Leaf Spring Question

[Bunk_log]

Hey guys I bought a highsteer kit for my 72 fj40 and I went to go and hook up everything up and the drag link doesnt line up with the pitman arm and I realized that the leaf springs were flat if not bowing in the wrong direction. I want to buy new springs but i dont know what springs to get from man a fre. its SOA, 350, powersteering and i plan to do most of the driving off road and do the shackle reversal aswell any help with this would be greatly appreciated

 

[dgangle]

Shorten the drag link or buy one the correct length. Got any pictures?

Regarding the springs, 'most' SOA's use stock springs. What do you have? Again, pics???????

 

[zuluzeugma]

Yeah, that doesnt make much sense. what PS box are you running? Post pictures...

 

[Bunk_log]

Yeah sorry bout the retarded post, lack of sleep and time... been out in the bush too long now. The high steer is from 4x4 Labs, so the drag link is short enough but it bottoms out on the springs before it connects properly to the pitman arm (3" drop cherokee pitman, Saginaw PS). It will only rest on the top of the pitman arm. My buddy looked at it and said that the springs are F****D and thats why it wont clear the spring pack properly.

So my question is what springs should I purchase from man a fre(The dakkar look like good springs.), considering that I want to do the shackle reversel as well?

In this pic the drag link is resting on top of the pitman arm.

 

[cruiserboswells]

Yeah sorry bout the retarded post, lack of sleep and time... been out in the bush too long now. The high steer is from 4x4 Labs, so the drag link is short enough but it bottoms out on the springs before it connects properly to the pitman arm (3" drop cherokee pitman, Saginaw PS). It will only rest on the top of the pitman arm. My buddy looked at it and said that the springs are F****D and thats why it wont clear the spring pack properly.

I have a very similar set up but I dont have the 3" drop pitman arm. That may be your problem. Arched springs wont solve your problem in fact most SOA guys will tell you the flatter the spring the better. Also a shackle reversal depending on how its setup will compaund the problem, I would suggest getting ahold of Luke at 4x4 labs and he will help you through the problem.

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! It's a little hard to see, but it looks like the Saginaw box is from a van or something that has a very long snout for the output on the bottom. Mine is from a 77 full size chevy sedan, and I am sure it is shorter than that. Any chance of a pic of the steering box and how it is mounted? John

 

[mr_manny]

It looks like your running a few spacers under your springs...no cut-n-turn?

One appears to be a wedge, are the other two flat plates?
If they also have a degree, you might want to replace the three pieces for one with the correct degree...

 

[fyresq]

While your springs do look a little shot, I would recommend getting rid of the spacers/wedges under the springs and doing a cut and turn and that may solve your problem. The spacers appear to be dropping your axle and you don't want to really use those unless you have to like on a dana 60. I had a similar problem on the front of mine cause I flipped the springs and the draglink was hanging up, so on Luke's (4x4 labs) advice I took the steering arm to a shop and put it under a press to bend/raise it a little.

 

[Bunk_log]

Cuiserboswells:"I have a very similar set up but I dont have the 3" drop pitman arm. That may be your problem. Arched springs wont solve your problem in fact most SOA guys will tell you the flatter the spring the better. Also a shackle reversal depending on how its setup will compaund the problem, I would suggest getting ahold of Luke at 4x4 labs and he will help you through the problem."

I can see replacing the pitman arm would probably solve the problem, but with the condition that the springs are in should I replace them with new flat ones? Is there a shackle reversle kit that wouldnt compound the problem?


Inkpot: "Howdy! It's a little hard to see, but it looks like the Saginaw box is from a van or something that has a very long snout for the output on the bottom. Mine is from a 77 full size chevy sedan, and I am sure it is shorter than that. Any chance of a pic of the steering box and how it is mounted? John"

I dont know where the steering box came from. When I purchased the Cruiser it was already modified, but I pretty much had to redo the entire mod, steering colum(GM FireBird), steering shaft(borgeson), the mounting and the ps pump.

That cut chunk of metal is what was holding the ps box on with 3 of the 4 bolts. The three metal plates are what I replaced it with. I followed a few of the tutorials from this site.

Mr_manny:"It looks like your running a few spacers under your springs...no cut-n-turn?

One appears to be a wedge, are the other two flat plates?
If they also have a degree, you might want to replace the three pieces for one with the correct degree..."

Yeah I put in a 5 degree shim to take up some angle on the drive shaft, when I was taking the springs off I noticed the left side had a spacer in it so I duplicated the spacer of the right hand side. I didnt learn about cut and turn till I spoke with luke when I purchased the kit.

Thanks for the quick and knowledgible posts!