1. I had some vibrations due to the wrong pinion angle caused by lift
2. My soft,worn out steel springs along with the 2" axle blocks allowed for major axle wrap causing tires to dig into lip of fender well.
I tried to fix by first adding a leaf from the front of a K5 blazer...stiffened up some, but still major axle wrap.
I then tried to remove the front spring hangers, flip them backwards which moved axle back ( the hangers are drill offset from factory). That helped, but then my driveshaft move too far out of tranny causing vibrations and destruction of tailshaft bushing.
To fix vibration, I then removed blocks and cut about 1/4" inch off one side forming angle. This did help greatly on reducing my vibration from the wrong pinion angle on my driveshaft. I also removed the rubber isolators ( thanks Dean!) between blocks, axle, and springs, this help remove some axle wrap, but......Still not happy with it.
Here's what I started with, cheapo 2" block from the local parts store, notice how it has turned on me, not safe and casues excessive movement.
I took a page from Peter's book and came up with something I hope to be a permanent fix, his traction bars can be seen....
http://www.astrosafari.com/cgi-bin/ikon ... ction+bars
SSOOOOO, here we go.....
My idea was to do something very similar to Peter's, but since I was using 2" blocks and also had 2" tube, well, why not make them 1 in the same.
The first few pics are just of the materials I used. I had some lengths of 2", .250" wall tubing I used for trailer hitches. I cut them so the snubber would hit right behind the spring eye. I also drilled large hole for the spring center pin, hole in bottom to bolt on 4* shims ( local 4x4 shop), and two holes in the sides for my "jack bolts". I also cut an angle on front and drill holes for my snubbers ( leftover bumpstops from my camaro)
Next you will see how they fit with no weight on springs, they hang quite a bit, but that's just getting them bolted in.
You can kind of see in the last pic the small bolt/nut right by the front ubolt. Those are my jack bolts. I kind of missed the placement, but I put them in so I could screw them out against the spring cap, then tighten the nut, and hopefully keep the bar from twisting.
The last pics are of the bars with full weight on them.
So far in the short drives I've done, they seem to cure my problems. The slight vibration I still had on acceleration seems to be gone too, probably still some pinion issues due to the axle twisting with the blocks. The ride is most definitely a little stiffer, but most notably the rear feels so much tighter. I also hammered on it and no grinding of the tires, just get and go....I think new tires will be in order soon
Hopefully this will also cure my axle wrap when pulling heavier trailers, I have major issues with the tires grinding when I do tow any considerable weight. I do possibly anticpate a couple problems though that I will see how it rides in the next few weeks....
1. Possible too stiff a ride due to the bump stops being too close to springs.
Soution...cut some off with my cut off blade/angle grinder
2. The bar may turn on me side to side even though I am using my jack bolts.
Solution.... either bolt/weld on some square shaped ubolts which will then go up over the top of the springs and then bolt together with a plate across springs. Most over the counter traction bars have this setup so I may need to go that way, I'll just have to see.
So there we go, any questions just ask. I will hope to report back in a few weeks on how they perform.
