Need help on SOA conversion!

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

SAWTOOTH 55 LC said:
If I had a bare frame in front of me and was going SOA....no question I would go shackle reversal sleeved through the frame. Proven to work very well when done right and imho a cleaner set up than 2 bulky outboarded hangers. Just another opinion:)
Click to expand...

I would also look at some updated springs from something like a Tahoe.
 
I did consider the shackle reversal but decided against. It seemed like the shackle reversal had some on road disadvantages and I had some concerns about setting it up so that driveshaft travel wouldn't be a problem

As for springs, I took the bottom two short leaves out and added a rancho leaf in.
 
Thanks Lil John. How does that setup handle off road?
 
Lil'John said:
No idea yet :( I'm a wheeling virgin with it. :(

But, the forklift test says it should do very nice(limited by tire rubbing front of fender):
flex-jpg.784805
Click to expand...

Dude! That thing is an Animal!
 
Looks alot like Dons handy work...

Go over to pirate and have a look around, just do not let them know you saw it on Mud...:hillbilly:
 
That looks awesome. What bumper is that? More importantly, who is this Don and would he be willing to come to Arkansas to finish my pig!?
 
TuffMudder said:
That looks awesome. What bumper is that? More importantly, who is this Don and would he be willing to come to Arkansas to finish my pig!?
Click to expand...
if you're willing to pay anyone to do metal work, he's the first guy I'd give mine to. would that I could. consider shipping your pig to him...
 
So, after much gnashing of teeth, the spring over is done and the axles are back under the frame. With things as they currently sit, no weight on the frame. The floor pan height is looking to be about 40 inches, which is higher than I expected from the springover. I'm going to take a wild guess and say with cummins engine, transmission, body, roof rack, front and rear steel bumpers I lose about 6 inches (I pulled that number from my arse, so if you have a better idea of what to expect, please chime in).

I'm curious, is this the in line with the amout of lift others are seeing with their spring overs, or are the larger shackles pushing me up into the clouds?

My options are a bit limited. I'm outboarding the springs which will prevent me from doing through frame shackle mounts. We may be able to lower the spring perches a little, but I don't think I'll get much there, or I can abandon the spring over which is going to piss me off to no end given how much time and money its taken to get to this point.

Thoughts and comments appreciated.
 
Alright then, so either I'm going to lose ALOT more height when adding body and equipment to the frame, or those shackles are giving me quite a bit of extra lift. I had read the longer shackles would be less likely to invert, so I stuck with them. At this point, I'm willing to cut shorter shackles and lower the spring perches.

Is your 23" height a spring over? Is that to the center of the frame height wise? My measurement is to where the floor pan will actually sit.

I don't really have any knowledge of spring sliders. What is their primary purpose and how do they effect the ride on and off road? I'm not opposed to going with sliders, I'd just like to know a little more about them. I assume using them would take out all of the height added by the longer shackles?

I'm going over to see the land cruiser tonight and i'll try to get pics to post
 
Thanks Lil' John. I'm owm out to check out the height (i'll get a measurement to the bottom of the frame for better comparison), and decide on sliders vs shortening the shackles and lowering the perches. I'm leaning towards shackles at this point
 
3ebe21f5bfa49019402f3c7d4f1b2d53.jpg


a76ddbb31f4ad72ca5941014d87247d1.jpg


bb93099cfc113ac3e96e7e41d7c0eb39.jpg


b60d7d0d2ca397842630b9a9e827d1bb.jpg
 
The measurement above is 29.5" on 33" tires. :censor: . I'd need an escalator to get into the cab.

The leafspring and shackle hangers have been welded in and will have to be cut out and replaced regardless of which route I go now, so I think I'm going to just go with the leaf sliders. I'll order them tomorrow.

Lil' John, were you able to use the stock spring bushings with the sliders? Also, when mounting them unloaded, where should the bushing bolt sit in the slider channel? I'm thinking towards the rear but not all the way back, but have no idea how to decide where it should be.
 
I'm thinking about 23" is the highest I'd want to the bottom of the frame. That's still going to be a monster step to get into the cab I think. I'd need 6.5" of drop from the leafs/shackles to accomplish that. That seems like a whole lot to expect. I asked my builder about it tonight and he was guessing somewhere along the lines of 3" with drive train and body in place.

I think the main issue is the big ass shackles which are about 3 inches longer than stock, giving me along the lines of 9 inches lift instead of the 5-6" i was expecting from the Spring over.

Don't suppose anyone reading this has any first hand experience where they measured the height unloaded and loaded to give me a better idea of how much drop to expect?
 
Rodney,

Mine is proof that the springs will settle. I had good angle on the front and after the motor weight was on it for awhile, the springs really moved. I'm not sure how to figure spring movement, before welding in the hangers.

Edit... Without putting weight on the frame first.
 
Last edited:
TuffMudder said:
The measurement above is 29.5" on 33" tires. :censor: . I'd need an escalator to get into the cab.
Click to expand...
Your good to go with that measurement IMHO.
I'm at 27.5 to the same spot on my frame with 33' tires and SUA with just the cab sitting on mine now, the extra 2" will help with oil pan clearance.
 
J Mack said:
Your good to go with that measurement IMHO.
I'm at 27.5 to the same spot on my frame with 33' tires and SUA with just the cab sitting on mine now, the extra 2" will help with oil pan clearance.
Click to expand...

Well, that's surprising. Just out of curiosity are you able to climb in to yours at that height? Are you expecting it to be much lower with the drive train?

Man, you guys have me really questioning where to go next. I guess maybe I need to just move forward with the set up as is and see what happens
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom