SOA and shock mounts...

[Dre]

Hi there.... I'm in the middle of swapping the rear end on my truck with a newer unit out of a 97... and at the same time I'm installing a 6" Skyjacker lift.... well, the kit didn't come with rear springs or anything (since it was mounted on a Ranger before) so I need to come-up with something for an SOA... I'm buying perches from a dealer but now need to come-up with some kind of bracket to install shocks.... what did all you SOA guys do? can I just use sway bar brackets?? or somehow craft brackets that would mount to sway bar brackets?

give me your feedback...

 

[NOTAJP]

I'm converting my Superlift SOA to a real SOA now. I'll be welding on spring perches on the axle and using shock conversions as shown below to mount to the sway bar mount. This will allow the shock to move freely without bind as would happen if you mount the shock directly to the sway bar mount.

 

[Dre]

this shure looks like a very good idea... and that would solve my dilemma...

thanks,

 

[410Fortune]

Those Jeepers are good for something! (their aftermarket shock mounts!!)

 

[Alec]

That will work, but welding new shock mounts to the axle will most likely be stronger.

 

[Lifted95X]

I welded some universal shock mount brackets to the pads where the sway bar used to mount on the axle.

 

[Dre]

I got perches and shock mounts... now question is if I would still need longer shackles (Warrior) to level the truck...

6" Skyjacker up front and SOA in the back... I've got to measure how much lift SOA is gonna give me...

 

[AlaskanJack]

Well what do you know. My buddy Chris NAK4AF Just starting doing his front 6" Skyjacker tonight. He had his rear SOA done a few weeks back. Now for him he had an AAL and warrior shackles and the rear lift was too high. He pulled the overload spring out and removed the warrior shackles. In front he has the F150 Coil spacers. He has a lot of options as far as leveling goes.

I'll get him to post on this thread in the morning. He has got like 3-4 different rear hts he can go, but I can't remember what they are.


Oh and I might add, if you have to chisel off rivets they are a *****. Luckily B4 I left he was mounting the axle drop brackets and things are going back together.

 

[NOTAJP]

I'd try it first with the SOA and 6" lift. I ended up using and AAL with SOA and I sit very slightly higher in the rear. I installed Warrior shackles ones with a 1" coil spacer but it was still to high.

Those rivets are a ***** but the rest is cake. I just had to throw it all away

 

[John_Rock]

Originally posted by NOTAJP
This will allow the shock to move freely without bind as would happen if you mount the shock directly to the sway bar mount.

What binding?

I would say that mine is flexing pretty well. I just need a little longer traveling shock to get the most out of it.

 

[410Fortune]

John.

Whats your setup back there?

I was also going to say Brett has the SOA on his sport and with the shocks bolted to where the sway bar once was it flexes like mad, seemed like the perfect place for them...........too bad my BII has the funky front/rear shock mounts....someday I will rig up something so the mounts dont hagn down so low.....

 

[AlaskanJack]

I think Dre will find that he needs a little more in the rear since the Sports only have the two leaf springs compared to the three on a 4dr.

Like I said Dre I'll get Chris to post here today since he also has the 2 dr Sport.

 

[nak4af]

Originally posted by NOTAJP
Those rivets are a ***** but the rest is cake.

I started my Skyjacker install last night. NOTAJP, I totaly agree with you on this one. What a pain in the A$$. I had to hitch a ride to work with the boss this morning. When I get home today, AlaskanJack and I are going to finish it off. We only have the rear (passanger) axle brackets to remove and bolt up the rest of the components. The SOA was done last Friday!

 

[John_Rock]

Here is a link to pictures and comments of my SOA:
My SOA
Just to note, in these pics, I had the shocks connected to the U-bolt plates, but I moved them to the anti-sway bar mounts the next day.

I kind of just followed most of what Lizardtrac had done with his.

Here's one picture of Lizardtrac's old SOA. I don't know if he still has it this way since his SAS.

 

[John_Rock]

Here's a 2nd pic of Lizardtrac's SOA:

 

[Dre]

SOA is getting there.. I ended-up taking original rear end apart yesterday for you guys to get that carrier out...

I am replacing rear end on my Sport completely with a unit I have bought off a 97 Eddie Bauer.... it's a stock 4.10 with disk brakes and 4 leaf leafpacks. I wanted to replace shackles as the ones I had on my truck are rusted pretty bad... well, I'll just see if I have any shackles around my garage from my previous projects. I'll bolt everything up and see where it stands... if I need something to level the truck I'll do it then.

For now I have bought spring perches and shock mounts from 4wdparts.com ..... and don't think I need anything else..... ohe yeah! I'm gonna need D35 4.10 gears for the front...... to make sure front and rear matches.

anyone want a set of gears off my truck??? anybody cares for these 3.27's??? didn't think so.

 

[nak4af]

Originally posted by AlaskanJack
Well what do you know. My buddy Chris NAK4AF Just starting doing his front 6" Skyjacker tonight. He had his rear SOA done a few weeks back. Now for him he had an AAL and warrior shackles and the rear lift was too high. He pulled the overload spring out and removed the warrior shackles. In front he has the F150 Coil spacers. He has a lot of options as far as leveling goes.

I'll get him to post on this thread in the morning. He has got like 3-4 different rear hts he can go, but I can't remember what they are.


Oh and I might add, if you have to chisel off rivets they are a *****. Luckily B4 I left he was mounting the axle drop brackets and things are going back together.

When I had my SOA done, I had them remove my add-a-leaf. I forgot that I still had the Warrior shackel installed. When it was done I had like 7" of rear lift. I felt like Joe Dirt riding through town! Felt like if I hit the brakes too hard, I was gonna flip over forward. I bought some factory shackels for $20 and installed them.

This is what I started with...I measured from the ground to the center of the rear fender. I have 32's.

1. With the Warrior's and add-a-leaf -- 36".
2. With stock spring set-up with SOA-- 39".
3. With overload removed(don't recomend-very bad axle wrap and bad sag!!)--38".
4. With overload removed add-a-leaf installed--40".
5. With overload, add-a-leaf and warrior shackel--41.5"

As you can see, I have many options to get the rear leveled with the front. I also plan to keep the F-150 spacers up front when I install the Skyjacker springs.

I also had to add a 4 degree shim in the back (a 2.5 would of been better) since they welded in the perches with the warrior shackels it was off a bit!

Also the rear driveshaft is too short. Does anyone have any suggestions on that without having a new shaft made, $350 is what it will cost.

 

[AlaskanJack]

Oh yes I forgot about that the axle issue better start a new thread for that Chris, I forgot I was going to bring my digital camera to get a pic of my longer yoke vs yours.

Is that correct stock leafs werew 3" higher than with the warrior and AAL??

 

[Dre]

problems with shaft, huh? Durnig my search for spring perches I came across some perches made for 8.8 rear ends being mounted on Jeeps.... with three holes for leaf pack bolt... you could move the entire rear end about an inch each way to set it where you want it.... I'm thinking now... perhaps I should of bought that install kit instead to avoid "loosing" the shaft somewhere on the trail during an extreme flex...

all I'm gonna have is the SOA with nothing else (4 leaf leafpacks)

 

[Dre]

one more thing...... I'de better start shopping for some shims or simply weld perches where I want them... with the whole rear end angled a bit toward the transfer case..... this way I might avoid loosing the drive shaft alltogether.