Guys, I need some help from those with experience...from what I've read some people plate the frame, which makes sense and is rather simple to do but how do you ensure that your level going through the frame? Or do you not worry about it and just level the plates and rely on that?

Any pictures would be great!......

Make sure the the part of the frame you're going to drill is square on all four sides. Using a drill press with a magnetic base mounted on the outside of the frame you could possibly drill through with some precision.

Another way is drill one side from the outside, use a reference plane, say the bottom side of the frame. Using the same reference plane, drill the other side from the inside.

Hope that helpls.

When I did mine I made up a couple channel peices that fit over the frame. I drilled the hole through them on the drill press and then used them as a guide to drill the frame. I also welded them in place as extra support around the shackle mount.

a quick question regarding this, with mine
ive put the bottom of the bush 10mm from the bottom of the frame and put in a factory shackle, (i dont want to use a block, or a long shackle because i want to keep the height down, but my shackles are on the frame...BAD any bump...the WHACK

any ideas on how to keep the height down adn get a fix for the prob?

When I pushed everything forward as far as I did, I had to keep the front shackle under the frame instead of through the frame since the frame slopes UP in front of the stock location.

This way I could run flat FJ-40 springs and FJ-55 springs in the rear and the Cruiser sat level.

This may or may not help...

When I did the SAS on my '86 4runner, I measured back on either side of the frame rail by attaching a wire to a bolt running through the front spring hanger. I used this wire to be sure that I was the same distance back everywhere. I measured up from the bottom of the frame with a tape measure.

I then drilled the holes a little oversized, and used a piece of tubing through the center to be sure that they were aligned. I did have the benefit of having the tranny out though.....

As you can see, the minitruck frame is anything but straight at this point - Picture (http://www.outdoorwire.com/4x4/staff/caz/pictures/86_4runner/DCP01084.JPG)

after we torched out the holes on mine, we set the tubes inside and ran a broomstick through them and checked with a level

Here's what I did.
Position and cut the holes in the outside of the frame rail.
Cut out and drill the scab plates.
Cut the tubing for the bushings and determine where to position it in the scab plate.
Weld the tubing into the plate making SURE it is square.
Then just put the plate with the tubing welded to it through the frame rail from the inside.
As long as the plate lays flat against the inside frame rail, weld the whole thing up.
Done deal.

I used chevy truck shackle hangers which bolt inside the frame. Mine are perfectly straight cause of this.

Here is a pic of the through-the frame hangers for my 45 truggy project:
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jrice/cruiser/FJ45/ShackleHanger.jpg

I have a long scab plate on the inside of the frame to provide strength for both the motor mounts and the shackle hangers. I use the approach mentioned by FJSRule but instead of a torch I use a hole saw and instead of a broomstick, I use a piece of pipe that is snug within the hanger tubes. If the holes cut thru the frame are slightly larger than the hanger tubes, you can square and level the hanger tubes real easy. Just make sure everything is snug and square before welding.

I determine the location for the hanger by attaching only the primary leaf at the front hanger. I then compress the single leaf and let the rear eye rub against the bottom of the frame. In the picture, the yellow line on the frame marks the position of the center of the spring eye when the leaf first becomes inverted, i.e., it marks the the portion of the spring's arc furthest to the rear. When this position is determined, knowing the length of shackle desired, determines the location for the hanger tube thru the frame.

Finally, here is a pic of the whole front spring. These are the rear springs from an FJ60. With the long springs and long shackle, I hope these springs will provide lots of flex.:smokin:
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jrice/cruiser/FJ45/FrontSprings.jpg

here u can see my old shackle mount and my new one (new one gives about an extra 2 inch lift. jiMMy

ok, so once you have the flattened length marked out on the frame, and you know how long of a shackle you want to run, how do you go from there? you need to set it so the spring doesnt contact the frame when it flattens, so where do you put it? its a pretty stupid question but im tinking you put it about and inch or inch and a half further towards the rear than a straight line? if you get what im saying? :confused: hard to show without seeing you know what i mean? thanks, Matt:skull:

I actually just put a 1/4" plate between the frame and spring eye, so that the spring does not actually contact the bottom of the frame at its maximum length. When the spring is in this configuration, you can then move the shackle to its optimum position relative to the frame.

thanks guys, thats all awesome info and pictures
jiMMy with yours on the bottom of the frame as it is there, did it try to crush the tube at all? with compressiona dn stress on the frame? id think it would be greatest in that sloping up area?

because i was considering doing exactly that (the first part where you cut the tube into the frame itself

Originally posted by bj42
thanks guys, thats all awesome info and pictures
jiMMy with yours on the bottom of the frame as it is there, did it try to crush the tube at all? with compressiona dn stress on the frame? id think it would be greatest in that sloping up area?

because i was considering doing exactly that (the first part where you cut the tube into the frame itself ran it all summer and no signs of cracks or stress in that area of teh frame, teh frame is just notched and the tubing welded in. jiMMy

exactly what im after, looks like ill run this setup,

but you only ran it for like 3 months or something?
anyways, ive plated mine in that area, so itll hold
your welds on that looked great!!

(to me everybodys welds look pretty awesome...see im not much of a welder, in fact i cant weld at all! :eek: always need to get help!:D

Jack, how long are those springs when the leaf is flat, eye to eye? What is the distance eye to eye, arced, with no load? Thanks.

40_Bones....I owe you a :beer: ....your advice worked like a charm and I gotta her 90% completed this weekend....vehicles with no springs nd moving it around caused major delays..... but next weekend will be the test if I can get a couple hours to work on her again......

Ken... Fully arched, the springs measure 44 5/8" between the centers of the spring eyes. When completely flat the distance is 47 1/2 ". HTH

Thanks, for the info.

Originally posted by coyote
40_Bones....I owe you a :beer: ....your advice worked like a charm and I gotta her 90% completed this weekend....vehicles with no springs nd moving it around caused major delays..... but next weekend will be the test if I can get a couple hours to work on her again......

No prob. HTH