Solved Dana 44 flex shots

[Rick]

I just went out and tested my new rear springs this morning. These are National springs off of Paul Bredehofts Explorer. Paul was using them spring under axle and they were originally made for a 5 1/2" lift. After several years they settled so Paul bought a new set.

I removed the bottom three leaves in order for them to work in my application. My truck now sits level front to rear, but it still leans to the left on level ground. I'm begining to think I have a bent frame or bad body mount bushings or something else not very obvious.

This rock was the tallest one I could find. The suspension still has more travel available in the front and rear.

 

[rpenner54]

Nice tire cover! I like that shop... Nice flex shots too!

 

[Goober]

Looks awesome! When are you going to do the RTI? Any guesses before you do it?

 

[FAKRWEE]

Hi Rick, do you have bump stops in the rear or can you still stuff the tire some more. I had to install a 5in. bump stop to avoid rubbing the inner tire with the inner fenderwell. What I'm thinking of doing is widening the axles two inches so I can improve turning radius and clear widder tires.
Tom

 

[Tom Wilk]

Ya need a bigger rock!!! Looks great really. That front end really twists now. Rear actually looks a little tighter (less flexible) than the front but that could just be the way I'm looking at it.

 

[Rick]

Tom R. I can still flex farther. The rock wasn't big enough as Tom W. observed.

Right now the compression is limited by the shackles. My shackles contact the frame before the springs are maxxed out (flattened). I need to get shackles that are slightly longer and have the cross section placed lower on the shackle.

The expansion of the springs is much greater than what is shown also. As you may be able to see the springs haven't even begun to seperate in these photos.

My 10" wide rims keep the tires away from the inner fender well. My BFG's used to rub the frame rails, but the 35x13.50's don't due to the width and spacing of the rims.

[Edited by Rick on 09-16-2000 at 02:54 PM]

 

[leebo]

just so you know rick I'm mad at you now.....cause of some of your photos I now have some holes drilled in my tailgate and some gas cans mounted back there. Gees some people.

I was wondering though, how much more does your shocks have till they bottom out and start to hinder you flex??? They look like they're stretched out quite abit now. Any clue???

 

[Rick]

There is still plenty more shock travel both compression and extention. I can go 32" from the loop at the bottom to the top where it meets the crossmember.

Here is a closer look.

As you can see, the right side shackle is contacting the frame prohibiting further compression of that spring. That will be taken care of.

 

[leebo]

What kind are you going to go with??? I can't tell but those look like stock shackles. Do I hear another custom job in the making, or are you going to go the simple Warrior shackle route???

 

[Tom Wilk]

Maybe you could just flip the shackles around so that the "crossmember" part is toward the front of the truck. Might give you a bit more room. Or, it might interfere with the springs when you compress. Might be worth a try.

 

[FAKRWEE]

Rick, What brand and offset are your wheels. Maybe because mine is a two door I don't have a problem with the shackles.

Did you ever consider widening the axles, and if so how would you calculate how much. For example using a 38X15.5X15 tire. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Tom

 

[Rick]

My wheels are the "Rock Crawlers" available from Desert Rat. I haven't measured the offset, they were the standard offset that they sell you when you order 15x10s. I'll have to go out and measure.

I have not considered widening the rear axle, although the front is 1" wider than stock on each side.

As far as shackles, the National springs I got from Paul have a tremendous amount of arch since they were meant for a 5 1/2" spring under lift (they have since settled some). As the spring compresses it lengthens, this pushs the shackle farther back. The Zimmerman mod on the stock springs and even using the OME springs still allowed the spring to compress all the way flat and even hyper compress beyond that using the stock shackles. It's the length of these "new" springs which require a modified shackle in order to fully compress the spring.

 

[Nick Schmitt]

Hey Rick
Have you thought about getting some revolver shackles, they will allow you to get more flex. I talked to the owner of revolver and he said that the shackles made for the the j**p cherokee will fi the explorer. Just an idea
Nick

 

[Rick]

Revolvers are pretty cool, I may have to give them a try, but I've heard some stories about Revolver equipped vehicles doing unexpected endos. This has happened to two Jeeps that I know of that were running the Revolvers front and rear. They were both decending steep rock faces when the Revolver opened up launching the truck end over end.

In one case the driver was on familiar terrain in a spot that he had traversed successfully numerous times before getting the Revolvers.

 

[leebo]

I've also heard that those are a pain in the a#@ to fix if they "flex" too much and have one side go over the other. The only thing you can do then is get the Hi-Lift and hope you can beat it into place. If the shackles are hitting the frame and you can't find a pair of shackles to work with your mods, how about making a change in the frame. Cut out a notch in the frame where the scackles are for them to get more room to flex. Then just reinforce the frame on the other side just to be on the safe side. You could match that up with some Warrior shackles which are thinner than stock for some more room between the two points.

Just a thought????

 

[leebo]

Nevermind.....that idea sucks. Just looked at the rear on my truck and right away kicked myself for such a stupid idea. WAYYYY too much work for little gains. For some reason I thought the frame was higher are further away from the springs than that. O well.....I'm an idiot.

 

[Paul Gagnon]

Originally posted by Nick Schmitt
I talked to the owner of revolver and he said that the shackles made for the the Jeep Cherokee will fit the Explorer.

They will not fit. They are a completely different style. Whoever told you that has never actually looked under an Explorer. If anything the YJ shackles would fit an Explorer. The Cherokee shackles would probably work on a Ranger though

 

[Rick]

911 on the 24 Degree ramp!

I ramped my truck today at FST. It scored 911 on their 24 degree ramp. It would have easily exceeded 1000 on a standard 20 degree ramp. I still haven't changed my shackles to ones that don't hit the frame. As soon as I do I'm going to ramp it again. Once I gather a few more bucks I'm going to order a set of revolver shackles. I just may be scoring 1000 on the killer 24 degree ramp.

Note: In order to take the photos I had to get out of the truck, my truck doesn't have an e-brake so I had to put it in first gear and turn off the engine. When I let my foot off the brake the truck rolled back several inches before the tranny would hold the truck on the ramp, therefore the truck was actually higher up before I hopped out.

 

[Tom Wilk]

Woo Hoo!!

Now that's flexability!!!

 

[leebo]

o come on....is that all you can do???? You've only got me beat by.....o say.....a s#$%load. Isn't it great to see that your work has paid off how you wanted it to. Congrats on the sucess of your mods. : )