Thank you! The way I understand it is that the FSSR is pretty good with stock springs, but with any lift springs it gets pretty complicated to do correctly. (double-cardan long-travel slip driveshaft, possible cut-and-turn on the C's needed to keep proper caster...) Because my rig is not actually going to be a race truck, I'm not really sure if it is worth it. The new lift kits from BJ's are made by Deaver and have 9 leaves up front, so the ride is probably pretty good with the stock setup.ross80truck wrote:So, this is by no means my expertise. So, I will state the following is opinion only. I am running the Rocklaurence kit on my Cherokee Chief. I do not notice any difference in steering feel. This is with a stock shackle. It gave me roughly a 2" lift. When I went to get it aligned, my caster was off. They had to rock the axle back another 1.5" degrees with shims to get it where they wanted it. My alignment guy is a good friend and a perfectionist. I would like a little more lift. I am thinking about running a 1" longer shackle on the front leaf spring. This most likely will allow me to remove the shim and give me that 1" lift.
Also, I would highly recommend talking to the guys at Off Road Design. They specialize in square body Chevy trucks and those trucks are very similar to ours. Any info they give you on the prerunner setup will work on our rigs.
I'll try and get in touch with them. I worked with their website a little, but at times it seem hacked, and then when it did come up it was dated and pretty hard to navigate.RamJetFSJ wrote:I would talk to the guys at T and J Performance in Orange, CA. They have a beefier FSSR setup, and have built and raced leaf sprung FSJs off road. (But beware their website, its sometimes comes up as being hacked). But I think with a relatively flat leaf pack, I don't think the longer shackle will make much of a difference in articulation. Its comes into play more with a spring pack with more arch. As long as the shackle angle is right that is. Sometimes a longer shackle can fix an incorrect shackle angle.
A FSSR setup will be much smoother in the desert for sure though. If you do Rock Laurences kit, be sure to weld it in addition to bolting it on. And beef it up a little with some gussets if your going to do some heavy off roading.
I tried longer shackles, and just couldn't make them work. Part of that is the lack of a track bar on my '80. (Standard shackle front setup). Went back to stock shackles... too much steering wander.
You are correct, lift from a shackle is MAX 1/2 the shackle length (depending on shackle angle).
I was hoping you would chime in! I’d seen mention of that new system and am definitely curious! Because it’s using the FSSR and arched springs I’m assuming a longer slip driveshaft is needed?rocklaurence wrote:If your looking for a High Peromance pre-runner setup, you may want to wait for my new Long Spring front susension system. Starting with the FSSR, with new replacement rear shackle brackets, 52" springs and new Shock/Bump stop brackets provide 12" of wheel travel and 5" of lift. Im currently running it on my J20 and it works great. I'm currently working on a rear suspension setup to complement the front. Just saying, It most likely will be less expensive that a SkyJacker or custom Deaver setup.
I would say probably purchase it on my own. That way the cost of the kit can be spread out over time. The Jeep can be run in 2wd while the kit is installed, giving the customer the time to recoup funds and then purchase the driveshaft. It would be very helpful to have the driveshaft measurements available at the time of purchase. My 2 cents...rocklaurence wrote:However, I do have a question for everyone on the board. Would most of you prefer the Long Travel front drive shaft with the kit or would you rather purchase it on your own? The Drive shaft will likely cost more than $400.
Yes, many use the OEM springs. Weather you'll need longer shocks or front drive shaft is dependant on the condition of the springs. For example: many old springs are sagging which doesnt require longer shocks or drive shaft because it only adds an inch or two +- over the original factory hieght.Jeepin' Pete wrote:RockLaurence, when you run your FSSR kit, do you run stock springs? Do you have any experience with longer shackles?
Im putting together several kits this week and I have some pictures to post. One question: does Gmail/Google provide a service to post pictures onto the forum because I am not going back to PhotoBucket.Jeepin' Pete wrote:I would say probably purchase it on my own. That way the cost of the kit can be spread out over time. The Jeep can be run in 2wd while the kit is installed, giving the customer the time to recoup funds and then purchase the driveshaft. It would be very helpful to have the driveshaft measurements available at the time of purchase. My 2 cents...rocklaurence wrote:However, I do have a question for everyone on the board. Would most of you prefer the Long Travel front drive shaft with the kit or would you rather purchase it on your own? The Drive shaft will likely cost more than $400.
imgur should work. imgur.comrocklaurence wrote:Im putting together several kits this week and I have some pictures to post. One question: does Gmail/Google provide a service to post pictures onto the forum because I am not going back to PhotoBucket.
Will this work with your old FSSR brackets or is it a totally different setup?rocklaurence wrote:A Long Spring update: First, the minor changes have been made and it works great. Second, I'm working on the front drive shaft set up. The springs flex so well that the transmission cross member will need modified for clearance [Im building a weld-in piece to the cross member to allow drive shaft travel]. However, the travel may exceed the work-a-ble angles of the DS. Leading to the possibility of limiting the droop of the front axle. We'll see what the drive shaft gurus and myself will come up with. It's getting closer!!