My s-10 has a 2" difference between the front and rear leaf spring mounts. Is there a reason for this?? I ask because...

I did an SFA on this s-10 and I've got my front leafs totally parallel. I've got a lot of vibration, but thats because my dumb newbie ass put the shackles in front (well jeeps have it that way, so I thought). So I'm getting ready to do my shackle reversal and I wanted to know if I should toe in or out the leaf springs???

I could see how it could put tension on the leafs enough to keep it from vibrating back and forth very much, maybe???? Working kinda like toe in on the front of a car??
Thanks

huh?:confused: I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, but what I did catch sure didn't sound right. Toe in or out is if the tires run parallel to the vehicle. So toed in would be closer in the front, toed out would be closer in the rear. Either will cause tire wear and a solid front axle should have damn near zero toe.
Are you asking the width your spring perches should be apart? That's easy, the spring should run parallel to the frame and not have to be pulled to one side or other to drop the center pins onto the perches.
If your rear axle is toed in or out the housing is bent.

I think what he is trying to say is that the springs are not parallel to the frame rails. On a S10 the front rails are skinnier that the back of the frame. You would have to outboard the front mounts to correct this issue. Not sure if it would cause any vibrations. Sounds more like a caster or actual toe issue.

Toe is not how or where the leaf springs are mounted. It is a measurement of how parallel the tires are to each other.

Does that make more sense?

Asssuming that you are talking about your rear springs being toed in - that the front hangers for the rear springs are closer towards center than the rear hangers for the rear springs. Is that what you mean?

Read about it here:
Leaf spring info from RPMNET (http://www.rpmnet.com/techart/leaf.shtml)

Go all the way to the bottom of the page. Unfortunately, it does not say anything about leafs up front but it should explain why they are not parallel in back.

No I was using the term toe in to describe the mounting of the leaf springs. There's nothing wrong with the tires or the steering.

I read that website blurb and that sounds correct, but I would like to know if it would apply to a front axle.??? I guess I could try it and find out.

Wow. :eek: OK, out of my depth there. I didn't know there was so much science to leaf springs.
Just measured the front on my CJ-5, it's equal at 27.5 at front and rear, on the front leafs.