spring over ?

[jeffseal]

I need to do a spring over on my 95 to get a full 5.5 instead of the 4 i have on there now. How hard is it to weld the brackets to the top of the axle? can this be done while the old springs are still on.

basically can i take it to a 4x4 shop and have them just weld the bracket on so i can go home and install the leafs? Or do they have to take the leafs off to measure for angle?

 

[jeffseal]

So i have been lookin at the superlift kit.... how much allignment is needed to get the pinion angle right? and do i need to cut anything off the old mounts. A pic of the super lift kit would be good if someone had one.

Could i install the superlift SOA kit and then drive to a shop and have them welded on to make sure they dont move?

 

[X-1]

The superlift kit for soa is a bolt on kit, although most would tell you to have it welded afterwards to eliminate any play. Welding spring perches on top while leaves are still attached would be a bad idea, no way to get the angle correct.

 

[jeffseal]

do you have to set the angle for the superlift kit or is it set? I could bolt on the superlift kit and take it somewhere to have it welded??

 

[X-1]

bolt on and drive away, pretty sure it fits fairly tight.

 

[jeffseal]

am i going to have to set angles for superlift kit or is the angle "built in" the design of them?

 

[X-1]

Should be set, reason I say that is that it fits directly over the old mount, and has parts that come down to lock to old mount. Before you actually weld, I would make sure that it hasn't shifted any.

 

[becker69]

Would you have to get new shock mount tab locations welded onto the axle too? Or will the old ones work with the spring over?

 

[X-1]

From the photo's I have seen here, I think that they come with the new mount. Try to find madmike, he has this if I remember right. I think he has also posted pics of his.

 

[Byrd91]

The angle is not built in the superlift kit, there is a few degrees of play, but its not too hard to get right. You can do it with a cheap angle finder or a good eye (my method). Also people have welded them because of noise, but I torqued my u-bolts to the 100 or so ft-lb spec and they're not going anywhere, I have no noise or movement.

 

[X-1]

Byrd 91

That's good info, but what about shock mounts? Isn't it part of new piece that goes in between axle and spring?

 

[jeffseal]

sounds easy enough.... How do i set the angle? do i just want the and where it connects to the axle to be a straight line?

also i will have a almost brandnew less than 500 miles on them!! set of super lift 4" rear springs. I installed just put them on but i kept the torsion bars cranked up front and i wnat to go bigger in the back.
Thought id off them to yall first becuase you helped me out. I will put them on the For sale board when I get them off if yall arnt interested.

 

[X-1]

I might be interested, e-mail me at ROWELL1366@aol.com, I want rear springs, not sure I can afford them, e-mail me and we can talk.
David

I am also probably close enough to save shipping

 

[Kirby N.]

Jeff,
You can go the stupidlift method, but the shocks still mount low and your ubolts are facing down also. If I was you, I would do like me
I got a set of warrior spring pads from 4wheel parts- 12 bucks or something. Then I welded them on to the top of the axle. Then I used a bolt in the swaybar holes and mounted my shocks.
The angle? Make the new ones parralell to the old ones. Put two straight edges on the axlene on the bottom of the old pad and one on the top of the new loose one. Now measure the distance on both sides between the straight edges and make them equal in front of and behind the axle. Then your angle is correct. Weld them on. I did it myself. I used a Arc welder and was careful to do 1/2 of an inch at a time, because you don't want to get the axle too hot and warp the housing. Weld 1/2 and inch, let it cool. Weld 1/2 an inch, let it cool.... etc. Also be sure to take off the wheels, because They will pull on the axle and make it want to warp.

Doing it when the axle is bolted on? No. Your ubolts will cover the place they want to weld. If you don't want to weld it, might as well take it completely off and take it down to the shop. All you gotta worry about is brakes, shocks and driveshaft- not a huge deal.
My SOA improved ride quality, departure angle and flex. I got about 4.5 inches because I took out the flat overload spring. If you don't want to take off your sway bar, you can get some weld on shock mounts at www.mountainoffroad.com- If you do a SOA, in the method I did, the spring plates are too high to mount the shocks. Good luck.

 

[jasonb]

i would think that you wouldn't want it parallel for the SOA since you are raising the guts up 4.5 or more inches but the diff stays in the same place. wouldn't it be better to weld on so the front of the perch is lower than the rear thus "rotating" the axle a bit to make the angle nicer? or is the change in angle not enough to worry about? got any pics of your setup kirby?

 

[Kirby N.]

It would be a good idea to lessen the pinion angle if you driveshaft had a CV joint, but ours has two u joints. The reasoning behind keeping the angle the same as stock, is in the stock form, the angle on the pinion is equal and opposite that of the transmission. In order to prevent a harmonic vibration, both ends need the same breaking point thus equal and opposite. You can do a search on this topic and get alot of resources. I have no pictures of mine, but mine is the same as Kris G's Green Monster set up over in the project forum. Mine has no vibration. The angle should remain the same no matter what height, but when the driveshaft reaches it's limits there will be vibration and breakage. I have heard and read that 1 to 3 less degrees of pinion angle doesn't hurt, especially on front axles- but why gamble? I made mine exactly the same angle as stock and if there was vibration I was going to try some shims, but it hasn't been a problem.

 

[Kirby N.]

Heres a picture of my truck:

 

[Kirby N.]

Heres the new flex just as a refrence:

 

[zensius]

I put the Superlift 5.5 kit and did the SOA in the rear. Here's the skinny plain and simple. The new perches are parallel to the original ones. Pinion angle stays the same. The Superlift perches are clamp on but you HAVE to weld them. They will move eventually and you will regret it. The U bolts get turned over because the old plate they bolt through is now on top. The u bolts threads are up out of the way. The shocks stay stock length and now mount to the axle where the sway bar used too. The sway bar can be tossed. Most find there's no difference and I found the extended connectors they sent didn't work anyway. Good Luck.

 

[TwoToneX]

Here's a pic of mine (superlift soa)