can a spring over setup be sprung under?

[sandmanb]

can a dana 60 front axle set up for spring over be set up for spring under,wondering this becouse im working a deal on those 6 inch lift springs from the for sale list on this forum,

[Rockwagon]

Any thing can be done with a set of torches and a welder but I have to ask WHY????? I have 4" springs and am currently doing a spring over wity a one ton axle and would love to have 6" spings maybe fit 44" tires.

[sandmanb]

all i want for now is to fit 38's dont want to go two big and be to top heavy,i'm going for a lift that would be good for everything,i love to hillclimb as well as rock crawl,i think 38's would be perfect.maybe one size larger max.havent had a chance to look at my axle sence its not at my house,the springs are also set up for a shackle reversal,witch i like,and it would be great for on road driveability when needed.i may just have to use the front springs on something else,we'll have to see.

[oldyellowwagoneer]

If you just want 6" of lift youd be better off using the soa and stock springs they cost alot less than lift springs and ride alot better to boot.It will be safer also since you dont have to do any welding.Also, the stock springs flex a heck of alot better. DENNIS

[sandmanb]

thats what i was planing,a spring over with a set of riverbeast's rear shackle flip kit with revolver shackles,witch i might still do and put the 6 inch springs on something else,maybe my tow rig,still trying to figure out which way to go.trying to look at all my options as well as time limits.

[scotty]

i agree. if youre going to do any real flexy type crawling,youll be much happier with a SOA. if you were starting with a SUA axle in the first place,the lift springs may not be a bad idea,depending on the brand. i really like my tuff countries,but for the most part a lift spring is gonna be stiffer,and a 6" FSJ spring is almost certainly not gonna give you a large amt of wheel travel. my lift springs give me around 3" or so of lift,and real happy with em,but i ptolly did lose some travel over the wore out soft stock ones.

in addition to your axle being SOA,you are gonna hafta fab steering linkage anyway.again,if you were using a stock axle,steering upgrades may be as simple as a drop pitman arm with lift springs.
given the work needed to put pads on the bottom,and get everything n the right spot as far as pinion angle and caster,and the fact that youll need to fab steering either way,ill cast my vote for leaving that bad boy SOA. for what its worth,ive prolly enlarged my fenders to close to WT size,and i fit 38s with a 3" spring lift,and 3" body lift,so an SOA with stock springs will be pretty close to fitting tires,and not having to worry too much about steering and driveshaft angle prollems. if you need alittle extra room after getting them on,you can always add a 2 or 3" body lift wich makes routine maintenance easier smile.gif and dosesnt affect stering geometry or driveshaft angles at all.

my $.02 anyway smile.gif

[Bob Barry]

How about the SOA front end with just a couple of the leaves from that lift pack?

[TexasJ10]

Sandmanb, I have been looking into the same thing. I only want to run 35's maybe 37's and the 6" to 7" that the spring over adds is a little too much. The Dana 60 that I am preparing is from a 1979 Ford and has the spring over pads at 31.5" verses the FSJ advertised 32.4". Mine measures only 32" for some reason which makes the swap pretty easy as long as I go with the spring over setup. Since the drivers side pad is cast into the dana 60 housing, placing a pad on the botom side is very difficult due to structure casting material that is in the way. Have you heard of any drive line angle problems using the spring over. The good news is the 1979 Ford used a high pinion design that should help alot. I'm probably going to go with the River Beast shackle inversion when he designs some that will fit the back of a 1982 J-10. I'm hopeful that the total lift will be 6" or lower when done.