yoterr

allright so i finally got around to putting my axle back together and getting some rear springs so i could mock up my axle, and well my springs had a shim on them and i decided to leave it on, pinion angle looks perfect but it makes my u bolts fit weird and i dunno if itll be good or not? take a look



what do you guys think?

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Shims are a cheap fix. Get a HP or Dual cases or double cardan on dshaft.

I wouldn't drive it like in the pic above.

:wabbit2:

WD_40

Doesn't shimming the front axle mess up your caster? My understanding is that it's fine to shim the rear axle but not a good idea on the front.

xxxtreme22r

Depends on why your shimming. If it's because you've changed the angle with longer shackels etc etc, then it will put it back to noromal. If your shimming just for the sake of better pinion angle due to large lift, then it might.

P.S. Other then the u-bolts being loose, what is wrong with the above pic, I can't seem to find it.

EDIT, wait a second, are those u-bolts, square? Shouldn't they be round when flipping u-bolts?

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Considerations for shims on the front axle:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Shims.shtml#FAQ1

Is the u-bolt pic. with the u-bolts tightened? They'll usually pull up tight to the axle. I prefer the round bottom bolts for the front axle, they'll roll around the tube to fit where they want, just need to grind a few small notches where they pass around the sharp corners of the gusset.

yoterr

yes the ubolts are tight in the above pic, they wont fit right cuz of the shims.. im prolly just going to pull the shims anyway cuz i didint realize my steering arms hit my springs, but i thought square u bolts went on the oem guesseted side? its an 85 axle.. i might just do what 4crawler mentioned..ive seen it in some threads

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Well, it looks like a square bolt should go on the flipped passenger side. But it is not quite the right shape, as the bottom is not parallel with the top, so you end up like in your picture (yes worse w/ the shim in there, depending on which way it is installed). Only place that used to make an asymmetric square u-bolt was the old AOR company in CO. Their bolts had a less-than-90 degree bend on one side and a more-than-90 degree bend on the other side to make a flush fit under the gusset. Only saw a few of those out there before AOR went out of business. Interesting that the only broken u-bolts I have seen on front axles have been the square variety and all broke at the sharp bend, go figure (sharp bend = concentrated stress).

I like the round bolts:

xxxtreme22r

x2 it's not the shims fault. Shim or no shim your still gonna have that huge gap between the axle and the bolt. Gusseted axle or not.

As far as the steering hitting the springs, doesn't the SFA trucks require hi-steer to clear more then a 3" lift?

yoterr

yeah im prolly gonna go with round u-bolts, addicted sent me an extra set of round ones so ill just grind some notches in, and get rid of my shims and run a single u joint at both ends of the front shaft...hopefully wont be too bad, and i guess i didint mention it but its in my sig, its not an origonal SFA truck i SAS'ed it, or well in the proccess of, so yes it has hi-steer, but because the shims tilt the axle forward it moves the drag link closer to the springs so they hit when trying to lock it to the left or right

yoterr

so you guys can get the whole picture lol and my sas page is the next one down...