Inboarding XJ springs

marvilusone

marvilusone

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Location
Charleston, SC
What's everyones opinion on inboarding (5" each side) the spring hangers to under the "frame" on the rear of an XJ. What I'm trying to acciomplish is keep a fairly flat set of leaves in the rear but still be able to get the lift height I need. I'm looking for about 6" of lift. I'm still in the planning and measuring stages so I'm open to other options.
 
I don't see a problem with it as long as you plate the shit out of the frame section that you are you to attach the spring hangers to.
 
I've got around 5.5" of lift with 2 packs of XJ leaves, 2.5" lift shackle, and I built shackle relocation brackets over the stock shackle box. It's pretty stable with that setup and flexes well. I'd just be worried about the stability of your XJ after inboarding them.
 
I think the rig would roll easier and feel less stable if you move the springs that much inboard.
 
drkelly said:
I think the rig would roll easier and feel less stable if you move the springs that much inboard.
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That's what I was thinking but I wasn't sure. I think I'm just going to try the shackle box trick and build a leaf pack with a little mor arch.
 
Yep except I'm doing that on my front hangers and my shackles are actually hung off of my rear bumper due to using longer than stock leafs. Still factory width between the springs but all the hangers are dropped down 3" from stock with longer shackles at the correct angle and leafs that net an additional 2". Overall I'm sitting at about 6" of lift. I just got everything tacked into place last night and I'll try to get some pics up shortly.
 
I'm looking forward to checking out how you did your front. I've been toying with doing the same to keep a flatter spring
 
What's really funny is we're both putting the same axles under our XJ's. I've got a D50 & 10.5 Superduty axles going in, mine are still stock though. I'm 3 linking my front and using Exploder leafs in the rear. I'm fighting the same issue you are with the diff being offset so far to the driver side.
 
I havent fully figured that out yet. I was thinking of running it on the pasenger side tucked between the "frame" and the oil pan but I'm a little concerned about it not being able to fully control axle wrap being that far away from the diff. The other option is to build a truss off of the side of the diff, down to the axle tube and mount it there with the link running between the pan and "frame". I think I'm going to go with the truss. I just need to find someone who can weld to the cast diff for me.
 
The truss would definately be the way to go. I was researching running only 1 upper for a second, and the general idea was, it has to be the differential side that stays. Otherwise you run into cracked housings, twisted tubes, generally bad things. But a truss would pretty much eliminate that. Do you know if the housing is cast steel or iron? I may have to weld my radius arm bracket to the side of the housing if I can't removed enough of it.
 
AFAIK the housing is cast steel. I planning on going wiht these mounts for my springs and lowers and my upper will be homemade. I've got some 1/2" plate that I'm going to use for the truss and also build my upper mount from.
http://www.carolinatruggies.com/content/link-bracket-coil-spring-shock-mount-combo
I'm going to order them for the smaller tubes and enlarge the axle cutout on the bracket myself so I can get the coil mount as far back on the axle tube as possible to move the front out a few inches for firewall clearance and wheelbase. I'm hoping for close to a 4" stretch in the front. Added with my 6" stretch out back it will put me at 112" wb on 38's.
 
I've got a 5" stretch in the front and am actually pulling my front back about 2". I'm having problems hitting the bottom of the grill/bumper with 35's. I'll be stepping up to 38's and I'd have to run way more lift than I'd want too.
 
Here's some progress pics showing what I've been up to. Everything is just tacked on at this point.
ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3543.jpg

ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3544.jpg

Box tube is 2"x4" 3/16 wall and shackle hangers are 1/4". I will be adding some more bracing and gussets to them. Between the two sections of 2"x4" I'll be adding a section that bumps out with a receiver in it, then the entire bumper will be tied into the cage.
ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3545.jpg

Shackle angle with the vehicle weight on it.
 
ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3546.jpg

ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3547.jpg

Disregard the section of box tube and angle hanging off the plate. I don't have my front hangers yet so I needed something to hold the spring eye in place. The hanger box is 1/4" plate and extends 3" up the sides of the factory shackle box and all the way across the "framerail". I left the end open for now so I can get inside to tie in a section of tubing that will go into the passenger compartment to tie into the cage in the future. The hanger box is just tacked on so once I get my section of tube in place I can remove the box and fully weld the tube in position.
ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3548.jpg

This is with the vehicle weight on it. Springs are Ford Exploders and have a little more arch to them and are a little stiffer than the factory XJ springs. They're also a bit longer and in the position they're in, I gain about 6" of WB. The straightedge in the pic is showing the axle centerline. From my initial rough measurements I look to have around 6-7" of lift.
 
what's the distance from the front bushing to the center pin? Did you just plate over the existing shackle mount? What's the 2x4 box welded to?

I like how you're getting your wheel base, I might have to redo mine. . .
 
I'll have to measure when I get home tonight. The original shackle mount is mostly still there but I had to trim some of the back edge off of it to fit my shackle hangers. I'll get you a pic of it tonight as well. For now the 2x4 is tacked to the unibody. I'll be adding plates that run down the underside of the frame to help tie them in along with being plug welded on the inside. Around the bumper area alot of the unibody sheet metal is doubled up and give alot more structure to weld to. Eventually they will be tied into a cage through the floor in the back. BTW my gas tank has been relocated to inside the hatch area recessed through the floor.
 
cool, I'd appreciate the pics. I did the same for my fuel tank. I wish I would have done mine a little differently.

Instead of just building a box around the tank, I wish I would've just boxed the whole back end instead of having the wheel wells separate.
Are you planning on comp cutting the rear wheel wells?
 
I havent decided yet. I'm going to wait until I get the axle under there before I make a decision. I am leaning towards the comp cut just due to the ease of boxing it back in as my sheetmetal skills aren't anything to brag about. I'm going to keep my hatch for now but I'm not running any glass in the rear. I'm planning to build a wall behind the front seats with a lexan rear window. I'm just keeping the roof on the back sort of like a camper shell. it will be 90% trail and 10% street so overall drivability and weather proofing isn't very much of a concern.
 
whitneyj said:
what's the distance from the front bushing to the center pin?
Click to expand...
From the center of the front spring eye to the pin is 26". It's 3" longer than the XJ but I am also moving my front hanger back 2.5".
 
Got the axle under it this evening.
ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3555.jpg

ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3558.jpg

ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3554.jpg

Tires don't stick out too much right now but the wheels are factory Superduty 16" steelies. When it comes time for tires I'll be getting some new wheels with a litte less backspacing. Right now I'm at 80" to the outside of the tires and I'd like to be around 86" or so. The rollers are 32/11.50/16's.
 
whitneyj said:
Did you just plate over the existing shackle mount?
Click to expand...
This is what the factory shackle box looks like right now. I'm going to trim the rest of it out so I can plate the 2x4 down the framerails.
Passenger
ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3556.jpg

Driver
ai237.photobucket.com_albums_ff7_marvilusone1970_100_3557.jpg



I measured everything up and overall suspension lift has come out to 6.5". Overall right now sitting on the 32" tires the rear is 11" over stock. It feels a just a little stiffer than the factory springs and should ride and flex well. Shackle angle looks good to me but once I get my front hangers I may slide them back another 1" to lose a little lift and lay the shackles back just a bit more.
 
Looks good. You should put all this in a build thread.
 
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