My tread depth is now down to about 5/32 on my tires. Once these are used up, I'm swapping over the other axles and getting 35s. I really thought I would have done this last year already but my tires are hanging in there longer than I expected. I won't hardly get anything for them if I sold them so might as well use them until they are dead. 5/32 is still ok but that's definitely getting down there. So now I'm gathering parts for the swap. I picked up some perches and spring plates. They are from Barnes 4wd. Pure beef and they were only like $30 per pair. For that cheap I couldn't justify making them myself. I got 2 sets since they will work with the Dana 44 and the Toyota axle. I will drill extra holes in the perches just in case I want to get creative with mounting locations. It's a lot easier now than when they are welded to the axle.
Ok, so let's be clear here... I'm weird. I like trying different things. I bought new 5.5" XJ leaf springs from Iron Rock Off-road. They should be roughly equal to a 4.5" to 5" CJ lift. But since they are longer you can get away with a little longer shackle. I've driven in a few XJs with springs from IRO and they are absolutely fantastic. They flex amazing and hold up for a REALLY long time. Very high quality.
So here are some numbers and my thoughts on this....
CJ springs are 22 9/16" from the center bolt to the eye. Equal length.
These XJ springs have an offset center pin. They measure about 30" on one side and 23" on the other.
XJs use coil front, leaf springs rear. On the XJ they are mounted SOA with the short side of the spring to the front to control axle wrap. What a lot of people do is flip around the springs to get more wheelbase and also put on longer shackles at a 45° angle. This gives not only more wheelbase but INSANE flex too because the longer side of the spring is now up front. If you think about it the part of the spring from the spring hanger to the center pin is kind of like a radius arm. If it's short and you use a short shackle, it can only droop so far. Springs flex, they don't stretch. That length from the hanger to the center pin makes a huge difference. So if you have a longer spring and a longer shackle it can droop way more. If you want an idea of what I mean by this, take a look at the 63" spring swap the Toyota guys are obsessed with. Long spring, long shackle. MAD FLEX!
My intention is NOT to stretch my wheelbase like the XJ guys, but take advantage of longer springs for better flex and better ride quality. So for the rear, I need to move the spring hanger forward about 7" and my shackle hanger should be really close. Although I will likely make the shackle angle adjustable. Anyone would benefit from this. Most CJs I see have a garbage shackle angle. They are almost straight up and down. That makes for a stiff ride and allow for very little droop. My front end would be the opposite. Those spring hangers would move rearward about 7". Since the short side of the springs are being used on the shackle side, my approach and departure angle won't change from what CJ springs are.
Again, this actually has been done by others. But those guys debate whether or not a torque arm is needed (as do most SOA setups). So I am going to be running them SUA. That too, has been done on a rear setup but with the short side of the spring forward. I'm going to try it with the long side forward. Hopefully I can get away with it being SUA.
I hope this all made sense? I does in my brain, whether or not it will work the way I want is another story. Lol. Worst case scenario I simply move the spring hangers back to their factory location and run CJ springs instead. It's not a big deal to move the hangers.
Now that I'm done explaining my madness, here's what I did over the weekend....
I now have all 4 5.5 springs. IRO has an "add a leaf" specifically designed for this spring pack. So I installed them on the rear springs only. Unlike BDS, notice how this "add a leaf" actually compliments the pack? It's long and thin. So far I'm impressed with IRO. I've talked to them on the phone about what I'm doing and they have been freaking awesome. Just great people.
I also finally got to work on the Toyota axle. If Bigwalton is reading this I'm sure he's shaking his head. He cringed when I told him I was installing something Toyota in my Jeep. Lol.
For those of you that aren't familiar with the Toyota 8", it has a removable center section like the Ford 9". For comparison many people consider them the same strength if not stronger than a Dana 44. So as I mentioned in an earlier post I bought a factory selectable locker center section for $350. I got a couple of axles from a friend of mine. The locker swaps in with some very mild modifications. I'll get into that later. If you go this route like me, be careful which housing you use. Not all of them work. You can use any pre 95 4runner or Pickup. 96 up non locker in a Tacoma will NOT work, it's a different housing and looks very similar, but will not work. I actually have a non locker Taco housing as well, I will make a future post showing the difference. If you find a Taco that came with a locker, that one is correct. Also, ANY 96 up 4runner axle is correct. You just have more brackets to cut off like me. Which is the other thing I did this weekend. Not sure off the top of my head on the Taco axle, but the 4runner axle has 3 1/8" tubes.
Before and after.
