Re: [ihc] Slight lift to older Travelall

["Allan Ericson" <lowvolt@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John-

The difference in ride height from the 1100 and 1200 is all contained in the
spring pack. The bushings and shackles are the same.

Add a couple of leaves to each spring pack and call it good. You will like
the ride.

The load capacity of a travelall is high. Don't even give it a second
thought. Your axles will become the weak point, not the frame.

If you find a set of 1200 or 1210 axles cheap, just get them and install
them. They will bolt right on. The wheels are 8 lug, but you can find ford
or dodge rims fairly easily. Chevy's center hole is too small.

-Allan
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John M. Adams" <jma@domain.elided>
To: <ihc@domain.elided>
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 12:45 PM
Subject: [ihc] Slight lift to older Travelall


> I am thinking of going through both the front and rear spring assemblies
on
> my '67 1100 4x4 TA. I want to run some thoughts & questions by you all and
> see if I can get some ideas, answers, corrections, etc.
>
> My reason for doing the renewal is twofold: one is for preventive
> maintenance, and the other is to achieve a slight lift in order to run
> taller wheels/tires. I'm going to get rid of the 15" x 8" spoke wheels
that
> I installed back "in my youth", and go with a 16" x 7" or 16.5" x 7" wheel
> and taller profile tire. I want a higher load range, greater ground
> clearance, and better snow/ice traction than what I've got now. So taller,
> narrower, truck tires.
>
> My front spring assembly has the shackle in the rear, with the spring eye
> connected at the bottom of the shackle. My rear spring assembly has the
> shackle in the rear also, but with the spring eye connected at the top of
> the shackle. So it seems that the following would be true: If I only use
> longer shackles on this rig, both axles will rotate in a direction that
> would increase the drive shaft angle, which I want to avoid as much as
> possible.
>
> So I have to do more than just shackles. But what? My thoughts are: I
don't
> want to add a plate/block spacer between the spring packs and the axles.
> That seems like "house of cards" construction. I don't mind adding leaves
to
> the spring pack, to increase the height incrementally, and then the
> necessarily longer retaining clips and u-bolts. It seems like this would
> result in less rotation as it's at the center verses the (wrong) end of
the
> leaf assembly only. But will this cause a stiffness that would endanger
> frame components? Or is my "heavy duty half ton" stout enough for this
type
> of modification? I plan on installing cabinets, camping gear, heavier
> bumpers, winch, etc... So overall vehicle will be heavier, and ride
quality
> therefore more or less unchanged, in spite of the stiffer suspension. But
am
> I missing something?
>
> I only want/need 2" or 3" inches of lift. On this year Travelall, what is
> the best way to achieve that without having to modify steering and
> differential geometry? I've heard of inverting diffs and changing out
> steering components to accommodate height, but I don't want to go there.
> What's the maximum drive shaft to differential angle supported by the
> u-joints without having to make such modifications?
>
> My apologies if this has been covered. I'm not finding answers to my dumb
> questions in my searches of the archives/internet. It's all about Scouts,
> and though I've never owned one, I gather their suspension design is
> different from my TA. Thanks in advance for any helpful thoughts, or links
> to tech or vendor sites & etc.
>
> -John A.
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