Sloped body lift + SOA successful

[Nick26]

for comparison sake heres some before shots... check out how low everything hung with the body lift...

the first shot was taken from on top of the 5 ft wall behind the truck and you still see a good amount of the frame...

 

[Nick26]

these were takin last summer and weren't necessarily meant to be before shots but the show how low everything hung...

 

[Hokie]

I'd definitely suggest making new ones and not stacking a 1inch and a 2 inch. or I'll even send you my extra ones now, I doubt I'll ever put them back on.

Not sure but did the 2 inch have a steering extension? Cause the 3 inch definitely does and you definitely need it if you going to lift the front more. Theres other stuff too like radiator drop brackets that'll you need, I may have extra ones of those too though, let me know what you'd need.

Kick ass, yeah I'd take anything you'd wanna send my way

 

[ExplorerJimbo]

you have deffinetly talked me into doing a SOA sooner then i had planned... my x is out of commision right now becuase of a cv joint so im going to add my body lift replace my front left cv shaft and do the soa... going to be a busy week!

 

[Hokie]

Heres a shot of how my shocks are mounted now and a side shot. See no more ugly frame hanging down below the body, a nice bonus from this.

Yeah, that body life looks seamless, no more looking at the gap between the frame and the rear cargo bay...

I wonder what the disadvanteges are of doing this? I'm sure someone will chime in and talk about the horrors of doing this

Guess what, everybody. My truck has the exact body lift that Nick is thinking about! It was the first mod I did to my truck, so it's been on for nine years.

Off Road Warehouse in San Diego used to offer these specifically for 93-97 Rangers, to level out the stock truck. They did mine.

Sure it's a funky idea, but I've had no problems. I have over 200,000 miles on it, two plus rollovers, lotsa hard wheeling, etc.

Nick, if you still want to do this and need any pics, let me know.

Thats enough for me to be a believer!

Oh, and the idea is growing on me further. I see 2 ways I can adjust this if the ass end sits too high. One would be to remove a spring and/or the overload spring, the other would be to redrill the stock shackles to lower the truck. I'd then probably weld on reinforcements b/c the hole would be close to that slot.

Advantages for SOA = more flex (which should mean lifting the front tires less), more ground clearance (seeing how the frame slopes down to the rear and the lowest point is the front spring hanger), no ugly BL gap, and look at the increased departure angle! No more ugly rear shackles to hang down!

Oh, and if I ever sold my truck, I could get an 8.8 from a wrecked Explorer and keep this one to sell to a Jeeper guy or someone with a Ranger wanting 4.10/LS and disc brakes

 

[XPLORIN]

Yeah.....if anyone needs some 3'' spacers for the body lift.....I have some left over from my kit too!!! Just let me know!!!

 

[Hokie]

Yeah.....if anyone needs some 3'' spacers for the body lift.....I have some left over from my kit too!!! Just let me know!!!

How many do y'all have left over with the kit? I'll take any ones you don't want/need

 

[dman726749]

there is a major diffrence between the explorer body and the ranger body though, the ranger body is in 2 pieces where as the explorer body is in onle large piece and wont flex as well as a ranger body will, but saying that i really doubt that it will really matter and most likely wont cause any problems any time soon

 

[Hokie]

I just spent all evening taking measurements... I have a 4door drive shaft at home that I could cut down to fit my SOA'd Sport, and I could probably turn a 1" driveshaft spacer on the lathe at work if I needed too.

I seriously could make this happen for no more than the $45 for the MORE spring perches.... dagnabbit

(I've been thinking of ways to raise my hitch or make a new bumper b/c there's a 3.5" gap between my hitch and my bumper with this friggin' body lift)

 

[XPLORIN]

I will check in my toolbox at work and see how many I have left.......I will get back to ya!!

 

[jasonb]

(I've been thinking of ways to raise my hitch or make a new bumper b/c there's a 3.5" gap between my hitch and my bumper with this friggin' body lift)

any good hot wrench will fix that!

 

[Hokie]

any good hot wrench will fix that!

Yeah well, I don't want to permenantly modify the hitch in doing so. I'm not going to have this body lift forever, so to do that I'd have to buy new mounting brackets from Reese and then modify my old ones.

 

[jasonb]

nah... then you just trade it for a regular to someone that wants a modified one here on this forum...

 

[Nick26]

Oh, and the idea is growing on me further. I see 2 ways I can adjust this if the ass end sits too high. One would be to remove a spring and/or the overload spring, the other would be to redrill the stock shackles to lower the truck. I'd then probably weld on reinforcements b/c the hole would be close to that slot.

I don't think shortening the shackle is a good idea, this not only changes the suspension geometry limitting travel, but it also would cause the pinion to point down a little which is def not something we want when doing a SOA. And taking the overload out would def soften the springs. Don't you haev a mono leaf anyway? put that back on and loose the little pieces of springs they have.

Advantages for SOA = more flex (which should mean lifting the front tires less)

since SOA uses the same springs you won't get more flex, unless you modify the springs. SOA basically mainatins the same ride quality.

I forget where I read it but someone on this forum did the calculations for how long the driveshaft should be after a SOA, which is 3inches longer. A 4door driveshaft compared to a sport is a lot more than that, and i don't know about how you would cut it down... from the female end of the slip joint I guess? but do the splines go all the way up?

for blocks you could get away with using 5 3 inch blocks (that is if the sport has 10 mounts like the 4 door). you'd need 2 full blocks for the front most, then 2 blocks with a small part cut off for the a-pillar, then a block cut in half for b-pillar (using one half on each side), and finally the second to last mount you can reuse the small pieces you cut off the blocks from the a-pillar. And ofcourse the furthest back mounts (by the rear bumper) should have no spacers.

 

[Hokie]

I don't think shortening the shackle is a good idea, this not only changes the suspension geometry limitting travel, but it also would cause the pinion to point down a little which is def not something we want when doing a SOA. And taking the overload out would def soften the springs. Don't you haev a mono leaf anyway? put that back on and loose the little pieces of springs they have.

I have 4 door leaves on my Sport. The overload leaf doesn't affect ride quality or stiffness, it actually arches the opposite way of the leaf pack. I don't think shortening the shackle 1" would affect anything. I put on a 2" longer shackle and no problems. The shackle barley moves when the suspension is compressed as is. And i'm going to have to change my pinion angle anyway when I do the SOA so I'll just correct there.

since SOA uses the same springs you won't get more flex, unless you modify the springs. SOA basically mainatins the same ride quality.

it's well known for Sammy's and YJ's that doing a SOA with the stock springs increases the rear flex. Basically the axle is underneath the spring and can provide more leverage instead of the spring cradling the axle in SUA. I'm not worried about axle wrap b/c look at all of the pickups that come from the factory with SOA. Hell, the 3/4 ton's all have big lift blocks and they're definately the ones that are going to be seeing tow loads to cause axle wrap.

I forget where I read it but someone on this forum did the calculations for how long the driveshaft should be after a SOA, which is 3inches longer. A 4door driveshaft compared to a sport is a lot more than that, and i don't know about how you would cut it down... from the female end of the slip joint I guess? but do the splines go all the way up?

The 4 door shaft is 10" longer, so I'd have a driveline shop shorten it. Or I could machine a 1" spacer and move the axle 1" forward and probably have no problems.

for blocks you could get away with using 5 3 inch blocks (that is if the sport has 10 mounts like the 4 door). you'd need 2 full blocks for the front most, then 2 blocks with a small part cut off for the a-pillar, then a block cut in half for b-pillar (using one half on each side), and finally the second to last mount you can reuse the small pieces you cut off the blocks from the a-pillar. And ofcourse the furthest back mounts (by the rear bumper) should have no spacers.

Cool, hadn't thought of that

 

[Nick26]

I have 4 door leaves on my Sport. The overload leaf doesn't affect ride quality or stiffness, it actually arches the opposite way of the leaf pack. I don't think shortening the shackle 1" would affect anything. I put on a 2" longer shackle and no problems. The shackle barley moves when the suspension is compressed as is. And i'm going to have to change my pinion angle anyway when I do the SOA so I'll just correct there.

You don't want to change the pinion angle too much, idealy you want the angle at both ends of the drive shaft as close as possible so they are in sync to avoid vibrations. Also by tilting your pinion up you won't be properly lubricating the pinion bearings and will burn them out in no time, unless you overfill your diff (if you do add more don't forget to add the same ratio of friction modifier for your L/S).

it's well known for Sammy's and YJ's that doing a SOA with the stock springs increases the rear flex. Basically the axle is underneath the spring and can provide more leverage instead of the spring cradling the axle in SUA.

im not so sure I believe this... in physics push vs pull is essentially the same force. got proof?

The 4 door shaft is 10" longer, so I'd have a driveline shop shorten it. Or I could machine a 1" spacer and move the axle 1" forward and probably have no problems.

I was looking to use spacers too, but the biggest spacer I could fine was a 5/8" steeda spacer for the 8.8 (intended for mustangs). They intentionally don't make spacers very big because the wider the gap the more twisting force is put on the flange bolts. However, I wouldn't think our 4.0's would be much of a problem.

 

[GooseR]

exactly... maybe this will clear things up (ignore my lists on there):

Did you use these exact mesurements?
And whered you get a driveshaft spacer?

 

[nissanboy]

yes the SOA increase flex. Think of it this way...

If you put a wrench on a bolt and grab it up near th ebolt and try to turn it you realize you dont have enough leverage to break the bolt loose. Knowing this lets use teh springs as the bolt and the axle as the wrench. When move teh axle outside the springs you have increased its leverage on the springs. Now when the earth puches up on one side it has more leverage to force the opposite side down. This leverage combined with the weight of the axle pulling and the spring naturally wanting to achieve a natural state of no stress causes extreme articulation.

 

[Nick26]

Did you use these exact mesurements?
And whered you get a driveshaft spacer?

I ended up not getting a spacer, and I don't think I need one now. No those aren't the exact measurements. I figured mine out using a a tape measure, plumb bob and did the percetages. I forget what they are now, but it doesn't take long for you to measure if your interested.

 

[Nick26]

yes the SOA increase flex. Think of it this way...

If you put a wrench on a bolt and grab it up near th ebolt and try to turn it you realize you dont have enough leverage to break the bolt loose. Knowing this lets use teh springs as the bolt and the axle as the wrench. When move teh axle outside the springs you have increased its leverage on the springs. Now when the earth puches up on one side it has more leverage to force the opposite side down. This leverage combined with the weight of the axle pulling and the spring naturally wanting to achieve a natural state of no stress causes extreme articulation.

I see what your trying to say but I still don't agree, check out my drawing...
The distance between the surface object that is twisting (leaf spring) and the surface of the object that is being forced (axle) is still the same whether its on the top or the bottom. So either way its the same force being put on the spring. However, if you add more space between the axle and the spring (diagram 3) then I could see that changing the leverage.

The only other additional leverage I can see that changed from this would be that the COG of the truck is now higher and that adds more stress to the spring. But that really only comes into effect when turning or climbing. We'll have to get a physics expert in here to figure this out...