ecj5 springs

I know this has been covered, however it always seems to deter the owner from actually doing this mod to their flat fender. I know there's a little work involved to putting these on and yes I know its almost not worth all the effort, But, I have a nice set of skyjacker softride 2.5" springs for an ecj5 and would like to put them on the flatty and also gain an inch or 2 of wheelbase overall. Wondering if just moving the fixed spring hangers 1.5" in the front and 2" in the rear and leaving the shackle hangers where they are and running longer/boomerang type shackles would be advisable?

 

I'm in the middle of doing this to my flattie right now. I'm using stock ECJ5 springs. The first thing you need to do is plumb a line on your frame to the center of your rear axle. This is critical to get your rear tire to center up in the wheelwell. Not as critical in the front for me as I'm building from the frame up and the little bit of stretch is desirable. I'm gaining 1" to 2" in wheelbase. You can plumb the front as well if you want to just to see how much wheelbase you will gain.
On the front, I left the spring pivot in it's original location and removed the shackle pivot and moved it forward. The new shackle pivot hangs about an inch forward of the bumper. Be advised that this moves your axle forward so you must consider your steering as a result. For me its not an issue because I'm converting to power steering at the same time, and will just fab my power steering box forward a bit to get my drag link to line up right.
For the rear I had to move the spring pivot forward about an inch and a half and the shackle pivot back as well. I used new spring pivots and experimented with the placement until I got the plumb line to line up The shackle pivot sticks out past the crossmember about the same distance as the front shackle pivot. I figure on making a rear bumper that will sit on top of that so it will just integrate together. The reason I went with the ECJ5 springs- 1.A longer spring should help the ride and flex a little more than the flattie springs, and 2. I've got a pile of them layin around and need to put some of this stuff to use.
At work right now but have some pics at home if that'll help.

sgogpn,
Mike

 

Thank you for the replies and I will be awaiting for the pics. I really don't mind making the rear openings larger for 1"-2" of extra wheelbase. I just don't want to go past 1-2 since I don't think I could make the cut still look stock. And I am hoping for 1"-2" of extra wheelbase in the front as well. Which is why I was wondering if I could just leave the shackle mounts in the stock locations and just move the fixed mounts on the frame? I am thinking its possible with a longer shackle or a boomerang so the shackles wouldn't flip or use newer technology like the samurai crowd and use missing links.