hey you 40 guys - draglink interference?

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sl33p3

sl33p3

still waking up...
10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
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ABQ, NM
no, no age jokes here... :flipoff2:

my unkle is building his 40 up in Boise, sent me this email....

"Any chance you have someone down there that can give me some ideas? i put those 4" lift springs on my FJ and now my drag link rubs my driver side shock. I really don't want to have to get rid of the springs."

i'll ask him what springs and what shocks, but did you guys work around this somehow?

TIA

-john
 
hahahhahahahahaa..... NEVAH! (well never that mature at least) :D

RattSki said:
From your Unkle to my little nephew, you will be 40 not too far from now bud. Don't knock it. :flipoff2: :beer:
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Thanks for hunting down some answers for me John. I'm sure I'll need some more help before too long. I'll send some pics tomorrow. Going to hang out at your Grandparents tomorrow night and get my ass kicked by your Grandma at cards.
 
I turned my front shocks upside-down and got a fraction of an inch of clearance (on a 3" lift).
 
I've heard that you could move the shock tab out on the axle just a tad to give yourself some more clearance. Or maybe F-250 towers?
 
RattSki said:
Are you calling me mature??? You take that back right now....:hillbilly:
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NOOOOoooo i would never make such a backhanded comment as calling YOU mature....:rolleyes::lol:

thanks for all the ideas guys, anymore lurkers? i know you guys have some tricked 40's and had to deal with this somehow... pappy, shawn, steve... (i'm sure others too and no offense intended)...

-john
 
This seems to happen with some lift springs on 40s - dunno why. A former HDCer had the same problem and ended up ordering a drag link from somewhere (?) that had a bend in it (think a shallow "U" ) that cleared the shock.

HTH
 
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I went way more expensive. Hi steer arms off the knuckle, F250 shock towers and custom drag link. of course I'm running the Dana60 up front.

when I was more stock, the lift was only 3" or so and had no issues.
 
I've got the ford shock towers and at this point I've moved my shock tab at least 3 times. I'd just hack them off, weld them back on and apply some rattle can.:hillbilly:
 
sl33p3 said:
NOOOOoooo i would never make such a backhanded comment as calling YOU mature....:rolleyes::lol:

thanks for all the ideas guys, anymore lurkers? i know you guys have some tricked 40's and had to deal with this somehow... pappy, shawn, steve... (i'm sure others too and no offense intended)...

-john
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I'm not much help. I have cross-over steering using 4x4Lab arms that place the drag link in front of the axle, and the tie rod behind the axle.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I'll look into the shock towers tomorrow. What are the chances of weakening the drag link by putting a bend in it? I've also heard that they make a longer pitman arm to drop the drag link angle but can't find any solid evidence. Wouldn't be the first time someone blew smoke.....
 
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RattSki said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I'll look into the shock towers tomorrow. What are the chances of weakening the drag link by putting a bend in it? I've also heard that they make a longer pitman arm to drop the drag link angle but can't find any solid evidence. Wouldn't be the first time someone blew smoke.....
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You can't just put a bend in it - it must be reshaped into something like this __---__ so that the pitman arm end and sterring box ends are parallel. They guy I was referring to tried to just bend the original rod to clear the shock and the force of turning the big tires turned it into a paperclip in short order. If you want I can get the name of the vendor that fabbed the new rod intended to clear the shock. It would be the easiest bolt in bolt in solution.
 
ok. new topic, same rig. thanks for all your help so far guys!

lift and tire tippy condition. Matt has gotten the 40 going and has new shoes on it. he's worried about too "tippy" and i realize that is subjective, so to narrow it down, how about "how low of a lift can you "typically" do and fit 33's without rubbing?"

he has 4" lift springs with anti inversion shackles and 33x12.5x15 tires currently.

oh yeah and i attached a pic of this fabled back from the dead 40.

i know there is quite a variation of rig and heights in the group. i would be interested in what setup you are using and how you feel about it.

Thanks guys!
Boise City-20110317-00026.webp
 
I know a lot of people run 2.5" and run 33s". Not a lot of lift, but gets it up a little, so you can get 33" under there. The issue with rubbing might be how wide his tire is though. A portion of 40 guys run 9.5" and 10.5" wide tires. Part of that is because that is what stock rims will take and looks.
 
Lots of mud folks run 33's on a 2-1/2" lift, but my 33's on a 3" lift rub just a little inside the rear wheel well if you really flex it and stuff the tires. Mine doesn't feel top-heavy or tippy to me, and I run the hard top most of the time. Any short-wheelbase leaf-sprung vehicle without sway bars is going to have a lot more body roll than most people with modern cars are used to - maybe that is what he's feeling? I have flopped mine once, but it was on a vertical creek bank that caved in, not because my truck is top heavy.

IMG_3022.jpg
 
hee, hee, hee! wimps! :crybaby: 4" and 35's will do well with gearing. lower the bump stops to avoid rubbing. I have about 6" lift and 40's (which add about 3-4" to the lift) with full width axles. that's 63" WMS to WMS in the front. wider than stock, but way higher than 4" of lift. over time I've gotten more comfortable with the off camber stuff. Moab Rim bored me AND my wife! you can go way farther off camber than you realize...trust me ;) I have yet to lay it on it's side...and I've been close, look at the avitar.
 
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