Battle

Are you running stock rear shackle mounts still? I'm running out of time and am thinking of running a 3" leaf pack with some 1" boomerang-style shackles for now to match my 4" coils.

I dropped my axles off at East Coast Gear Supply for a "rebuild." Fingers-crossed the ARB diffs can be reused.




Got the old rear axle out as well as the leaf springs. Ripped a brake line and broke one bolt, so not too bad...



The broken bolt though is going to be a pain. The driver-side front leaf bolt snapped inside the bushing.



Got the sawzall out and was left with this: The weld nut is fully intact.



After this, I just went to the other bolts - the two rear shackle bolts and the passenger-side front leaf spring bolt. Those things dang-near gave me tinnitus from all the pops, but they all came out!




Whoo! Progress. Now, back to that bolt. I weighed my options and decided that getting access to that weld nut would open the door to more options on getting it out, so I cut out a little "window" on the mount (had to do this on my 2dr). Since I don't have a welder, I can't weld a nut to the bolt to try and back it out. I guess I could try to grind out a slot to see if I could use a screwdriver to back it out of the weld nut. Or, I could try and drip/tap it. I could also try and use a punch and BFH to knock the weld nut out from the window. Not sure yet - I'll think about it...

SatiricalHen

I don't think that gear is chipped. You have to shave the ring gear to install the center pin with deeper gears, my 4.56 gears are shaved to get the pin in.

Battle

Totally a possibility. I found out about the shaving ring gear method after I found the "chip." Being such a diff newb isn't helping me but I'm learning I reckon. Regardless, I figure having some axle pros go over these things at the very least is a smart investment.

unidentifiedbomb

I am, nothing fancy back there. I do plan on buying Ironman's adjustable front leaf bracket to push the axle back an inch and help with my shackle angle. If I'm not happy with the angle after that I'll buy their no lift relocators. I had to do the same thing with my nut breaking the weld, I just got a wrench in there when I tightened everything up. Another reason why I want to do the Ironman brackets, eliminate the factory nuts.

Battle

So, I don't have time to install no-lift shackle relocation brackets before my planned trip. I don't really want to reuse the RE springs either and I do not want the rear any higher than 4.5" (would prefer 4"). I cannot come to a decision on what to get!

I'm torn between two options:

-IRO 3.5" springs with their boomerang shackles for approximately 4.5" lift - then just add either a .5" coil spacer or another isolator. The extra lift would probably be appreciated given the tires I'll be getting are the tallest the rig will have had yet.
-Zone 3" springs with their boomerang shackles for approximately 4" lift

As far as I can tell, the Zone springs are much stiffer than the IROs - I think they're even stiffer than the RE springs which are super stiff. I would assume the IROs would ride better - especially with the stock shackle mounting point - and flex better, but what I'm worried about is how the softer rear springs will match the higher spring rate coils I have. I do plan on driving this fairly long distances so I don't want it to skip and handle poorly on the interstate.

Thoughts?

SatiricalHen

I loved my RE springs. I had 4.5" springs, but they seemed like they were starting to sag some and they let the axle wrap bad enough to bind and break a u joint which was definitely a lot my fault for launching as hard as I did in 4 low. I went with IRO 5.5" springs since they have the military wrap eye and such and I was hoping it would help with axle wrap. Those 5.5" springs sit a hair LOWER than the 4.5" RE springs that I thought were sacked. I have 5.5" springs, shackle relocation boxes and boostwerks shackles (1.5" lift shackles) and I think I'm sitting at around 5" lift measured from the frame to the axle tube (if I remember that correctly, but it's definitely a lot lower than it should be) so personally I'd probably go back with RE or get a taller IRO spring than what I wanted to end up at. Sorry that was a long winded round about way of saying I'm a fan of RE products.

unidentifiedbomb

I'm running 3" rusty's (8 years old!) with JKS shackles and I really enjoy the ride.

Battle

East Coast Gear Supply called me back and as suspected, the 8.25 is junk. The ring gear is junk, the pinion is junk and ARB is trashed. FML...

They said ARBs in 8.25s are generally a bad idea too as it's not a matter of if they'll leak, but it's a matter of when. I definitely trust these guys so after talking it over with them, I decided to go with a TrueTrac for the rear. Fortunately, the HP30 front is in solid shape so it's getting chrome molly shafts and a basic rebuild. This is pretty cool - I always wanted to run a TrueTrac in the rear and a selectable front anyways (I like the idea of being able to punch it in a corning and have the rear "lock up" on demand like a LSD).

Also, I decided to go with Zone 3" leafs and JKS shackles.

Wish my credit card luck fellas.

unidentifiedbomb

That sucks to hear man. I hope the plan works out, sounds solid.

Battle

Quick update - A few weeks ago, I managed to get that weld nut out. That sucked but was super satisfying when the welds broke and it moved for the first time!




What was super strange to me was the weld nut size - it's larger than a 21 mm which is what I assumed these all were. Weird.



Bought parts! Other than leaf spring bushings, I have everything I need to finish the rear.

Decided on Old Man Emu CS033RB leafs, Daystar Poly bushings (still in transit), JKS boomerang shackles, DPG Offroad U-bolt plates with 1" bumpstops, extended rear axle snubbers, and Iron Rock Offroad u-bolts. The OME springs are about as arched as my old RE springs, so my hope is with the JKS shackles, the "baby" OME springs will still have enough lift to match the 4" coils.

The only picture I have for proof...




I'm on the fence about relocation boxes. I did buy some HD Offroad no-lift boxes but the install process sounds like a major PITA. I'll probably just bite the bullet and deal with the pain...

unidentifiedbomb

That weld nut is like a 7/8" or something along those lines, had to do the same on one side of mine. All no lift brackets will be a pain cutting out the old crap.

5-Speed

Drill the spot welds on the original shackle boxes. Way easier and cleaner then cutting the old ones out.

Battle

You're not the first person who has told me this. Assuming you've done this, did you use a specific type of drill bit?

SatiricalHen

They make spot weld cutter bits. The harbor freight ones kinda suck so I'd recommend something nicer.

JandDGreens

When I installed my OME 3" springs I found that they are quite a bit shorter than the stock springs, I didn't want to spend more money on relocation brackets, so after I watched a video the Papst brothers put together about building thier own. (I had plenty of scraps) So I built my own in the same fashion they did theirs. I bought some boomarang shackles and now everthing is hunkie dory.
When we installed my friends OME kit we ran into the same situation but I really didn't feel like fabricating another set so he bought some from Rugged Ridge (I think) they are designed the same way. We just haven't had the chance to install them yet.
but the other thing I wanted to let you know is after getting the rear suspension set up. My rig handles fantastic. It seems to have incredible traction to the ground in snow and ice. And my rear doesn't sag when carrying a heavy load plus a trailer. I think that it is the best leaf spring suspension for a 4.5 inch lift money can buy. I'm pretty happy with the results.