Scout II SOA & R/S in 24 Hours

[ihojeff]

Yes you read that right. A complete spring over axle conversion and reverse shackle set-up was installed on one of my best buddies Scout II in roughly 24 hours this last Saturday. This lift normally takes either Darren or myself roughly 70 hours to perform from start to finish but with highly skilled and experienced guys like Darren, Chad, Mike, and myself all working together with no interruptions we managed to make it happen in roughly one day. Because of the fast pace not too many pictures were taken but from time to time I was able to stop to take in the moment.

To make the wrench-a-thon go as smoothly and quickly as possible we did have the front axle ready to go which was the old front axle from PD's build. The knuckles on the axle were already turned and a basic hysteer kit already installed. Mike and I the week before disassembled the front axle for inspection and regeared it to 4.10 to match the rear axle thats already in Mike's Scout. With the ARB thats in this front axle and Detroit locker thats already in the rear Mike should be able to take his Scout just about anywhere.

So we begin with a before shot of the Scout with Mike. Notice the height at which the hood is to his shoulder.



And more before shots. The Scout at the time was running small 28.5" tires with stock springs and mild shackle lift.

[ihojeff]

With the Scout pulled into the shop disassembly began. We started the tear down Friday at 5:30 pm and by 7:00 pm the Scout was all stripped.

[ihojeff]

The following morning we started work at 8:00 am. We started with the rear suspension first. I started drilling for the rear swaybar and prepping the bumpstop mounts while Darren followed behind me welding everything up. Chad prepped all the leaf springs with new bushings while Mike cleaned and painted all the parts.







A little after 11:00 and were crusing along. Rear axle is in with only the perch's needing welding.







By noon the rear suspension was done.

[ihojeff]

All the front suspension brackets were ground off and the frame sanded down smooth.



The reverse shackle fangs were tacked into place, springs bolted in, and axle hung.



Darren starts the long task of welding everything together.



Chad stands by in case of fire.











Mike doing some final painting.



Not sure what both Chad and Mike were doing but I thought this picture would look cool.

[Michael Mayben]

I showed that position on tha rollastool ta Chad...that's my patented process for takin' a nap and gittin' paid. Obviously he trained Mike in that skill set too. But dammit...I DIDN't give 'em a license to spread tha deal arount!

So has Mike got that "IH ONLY NORTH .COM" wrap ready to drape over tha rig yet???

Nice work kidz! So now there's no way in hail ya kin sell 70 labor hours for that kinda doodads in the future! If y'all had laid outta tha brewsupply, prolly coulda dun it in under 20??

Tell Mike we got HIM a spot saved at tha Bee too!

[ihojeff]

By 7:00 pm we DROVE the Scout out of the shop. I happened to have a suitable temporary driveshaft in the driveline pile that could safely take Mike back and forth to work until the new rear CV driveshaft and long travel front driveshaft show up. We also installed a Borgeson steering kit since the old rag joint needed replacing.











With the new lift and 35" tires Mike's shoulder is now dead even with the hood.



and last pics on Monday when Mike showed up with his new tires and wheels.

[ihojeff]

Originally Posted by Michael Mayben

I showed that position on tha rollastool ta Chad...that's my patented process for takin' a nap and gittin' paid. Obviously he trained Mike in that skill set too. But dammit...I DIDN't give 'em a license to spread tha deal arount!

So has Mike got that "IH ONLY NORTH .COM" wrap ready to drape over tha rig yet???

Nice work kidz! So now there's no way in hail ya kin sell 70 labor hours for that kinda doodads in the future! If y'all had laid outta tha brewsupply, prolly coulda dun it in under 20??

Tell Mike we got HIM a spot saved at tha Bee too!

Us wrench's know even a better way to rest which is slide under the rig under a creeper and pretend your working.

Full wrap coming soon from what I'm told. And we hope to drag Mike up with us to the Bee.

And it still will not be a problem selling these kits at 65-70 hours. If you add up all our hours for this build the total equals 62 hours(12 hours for the typical time spent building the front axle, 4 of us at 1.5 hours each on Friday evening and 4 of us at 11 hours each for 44 hours on Saturday). Keep in mind we still have a few loose ends to finish such as setting the toe, bolting in new CV yokes on the transfer case and new shafts, and bumpstop mounts that we neglected to weld on to the rear ubolt plates. Add in a few more hours for these loose ends and you end up with 65.

[ihochad]

I might add that I was not resting; there was NO time for that. Man was I sore on Sunday!! Overall a great way to spend a Saturday, helping one of my best buds out getting something done that has been on the books for 10 years now! Not to mention I intend on having the "crew" spend a hardcore day on mine here pretty quick. Definitely learned that 4 guys with some knowledge can hammer out some serious work in a hurry and not sacrifice quality.

[69scout]

nice work. I say put the chrome back on. that thing is SHARP...good job fellas.

[StoutScout]

are those the factory springs?

[ihojeff]

Yes with the exception of the rears which had one additional stock leaf added to it.

[ihochad]

Originally Posted by ihojeff

Yes with the exception of the rears which had one additional stock leaf added to it.

Also this was a XLC Scout so it had the factory "Overload" spring on it, I took that out when I put this leaf pack together.