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Cajun
10-30-2002, 10:29 AM
I'm debating whether or not to add a SR to the laundry list of Scout mods. I'm currently leaning toward no, but I'm not sure. I plan on extending the front of the frame 3" for my spring, winch, and bumper mounts. That seems to be what the folks who run 44044s in the front do, and it works for them.

My concern is keeping the 38s out of the firewall, which I understand is a huge problem with big tires on Scouts. I see the SR as exaggerating this, as it would cause the axle to move up and backwards under compression, into the firewall. I know that it makes for a better ride, but how good is the ride gonna be anyway? It'll see some around town street time, but it won't be a daily driver. Are there things I'm not considering?

Also, since I'll be welding my mounts on the bare frame, the springs will have no load on them. What angle should I set the shackles at unloaded to get an acceptable final angle? (Landon need not reply :flipoff2:)

Oh, I figured on moving the rear spring hangers "on board", that is under the frame from their stock out board position. I've been tossing around the idea of "in boarding" them, moving the hangers inside the frame rails. This would result in better articulation without fabbing a link suspension that a 3/4 or 1/4 elliptical setup would necessitate. Is this a good idea, or am I nuts? What problems could I encounter?

Any questions, comments, and/or observations are appreciated.

robertf03
10-30-2002, 10:38 AM
andy that thing will ride like a chit sandwich if you inboard the rear springs. I'd leave them how they are.

on the front, this is my not so scientific way of doing it, but it worked for me. measure the distance from mounting hanger to mounting hanger of the donor vehicle (wagoneer) and match it. a wagoneer probably weighs very close to what a scout weighs so the spring should settle in about the same place.

and as far as shackle reversals. you could probably get away with it since you dont have to out board your springs, but for a shackle reversal to work on my setup, I'd have to drop the front hangers down 7" for the springs to sit at the same angle as they would stock. if the front of the spring is up too high, then you'll have steering issues with high steer arms if you keep the steering in front of the axle.

aggielr
10-30-2002, 11:05 AM
Thanks cack, i fixed the shackle angles also, i'll post some pics soon, when i redid it, i just measured the distance from eye to eye when it had a load on it and estimated where the hanger needed to be, and from what i've searched if your using arched springs go for the shackle reversal, if using a flatter spring don't, don't know why, that was just the general concensus, and as far as inboarding springs, it'll get pretty damn squirley on side hills, i think it would be too much body roll, maybe better flex, but not as controlled, thats the what seems logical

eight
10-30-2002, 12:09 PM
With flat springs, the axle moves backwards, towards the firewall, on compression and extension. With lift springs, the axle moves forward on compression and backward on extension. This is with the stock setup.

Another thing to think about is drive shaft spline travel. With a shackle reversal, the axle moves forward and down or upward and back. So you need longer splines than with a stock stlye setup. I'm not saying the stock shaft (extended or not) won't work, its just less likely to work.

Cajun
10-30-2002, 02:19 PM
Originally posted by eight
With flat springs, the axle moves backwards, towards the firewall, on compression and extension. With lift springs, the axle moves forward on compression and backward on extension. This is with the stock setup.


Why would spring arch have anything to do with the direction the axle moves? The axle will move in the direction of the shackle. If the shackle is in front, the axle will move up and forward when the spring is compressed, and down and backward when the spring is extended. Vice versa if the shackles are at the rear of the springs. My undersanding of the whole purpose of a shackle reversal is to achieve better ride quality. That way, when encountering a "bump", the front axle moves up and backwards as the spring compresses, a more "natural" (physics-speaking) movement than with a traditional shackle forward setup, where the axle would move up and forward, toward the "bump".

Am I wrong? If so, please clue me in.


Flem--Good idea about checking out the Waggy! I never would've thought of that.

eight
10-30-2002, 06:04 PM
You're forgetting what happens when the spring goes into negative arch.

The purpose of a shackle reversal is to improve the ride when you are using arched springs.