Idea is to leave the truck the way it sit's (3/4" drop)and move the rear leaf springs in under the frame to give me 6" more room for tires (295/55/15 is the tire choice here on 15x10 steel rims).Now the mods and parts for the idea is very minumal and I can do most of it at home with the welder and a few brackets from the j/y, but my main concern now is how will my towing be affected by moving the leafs in and running a wide tire like mentioned? I do need to tow my car around to the tracks. Ive herd from others that Id be ok but does anybody now for sure. My CAR + TRAILER weigh about 2500-2800 lbs together.

i don't see why it should be a problem at all. why would the position of the leafs have anything to do with trailering the vehicle?

are you trying to keep the tires tucked under the fenderwells?
i was running a 275/60/15(28x10.5) on deep dish wheels with a 2inch drop in the rear, and this next season i'm switching to either 295/50. or 305/50/15s on the same wheel.

a 295/55 is about 28"tall as well, so with the right wheel you should be able to clear everything.

but if you're setup doesn't allow for that then to answer your question again, i dont' see any problem to be forseen by moving the leafs in.

matt

The thing is once you move the leafs in it adds to the side to side sway so to speak,I do plan on installing a rear sway bar off a Explorer for the added help. Im also looking at the tire being a 295/50/15 (section width 12.1" (tread width of 11" (hight 26.6" so will thous fit in the wells on a 4" drop or could I go bigger and not have to move the leafs at all? These are the specs on a Goodyear Eagle GTII witch Im looking at getting for the price. Just in case this is a 93 xlt Long Bed.

What's the backspacing on the rim you plan on using?

Originally posted by Aaron B
What's the backspacing on the rim you plan on using?

that was my next question as well. you may be able to fit that tire in the fenderwells without touching anything(depending on the offset of the wheel).

if you look towards the bottom of the page here;
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/387560/2

you'll see a 28x10.5 tire on a deep dish 15x8wheel. there's about a 2-2.5inch drop in the rear as well, so you can see that you'll be able to fit a 26.6inch tire with a 4inch drop.

the tire may stick out slightly like it does on my truck, but that's only a problem if you don't like that look.

as far as stability goes, i don't think moving the leafs in will decrease stability to a point where i'd be concerned, especially if you're going to put a good sway bar back there.

if it's going to mainly be a track car(and i'm assuming drag, cuz i don't think you'd want to move the leafs in for a road track car) then you might want to look at a drag race sway bar like those sold by competition engineering.

i'm curious to know what kind of racing you do, how you lowered the rear, and if you have good hook or not. if you get around to it i'm very interested to know what you're up to.:)

matt

You have a fuel cell in mind or a B2 tank since moving the leaf inboard will cause it to occupy the tank's space? Just curious about that and if you are only doing drag racing moving them in shouldn't be a problem but matt is very correct about road courses. I'm currently running a 275 in the rear with no issues and will be moving to a 295/40/18 on a 9.5 with only rolling the fender out a little.

Im going to see very little Drag racing with my truck maybe 2 times a year just to see if mods I do are good or bad. The main reason for wanting to do this is for traction on the street and for the mini-tub look after all we are about customizing our trucks right. It has a 2.3 turbo motor in it and once the boost get to about 15 it goes up in smoke if I dont feather it alittle. This truck is also my daily driver (65-70 miles a day)and it must beable to pull my car to the tracks (maybe 150+ either way) and to shows like Carilie Pa. and Ocean Cities, Cruizen the beach weekend.I will also have about 200 lbs of tools and such for the track but other then that the truck doesnt haul anything else. Im not sure on back spacing yet,Ive got the 8.8 Explorer rear in there now and its 1.5" wider then stock so Im going to have to do some figuring on that but Im looking at around 6.5"or more. I havent made up my mind on what way to go here either I can either make my own rims by cutting up the stock steel wheel and adding the 10" rim section that way I can do my own back spacing or buy a set of outlaw II to match the frt.FWIW I do have all the machinery to do rims and weld/balance them.Im going to install a fuel cell in a tool box in the back of the bed sorta hiddin with the battery under my canvis bed cover.

Originally posted by GRASSHOPPER
Im not sure on back spacing yet,Ive got the 8.8 Explorer rear in there now and its 1.5" wider then stock so Im going to have to do some figuring on that but Im looking at around 6.5"or more.

I've got an explorer rear in the back of mine too with 9" wide wheels and ~5" of backspacing. With 255 tires there's no clearance problems. With another 4cm of tire, like Zero said, the only thing you'll probably have to do is roll the fender a little for clearance. Not really much reason to go through all the work of moving the springs inboard and risking a wobbly truck when it's all said and done.

Well the 295/50/15 is a starter tire, after I get all the rear set in and done I can go bigger as I can afford to. I will center the 10" wide rim in the wheel well and go to a tire that will fill the well up better if I need to. I JUST NEED TO BE DIFFERNT.:drunk:

Moving the spring perchs inboard, will increase the bending loads on the axle housing some, but probably not enough to worry too much about.

Originally posted by Gunman
Moving the spring perchs inboard, will increase the bending loads on the axle housing some, but probably not enough to worry too much about. I just read something about that on anouther form, Best bet for that fix is to weld the axle tub to the center section (carrier) they say that will help and make the rear stronger at the same time.I just know Im very anksush to get started on it,I think its going to look good and help a whole lot on the traction department. I also planed on doing a semi write up on it with as many pics as I can get. I for see doing it over the xmas holiday when I get time to down my truck, and a empty spot in the garage, (DRAG CAR COMES FIRST)

You could always add stiffening gussets to the axle, like the 4x4 guys, and lowrider hopper/car dancers do.

Another option you may not have considered is looking in to how difficult (if at all) it would be to use Explorer leaf spring frame mounts.

The leaf spring attaches to the bottom of the frame rail on the Explorers, and realistically, that's all the further you would actually need to move the springs in. If they'll work, with minimal fabrication you may also save yourself a lot of work.

have you considered bags yet?

you could simply install a 2 link with a beefy panhard bar and install bags on the link itself....that should let you have 1-2more inches inside...you dont have to notch your frame, since you arent trying to lay or anything..it will be more purpose oriented.....that would be perfect for load capacities and shocks will still be functional for the most part....since a stock or drag shock would probably die quickly if it is forced all the way down like in a layed out truck

in your case, it'd just be like having leaf springs, but with on board control on the stiffness and ride quality, which is very useful if it is a dual purpose truck: IE- drag, everyday driving

maybe it will work

Originally posted by Aaron B
Another option you may not have considered is looking in to how difficult (if at all) it would be to use Explorer leaf spring frame mounts.

Thats is how I had planed on doing this, I already have the back mount's cut off a Explorer, I just need the frt. but a bud of mine has one side bracket and we test fitted it and it will work. By time Im done Ill have the complete Explorer rear assy. under there . So really I should have no problems besides the perchs for the leaf springs then selves on the axle tube, I just cant seem to find some. So far after the paper math this is going to be one low $ project, $100.00 for all the leaf springs and mounts from the J/Y and about a days work, and maybe a few hrs cutting the bed.I did forget the tires and rims $450.00 mounted and balanced.have you considered bags yet? Yeah but thats not my cup of tea.:drunk::nuts:

Originally posted by GRASSHOPPER
Thats is how I had planed on doing this,

I see.


I think all of us were under the impression that you were going to be moving the leaf spring in board of the frame rails. Several inches from the stock position.

Im sorry if it looked that way. I meant I want to put the leaf springs under the frame, Just like the Explorer.Like this...http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/12/web/288000-288999/288444_27_full.jpg

Grasshopper - you might want to simply cut the perches off of your differential (with a die grinder and cuttoff wheel). Reposition them and weld back onto the differential. If your dead set on new perches you can get them from Moser Engineering or Currie Enterprises. It looks like you should have no problems repostioning the current perches. Good luck.

Beater