New Trooper Member!!!

[AZTrooper]

Does flipping the ball joint just give me more extension, or does it also help with a little correction of alignment? I'm just thinking out loud. I love the fact that I can ask questions on here and not get persecuted by someone because they think my questions are self-explicable. I've been a member in other forums where you get some people that are helpful, but, every now and then you get someone who thinks they know it all.

Ok, I'm off my soap-box.

I wonder, if I want to try to get the axle down as far as possible to get the spring out, will I have to disconnect the sway bar too.

 

[kevin]

You will have to diconnect the shocks to get enough extension from the axle to remove the springs. The shock acts as a limiting factor for axle drop. When I did mine I raised the frame until the axle was off the ground, the placed a jack between the axle and the frame to force the axle down a little further. It did not take much, one or two pumps of the jack was enough to unload the spring. I did not have to remove the sway bar. You will be impressed with the improvement. The OME lift is the best improvement to date on my Trooper. Good luck with the springs!

 

[datrupr]

Thanks for answering that question Kevin, I did not know if the sway bar needed to be removed or not. I did know that the shocks needed to be disconnected. When you crank the torsion bars you will actually lose quite a bit of articulation in your front suspension, flipping the ball joints will give you this lost articulation back plus some. When you crank your t-bars this is a highly recommended process, and will not take much more time and cost much more $$. If you are really strapped for cash you can re-use your old ball joints, but this is not recommended.

 

[AZTrooper]

:littlefriend: I'm about to lose my mind!!!! Last night I tried again to put in the OME springs. I disconnected the shocks and then took off the passenger rear tire. I took the tire off so that I didn't have to lift the trooper up to far to get the axle to drop enough to get the old spring out. The only other limiting factor to getting the axle to drop any further is the brake line. The brake line was so tight it looked like it was about to rip out. I thought about using a jack to seperate the axle from the chassis, but not with the brake line so tight. I got the old spring out with little compression from the strut compressors that I was using. The problem came when I was trying to put the OME spring in. The new spring is so stiff and huge that I could not for the life of me get it to compress enough to install. Here's a picture of the old and new springs together.

I'm about to just take it to the local spring shop and have them do it. It would take them 10 minutes to take the old springs out and put the new springs in.

AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!

 

[AZTrooper]

Anyone in AZ feel like lending me a hand?

 

[bigreen505]

I think everyone in AZ is at the Expedition Trophy Challenge. Try again next week.

 

[jeff@work]

did you take both tires off and both shocks off? That's how i did my rear springs...took both shocks off...had both tires off and the trooper supported by the frame with jack stands....then i lowered the axle with the jack and the old springs practically fell out, then i just slid the new ones in...didn't need the spring compressors at all.

I don't remember my rear brake line being so tight...if yours is that tight with the factory springs that sounds like something is wrong...anychance it's hung up on something? Is there a brake line bracket you can disconnect while doing the lift to give you some more length?

 

[AZ_Husker]

Ditto what Jeff said. I did this 4 weeks ago on my '93.

1. Open cold beer of your liking.
2. Take large gulp and stare lovingly at truck:drool: .
3. Chock your front wheels.
4. Loosen rear wheel lug nuts.
5. Jack truck up with jack positioned under rear differential.
6. Jack truck up till your rear tires are about 3-4 inches off ground.
7. Put jack stands under frame of truck. I found a spot near the forward mounts of the rear control arms. Make sure the jack won't interfere with the travel of the control arms. BTW, my jack stands were fully extended and had 2x4's underneath for additional height.
8. Lower truck onto jack stands and re-tighten jack.
9. Remove rear wheels.
10. Remove shocks and place in garbage. (My upper shock mounts were not easy. I had to interlock two combination wrenches, use my buddy's leg to push, and use carefully selected choice words , in order to break the bolt free.)
11. Go to your jack and lower rear axle till your springs are loose and ready to fall out. Then lower a couple inches more so your OME's will fit.
12. Place OME springs with flat end on top. You'll see a recessed area on the axle where the coil end should be positioned.
13. Slowly jack up axle while making sure the coils are properly seated.
14. Bolt in new shocks
15. Put wheels back on.
16. Jack truck up and remove jack stands.
17. Lower truck.
18. Test drive.
19. If truck is still in one piece, repeat steps #1 and 2 until out of beer or fall asleep.

 

[AZTrooper]

Thanks Jeff and AZHusker.

What I did was jack it up on the passenger rear side. I put a floor jack right in front of the rear control arm on the chassis. I did take off the tire. I then used the floor jack to let the axle fall as far as it would go. When it got to the point where it would fall anymore, that was when I noticed the brake line being very taught. Perhaps I will give it one more try on my own the way you guys said it. Maybe if I jack up the entire rear end, use jack stands on chassis, and then take the tires off and let the axle down with the floor jack, maybe the brake lines won't hold it up. I'll give it a shot. It would definately save me $100.

I talked to my wife this weekend about Expeditions West and the events that you all do. She seemed excited and wanted to know more. Maybe I can start coming along on these trips.

We went down to Phoenix this weekend to hit the state fair. We were there on Saturday night. Yesterday(Sunday), I saw a blue trooper with what loooked like black wheels, roof rack, and a white Calmini sticker on the back window, who does this belong to?

 

[AZTrooper]

Also, who distributes Superwinch hubs?

 

[kevin]

I had to compress the spring only a little bit to get it to fit. How much taller is the spring than the available room you have between the spring mounts? The OME springs are progressive rate, meaning one end of the spring is much harder to compress than the other. Make sure you are compressing the correct side, the "soft" side.

 

[AZ_Husker]

AZTrooper,

Summit Racing Equipment sells the Superwinch hubs and offers good, fast service. I think they are about $85 from them.

 

[bigreen505]

:iagree: Summit is the cheapest by far.

 

[AZTrooper]

Ditto what Jeff said. I did this 4 weeks ago on my '93.

1. Open cold beer of your liking.
2. Take large gulp and stare lovingly at truck:drool: .
3. Chock your front wheels.
4. Loosen rear wheel lug nuts.
5. Jack truck up with jack positioned under rear differential.
6. Jack truck up till your rear tires are about 3-4 inches off ground.
7. Put jack stands under frame of truck. I found a spot near the forward mounts of the rear control arms. Make sure the jack won't interfere with the travel of the control arms. BTW, my jack stands were fully extended and had 2x4's underneath for additional height.
8. Lower truck onto jack stands and re-tighten jack.
9. Remove rear wheels.
10. Remove shocks and place in garbage. (My upper shock mounts were not easy. I had to interlock two combination wrenches, use my buddy's leg to push, and use carefully selected choice words , in order to break the bolt free.)
11. Go to your jack and lower rear axle till your springs are loose and ready to fall out. Then lower a couple inches more so your OME's will fit.
12. Place OME springs with flat end on top. You'll see a recessed area on the axle where the coil end should be positioned.
13. Slowly jack up axle while making sure the coils are properly seated.
14. Bolt in new shocks
15. Put wheels back on.
16. Jack truck up and remove jack stands.
17. Lower truck.
18. Test drive.
19. If truck is still in one piece, repeat steps #1 and 2 until out of beer or fall asleep.

I'm gonna do exactly this tonight. This will be my third try. If it doesn't work then I'll be taking my troop to my buddy over at American Spring. Wish me luck fellas!!!!

 

[AZTrooper]

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!! I did exactly as AZ_Husker said. Beer included!! I got about 2" of lift. I love how it rides. I didn't do the ball joint flip cuz I don't have the ball joints yet. I'll just wait until I do that flip to get it all aligned.

Here is a before and after picture. The lighting is a little different, but I notice.
BEFORE:

AFTER: