The Lumpskie Build - '96 5-speed

I pulled two leafs out of my rear spring packs today. Because everything was crazy and unusually rusty, the job took me 7 hours! Thank, Rick, for stopping by and helping me. Long story short, my rear springs are much softer and way flexier now. Plus, my orbit eyes are actually working! I need to go to Glen's dock and test to see how much I gained, but my regular rock will not flex my truck out anymore. Overall, the travel numbers might not be too different, but the behavior within that travel feels WAY better. I think I'll be running a lot more obstacles open diff now.

Pics:

Springs removed:


Basic flex shots... the suspension isn't flexed out here

 

Noice.

 

Thanks James!

Here are a couple more pics I took. It looks like I'm getting a bit of negative arch out of my springs now. I'll call Alcan and see if I need to install extended bump stops.





The orbit eyes are stiff from lack of use, but they're working



Negative arch

 

So, what's everyone's opinion on negative arch? It looks like I'm getting about 2" of it on full compression... Is that too much for safety?

 

In my opinion, no. Flex away. You'd be surprised how much bend they can take before snapping.

 

Hey Brett,

Thanks for your input! I called Bill, at Alcan, this morning and he agrees with you. He says that the springs "can bend both ways" and I shouldn't worry about it.

As a reference, here's what I was seeing under the truck:



Here's the tire when the spring is in negative arch:


So, I guess I'll leave everything as it sits for now. I went to the loading docks to day and measured just under 27 vertical inches that I can climb before the back tire gets light. One more inch and I'll hit my goal.

 

Yea I do t care about negative just don't let it stay like that for an extended period of time and your fine. Mine go negative all the time.

 

I would agree with everyone else.... to an extent. My leaves go negative as well just like others have said theres do. I agree i dont think its a big deal as long as it doesnt sit there for a long time. They are springs, they return
I took it one step further with mine though. In regards to bump stops, i moved my mount down, installed a u bolt flip kit and mounted a much taller and squishier bump facing down. I flexed it out til it lifted a tire and found the bump would be compresed about an inch. close enough for what i do....

But the difference between your setup now and mine, is when you are cruising down a dirt road and miss that big dip, your springs will compress fully negative and rebound relying completely on the shocks.
Mine will hit the bump stop and slow down the rate of compression, helping the shocks out and resulting in a smoother ride. I tell u what man, bump stops, even my cheaper rubber ones(dont need air) make a huge difference. Especially in the front.

 

Thanks for the input, guys. I guess I'll leave everything as is and enjoy the new articulation. I only gained 1 vertical inch on the loading dock RTI ramp I use but the range of motion is a lot smoother and more usable.

Hey Jace, Are you running extended bump stops in the front too?

 

Im going to disagree. I wore out a set of 8leaf deavers running no real bump and going negative a lot. Looking at that last picture i would move the bump stops down until it goes just barely negative.

Yes i know my shackle angle sucks lol.

 

Hey lump, how do you like your LR UCAs? Ive heard a lot of negative reviews on them but for the price you can't ignore them. Just trying to keep options open and figure out what UCA I want.

 

Not extended no, i made them the same hight as factory. But they are aftermarket high density foam. They are super nice. Check out poly performance

 

Thanks for the input, Slander. Hey... how do you like your Marlin trans? Also, how much did it cost? (if you don't mind me asking)

Hey Dj, I love my LR UCAs. I haven't had a single problem with them. I like the sealed ball joint better than a uniball because it doesn't let road salt and grime in and, as a result, won't corrode. Also, I'd say the range of motion on the LR UCAs is close to (if not the same as) what you'd get out of a uniball setup. I get approx. 11 inches of wheel travel out of my front suspension and UCAs have plenty of travel left in them.


Plus. They're cheap!

Hey Lotsoftoys,

I'll poly performance that out. Why'd you change away from stock?

 

because stock are equivalent to hockey pucks. these are nice and squishy a little work but well worth it.

http://www.polyperformance.com/Daystar-EVS-Foam-1-3-8-X-2-1-2-Diameter-Bump-Stop

 

Eh. All springs are wear items. They all need replaced at some point. How you use them will dictate thier life.

 

1800 that includes shipping for the trans and the core and 500 core deposit. Love the trans, the going rate around here for a junkyard r150f with 100k+ on it is 900-1400 bucks so a professionally rebuilt unit by the master himself was a no brainer. I was going to rebuild it myself but that would have cost me close to 600 in tools and materials and that is if there was nothing else wrong with the trans and only rebuilt it. The first gear alone was 450 bucks if that was bad, and that does not include my time and me messing it up. It sounds like a lot but once you start breaking it down, marlins trans is a pretty great deal unless you can rebuild a trans in your sleep.

I actually got to talk to marlin himself and he told me just to buy his rebuilt trans, hard to say no to the expert lol.

 

So are tires, but you still rotate them, ensure they have proper inflation and align your truck to extend their life and performance. Properly bump stopping your springs do the same thing. My rear suspension performs much better now that i have everything mostly sorted out and working as it should. Also i was either breaking a shock or a shock mount once evrey 5 wheeling trips and i attributed it to lack of proper bump stops since i drive like a grandma off road (200+:1 does that too ya lol).

 

If your breaking shocks then you obviously have poorly setup shocks or need to put in bigger bumpers. As you did.

But I'm going one 3 years of hard wheeling on my leafs and they still hold all 6000lbs of fat Frankenstein and still flex freaking good and go negative.

Yes it'll extend their life. But I wouldn't really be worried about that if its a rig. Most leaf springs that get used and abused a lot won't last more then 3-5 years anyways.

 

Good discussion. I'm going to keep a close eye on my leafs... If I see any sign of fatigue wear, I'll extend my bump stops.

For now, I'm going to focus on getting some Alcans under the Wagoneer.

 

It's a Jeep thing, I wouldn't understand... ...why you'd park NEXT to the rocks in the parking lot!