so i cut my cross member off, and this is where i stand. this will be my ride height

Is that keeping level with your back-end?  How much up travel are you looking to have?

i am a little confused by you question, my front and rear end are going to be level, if that is what you mean. I have different size shackles to make sure of that. And by up travel do you mean, how fare my wheel will go into my fender? If thats the question i am not sure. My dads friend who is helping me said the 7" gap from the bottome of the fender to the wheel was best to prevent trimming at full flex/turn. The reason i was wondering if i am doing this right is i didn't think i needed custom drivelines. Am i doing something wrong? sorry for all the questions.

Jon K.

If I were to do my build over again, I would have cut the piss out of my fenders.  Kept the lift as low as possible, it feels to tall as is.  Up travel is normally limited, down travel is where you get your articulation.

Are you going to have to redo the power steering box?

When placing your spring hangers, it may take a couple tries to get a good shackle angle.  Just tack everything in place, and see how it sits.

Are your springs brand new?

Amilla

I was wondering if the front end sat 4" or so higher then the rear without shackles.  if so I would redo some of the mounts. 

7" isn't that much, what size tires are you running?  Doing something like this you are probably going to need customer drive shafts no matter what.  Looking over your rig it looks like you are using the stock transfer case, you might be better off biting the bullet and picking up a slip yoke eliminator as Amilla suggested for the front and rear and matching up drive lines once your done.

If i move my axle back and cut the fenders what is the probablity i can use just a spacer? Tires are 33's but i want bigger, but dont want to lose my 4Low. The leafs are used stock ones. the fronts are 84 and the rears are 89. Steering box should remain the same. I purchased the high steer system and my box turns the direction it needs to, so it should work. Is there anyway around slip yoke, i think its a great idea and a plus, but i just dont have the coin.

hey i got the front end done yesterday!!! i am so happy with it. Its so huge i can't beleive it. I'll get pics up soon, but i decided not to do a shackles reversal. It was alot easier to put the shackles in the front and from calling trailtough, trailgear, and some local 4x4 shops they said it only improves on road driving not offroad. I cant wait for you guys to see it. the hood is up to my chest.
Jon k

hey guys here are some updated pictures. 

 

 

I am using the old mounts for the sidekick to mount the leaf springs. i will be reenforcing these and then extending the rear frame as well.

This will be the final height, i need bigger tires lol.

that is the most booty fab thing i have ever seen .good job on making a less capable car then u started with lol

thanks man, i will have more pics up tommorrow i put a stinger on it, and  its mobile now.

I like the use of the existing link mount for the front mount on your spring in the rear. 

For your front shackle, you might want to move the upper mount back.  You should have around a 35 degree angle going forward.  One of the issues with the way it is now is your down travel is limited.  It also makes it really easy for the shackle to fold backwards and pin itself to the frame if you hit a rock.

I AM MOBILE!!!

Yes i will move the shackle back, as you can see my rear sits about two inches lower. Do you think the angle change will lower my front that much to make it even?

Here are some pics

oh yeah, i also widend the stance of the yota axle by 3".  I moved the spring perches out on each side 1.5"s. Doing this allowed me to still use the stock link mount and then i extended the rear frame with a single peice of square tube that  i welded and bolted to the exisiting rear frame. To that i mounted my shackle hangers and then gusseted those for more strength.

Here are some pics