I took all leaves out of the rear packs with the exception of the top two, then swapped in all but the top two from the front of a 1988 wagoneer. Nice soft ride and without snubbers, the tires will get into the body (my box isn't really a box, I have dummy box sides on it with more clearance than stockers would have). Plenty of droop compared to stock also. No engineering, no complicated fab work on links, no trial and error...plain and simple and very durable. I had thought about four linking mine myself, but in all reality it would have been for the cool factor as I honestly don't believe there are huge gains to be made over how mine works without a bunch of hassle.
The big benefit of what I did over a coil leaf combo is that the springs I have are dramatically softer than stock, but still all fighting axle wrap. The coil/leaf combo would only have the two leaves left to fight axle wrap while the coils were just along for the ride. I'd guarantee that you'd have to add some sort of traction/anti wrap bar set up to combat axle wrap and wheel hop.
I'm very happy with how mine works, it is a big improvement, but nothing percentage wise compared to adding front and rear lockers and beadlocks (I can run 14 PSI). That stuff alone is the biggest bang for you buck IMO.
But hey, we'd love to see you four link it!!! It certainly is cool.
Also note that I shortened the wheelbase to 115". Obviously, my rear drive shaft is much shorter than stock. Issues from steep driveline angles and wheel hop would be exaggerated in my truck. No breakages that I would attribute to the spring set up.
I did break my first rear yoke and drive shaft after those mods... but I was begging for that to happen when it did. Wide open throttle hill assault that threw the truck up in the air. I landed on the rear tires only with my foot glued to the floor. It would have been unbelievable for something not to break. Oh, it also sheared off the spring centering pins. Must have been some stressful things happening there for a split second.
Last edited by Doug; March 19th, 2010 at 01:27 AM.
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