Lift blocks for a SIII 109?

[bullstanky]

I put a parabolic spring set on my SIII 109 a while back, the set with the heavy duty 4 leaf rear springs and old man emu shocks. The rear end got a good 2-4 inch lift out of the new springs, but the front didn't, so my truck is angled downward.

Are there lift blocks I can put under the front axle to bring the front end up a bit, or longer shackles? I'm having a whole new front horn welded in, so the sky is the limit--I just want it done right.

[SafeAirOne]

No direct experience with it, but I understand that the military shackles will raise the front end.

[rejeep]

lift blocks dont belong in the front of any application..
and they would only LOWER the front end anyway...

[LaneRover]

You could use lift blocks to lower the backend . . .

But I think I would look into Military shackles.

[jac04]

No direct experience with it, but I understand that the military shackles will raise the front end.

Yes, the military shackles will raise the front end, but they will also rotate the axle, affecting your pinion & caster angles. IIRC, you need a 4 degree pinion shim (wedge-shaped shim) between the axle case & spring on each side to correct this.

You will still need to check front shock length and how close the front propshaft is to the chassis. I installed a set of RN parabolics with Old Man Emu shocks on my Lightweight. The rear sits slightly higher than the front when unloaded. I temporarily installed a set of military front shackles to even things out, but found that I was right at the full extension of the shocks.

[rwollschlager]

.
I'm having a whole new front horn welded in, so the sky is the limit--I just want it done right.

If you want, I assume you could weld in the frame horns from a 1-ton 109 and that would give you some extra lift, when combined with the military shackles that would give you roughly 2 inches, I do not know what that would do for your driveline angles though

[disco2hse]

In this part of the world lift blocks are illegal.

The springs you have used sound very heavy duty. 4" of lift is very substantial and it must affect your centre of gravity. If it were me I would actually look at lowering that rather than raising the front.

Are you carrying heavy loads or towing heavy trailers to warrant those springs?

Just thought, another option is to do a spring-over-axle conversion on the front. You would have to fabricate anti-tramp bars however.

[bullstanky]

Sounds like blocks are a no go.

I think there were blocks installed on the back end originally that were removed when the new springs went on. Should I think about putting a new set on the back to bring it down some?

The military shackles, are they just for the front of the forward springs, causing the need for shims? Where are the shims available?

[I Leak Oil]

Lift blocks = Bad.....especially in the front, but in the back also.

Without the military front frame horn, the military shackles in the front will only give you 1/2" to 1" or so lift. You will need the shims as Jac04 said(the degree may vary depending on the vehicle), and you may need to notch the tranny cross member so the front drive shaft doesn't bottom out on it. I had to do both of these with parabolics and the military shackles on the front.

The new springs will settle a little so you may want to wait until that happens before making any changes to the front.

2-4 inches of lift simply from installing parabolics sounds like a lot. I think most have experienced 1-2 inches. You may want to make sure the bushing aren't loaded.

[rejeep]

ride around with 1000lbs in the rear for a bit.. wont have the problem for long

[rwollschlager]

Without the military front frame horn, the military shackles in the front will only give you 1/2" to 1" or so lift. You will need the shims as Jac04 said(the degree may vary depending on the vehicle), and you may need to notch the tranny cross member so the front drive shaft doesn't bottom out on it. I had to do both of these with parabolics and the military shackles on the front.

I believe you can use the front driveshaft from a discovery 1 which has a narrower diameter so you do not have to notch the crossmember

[I Leak Oil]

Good point Rob. Is it a direct fit or does the length have to be modified?

[slorocco]

When I switched over to parabolics on my serIIa 109 station wagon, I found the 4 leaf rear springs to be too stiff. It sat funny like you described and it didn't articulate well at all without a heavy load in the back.

If you want to keep the heavy rear springs and are replacing the front frame horns anyway, then get the military front frame horns and military shackles. By using both you could raise both ends of the chassis the same distance and may not have to worry about adding a wedge to rotate the axle. With a single ujoint at each end of the driveshaft the goal is to keep the flange at your diff parallel to the flange at the Transfercase. I'm not a fan of spacers or lift blocks.

The parabolics I used were the wise owl parabolics. After talking it over with Ray, I just pulled out one of the leaves in the rear springs and it was much much better.