Newb wanting to say and ask a question.

[cable97526]

Hi My name is Caleb I live in Grants Pass Oregon and own/operate Sinister Customs here. I own and have owned a few jeeps in the day. I have been searching this site and found a wealth of information but not exactly what I'm looking for now. My newest project is a 74 J10 Levi's edition truck that I'm doing a D60/14 swap on and a SOA on the front with some new leafs, My question pertains to leafs I would like to have about 8-10" of total lift in the rig when done not including the tires I understand that the SOA will give me roughly 5-6" in the front so I would need 3-4" leafs which are available. The part I cannot find is a set of rear leafs, I really hate lift blocks so if I could I would like to find some leafs for the rear but so far I have failed miserably :banghead:. I'm trying to make this truck daily drivable for my wife and want to make it as safe as possible without having to go Coil sprung in the rear, I would also like to use something a little heavier just for towing use if at all possible and road manners. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me. Heres a couple pics of one of my past projects.
First day off the lot
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/8/l_03d456c7a6de659c4bc43d4e54b0ef8e.jpg
after a year of building
http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/84/l_9b2c071f26cc23e99c0b558142e7ff75.jpg
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/86/l_a3d797a77adc470bda990fa9d7c660aa.jpg

[68glad]

How about inboarding the rear springs?

[Desert Beast]

the rear can be had w/ a shackle flip and 4" lift springs. im runnin 3/4ton gm leafs in the rear w/ the overloads removed, but any lift spring for those trucks (3/4 ton gm) should work.

dont know what year of truck my leafs are from but im guessing 80's vintage. just measure the eye to eye to get it right.

[Stuka]

With a 74, you cant do a shackle flip like you can on the 76+ rigs unfortunately.

I would switch to some 57-63" rear springs (57" is 76+ FSJ, 63" is GM rear springs from the 90's up) and move them under the frame. This will give you MUCH better clearance (My TSL's nearly rub the springs on my J10) and it will give you the lift you are looking for. Well, you may want to use a 2" lift spring. You are going to have to play around with it a bit most likely. So I would start with some junkyard springs.

Make sure you run a good sway bar up front, use a good steering system (high steer or cross over) and run radial tires for the best road manners. Although the thought of towing anything with a J-Truck (well, any truck) that is lifted 8 inches is a bit iffy sounding to me. I have 6" on my J10, and its pretty stable, but I certainly would not tow what it was originally rated for.

[jeeping1974]

A SOA w/4" springs up front and mounting a set of 63" chevy springs with 1.5" AALs will allow you to clear some 40-44 tires.

I forgo to add that you may need to trim/cut the fender flares.

[HD_JEEP]

Just giving a BIG JEEP Wave and welcoming you to the site...


:thumbsup:. Glad to have you aboard...:cool:

[cable97526]

Thanks a bunch for the help guys, I have thought it through to the end and I believe Stuka has the answer that was already in my head, but like he also said towing is an issue which is why I do not want to inboard the leafs because of sway. The last J-truck I put together had 12" of lift with 42" Toyo MT's and I used GM 1 ton leafs front and rear mounted outboard and it had fairly considerable road manners so I'm trying to do the same here but I really don't want to cut this one up though. If you fella's know of anyone that makes 8"-10" rear leafs for the J-truck let me know.

[jeeping1974]

You could always have some made up.

[j20brett]

You wont find springs with that much lift. Best thing to do, inboard your spring mounts under the frame and use 4" lift rear springs. Should get you the lift you are looking for and keep a decent ride.

[cable97526]

That thought has crossed my mind but the only people I would trust would be Alcan and they want just over a grand to make them WITHOUT WARRANTY! So I'm really at a loss and I may end up going back to inboard Chevy 1tons again but I just hate the Sway.

[Stuka]

Thanks a bunch for the help guys, I have thought it through to the end and I believe Stuka has the answer that was already in my head, but like he also said towing is an issue which is why I do not want to inboard the leafs because of sway. The last J-truck I put together had 12" of lift with 42" Toyo MT's and I used GM 1 ton leafs front and rear mounted outboard and it had fairly considerable road manners so I'm trying to do the same here but I really don't want to cut this one up though. If you fella's know of anyone that makes 8"-10" rear leafs for the J-truck let me know.

Well, sway should not be a huge issue because of the spring mounting width. As the spring mounts on a J-Truck are significantly wider than that of a chevy/ford/dodge truck because the frame is very wide (it gets quite a bit wider in back).

If you go with springs that have that much arch, you can kiss articulation good by. It will also have a much stiffer ride than with flatter springs.

My main issue with towing with a lifted truck is partly sway, but also the fact that you have to use a drop hitch. If you use a drop hitch that is more than 3 inches or so, you are going to introduce a lot of leverage that the trailer to push on. That and most drop hitches over that amount of drop are only rated for class 3 towing.

If you are really planning on towing a fair amount of weight, go with a 4" lift and some 33's. That will give you the best towing setup.

If towing isnt the main use, what size tire are you wanting to run? With a basic spring over, you can run 35's without any rubbing issues. You can go to 37's if its a pavement pounder (they will rub in back with more than a little articulation).

[Heimeken]

Take a look at Chevy 1 Ton rear springs with 4" of lift. From my calculation they will net about 8" on our rigs. These came out of a 1980.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/heimeken/Misc/ChevyParts001.jpg

[Brizio]

Welcome from Portland... :D

Nice looking TJ!

[cable97526]

Well, sway should not be a huge issue because of the spring mounting width. As the spring mounts on a J-Truck are significantly wider than that of a chevy/ford/dodge truck because the frame is very wide (it gets quite a bit wider in back).

If you go with springs that have that much arch, you can kiss articulation good by. It will also have a much stiffer ride than with flatter springs.

My main issue with towing with a lifted truck is partly sway, but also the fact that you have to use a drop hitch. If you use a drop hitch that is more than 3 inches or so, you are going to introduce a lot of leverage that the trailer to push on. That and most drop hitches over that amount of drop are only rated for class 3 towing.

If you are really planning on towing a fair amount of weight, go with a 4" lift and some 33's. That will give you the best towing setup.

If towing isnt the main use, what size tire are you wanting to run? With a basic spring over, you can run 35's without any rubbing issues. You can go to 37's if its a pavement pounder (they will rub in back with more than a little articulation).

I will probably run 40+ inch tires on this truck, ride quality isn't really a concern, you have to remember if you use a "quality leaf" even horseshoes can flex:thumbsup:, I'm only running a 6" lift on my J20 with 38s" but I really don't want to trim this one any. My goal is to be able to haul my goosneck trailer loaded with my other Jeeps which should equate to about 16-18000 pounds rolling behind me, but having the gooseneck will alleviate the problem of toque against a receiver hitch (and yes the trailer rides on 35s) I know it's a lot to ask but I HATE lift blocks and body lifts, if I have to I will install Chevy leafs and inboard them and create a decent sway bar up front.