Check it out.

[Newbe]

I just bought this 1971 SWB and am trying to figure out if this suspension is something I need to mess with. The truck was converted from 2 to 4 wd by its previous owner and I am wondering if this suspension setup is sturdy enough to trust. You can see that he took the trailing arms from underneath the axles and mounted them on top instead. I would assume this is where the majority of the lift came from. He also left the factory springs in and put an aftermarket panhard rod in.

My questions are 1. Should I worry about the diff staying centered under the truck with this type of setup? I think leaf springs may be a better option but am not sure

2. Is the pinion angle a problem? It seems to me that the travel in the suspension would compromise the strength of the pinion seal.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

How is your suspension going to travel with shocks like that? Them tubes are long as my......truck lol. Looks like they have 6" of travel and your pinion angle looks to be backwards
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[Newbe]

Yeah....I'm not really sure what the previous owner was going for. The suspension on this is rigid enough to rattle your teeth out. I have never messed with these types of rear suspensions and really don't now where to start. I'm thinking it may be easier to just lose the trailing arms and mount it on leafs. The only problem with that is trying to match the lift with the front end.

[andrewmp6]

I wouldn't drive it like that,The shocks are about bottomed out at right height the panhard bar is wrong and the pinion angle looks to be pointing down.Yeah leaf springs would be a lot easier to have.

[SCOTI]

As far as what others pointed out, it would be easy enough to source other shocks the right length, tweak the Panhard bar to be parallel, & add pinion shims to dial in the pinion. IMO... it's easier to tweak what's there vs. swapping to an entire new set-up.

[Newbe]

Just crawled under and looked a bit closer at the pinion/t-case angles. they aren't as bad as I initially thought. Whoever lifted the truck did a couple things right. The t-case and pinion are perfectly parallel which is a good sign. I haven't measured the angles of the u-joint but I can tell they are well past the optimal. I don't really see there being any way to improve that without completely overhauling it.

I will be changing the shocks though. They are indeed almost fully compressed and that is most definitely NOT helping the ride. I was worried that the rear end wouldn't be rigid enough but after driving it that is not the case.

Is the panhard rod supposed to be exactly parallel with the diff?. If that is the case I will have to move it as well

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Newbe

Is the panhard rod supposed to be exactly parallel with the diff?. If that is the case I will have to move it as well

It should be parallel w/the rear end or as close to it as possible for minimal shift.