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Thinking of SOA'ing the '89


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My trucks a shortbed. I sprung-over my '86 which was a longbed and had no driveline issues at all even at 8".

At last Thursdays firewood gathering trip I bottomed out a couple times [yea I was aired down with 500lbs of wood in the back but still --] Will I encounter any wierdness on a short box truck?

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might have needed a rebalance on the driveshaft, or maybe the yoke had too much play in it. :dunno: hard to say. But I do know that an SYE will fix it, seeing as it replaces all the potential causes with brand new parts and proper geometry. :D expensive, but the proper fix for sure. :thumbsup:

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hmmm again my replies are vanishing..

 

Anyway, I'll say it again - I luv's you guyz! :cheers:

 

I will get the perches, brake hose, shock mounts [mine are bent to HELL] and try to tempt James750 out of Conifer to assist.

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I would highly suggest swapping in an 8.25 29 spline while your doing SOA. The reason is for strength, as well as that you will not need to lengthen your driveshaft or deal with it being pulled out, the yoke on the 8.25 sits farther out. My driveshaft sits in the same place with the 8.25 and SOA as it did with the upcountry package and the Dana 35. I've had no drive line vibes with this setup. You will need about 6.5" front lift to make it look decent though as you saw my truck on 4.5'' front at the beginning of the summer (pretty bad rear rake), and 6.5 front a few weeks ago, which puts it with a decent rake, not too much, and the truck sits level when loaded, but the metric ton springs on my truck might throw this measurement off when applied to your truck with normal springs, it may sit low when loaded with wood and tools. If you need any help with the SOA or an axle swap, let me know, I can help most weekends.

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I would highly suggest swapping in an 8.25 29 spline while your doing SOA. The reason is for strength, as well as that you will not need to lengthen your driveshaft or deal with it being pulled out, the yoke on the 8.25 sits farther out. My driveshaft sits in the same place with the 8.25 and SOA as it did with the upcountry package and the Dana 35. I've had no drive line vibes with this setup. You will need about 6.5" front lift to make it look decent though as you saw my truck on 4.5'' front at the beginning of the summer (pretty bad rear rake), and 6.5 front a few weeks ago, which puts it with a decent rake, not too much, and the truck sits level when loaded, but the metric ton springs on my truck might throw this measurement off when applied to your truck with normal springs, it may sit low when loaded with wood and tools. If you need any help with the SOA or an axle swap, let me know, I can help most weekends.

I was thinking about that. It has an AAL in it now that I will remove and lose about .75", plus install XJ shackles which should take another .75" off. I don't want to go too high in the rear cuz I consequently have to lift the front and that nets about $100 per inch. The SOA I did on my '86 gained me about 5.25" total. Between the 3" coils I have now and about 1.5" worth of spacers I have, that should work out about right for level.

I'd rather not go with an 8.25 just for the extra $$ for the locker but if I can find one I will go with it. May still tempt you out to Parker when the time comes tho.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Its pretty much completed but I'm not sure how to set up shock mounts. I cut up the ones on the 86 to make them work but don't want to do that this time. Any ideas??

 

I will post th build-up pix soon

 

flipped u-bolt brackets that have the shock mounts around so that i could re-use the stock setup. The new shocks are way short however. But I haven't had any flex issues with not having enough travel.

 

I picked out the shocks using this page. I used the Monroe 31000's and have been pleased with this setup. IMO an advantage of this setup is that you don't have shock mounts hanging below the axle to get hung up on rocks, and ease of installation. Really falls under the KISS mentality.

 

http://www.greatlakesxj.com/tech/MJRearShock.htm

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flipped u-bolt brackets that have the shock mounts around so that i could re-use the stock setup. The new shocks are way short however.

 

Ditto, that's the way I'm running mine currently. I've got a set of RE perches for the tube, just haven't gotten around to welding them on yet. Shocks are Monroe something-or-others for a stock Taco......way short and way cheap, too :D

 

Jeff

 

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flipped u-bolt brackets that have the shock mounts around so that i could re-use the stock setup. The new shocks are way short however.

 

Ditto, that's the way I'm running mine currently. I've got a set of RE perches for the tube, just haven't gotten around to welding them on yet. Shocks are Monroe something-or-others for a stock Taco......way short and way cheap, too :D

 

Jeff

 

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I can't take all the credit, I got the idea from you. :waving: All I did was ask around until I found the part number for the Monroe shock that fits this application. I picked the 31000 over the others on that site because it has the most travel for the ''stock application'' shocks, and since I was guessing at what my lift would give me, I wanted a little wiggle room. After running this setup for a season without any complaints, I can't see any reason to worry about long travel shocks and welding new shock mounts as well as the price that goes with them.

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Thats exactly what I did but I won't mount the shocks cuz I will only have 1" of compressed travel. Not enuf, no way. Compressed they are 13" and this is 14" static. Extended they are like 23"

 

 

This is how I cut the mounts on my 86 but I don't have the reources to do that now. That allowed me to run OEM size shocks and I have very little problems.

 

 

Guess I'll buy the weld-on mounts and the CORRECT shocks. I always like Pro-Comp ES3000. They were stiff but not too stiff, and sturdy.

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When I SOA my D35 I used the original spring plates underneath the axle, on the old perch, and square u bolts over top of the leafs. The nuts and up on the bottom, but the shock mount is still on the bottom of the axle. This set up worked quite allright.

 

Then when I went to a XJ 8.25" I used weld on shock mounts.

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