Ford Ranger Rear Springs........

[Dzimm]

Why are we having this discussion again? 

 

I feel like everytime someone asks about the spring perch differences there are always suggestions for ways of doing it without moving the perches.  This is some of the most complicated ways of reinventing this wheel I've seen so far.

 

There are bolt in spring relocation brackets for the XJ that could possibly be made to work on the MJ but keep in mind how tall this truck would be with some sort of bolt in relocation brackets as all the bolt in ones provide lift.  It's already gonna be super tall going spring over, add in another 4"+ for the relocation brackets and you'll end up North of 10" of lift.  

 

Also would like to point out that if you put shackles on both ends of the spring, the entire axle would shift forward and backward as the shackles move and would probably hop and vibrate itself to death if it moved at all without exploding the trans, driveshaft, or diff.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for thinking outside the box but this horse has been beaten to death so many times, the easiest, safest, most cost effective and strait-forward solution is to relocate the perches, regardless if you have a welder or not.  Last set I had welded on cost me a case of beer.

[JMO413]

1 minute ago, Dzimm said:

Why are we having this discussion again? 

 

I feel like everytime someone asks about the spring perch differences there are always suggestions for ways of doing it without moving the perches.  This is some of the most complicated ways of reinventing this wheel I've seen so far.

 

There are bolt in spring relocation brackets for the XJ that could possibly be made to work on the MJ but keep in mind how tall this truck would be with some sort of bolt in relocation brackets as all the bolt in ones provide lift.  It's already gonna be super tall going spring over, add in another 4"+ for the relocation brackets and you'll end up North of 10" of lift.  

 

Also would like to point out that if you put shackles on both ends of the spring, the entire axle would shift forward and backward as the shackles move and would probably hop and vibrate itself to death if it moved at all without exploding the trans, driveshaft, or diff.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for thinking outside the box but this horse has been beaten to death so many times, the easiest, safest, most cost effective and strait-forward solution is to relocate the perches, regardless if you have a welder or not.  Last set I had welded on cost me a case of beer.

[BeatCJ]

16 hours ago, omega_rugal said:

2 mounts, 2 shackles

 

 

the rear look easy, the front may take some thinking, it only needs to clear 3/4 inch each side... maybe less if you tuck the leaves all the way in

I'm going to be Debbie Downer here, but over some period of time, those will fold down at the bends. I wouldn't be surprised if they lasted less than 10,000 miles. With enough gusseting, they could be made to last longer. But why?

[omega_rugal]

thicker plates? also the MJ would require shorter, less bent ones...

 

you know what forget it

[Dzimm]

4 hours ago, omega_rugal said:

thicker plates? also the MJ would require shorter, less bent ones...

 

you know what forget it

It's still doesn't fix the front bracket.  You can't have two shackles on one spring otherwise the entire spring would move forward and backwards.  

 

These would definitely be potentially useful for other situations and maybe this one if there was a better bolt in way available for one of the ends of the leaf spring.  There just isn't anything bolt in for both ends of the spring that wouldn't lift the truck considerably.

[omega_rugal]

truck suspension must be some sort of rocket science

[thecodemonk]

It's not too hard...the reason the offset shackles will cause issues is that it changes the angle of the spring mount.

 

Where it used to be roughtly shapped like this (left and right): |  |

 

Offset shackles will shape it like this (slightly exageraged): /  \

 

What that means is the front (hard mounted) bushing will be under a constant angled load and wear out a lot faster.  Would it work for a while? probably.  Will it ride poorly? probably.

 

If you rebuilt the front to angle to match where the spring will point with the offset shackles, you could solve that issue...but at that point, you've done more work than welding on some perches.  Welding some perches really is very simple and easy. :)

[omega_rugal]

21 hours ago, Dzimm said:

It's still doesn't fix the front bracket.

 

Quote

the front may take some thinking

 

i quote myself on this

[Dzimm]

41 minutes ago, omega_rugal said:

 

 

i quote myself on this

I missed where you said that which is my bad, it looked to me like you were implying to put the offset shackles on both ends of the leaf spring.

 

If there were a good solution thought up for the front, a no-lift bolt in XJ axle swap would be awesome and I'd be all over that, would make life so much easier, it's just not a reality right now.  Not trying to perpetuate any sort of argument over it.

[omega_rugal]

no problem, i don't know if it´s good or bad but i always over think about everything, and like the challenge of building what hasnt been built

 

the shackles should be as short as posible to avoid any more unwanted lift, and made out of thick steel for longevity

 

as for the front mount there are 2 ways: move the offset down, which adds lift, and we don't want more lift

 

OR move the offset BACK, i´m thinking of a square piece of steel that slides in the mount and bolts where the leaf bushing, protuding just enough to offset out and then drill the holes there, this would move the axle back about an inch which could make up for the lenght difference between a turdy 5 and a chrysler 8.25, which may be the only reason to do this swap, replacing the weakest MJ axle with the most common axle you can get out of almost any XJ

 

i´ll try to make a drawing 

[89eliminator]

making offset mounts for the front will take an angle grinder and welder most likely...use those tools to cutoff the perches and weld new ones on

[BeatCJ]

On 6/26/2020 at 12:47 PM, resurrection_mj said:

Bringing back an old thread. Doing some research and found this. I am actually planning on doing this to my 86 project. Wanting to keep it at around 4" of lift. Stock MJ springs are shot and drivers side is broke. Swapping a XJ Chrysler 8.25 in but didn't want the almost 5-6" lift that is said to be gained by doing so with stock MJ springs. If my figures are correct it should only give about 1-2" of lift over the factory setup on the MJ. Going to pick up Ranger leafs tomorrow will post more when axle is in

@resurrection_mj Did you pick up a set of Ranger Springs? I am looking at going SOA with an 8.25 also, but I don't want 5.5" of lift. I looked at the specs for springs, and reached the conclusion that the Ranger springs would appear to work for what I want. But like was asked, I was wondering about experience.

With a highly arched spring, typically, ride quality suffers when unloaded. If nobody has any experience, I don't mind getting a set of Junkyard Ranger springs and putting together the pack I want. It may take some trial and error to match the RE 4.5 front coils I ordered, but I'm old enough to be patient.

Also, I thought I read that 2wd MJ Springs are flatter than 4wd springs. Is that accurate, or has my mind wandered away from the truth?

[Pete M]

2wd MJs sit one inch lower than 4wds from the factory due to the arch in the leafs.   

[BeatCJ]

Well, in that case, I may not have an issue. I guess I need to fit things together and see what I have. Thanks.