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Ok time for status. The shocks arrived yesterday, and the springs arrived this afternoon. I put the springs on without tightening any bolts. I took pictures with my floor jack compressing the springs resting on the perches. The angles look pretty good without any shims. Question, should I put the traction bars/snubbers back? Plates are in transit from PMF. Have to get U bolts. The floor jack is compressing the springs. Notice the pinion/drive shaft angle. The floor jack has the springs compressed fully onto the perches. Forgot to remove that Tag! That angle looks pretty good. Ok, I know it's not sitting on the ground but this is encouraging. The springs aren't quite where they're going to be when fully loaded.
So how should the rear shims be installed? Tall side forward or to the back?
BIgBlue I think we'd better wait for Camo to come along to answer that one. I'm pretty sure it will depend on what angle you need, up or down. In my case I have a double cardan at the transfer case, and from what I have read my pinion is supposed to point up and be in line with the drive shaft.
exactly, I depends on what type of drive shaft you have.
1. single joint at each end
or
2. CV or Double Cardan
My findings are with the 22415 spring and no block a 2* shim rotating the pinion DOWN or the fat part of the shim towards the front of the vehicle is the setup.
I have not personally taken measurements on a Ex with a CV and 22415 so I do not have an answer from experience but I can see in the OPs pics the pinion will need to be rolled UP or the fat part of the wedge towards the rear of the vehicle. (. from eyeballing the stock block I will GUESS it is in the neighborhood of 4* )
. Question, should I put the traction bars/snubbers back? .
during product development Ford found that the Ex had some axle wrap issues during operation in 4 low , to remedy that ( with a bandaid ) they installed the anti_wrap leaf and rubber snubber.
by removing the block it considerable cuts down on axle wrap and I have not seen the need for it running the 22415 spring with out a block.
Ok status time. The short version, wheels on the ground, road test up to 70mph with no vibration. Measurements front 27" rear 27". No blocks, no shims. Firm but supple ride with roll bar detached. Tomorrow everything gets retorqued. Here's some pictures: Still need to attach air bags to the spring plates. Just need to drill a hole and bolt them down. The PMF spring plates get rid of the Rube Golberg attachments. A very elegant solution. Less than 1* working angle between pinion flange and drive shaft. Output flange angle equals pinion flange. The Double cardan is the hero here. The double cardan and slip joint are the keys to making this work.
before you bolt the bottom of the air bag to the plate make sure the air bag is long enough to reach at full droop or it can tear when or if it is put on a lift.
if it is not long enough consider a using a Daystar cradle on the bottom.
before you bolt the bottom of the air bag to the plate make sure the air bag is long enough to reach at full droop or it can tear when or if it is put on a lift.
if it is not long enough consider a using a Daystar cradle on the bottom.
Thanks for all your great advice. I got the courage to do this upgrade after reading all of your other postings and detailed explanations. The air bags are definitely not long enough. I think I can source the spacers here locally. If not there's always Amazon. Now if I can convince my wife to let me get the Ex a fresh coat of paint, but that's for another post.
I forgot to talk about the stabilizer bar. The Ex definitely handles off camber approaches way better without it. All that rocking is gone. Disconnecting it allows the rear suspension to flex. I did some zig-zags(ok not that kind) at about 50mph and it handled as well could be expected for a 21/2 ton vehicle. However all my tow vehicles have been equipped with a stabilizer bar. Maybe I'll leave it on and only connect it when towing.
I forgot to talk about the stabilizer bar. The Ex definitely handles off camber approaches way better without it. All that rocking is gone. Disconnecting it allows the rear suspension to flex. I did some zig-zags(ok not that kind) at about 50mph and it handled as well could be expected for a 21/2 ton vehicle. However all my tow vehicles have been equipped with a stabilizer bar. Maybe I'll leave it on and only connect it when towing.
What kind of rocking were you getting with the rear sway bar?
