Spent so much time thinking about this front suspension I ignored the obvious and easiest solution. I did not want to use such long 8" shackles because I thought they'd be unstable but a shorter shackle would mean a spring that couldn't extend all the way if I kept my mounts where they were (already welded the tubes in 75%). I got some scraps and mounted the front hanger 1" forward and had better results for a mockup. 7" shackles let the spring extend all the way so that is going to be my plan. Please ignore the 94 ford explorer water pump pulley tool my brother made that was the only scrap I had long enough.





Beefed up front spring hanger a bit more.


Cut out the old steering box section to prepare for a new one.


Since I am moving my hanger forward 1" I had to build some way to attach it-- rather than hacking something I just re built the front of the frame with longer pieces.






My method for plating and sleeving the frame for the box was to build the mount first then slide it into the frame already welded and assembled. This eliminates any inaccuracy of trying to line up drilled holes and sleeves. I drilled the holes in the 1/4" plate to 1/2" and did teh same to the steering box itself. For sleeves I used 1/2" black pipe cut in 2" sections. I don't understand black pipe measurements, no measurements on these are 1/2".




[img]http://berisford.net/uploads/cpom/projectpup/21/12.jpg[/img]