Re: [ihc] Slight lift to older Travelall

[John Hofstetter <hofs@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> 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.
Hmm, I wonder if you're going to get some responses about taller 
narrower tires for snow. Not from me, because I know that the 
narrower tires are, in general, better in the snow. The best snow 
tires I've ever owned were funny looking narrow, oh, so narrow, 
Michelins on my 1210. I was leading a lot of expeditions at that time 
and some of them were in the snow, and the guys behind me kept 
admiring my skinny French tires.

Along that same line, my Dad in the 30's drove over mountain roads to 
his job at a big gold mine near here. His Model A with the skinny 19 
inch tires always got him there, often with guys who had abandoned 
their stuck vehicles and needed a ride to work.


> 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.
Tom and others will know more than I, but I think the little bit of 
angle increase that you'd get from longer shackles would be 
acceptable. I had terrible angles on that 1210, but if I kept the 
U-joints lubricated, they'd last a reasonable number of miles. 
Remember that your lift is going to be only half of the increased 
length of the new shackles.


> 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?

Not to mention what it will do to your personal frame.  You could 
have the springs re-arched.  Or new springs made. I haven't looked 
but I don't think lift kits including springs are available any more. 
Don't know that, just think it.

You're going to get some better help, but your narrow tire concept set me off.

John
--
John Hofstetter
www.goldrush.com/~hofs