Finally sold the buggy and now it's time to think about my next project I'm calling "back to basics." It's going to be multi-purpose and most of all, a driver. with my first truck I had no real complaints with my leaf spring setup, it flexed great and rode like a caddy. I want to improve on that though. This time around, I'm looking for a low, balanced and generally excellent performing setup. I'd like to see this discussion head towards some hardcore leaf-spring tech, what works and what doesn't and most importantly why. If you want to talk about how cool your 4 link is, take it somewhere else. I have built a very well thought out and executed 4 link on the buggy, but not this vehicle.
To start things off, I'm considering running a front shackle setup similar to what Zuk ran. Has anyone else done this and with what springs and most importantly how does it perform, both on and off road. Zuk, are you still running this setup or are you running a buggy now? I'm considering running a hybrid 51" IFS rear pack. Here are my thoughts for running a shackle in front:
-By using the long side of the spring as the fixed end, an already very flexible spring will be more flexible, since it will be working with a longer radius point.
-Under compression, with the fixed end of the spring at the rear, the tire will move towards the front of the vehicle and allow me to run less lift since I won't have to worry about wheel-well contact.
Now the potential downsides that I see are:
-Ride, having the wheel move away from the body while crawling sounds good, but the same will be true at highway speeds. The wheel will be forced to move against it's own momentum. I know many jeepers do shackle reversals and move their forward shackles to the rear, but how bad is the ride really?
-Bending springs, I remeber many people talking about pushing the shackle into something and bending the spring. This is a real concern. My thought is to build a custom hanger and use a shackle similar to what Hendrix Motorsports is selling for the formula toys. This setup would allow the shackle to bottom against the front crossmember. Would this be enough to keep the spring from bending?
Is this an idea that is phoesable or am I going to be disappointed in the ride or performance? The traditional setup is proven and I have built several that perform great... just thinking of trying something a little different.
Now onto the rear. With the IFS spring being a popular swap for front ends, I started thinking about why people take them out in the first place. A Chevy spring is a little longer, but I noticed that in OEM fashion the rear springs are mounted with the long side to the back. What about flipping it around and running the short side towards the back for potentially increased departure angle, certainly better flex and if combined with a forward shackle front end setup, the fixed end of the front and rear springs would be the same length and with some spring pack tweaking should perfrom very balanced.
To start things off, I'm considering running a front shackle setup similar to what Zuk ran. Has anyone else done this and with what springs and most importantly how does it perform, both on and off road. Zuk, are you still running this setup or are you running a buggy now? I'm considering running a hybrid 51" IFS rear pack. Here are my thoughts for running a shackle in front:
-By using the long side of the spring as the fixed end, an already very flexible spring will be more flexible, since it will be working with a longer radius point.
-Under compression, with the fixed end of the spring at the rear, the tire will move towards the front of the vehicle and allow me to run less lift since I won't have to worry about wheel-well contact.
Now the potential downsides that I see are:
-Ride, having the wheel move away from the body while crawling sounds good, but the same will be true at highway speeds. The wheel will be forced to move against it's own momentum. I know many jeepers do shackle reversals and move their forward shackles to the rear, but how bad is the ride really?
-Bending springs, I remeber many people talking about pushing the shackle into something and bending the spring. This is a real concern. My thought is to build a custom hanger and use a shackle similar to what Hendrix Motorsports is selling for the formula toys. This setup would allow the shackle to bottom against the front crossmember. Would this be enough to keep the spring from bending?
Is this an idea that is phoesable or am I going to be disappointed in the ride or performance? The traditional setup is proven and I have built several that perform great... just thinking of trying something a little different.
Now onto the rear. With the IFS spring being a popular swap for front ends, I started thinking about why people take them out in the first place. A Chevy spring is a little longer, but I noticed that in OEM fashion the rear springs are mounted with the long side to the back. What about flipping it around and running the short side towards the back for potentially increased departure angle, certainly better flex and if combined with a forward shackle front end setup, the fixed end of the front and rear springs would be the same length and with some spring pack tweaking should perfrom very balanced.