shackle reversal

After bending my 2nd front spring in as many weeks(one with the winch one from impact with ice that was acting like a bunch o snow) im contemplating doing a reversal.any pitfalls to look out for? no lift on stock springs...driveshaft length an issue ? is it as simple as switching the rear mounts to the front and fabbing new ones for the shackle in the rear? do i need a long travel slip joint?

 

Ditto on every comment above.

 

Did mine about 10 years ago. You will like it. Needs a longer travel front driveline.

 

how much longer are we talking? would like to be prepared with supplies on hand takes a little while to gather them here in the stix

 

I measured my drive shaft last night and it uses about 3-4 inches of the7" spline. So you will need a drive line that is longer and has 6-7" of slip spline. The good news is a bigger and beefier shaft ran me (about 2 months ago) 150 shipped from tattons driveline out of utah. Tom Woods is about the same price as well.

All in all, I think its a great idea to get a bit of lift and improve the ride. Best of luck to ya!

 

I did it to mine , nice and smooth ride you can bash it at a pretty good speed , where the regular set up would be much harsher . mine does dive when braking . I used cj7 springs and hangers and I moved my front end forward as much as I could almost 2 " I think .

 

I really like the reverse. Definitely smooths out the bumps on the trail. It also adds a little positive camber to the front end. You get used to the front end dipping a little on braking.

 

did most of you use a kit ? I was going to move the rear hangers to the front and drill holes in the frame with a welded sleeve and bushing to hold the rear what kind of angle should the shackle end up with?

 

well since I changed to 7 springs I bought all new hangers from 4wphthey were like $15 ea.

 

X2 on that. Cheap insurance.

I built the front hangers because I swapped to later model 2' springs, and did like you say and welded a bushing through the frame for the shackle.

I set my shackles up like you mentioned with the hole sawed frame and the bushing welded in the hole. Worked out nicely and enabled running longer shackles without adding a ton of lift.

When setting up the shackles, keep in mind you want the spring eye just to the rear of the upper shackle bushing. Too mush angle can lock the shackles in the springs in the compressed position under hard braking (ask me how I know, haha). So when setting my 75 up, with no load on the springs and the jeep on jack stands I set the spring eye just Forward of the upper shackle bushing. If memory serves it was about 1/2-3/4" forward. Once the load of the rig was placed in the spring, it rolls the spring end of the shackle just to the rear which is just where you want it. Good luck man!

 

thanks now Ive at least got some direction....Jeff

 

Roger that. My bad. Unless you build some pretty tall front mounts, you are probably going to add some positive caster.

 

if you have a frame mounted master cyl there is no room for sinking the rear hanger INTO the frame, it's in the way

,,,, edit,,,,, I was just thinking about it with 5 springs they will be shorter and might clear.

 

Is there any issue with just flipping mounts front to back and avoiding any messing with sinking the rear hanger? and ive got a firewall mounted master its a 74

 

under compression the spring moves diff back and would possibly hit the fender while turning , moving the mounts forward will help this . sinking the hanger will help more solidly locate the frontend,, I looked into doing it that way but the master put the kill to thet idea.. ............. I just bolted a 7 eyelet to the bottom of the frame ,,,no cracks ,works fine and fast.

 

One other consideration is in changing the horizontal angle of the spring that will effect your caster. It may turn out nicely but it will likely end up with too much. I think 4-6 degrees of caster is a happy spot, better closer to 6. I would think it will be closer to maybe 10 which means cutting and rewelding the old ones or welding on new spring perches. Of course it may turn out fine. Just a though. Force be with you and take pictures!

 

thanks for all the input will take pics if/when it all takes place the spare spring count is at 1 so next bent one and its on...

 

attaboy , go get um