Another SOA thread...
 

Hi guys,
I`m thinking about doing a SOA swap for a while now...

The reason I wan`t to do this is not for lift reasons, it`s because I hate that spring under axle construction. There`s a lot of clearance missing under the axle, especially because of the springs and shock mounts.

At the moment there are 3" lift shackles in the rear of my car. The springs sagged a bit due the weight, but hey`re not worn out. I actually like the way they feel.

My thoughts are: If I do a SOA swap, there should be a 3-5" lift in the rear. With the weight it should come down to the existing 3" lift I had with the shackles...

There`s one problem I have at the moment, until I can create a plan. I need to know how much lift the mod actually give`s. I found everything from 3-5". 3" would be perfect, but I think 4" would be possible.
So, who did it and has accurate measures?

I don't have a number for you but in theory, I would think the total amount of lift would be equal to the thickness of the axle plus the thickness of the spring pack and shock mount.

Hopefully someone who's done it will post how much lift it gave them

Ok, I`ve taken a few measurements:
The SOA will give me about 5" of lift. My shackles gave me about 3". Due saggy springs I lost around 1". So, If I go back to the Oem shackles, the SOA should give me about 2" more lift than now. So `ll be about 1" higher in the rear, what is fine...

I think I`ll do it... :icon_razz:

If you decide to do it, make sure to make a How-to. I know there's more than a few people interested in a SOA setup (myself included lol). Good Luck!

I think I`ll start in the next days. Should be easy, unbolt the axle, remove the spring perches and weld them on the upper side of the axle tube. Then reinstall it...

Realized today that my leafs are absolutely worn out. This is what the SOA will look like f i`ll do it now:

http://www.abload.de/img/img_7818ce0l.jpg

That`d be ok.

This is what it`ll look like with good springs or the air shocks I`m going to buy:

http://www.abload.de/img/img_7819xdip.jpg

Not ok...

I`m not sure what to do, maybe I can build some lowering shackles?

Oh, do I really have to remove the fuel cell to remove the leafs?

no you don't have to drop anything to take the leafs off, it actually is pretty easy other than brake lines. I'd like to do this too other than there isn't any compensating for the front... darn those torsion bars and only going up so high... you could always find a wreched land rover or something and take the axles off that and put the front and rear on your truck, you could easily get 4-5" with a solid axle swap, I keep leaning closer and closer to doing that

Hmm, the front left bolt is put in from the inside to the outside of the frame rail, looks like I can`t get it out because of the gas tank... :icon_doh:

I`d really like to do a SFA swap, but I can`t get it street legal here in germany...

I don`t like to go with more lift, I just want to have those damn perches under the axle... :icon_hyper:

yea they do limit the ground clearance some, so its pretty much impossible to do a axle swap and pass inspection in germany? I know here in Pennsylvania you just need to have front and rear sway bars and all the correct components as if it were stock to. It seems like you are more than capable to do an axle swap too, to bad Germany is so anal about that kind of stuff

Yeah, I could do that damn swap easily, but no chance to get it street legal... :icon_doh:

Still not sure what to do about the SOA...