DAY 9
EXTREME BUILDUP 2000 Project 2
Damian's 1970 800a

The next monster that we are diving into is the actual spring pack. This part is perhaps the weirdest part of the whole conversion. Everyone (for the most part) can visualize the link system when it is described in detail. The springs are a whole different monster, so here they are!

Note that the original spring packs are cut into a 60/40 split. We used the 60% length part and custom built the mount on the thick side. It is made of Grade 8 bolts (a total of 9 of them) and two half-inch pieces of plate steel. I know you can really only see 6 bolts (the ones that hole the whole apparatus together), but the other three are the spring’s center pin and two other small bolts that penetrate the pack about 2-3” off the center pin. The pack is VERY flexy, usually the spring pack is void of clamps (so the leafs can fan out), we are going for driveability as well so we left one spring clamp attached. And what happens if the spring packs have the wrong spring rate? We simply cut up some old 4" CJ springs and add the leafs! (amagine that, a Scout using Jeep parts! - what is the world coming to?!?)

Now that we have the spring packs built, lets put them on and see how they look. The packs are attached to the inside of the frame rails. Where? It depends on how much lift you want. Since we have the front end on the ground, we can accurately install the packs so that the rear height matches the front. Initially the springs are tack welded in so we can set the height and adjust it if it isn’t just right. We haven’t built the axle mount for the spring yet, but you can see how this will work just by looking at the custom rear shackle. Here are some more pictures.

Once the correct height and placement is found, the packs will be reinforced, gusseted, and be made bullet proof...but you knew that didn't you.

Now for the REAL question…How is this thing going to perform on the trails? Well we decided to do some testing and found that the rear fender lips will need to go. Here is why. We were took the passenger side off the jack stands and used a jack (with a 12” lift block) to lift the driver side. When we took the picture of the rear wheel stuffing into the fender, we had about 12” of compression (the other side was sitting about 12-15” of droop). Needless to say we had some rubbing (no trimming as of yet). These are preliminary measurements, but from the looks of things, the rear end will have about 25-30 +/- inches of articulation. Here are some more pictures without the tires, the passenger side is at the bump stop and the driver side drum is on the ground - the rig is lifted about 9 inches from the stock height (2.5” + SOA using D44s).

Now…I know some of you are wondering about the turning action that is visible with this amount of droop. You’re probably screaming “BUMPSTEER!” This would be a problem if you were driving over 10 mph. However, at rock crawling speeds, this twisting action is the “side effect” of a very twisty suspension (no pun intended!). Remember, all custom suspensions have quirks one must get used to. If the tires were to drop at the same hieght, it would track straight, but when you put 3 feet between them...heck...what do you expect?

PLANS | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13