OK thanks to Ryan and Chris we got the SOA finished on Thursday.

Here are the new front low profile hangers 1/4 inch thick steel.



New Johnny Joints w/greasable Bolts







New Perches, Plates, U-bolts and Shock Mounts





Rear View




Quick overall shot



Now I just need to take it and wash it again to paint it all up with rustoleum. And get the rear drive shaft lengthened.

High Res Photos: Click TWICE on any photo.
http://alpinetribe.com/Gallery/album59?page=1

After driving it for a few days its GREAT. The new shock locations increase lateral stability. And the ride is really nice.

looks good. thanks for posting pics, i have been contemplating going that route my self and been wondering how it set up.

what spring pack and shocks did you use? price? links?

LOL..... I was already workin on the parts list.

OK here is the parts list.

2 - 3 Hole Spring Perches, 4 Wheel Parts or Datin Fab
2 - 3 Hole Top Plates for 2.5" springs, Foot Hills Offroad
These allow the axle to be adjusted forward or back 1" at a time.





1 - Set of Johnny Joints, All Pro Offroad
Allowing the springs to rotate out



2 - Front Low profile Hangers, should be for 2.5" springs and 9/16th holes



4 - U-bolts, 3" loop-8" legs 5/8ths thick hardened, Denver Spring

2 - 9/16ths bolts, grade 8 5" long with washers and lock washers, Ace Hardware

2 - New Center Spring retention bolts any spring shop or offroad supply

2 - Upper Shock Mounts

2 - Lower Shock Mounts

2 - Shocks, Leaf springs will make a difference on length.
I went with 19" compressed/ 32" extended Rancho 9000s

The spring packs I reused the custom Alcans I had.

have you flexed it at all yet? any complications with axle wrap?

forgot to ask, what was the total $$$?

Need to get the drive shaft lengthened first. Before any thing really flexy happens then I will let ya know.

2 - 3 Hole Spring Perches, $12 Ea
2 - 3 Hole Top Plates for 2.5" springs, $19 Ea
1 - Set of Johnny Joints, $
2 - Front Low profile Hangers, $13 Ea
4 - U-bolts, $10 Ea
2 - 9/16ths bolts, $6 I guess
2 - New Center Spring retention bolts $3 Ea
2 - Upper Shock Mounts $10 Ea
2 - Lower Shock Mounts $17
2 - Shocks, $170

$347 + The All Pro Kit (website is down right now), My shocks were not long enough with the Alcan Leaf Springs, they flex REALLY well, so I had to get new shocks.

yeah, sorry about that, i realized that you didnt have the drive shaft in after i posted.

nice write up. to give me the height i need i might contimplate going this route with my calmini springs.

Looks great.!

Advantages:
1. Those stock front hangers that catch on rocks are GONE!!
2. By relocating the shocks to the inside an added benefit is more stability side to side. Was not counting on this. But they are the adjustable Rancho 9000s and they can be adjusted to suit.
3. No more spring hangers under the axle to bang on rocks.
4. The Johnny Joints allow the springs to swing in and out and with the new shock setup they swing with the suspension and will not fight it.
5. Everything is severely upgraded beyond stock. Everything is pretty much 1/4 inch thick steel so a HD welder is needed a 110v will not cut it.
6. No more bent ubolt ends from dragging on rocks.
7. New Hangers allow rocks to slide on back.
8. Better offroad setup
9. The rear axle was moved back almost an inch for departure angle.
10. New plate above and below springs allow for adjustability 1"+ or -.
11. Johnny Joints allow for STRAIGHT Shackles... so options are now endless.

Dissadvantages:
1. The SOA will cause the springs to flex a little more with the weight of the vehicle sitting on them. Keep this in mind when putting on the mounts. We learned the hard way how much more pressure it really is.
2. Axle Wrap??? Well time will tell.

Looks sweet!



When you angle the shocks, you typically up the valving to compensate, as the wheel travel is now acting on the shock from about 45 degrees....so the increase in valving is proportional to the change in leverage...and to help prevent wheel hop and axle wrap issues, you typically FURTHER upgrade the rebound damping to compensate.

Depending up how flexy your leaves are, and how much the ball shackles let it rock, etc...the wrap might be limited to hill climb situations, etc...where loading and torque conspire to wind up the drivetrain.

If REALLY flexy, the axle may get into a rear steer twist as well on hard acceleration, asymetrical terrain undulations, etc.

Of course - If REALLY flexy, the shocks will probably be too short again....

I'm spring UNDER, and the shocks are up/down...and I need 29" extended for full travel.

Your shocks (32" exentended) are only 3" longer...but are starting on top of the axle, whereas my mounts are at the bottom of the axle...., but yours are angled, requireing more travel to allow the same droop, etc.

So - the 3" extra might be a tad short yet.

Figure I get more than an inch of wheel travel for every inch of shock travel, due to the closer inboard position, but at ~ 45 degrees...you might be close to one for one, etc?

One side stuffed, one side drooped you should be fine I think....its double drooped that looks short.

The extra clearance and all look great....once you figure out the shaft and shock issues, that's a killer set up.

Looks great man! Now grind off those sway bar mounts (mainly bc i caught mine on a rock and bent the hell outta them)

Yeah I thought about those sway bar mounts but it was late, cold, long day.

The "jump droop" could be short but, I dont jump it. When one is stuffed and the other is flexed the axle actually rotates under/closer to the shock mounts so that aspect of it should be fine.

Should get the driveshaft worked on this week.

Badass! One of the better SOA conversions I have seen. I really like it.

Get some action pics ASAP!

Nice. Was considering going this route myself.

Quick question...do you have a slip yoke eliminator or does moving the axle back pose no issues w/the stock driveshaft?

Looks great. Did you center the axle back one inch or just in the perch. Mine is set back 1" also, but I reused the stock front mounts. When I did a check on driveline angle, it looked like the u joints would bind. Even with the a CV driveline I'll be at a steep angle.

Oops! Wrong pic.

The axle is centered on the perches but the adjustability is there when I need it.

The front spring hangers are back just a hair shy of an inch & the back shackle mounts (Johnny Joints) are moved back also.

Driveshaft does need to be lengthened. SYE is going into another Tcase in a few more days.

may i asked what happened here?

also do you have any profile shots of the truck. was curious how much higher the front needs to be to level it or give it a rake with the back. i am to assume that by using your alcan springs must of given you alot more height than before.

Well both the front and rear mounts were moved back about 3/4 of an inch. And everything looked fine in the driveway, and we thought we were done. So I took it for a spin and when I came back the rear shackle had folded up flat to the frame due to the extra pressure from SOA. So we cut the rear mounts off and rewelded them back on 2" further back.

Right now there is about a 1.75" rake front to back. But everything out there says the SOA will cause the springs to settle a little bit more. So far about 1/2 inch.

I will get some profile shots either today/tomorrow.

thanks.

how bad is axle wrap right now?

Right now it just fine... of course it may be because the Alcan pack is 8 leafs.

As soon as the driveshaft gets lengthened I will flex it out to see what happens.

It is fun watching folks dig for criticism on this site.

"Alpine Spirit, your truck is awesome.. However, if a hen and a half could lay an egg in a half in a day and a half a one legged monkey wouldn't be able to beat all the seeds out of a dill pickle. Thus you might (32 degree day) loose 1mm of flex"

lol ryan
Soo, did you get the orbit eyes through Alcan, or AllPhase?