So i ordered some plates for my truck to do a Zuk mod. I'm having them fabbed up right now. I was just wondering if how i am planning to attache them is viable. like i said i have spring under axle, so my idea was to get a spring mount on the bottom that is basically a half pipe that goes on the axle and then bolting it down by securing the u bolt over top of it. i hope that makes sense. is that going to be a strong enough connection? should i slather some jb weld on the plate and the u bolts? what does everyone think?

 

here is a rough drawing... it might make it easier to see what im talking about.

 

seems like they are gonna have to be really short springs..

 

why do you say that? and even if they are do you think that it will stay in place? I dont want my axle falling off.

edit: BTW its not really to scale. it should be the same length as the other guy who did zuk on his SUA 2wd, its just a different way to attach it with no welding.

 

Well the vast majority of people are doing the Zuk mod on SOA applications so the springs they are using would be longer than what you need.
last time I looked under a 2WD there was not a ton of room between the frame and the bumpstop.

Why not replace the leaf springs? Spring bushings are probably shot and need replacement anyway.

 

What are you trying to achieve? There are products made for helping leafs - airbags, air assist shocks, add a leaf, overload leafs, new leafs, etc etc. and they are all under $100 option that many people use on their trucks without having to reinvent components.

 

Will the plate fit under the current u bolts? IIRC they sit pretty close to the axle, you may only be able to have the plate on the top, not the sides of the tube.

The spring is still going to want to sit on a flat surface, not the round angle.

Just get an add a leaf.

 

i found no air bags for cheap. and new leaves are not cheap. add a leaf is pretty cheap but zuk looks almost more effective to me. i saw a guy on this forum use a 10" spring in his setup. i have taken into account how close the bolts are to the axle... im going to need to do some grinding for that.

but still no one has answered. will it be strong enough. opinions appreciated.

 

Im posting this in here in hopes that i might get more answers than the 2wd forum. I ordered some plates for my truck to do a Zuk mod. I'm having them fabbed up right now. I was just wondering if how i am planning to attache them is viable. like i said i have spring under axle, so my idea was to get a spring mount on the bottom that is basically a half pipe that goes on the axle and then bolting it down by securing the u bolt over top of it. i hope that makes sense. is that going to be a strong enough connection? should i slather some jb weld on the plate and the u bolts? what does

I am going to gring the spots on the plate where the bolts will need to be right against the axle. and im still trying to get an answer of what is stock height in the back?

 

is this thread closed since it got moved?

 

So i went ahead and did it. results....

 

so what are your plans to keep the spring in place at full articulation (not that a 2WD will really see it)?
I have seen springs in similar situations pop out as the axle moved down...

it may be just fine

your thread was obviously not closed since you were able to post in it.

Your two threads were merged because they were duplicates.

 

i had to really compress the spring to get it in as well as spread the leafs... so i doubt that it will pop out. i was nervous at first before i got it in. also im not going to do any off roading so the articulation will be minimal. i did notice after i got everything tight that a couple of u bolt nuts are further down on the threads than others. i tried to tighten each gradually but i think it still tweaked some of them down more. does anyone see a problem arising from this?

 

also when i drove it around afterwards i feel like the RPMs are higher at the same speeds but the shifting seems smoother. am i just imagining it or does lifting affect these things in some way?

 

Seems like it would have been WAY less work to just throw in some 4wd leaf springs. They have an extra leaf, plus an extra overload leaf.

 

maybe easier but not cheaper ($120 altogether)