Time for a Spring Over

[Tom Mandera <tsm1@domain.elided>]

OK, my Scout must be telling me something..

I was trying to track down that "clunk" I have when making a throttle 
transition.. it kinda pulls a little like it would with a locker in the 
rear, but it's a worn out Tracklok..

I tightened the transfer case up last night.  Still clunked today, so I 
re-tightened the 'case.. but it's fine.

HMM.  Checked last night's weld job on the rear spring mounts.. and 
looked at a few more.  Driver's front body mount - NOT the body side 
(it's marginal, and bad on the passenger side), on the frame, sports a 
crack at the top.. DANG.

Passenger frame side looks just fine.

So I moved to the rear shackle mounts to have a look-see.  They look 
fine.  I then moved to the rear spring center bolts.. they're fine, but 
the driver's side center bolt looks like it's moved a little.. upon 
closer inspecton, I think I found my clunk...

I've broken the driver's rear axle spring-perch!!  Both sides, the weld 
is broken, and there are wear marks on the housing from where the axle 
has twisted n' rotated a little.

ARGH.

I'm starting to wonder if it's time for a frame swap on MY truck.. after 
the frame has been sufficiently gussetted and re-welded and reinforced and...

Anyhow, I think I'm going to back into the driveway and see about tacking 
the perch down some.. but not fully welding in-the-truck.

This seems like the prime time for my rear spring over, which I'd wanted 
to do a little *later* in the summer.. but hey, one spring perch is 
already off..

Since I'm not ready to do the front, I'm going to recondition a set of 
'73 non-HD rear springs.  I'll call GUS tomorrow and order some poly 
spring bushings.  I'll go buy some new center bolts and flip the center 
pins over.  Should I disassemble the spring pack and do anything special 
to it?

Curt - how far back did you move your center pin, and how satisfied are 
you with it?  Bill - you went 1", but suggested 1/2" would be better, 
correct?

I'm not planning a CV rear driveshaft, so the angles need to be 
"normal".. I'm hoping I can just move the current perches right onto the 
top and call it good.

I'm also afraid I won't be able to slip by on a stock rear driveshaft.  I 
imagine I'll need to have it retubed or lengthened.  Anyone care to 
hazard a guess on adding an inch to the rear driveshaft (or whatever I 
end up needing)?  I *hope* I can drive on the pavement without a new 
driveshaft.. 

I have a friend's wedding to attend in Havre, MT (200miles) on Saturday, 
so doing the SO this weekend is not an option.. and I'm supposed to go 
fourwheeling NEXT Saturday (22nd) so it needs done before then..

I don't want to try to get the spring over done this week, since I won't 
have new spring bushings, and I'm not sure I'd have time to get the 
driveshaft modified before heading to Havre.. (OTOH, if I put the 
Travelall together...)

I think I can make my current 4" lift shocks work with the spring over 
after making some shock mounts on the axle. (Thinking of just using some 
extra U-bolts around the housing).  The big question mark is the rear 
driveshaft, and how far back to move the center pin.

To make this more interesting, when I get around to springing the front 
over, I want to yank the 73 non-HD springs from the rear, and do the 
spring-over with XLCs all around.  (for now, the non-HDs need to match 
the 4" Skyjackers in front)

Clear as mud, right?

At least I'm getting practice with the welder...

-Tom Mandera, Helena MT
http://www.tmcom.com/~tsm1/scout
'77 Scout II - 4" Skyjacker Softride, 304/T19/D20/4.09 Dana 44s, locked 
front, worn-out Tracklok rear - LOTS of broken welds, soon a rear 
spring-over..