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52's in the front. *look at my alignment and tell me what you think*

85 Jimmy

85 Jimmy

Sheepdog
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How do you have it setup and do you feel comfortable driving on the road with them?

I just took my blazer for a drive and it feels very unstable at lower speeds, like under 25mph. It gets better after around 30mph though, but still doesn't feel to safe.

I have 52's on the front with Kerts B52 brackets and 6" shackles. The brackets are in the front position and the front spring eye is in the far foward hole in the brackets. I haven't mounted my shocks, and I haven't aligned it, but I plan to drive it to work some time in the next week or 2 to do the alignment. I also don't have a front sway bar.

I guess I should tell yall what I'm experiencing. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like the front end wanders all over the road. The body roll isn't bad, it just feels like the front end is floating around. I checked every nut and bolt on the front end and everything is tight.

If I can't fix it with the 52's I guess I'll just go back to the old lift springs. When I get serious into wheeling again (not that I was serious to begin with... haha. and no legal places close to me) then I'll just go 3 link front...
 
get your shocks on, then see how it feels. I don't run 52" but I'd bet that'll make all the difference in the world.
 
Soft front springs are not very stable laterally, add in longer shackles and it just gets worse. Those 52's were never designed for the kind of side loads a front diff sees and can generate through the steering. A panhard or track bar is the only way to really fix the issue.
 
Shocks on and report back! Without shocks I could certainly see it feeling very weird
 
Without shocks it'll be all over the road. I took mine for a short drive without the shocks when I first did my 52's and it sucked. After I installed the shocks, I've been to 60-65 for 10-15 miles at a time and it felt fine. I do have hydro assist, but don't know if that effects the street manors or not.
 
ChrisPerry said:
Without shocks it'll be all over the road. I took mine for a short drive without the shocks when I first did my 52's and it sucked. After I installed the shocks, I've been to 60-65 for 10-15 miles at a time and it felt fine. I do have hydro assist, but don't know if that effects the street manors or not.
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I have hydro assist, but it's not on yet. with the axle moved forward will I be able to put the shocks in the stock locations on the Dana 60 and frame? I haven't really looked. I have ford shock towers, but haven't installed them and also need to measure for new shocks. I have the old ones I could throw on just to see, if they'll fit.
 
85 Jimmy said:
I have hydro assist, but it's not on yet. with the axle moved forward will I be able to put the shocks in the stock locations on the Dana 60 and frame? I haven't really looked. I have ford shock towers, but haven't installed them and also need to measure for new shocks. I have the old ones I could throw on just to see, if they'll fit.
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Yes, you can mount the shocks in the stock position. They won't fit perfect, but they fit. They will limit the travel the 52's are capable of, but for driving on the street they will work. Just make sure they have at least 3" travel up and down when mounted.
 
ChrisPerry said:
Yes, you can mount the shocks in the stock position. They won't fit perfect, but they fit. They will limit the travel the 52's are capable of, but for driving on the street they will work. Just make sure they have at least 3" travel up and down when mounted.
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The only thing I'll be doing with the truck until I move is drive it probably. But I can't leave it alone, I'm addicted to changing stuff that worked perfectly fine
 
I ran BlazerBash last year with 52's in the front and shocks in the stock location it even did pretty good on the RTI ramp.......clicky

:whistle:


video
 
Have the same 52", 6" shackle, 60 moved 1" forward of stock, stock shock mounts. Truck drives fine on the road.

Bind it up some and have someone saw the steering wheel. Watch for panning of the axle relative to the frame. The vertical shackle angle you have with the axle forward will put some more leverage on your shackle bushings. My truck drove OK with 17" wide 40s and crossover with 52s, but I had new urethane bushings. Adding hydro assist reduced panning a TON, and like I said, the truck drives great on the road. Just as good if not better than it did on stiff 46" springs.
 
Well, I put the shocks on in the stock location, but I probably won't get it back on the road till Friday when I hopefully drive it to work to do the alignment. Right now I need to re-register it and put insurance on it. After I do the alignment I'll put the assist on. Hopefully I don't run into issues running the assist and hydraboost...
 
owenst7 said:
Have the same 52", 6" shackle, 60 moved 1" forward of stock, stock shock mounts. Truck drives fine on the road.

Bind it up some and have someone saw the steering wheel. Watch for panning of the axle relative to the frame. The vertical shackle angle you have with the axle forward will put some more leverage on your shackle bushings. My truck drove OK with 17" wide 40s and crossover with 52s, but I had new urethane bushings. Adding hydro assist reduced panning a TON, and like I said, the truck drives great on the road. Just as good if not better than it did on stiff 46" springs.
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I also have all new poly bushings, the engine and trans, all suspension, and body mounts.
 
I am about to install a track bar in the front of my truck to improve the handling myself... My front axle moves around side to side a considerable amount which makes the truck feel very loose in the front end.
 
Take a look at this and tell me what you think. I did my alignment today at work and it drives good, but still has death wobble. Is it because of my camber/caster? When I first racked it up the toe was WAY out and I had to adjust it before I could even look at camber or caster.

The death wobble now isn't as bad as it was, and it's harder to get it to do it, but it will still do it during everyday driving. And now the front end doesn't wonder as bad, and if it wouldn't death wobble it would be a decent driver. I plan to cover the DW up with hydraulic assist, but I still want to know how it should be fixed.

alignment.jpg
 
I could be wrong but I think the castor is still low, do you know what the spec is? I was thinking is is around 8°.
 
nvrenuf said:
I could be wrong but I think the castor is still low, do you know what the spec is? I was thinking is is around 8°.
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Spec is between 7.5* and 8.5*. I can't change that unless I get even shorter shackles (I have 6" ones in now) or a degree shim, right?
 
Yeah, those are pretty much your only choices.

I'm not sure how much room you have to work with but could you put some stock shackles on it and test drive it? You know, just to see if it gets better.
 
I might be able to run the stock shackles if I move the rear shackle mount back to the stock location... Now that's it's moved forward I'm pretty sure the stock ones aren't going to happen.
 
waybad1 said:
I assume you have a steering stabilizer?
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No, but when I do some work to my power steering reservoir I'll be running hydraulic assist. Right now I don't think The stock one will hold enough fluid for the ram, gearbox, and hydroboost
 
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