets in the way.
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