Spring over? Why not.

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Lost said:
it took longer to go to crappytire to buy the puller then it did to get it off. it wasnt hard, but i assure you it was on there real tight. using a hammer to shock the arm witht he stress of the puller is the key.

i also want to mention i started my soa today, in the drive way, its only -5*c and raining, but not to worry, now that the truck is out of commision, i can take as long as i need...LOL

ill start my own soa thread soon :D
one or two bolts a day is my goal
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Yea, right now the pitman arm is the leasst of my worries. I don't think I would have the motivation to start a springover in -5*c and rain. More power to you!!


I got all my High Steer stuff today from marlin and it is BEEAAAST. I'll post post up some pics later of my progress. I got the pinion angle set and the perches welded on. Right now I have to go have Christmas dinner with the fam.
 
Here are the perches tacked in. With the full weight of the vehicle resting on the springs I measured a pinion angle of 20 degrees. This is with 2.5 inch lift springs with a leaf removed and a 1.5 inch extended shackle. This step took the longest because I had to get that passenger side perch sitting level and square and I didn't want to overgrind it.

8vvtw6.jpg


Here is a shot of the passenger side perch all welded up. I used a Lincoln 175 mig and did double passes on the outside of each perch and then I welded the inside of the perch, too, just to be sure.

2yy1g9k.jpg


Here is the driver side.

2n1c93c.jpg
 
BlueCruiser84 said:
...I set the pinion where I wanted it and bent a piece of wire around the housing where the inner leg of the passenger side spring perch would rest. I then traced that onto a piece of cardboard, cut it out, and used the cardboard to make sure it was going to fit nice and flush on the housing. Here is a picture of what I came up with.

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That's a great idea and nice way to get you much closer to the end shape much quicker. Good job.
 
Looking good. I think the 2 1/2 springs will be nice. Mine is now stock springs with add a leafs which puts it 1.25 over what it was with stock springs and on top of that I have a 2" body lift on 35s and it still feels pretty stable. I used 1.5" spacers on all four wheels and negative backspaced wheels so Its probably about 6 inches or more wider than stock and it feels pretty good even at 80 on the freeway and on the ramps down downtown doing 65-70. My pinion is 5 degrees off as I couldn't do a cut and turn and I bumped it to 2-3degrees of castor,and i've done 60 mph in 4wd with no vibes with a high angle single cv so you'll defiantly be fine, looks great.
 
boots4 said:
That's a great idea and nice way to get you much closer to the end shape much quicker. Good job.
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Yeah, I just sat there and stared at it for a while trying to figure out a way to avoid three hours of grinding and test fitting. It actually worked really well. I just cut the perch a little more shallow than I thought I needed and ground it out to the right depth.

Kurtis said:
Looking good. I think the 2 1/2 springs will be nice. Mine is now stock springs with add a leafs which puts it 1.25 over what it was with stock springs and on top of that I have a 2" body lift on 35s and it still feels pretty stable. I used 1.5" spacers on all four wheels and negative backspaced wheels so Its probably about 6 inches or more wider than stock and it feels pretty good even at 80 on the freeway and on the ramps down downtown doing 65-70. My pinion is 5 degrees off as I couldn't do a cut and turn and I bumped it to 2-3degrees of castor,and i've done 60 mph in 4wd with no vibes with a high angle single cv so you'll defiantly be fine, looks great.
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That's kind of how I feel about the lift springs. My stock ones were sooo worn out that I figured I would rather have a little taller rig with stiffer springs than the saggy POSs that were the stock ones.

As for the pinion angle, I checked that thing so many times to make sure I was going to get it right and in the end I think it came out near perfect.

Tomorrow I am going to pull the knuckles apart and hopefully start on the Cut 'n' Turn. Is it weird that I am dreading pulling the knuckles apart more than I am doing the CnT?

I think I have heard talk of an SST for setting the steering knuckle bearings... Is this the case, or am I remembering wrong?? I've rebuilt the knuckles recently (within the last ~10,000 miles), but I didn't do the steering knuckle bearings; the ones on the top and bottom of the actual knuckle housing. I am going to replace those bearings and the inner axle seals with Marlin's seals. Should I do a full rebuild? I don't really want to...... but I CAN if I NEED to.

Thanks
 
I'd probably just do them while your in there. The steering bearings are the ones that take the most abuse. I used a fish scale to do mine and its honestly not a big deal it all. Really the only point is so there is a little resistance on the bearings so they can't slam around causing premature wear. Mine were alright but the kit is cheap and I figured I was going to be running 35s and have a v8 4l60e to back it so I might as well make sure everthing is up to the added stress. Plus its one less thing to worry about when you bolt it all up as worn steering bearings can cause wobble.
 
The SST used to center the knuckle on the housing is only necessary when putting different knuckles on your housing than it came from the factory with. The factory centered each one and used shims to set it, so if you keep it in line make sure to install the shims in the same place you took them off of. Other than that, replace the bearings and away you go!
 
Kurtis said:
I'd probably just do them while your in there. The steering bearings are the ones that take the most abuse. I used a fish scale to do mine and its honestly not a big deal it all. Really the only point is so there is a little resistance on the bearings so they can't slam around causing premature wear. Mine were alright but the kit is cheap and I figured I was going to be running 35s and have a v8 4l60e to back it so I might as well make sure everthing is up to the added stress. Plus its one less thing to worry about when you bolt it all up as worn steering bearings can cause wobble.
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Ok after getting in there and seeing what 2 years of sitting with water in the gear oil did to my bearings I decided I am going to redo everything. Hopefully I will be worry free... until I break one of my worn out birfields, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Check out these gnarly piiics!!

One of the wheel bearings:
35ir3x5.jpg


And inside the rotor where both bearings ride on the spindle.
j92gs5.jpg


GLTHFJ60 said:
The SST used to center the knuckle on the housing is only necessary when putting different knuckles on your housing than it came from the factory with. The factory centered each one and used shims to set it, so if you keep it in line make sure to install the shims in the same place you took them off of. Other than that, replace the bearings and away you go!
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Ok, thats good to know. I still have the stock knuckles and didn't lose any of the shims so I guess I should be ok.

Here is what I got done today. Doesn't look like much but pulling those knuckles and CLEANING everything took forever and I'm still not done. The housing is ready for the cut 'n' turn.

I am ordering the knuckle gussets from marlin as well as the knuckle rebuild kit with their heavy duty seals.

While I have everything apart I was thinking about welding some armor on the front of the pumpkin. I'm not thinking anything fancy just a piece of .25 inch plate on that hump that sticks out for the ring gear. I think I'm also going to gusset the actual housing between the diff and the tube. Has anyone done this that can show me what you got? I just don't want to put everything back together and regret it later.


Here is a shot of the cleaned housing:

n4i36e.jpg
 
Here's a mini truss I modified to fit on a cruiser axle. Is this the kind of gusseting you're talking about?

2589168620041288937S600x600Q85.jpg
 
boots4 said:
Here's a mini truss I modified to fit on a cruiser axle. Is this the kind of gusseting you're talking about?

2589168620041288937S600x600Q85.jpg
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Yeah, absolutely, that looks great. I wasn't sure if a gusset on top would hit the oil pan, but if you did it and it's working then I am all for it. I was just going to put one on the bottom but if I could fit one the top with no issues I would rather go that route.

I like that diff protection, too. Did you buy that? or did you make it yourself? I was just thinking of something like Freds40 did that he called the "batwing", that welds flush on the front cover, but I like what you did. I assume with that setup you aren't running a sway bar? or you moved the mounts?
 
I got the same kit and HD studs from them for both my SOA
 
BlueCruiser84 said:
I am just going with Dodge spring perches for the front and rear. They were ten dollars a box and with the 2f I don't see any real problems with monster horsepower tearing them up. The part number for anyone interested in going this route is P4120074.
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Forgot to ask, those perches you said 10 bux a box is a box each or a pair or what? and what were they originally for? any idea?

also did you find a walk in source for u bolts?

Cruiserdrew said:
Regarding the perches-the Dodge perches are cheap, but they are not that good. They are too short to help much with axle wrap. I would personally use better ones, and the Ruffstuff ones are excellent and also fairly cheap.

U-bolts-Good U bolts are expensive. Any spring shop can bend these up for you custom, but again, the ones from RuffStuff are super great, USA made u-bolts. Napa sells U-bolts in many sizes, unfortunately they are made in China and no longer come with the industry standard tall nuts.
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with the concern of axle wrap, that is what a trac bar is for so it shouldnt really be an issue.
 
Nice. Thanks for the timely replies.

I got one side cut 'n' turned. The cutting was easy but turning that sucker took a 6 foot digging spike. I'm now searching around to see what the optimal caster angle might be. I think I'm going to go with 5 degrees unless I find something that convinces me otherwise.... any suggestions? I'll post up some pics of the process when I get everything welded up.
 
Cruisin', I have yet to look for u-bolts because of christmas/ holidays/ it's now Sunday, but I will probably go to NAPA once they are open again.

I believe the perches were originally for a dana 60. I found the part number from this article, which was VERY useful: IH8MUD.com SOA Technical Section I also read on pirate, in this thread: Untitled Document about the perches being for a dana 60.

The reason I wasn't too worried about the perches being too short is what you said; I plan on building a trac bar before I do any serious wheeling so it shouldn't be an issue.

Back out to the garage to finish up the CnT. Pics when I get back!
 
BlueCruiser84 said:
Cruisin', I have yet to look for u-bolts because of christmas/ holidays/ it's now Sunday, but I will probably go to NAPA once they are open again.

I believe the perches were originally for a dana 60. I found the part number from this article, which was VERY useful: IH8MUD.com SOA Technical Section I also read on pirate, in this thread: Untitled Document about the perches being for a dana 60.

The reason I wasn't too worried about the perches being too short is what you said; I plan on building a trac bar before I do any serious wheeling so it shouldn't be an issue.

Back out to the garage to finish up the CnT. Pics when I get back!
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right on, not that it mattered i was just currious.

but when you sadi 40 ea box, is each box 1 perch i assume? or a pair?
 
CruisinFJ60 said:
right on, not that it mattered i was just currious.

but when you sadi 40 ea box, is each box 1 perch i assume? or a pair?
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Oh yeah, woops. A box has two perches in it. You need two boxes if you want them for front and rear and don't plan on messing up. Cost me 21 bucks even.
 
BlueCruiser84 said:
Oh yeah, woops. A box has two perches in it. You need two boxes if you want them for front and rear and don't plan on messing up. Cost me 21 bucks even.
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oh wow! thats amazingly cheap!! I know what im doing tomorrow!!
 
I hate the bent ubolts on the truggy that why I went ruff stuff cause the inside ubolts are now just bolts


As for ubolts if you keeping squares rear 88-98 1500 Chevys work good and I thinking
I have 80's chevy rear n the rear
 
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