Need help SOA

I need to order the parts for my SOA and need to know what hangers are being used? From what I have found the ruff stuff 14bff axel kit will work for our axel but not sure that hagers to get. PLease any help would be awesome. I have a drop off date the first week of Dec to get it installed and need to get this stuff ordered ASAP.

This is the kit right?

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com...t_Code=275-HANG&Category_Code=springshackhang

Sorry for not getting back to your PM, been busy writing term papers.

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/275-HANG.html

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/25-PERCH.html

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/SBRKT-3.html

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/25GM-UPLT.html

I got U bolts at NAPA

Perfect thank you. With those parts listed they have the dana 44 kit 3" axel tube. https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/D44HDSS.html then add the 2.75 hangers.

Kit Includes:

• 2 leaf spring plates for 2.5" springs
• 2 perches for 3" axle tube and 2.5" wide
• 2 shock brackets 1.5" ID
• 4 U-bolts 10"x5/8"x3" and hardware

+ hangers 2.75 ID

• [h=5]Dana 44 HD Rear Axle Simple Swap Kit[/h]	1	$127.50	$127.50
  AvailableOptions: None
  Spring-Hangers: 275-ID	$31.50	$31.50
  SHACKLE-HANGERS: NONE
  Shipping: USPS Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box:	$12.35
  Sales Tax:	$0.00
  [h=5]Total:[/h]	[h=5]$171.35[/h]

How much do U bolts cost... That kit doesn't seem to offer much cost savings unless the 4 U bolts come to cost over $50 for a set from Napa.... Or am I missing something?


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U-bolts are critical. Buy good ones...get them from an off-road source, such as RuffStuff, Barnes, PartsMike, etc. The kit that RuffStuff sells comes with the correct U-bolts, big thick washers, and massive nuts (don't go there). Also, the Dana 44 kit (3" tubes) won't fit the H3's axle tubes. You'll want the 14-bolt (3-3/8" tubes). Measure your tubes to be sure, because you CANNOT force a smaller U-bolt to fit your axle tubes. If you can....its junk. All of the good-quality U-bolts are completely un-bendable, and that's why they make them in 1/8" increments.

2.75" hangers are good.

Ah ok so the 14bff set is what I needed. So or Axel tube is not 3"

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Correct. I believe they are some sort of metric size...closest match I could find was the 3-3/8" for the 14-bolt. Don't get hung-up on the semantics...RuffStuff designs their kits for specific applications. This is great, unless you are like us H3 guys! Our trucks are so weird that they don't fit into any "application", so you sort of have to ignore the name of the kit and focus on the numbers.

Not 3" I measured a while ago and I think it was 82 mm. So the spring perches will need to be ground open, or see if they have the 3 3/8" tube for the hangers too.

Call em up on the phone and they are super helpful

Yep got everything ordered got 3 3/8 for everything. He even said its pretty easy with some grinding to get it to fit perfect not matter if I have to go smaller or bigger. Stuff should be here by the end of the week. Thanks everyone:beer:

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I'm going to have to address the axle-wrap on mine. At first, I blew it off...insisting that the SOA didn't have that much effect on it. But, after a year of driving around...I can tell I need a torque-arm. I think the combination of low gearing and big tires simply over-powers the stock leaf springs. I notice it mostly on steep climbs in low-range...the springs will sometimes get into a repetitive cycle of "store and release" and it makes the vehicle prone to "bucking & bouncing". I've been chillin-out on the aggressive climbs until I get a torque-arm installed.

Regardless...the SOA remains the best bang-4-your buck mod you can do. I will gladly eat the cost of a torque-arm kit to keep the SOA.

is this similar what you are talking about when you say torque-arm 4speedfunk?

Nope that's a control arm google traction bar leaf spring or WFO torque arm

I never had axle wrap issues until I went into 2wd mode when I blew my front diff. Now I can feel it under hard acceleration.

Until then I never had an issue but I have an untuned 3.5 and 4speed has a tuned 3.7 and 5.13s. With the 5.13s it should be a big difference in putting power to the ground.

Bebe may not feel axle wrap with her double cardan shaft because its 2 u joint design can handle the angle when the pinion is rotating upwards while our one u joint binds sooner, along with her spring mod which also probably stiffens it up a bit.

A torque arm (anti-wrap bar, ladder-bar, love-strut, whatever) is basically a single one of those mounted further inboard, next to the driveshaft. It controls the rotation of the housing during acceleration and deceleration. On a off-road truck...the front end of the arm will have a shackle on it. This will allow the rear axle to flex, droop, and compress...but not rotate. The best example I've seen is this one...

[video=youtube;0qfrxsm3iJg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qfrxsm3iJg[/video]

The fabrication is a tad on the hill-billy side...but, you can clearly see the mini-shackle at the front end of it (upside down so its under tension during acceleration). I would say the "before" video is a very bad case of wrap...mine's nowhere near that bad. But you can see how drastic it can be with soft springs. The whole housing rotates upward under power, and this loads the springs with energy. As soon as you back off the throttle (or spin a wheel)...the energy gets released back into the suspension and driveline. The SOA amplifies the rotational force of the housing, as does the lower gears and bigger tires. I'm not saying you'll have this issue but, its something to be aware of. I might do a similar before & after when I get around to fixing mine.

Holy soft leaf springs batman!!!


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