Ok guys I am preparing to undergo a solid axle swap on my 91 ext cab, most of it looks pretty strait forward, but I still have some questions before i order the parts and she goes under the knife...or torch in this case.

1. My truck has an ARB winch bumper on the front that I would like to keep, but the mounts will get in the way of the spring hangers, I have some ideas of how to fix this, but I was wondering if anyone out there has encountered this before and what they did?

2. Somewhere I heard something about relocating the steering box, but I cannot find any information on it, obviously its not required, but why would you want to relocate the steering box and what are its advantages?

3. I am a little iffy on the total lift of my truck, and I was wondering if someone could give me the stock axle to frame measurements so I can double check and get the right lift springs?

4. My truck also has a v6 chevy vortec 4.3l power plant, and I know it weighs more than the stock motor, but is it enough to justify putting on HD springs? I would like to have good soft flexible suspension.

Any information you have on these would be appreciated, And thank you in advance for taking the time to read my post.

 

try searching in the SAS Folder:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f152/
and here:
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=12

 

I have looked there and i cant seem to find anything specific to these questions, i was hoping someone on here might have run into the same stuff?

 

I hope this helps.

 

Definatly get the HD springs. I have the Toy 3.0 v6 when i did my kit i ordered HD springs but the shipped me the regular lighter duty springs. My truck hit the bump stops on every speed bump. Then i had them ship me the right HD springs and the truck rides just fine. Also if you have a heavy off road bumper and winch I would say the HD springs are a must.

 

Thanks guys,

it looks like i will have to "trim the main supports off, and i am kinda iffy about that, if i do i will need to find another way to brace it. so far the best thing i can think of it to weld the spring hangers too it, it is a pretty solid bumper so i don't think this will be a problem. how did you do yours? do you have some pics?

i am looking into the steering box relocation, what kind of lift, tires, and engine are you running? and did you move the front spring hanger forward 3/4" like trail gear suggests for v6 trucks? that is where i think i might have a problem.

 

yeah i defiantly have a heavy offroad bumper, that is one of the reasons i was looking into HD springs, but i don't know if i want that much lift? I am running on 35" tires, but i don't want to keep it as low as possible.

 

Here is a pic of my truck with TG 5'' springs. The front spring hanger is 3/4'' forward. I did not move my steering box and the tie rod and drag link clear each other just fine. I am planning on moving my steering box forward in the future because i wanna run some 39s and dont wanna tub the firewall.(the axle will be goin forward 1''-1.5" to provide room from the firewall) Just make sure you dont weld everything on the first go around. Tack it all so the truck can sit, and check the shackle angles. you could definatly clear 35's with a smaller kit. my friend has 38" boggers with a 3" TG kit. I went with the 5" springs because the guys at TG said they allow for the most flex/articulation.

If you get the shackle angle fairly shallow(not steep) you could reduce the height which would limit up travel but you would have lots of droop. just depends on how you wanna set it up. im adding sliders and an exo cage and a rear bumper so i think the weight and some time will probably settle the springs a lil more. I think i have had these springs for about 6 months

 

If you want more flex and still be able to hold the weight, get taller springs. HD springs will not flex as well.
I didn't have to move the str box at all.
I still have stock bumper and stock V6.

 

I dont know about that. my springs stuff to the bumpstops and droop just as far as any i've seen. Ive had both HD and non HD springs and the regular Non-HD springs sucked with my extra weight.


On the trail that rear tire can go pretty much up to the shiet metal

 

let me know when your ready to order the TG kit... i am a trail-gear dealer and can help you out with a discount.

 

Definatly talk to Chris ( Tofer ). I bought all of my stuff from him. Awesome communication and fast shipping.

 

Can you pull some strings up here in canada for tg.ca?

 

trail-gear.ca is a TG dealer as well.. as a dealer here in the US, i cannot have items drop shipped directly to canadan customers. you have to go thru tg.ca. if you order thru me, i'd have to ship them to myself, then ship them to you.. which would probably cost more than if you just ordered thru tg.ca. but i'd be willing to do it if you want me to look into it.

 

thanks Swapped89, for all the pics it is nice to see that the HD springs do flex nicely, now all i have to do is make sure that they are not too tall. unfortunately i don't think my bumper is anything like yours, so its back to square one with the bumper.

Tofer, thanks for your offer, i will send you a PM! I still have not got my axle yet so i want to get it first so i know what i am dealing with, but I should be in contact with you before the end of the month.

 

ah i wouldnt sweat it, if it would come out to the same price

 

here is a pic of a simple brace i made out of some 2x2 angle iron and some 3/16 plate metal gusstes. good for bracfing bumpers. weld it to the truck and bolt it to the bumper

 

thanks that is the kind of pic i am looking for, how to mount the bumper! but i am still not sure if i would be better off just welding the spring hanger to the bumper.

 

I think most of that is about changing already SA trucks to crossover steering and ditching the old push/pull units on pre ifs trucks. Here is an article.
http://www.fourwheeler.com/techartic...ing/index.html


Here is a pic of mine. We added the brace but everything is still in stock location. You can see there is not a lot of room to move forward at all. I think a few folks have moved their IFS locations when they had some sort of interference issues with other parts but I'm not really sure about that. I had no problems.