moving rear axle back 1 inch

Something I haven't really seen mentioned here also is by moving the center point of the spring location on the spring pad you are also creating uneven leverage forces (this part was mentioned) that can cause the spring to ride up on the end of the spring pad as the spring wraps causing extra force between the end of the pad and the housing which can in turn force the housing to flex to the point of cracking and breaking. I've seen this happen many times on these housings. The tube thickness on these housings isn't all that thick and I've seen the housings actually collapse from this. If it were a 14 bolt or something similar with a really thick tube then this isn't really and issue but on something with a thinner tube it is an issue.

I'm not saying it can't, shouldn't, hasn't, etc. been done. Just something to think about.

 

Wouldnt extending(welding and fabbing) the stock perch help these issues??? It wouldnt take much to do it if you have a welder etc...

 

Im thinking that if the U bolts are good and tight, the clamping force is focused between the flat perch bottom and the area of the flat spring plate with the spring tightly sandwiched between them. So if the sping center bolt is in this clamped area, it should be fine as the spring should not ride up or flex away from any area that is covered by both the perch and spring plate. Yes, the spring plate is longer then the perch and upward flex or wrap would start past the perch. It really shouldn't be an issue if it is only an inch and clamped tight......am I wrong?

 

The key here is probably good quality u-bolts that are tight with good spring plates that won't start to give up over time and basically loosen the bolts by bending the spring plate slightly. Several of the aftermarket sites are recommending 5/8 u-bolts with gusseted 3/8 spring plates. These are probably aimed at the rockcrawling crowd, but noy a bad idea for big horsepower torque monsters also. Its always a jigsaw puzzle as the rear mounted gas tank may be of more concern clearance wise. As I mostly build flatties I don/t have to worry about that.