I have seen the U bolt flip kits from MAN-A-FRE and they look nice. But they cost a pretty penny. ALL PRO only sells one for the pick up or 4 runner..Does anyone know of a cheaper but just as nice of a setup as the MANAFRE one?

The all-pro ones wont work if you are SUA mini trucks are SOA from the factory and a lot simpler to flip the ubolts.
The MAF ubolt flips are really nice and unless you can make them you're self you would be better off just bying them.

Could you take the dodge perches, and weld a 1/4" plate to the top, drill the holes and use some round u-bolts? Anyone done this?
Haven't tried it, just curious if it might work.

The MAF kit is the one used by Dave Gore on his ARCA rig, very stout.

these cost all of $125 for all 4 by Advanced Handling who has something similar but different.
www.lcadvancedhandling.com/products/u_bolts.asp

Please disregard my previous post. no Coffee at the time. That won't work.

:rolleyes:

I just built and installed some spring hangers sort of like the ones mentioned by KeithF above. Just some 6" pcs. of 3x3 hvy. wall tubing split in half and some 1" flat bar (weld, weld, weld). They seem to work fine and I gained about 1.25" clearance under my springs. One thing to note - your stock u-bolts will not have enough threaded area for this conversion. I had some Skyjacker u-bolts that worked out. Easy and cheap - go for it.

I know I'm just a Newbie but :D ... on the MAF flip kit, what do they do about the lower shock mount? I couldn't tell from the pics in the insert I got a while ago from them.

Go Spring Over. Join The Darkside. It'll get you eventually, Luke.... :trooper: :vader2: :trooper:

I know, I know! :D

Eventually I'll go SOA, but for now I want to see how far I can get with my 33" trainin' wheels and 3" lift! Plus I don't wanna end up like all those other SOA 60s which end up SUA because their wheels are in the air! :crybaby2:

Has anyone ever noticed that the rigs that win the Goodyear Extreme rock crawling championships ALL have spring under..The FJ40 that won last years round in Phoenix, AZ. had SPRING UNDER...Whats the big deal about SOA..If it works for these guys, it has to work for me..

Originally posted by FJ40 FIREMAN
Has anyone ever noticed that the rigs that win the Goodyear Extreme rock crawling championships ALL have spring under..The FJ40 that won last years round in Phoenix, AZ. had SPRING UNDER...Whats the big deal about SOA..If it works for these guys, it has to work for me..

I dont know if you noticed his suspension also has a hydrolic (sp)
ram at each corner of the cruiser. To controll ride height, force the suspension to flex, and to controll the rig to his advantage.
Like for off camber situations.
Not to mention the guy is a good driver;)



I still like the spring over personally:D

I tried everything I could to make the spring under work and I assure you SOA is the way to go if you properly set it up.

As fro an FJ-60 with 3" and 33's....keep them on and learn how to drive your Cruiser before you go and spring it over.

On the MAF Ubolt flip, the rear shock mount comes off the bottom rear of the ubolt plate.

I would look at the plates that Advanced land Cruiser handling has. Cheaper and they do the job.

Has anyone checked out the u-bolt setup on a 94 suburban (stock ). On mine it has a top plate that patially wraps the axle and square u-bolts like in the MAF kit . Does anyone think that this would fit a cruiser axle . My expl comp springs on my 40 are the same width , now if the axle tube is the same it should work .
:eek:
Carlos

wngrog, I've tweaked my Advanced Ubolt flip, they're stout but nothing like MAF.

Originally posted by wngrog
I would look at the plates that Advanced land Cruiser handling has. Cheaper and they do the job.

I wasn't too happy when I first got these plates The Land Cruiser Advance Handling plates were designed for use with stock springs, which are made with metric width steel. When I tried to use these plates, I found that my 4" Skyjackers were 1/4 inch narrower than the stock springs. Solution: I welded in a strip of 1/8" flat stock on each side to better sandwhich the springs in the plates. Result was much improvred steering. I also welded in a triangle gusset to prevent the plates flexing when the ubolts were tightened. Now I like the plates alot more. :D :D

Ross

I spoke with a guy by the name of Roth at advanced handling and he said within a couple of weeks they will have spring pads with widths to accomodate narrow aftermarket springs like skyjackers, $125 for all 4.

Make your own. Everyone needs another welding project. The ones below are from So. Cal. TLC members and are hammers tested.

<img src="http://members.home.net/cglabe1/photos/SpringPlate02.jpg">
<img src="http://members.home.net/cglabe1/photos/SpringPlate03.jpg">

Pin.........got any pics of the rears and how the shock was attached?


Thanks

bennett

Since pin head put up a photo of my springs and u-bolts , the second photo, I'll let you know. On a 75 and I think 76 rear housing the spring pad is drilled to hold a shock mount from the factory, my 75 was, so I used some generic shock pins and bolted them on. Good part was they are now no longer catching rocks for my :D . I'm sure you could drill the spring pad if is not already. This is how the earlier shocks were mounted.

The early housings had a pins welded to the axle tube, above the springs and behind the axle. Way out of harms way, but requires a shorter shock. Beware of inboarding the upper mounts to accomadtae longer shocks, the bodies will contact the diff cover on the short side.

I have the MAF/4 Plus kits. They are very sturdy, 1/2" plate construction, very high quality. $150 an axle, pricy but not unreasonable for the quality. Did I say that?

Mike "SpaceGhost" Smythe