Re: Shackle reversal thoughts

[scoutnb@domain.elided (BRYAN ANDERSEN)]

 I considering a shackle reversal with my spring-over. Ive been doing
alot of looking, measuring, and thinking about it.
 I understand that the concept is to get more "natural" axle movement
when the spring compresses. Supposedly the the axle moves forward if the
shackle is in the front and rearward if the shackle is in the rear. This
is true if the springs have a possitive arch and the spring eyes are
level. On a stock Scout the spring eyes are not level. The front spring
eye is a ways higher than the rear. That means the spring is compressing
up and back, but with the shackle on the front the axle is moving
forward as the spring gets longer. So does the front axle on a stock
Scout move forward more with shackle in front, or is the tilt of the
spring moving more backwards, or do they cancel each other out and the
axle moves straight up and down? Does anybody know the math for this??
It's no wonder that the reversals with a higher front spring eye cause
so much tire ti fender contact.
 I can't help wondering if the factory engineers might have had it right
after all or why they designed that way in the first place. There  must
be a reason, I just haven't heard it yet. It's not just Scouts either.
CJ,s, FJ40's, Samari's, etc. all run possitive arch springs with front
mounted shackles. Why? On the other hand Chevy and Dodge with the rear
mounted shackles use negative arch springs. This too moves the axle
forward as the spring compresses because the spring is getting shorter
not longer. I sure would like to know the reasoning behind these factory
designs before I go through with the reversal.

Happy Scoutn,
Bryan