i am putting rear springs in the front of my 84 4x4 this weekend, is there anything special that I will need to make this work? any fabrication needed for this swap. i see all kinds of info for the rears to be swapped, but not much info on the fronts. by the looks of it, it is basically bolt on and be done?

any tips or tricks to make it go easier would be nice. or anything you had when you did your that would make it easier/simpler.

thanks.

 

Lift springs? stock springs? springs from the rear? another vehicles springs?

 

oh shiat. sorry forgot to add that, putting rears in the front. i have a second set of rears, so i am putting them upfront, since the 63's are getting put in next weekend.

 

Dont know on that one. I just went with front lift springs. Arent they wider and longer?

 

from what i understand and can tell they are just longer. definitly need it, the front on my are flat as a board, and makes the ride rough as hel.

 

I think you will need to weld in a little spacer to the spring perch on the left(?) side. They are not equal and so the original springs are slightly different from left to right. My Downey springs have a left and right side clearly marked. This only applies to the front.

Someone will clear this up I'm sure.

 

WOWI can't believe that no one gave you this link to study

not just a bolt on deal

Pirate 4x4 Rears up front FAQ

 

deleted due to double post

 

ok, so i read throught about 40 pages of info. but what i see on all of those, is people building their own packs and setting them up for insane flex. the flex for me isn't as necessary as it is to them. i am mainly looking for the lift out of it, and a better ride, as it is my DD. the front springs are basically flat, with 1-2 inches of movement until it hits the bump stops. I didn't really see an answer on the other pages. can you just do the straight swap/ unbolt from rear, and bolt into the front without major modification? moving the gear box? i know with lift i need the ifs driveshaft, possibly a new pitman arm or drag link. but work space is limited for modifications. esp with cutting and welding.

 

If you do not want flex and just lift you can make your own pack front your current springs and the rears.
Such as use the first 2 leafs from the original pack then use the 3rd leaf from the rear pack then the rest of the front pack. Basically you are just adding the 3rd leaf from the rear into your front pack, this should give you one inch or a little more of lift.

 

Here is what I did:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_suspe...II.shtml#Front

Tips:

1. Tear apart all the springs and test each leaf for arch and stiffness (stand on inverted leaf and measure deflection)

2. Longer leaves on stop, shorter on the bottom.

3. With stock steering, watch thickness of spring pack and deal with steering and torque rod.

4. With crossover steering, thickness is less an issue, add leaves until the desired lift is achieved. Hint, more leaves = more lift, I went from 5->6->7 leaves on mine.

 

well if you had read much you would have read that you can't just bolt them in, there is fab work involved

sounds to me that you would be better off finding a set of stock length lift springs as that would probably be the best choice

 

i pretty much got that picture. but as stated before the majority of the info was for doing a full ruf job. I am trying to do what everyone else wants to do. make their ride better for cheaper.. lol. really looking at a way to make the front a better ride without spending a couple of hundred bucks if i don't have to.