Axle Relocation

    When we installed a set of 2.5" Jeep YJ lift springs in the front of Trevor's 85 Toyota, the center pin for that springs pack moved the axle towards the rear of the truck 1/2" from stock.  This was not acceptable, and the axle needed to be moved forward at least 1".

    After considering several options, we decided to try  re-drilling the spring perches on the axle.  If you look at the driver's side perch on Toyota axles, you will see three holes on the top.  The center hole is where the center pin for the spring is supposed to go, but the rear hole just behind that one can be put to good use to move a Toyota axle forward slightly.

    From the measurements we took,  by locating the center pin of the spring in the rear most hole you have moved the axle forward approximately 1 3/8".  Since the YJ springs moved the axle towards the back of the truck, moving the axle with these perch holes meant we ended up roughly moving the axle forward just under 1".

    The driver's side perch will work without any modifications, but the passenger side perch needs to have a corresponding hole drilled into it.

    Drilling into the passenger side perch was pretty simple.  After drilling a pilot hole to get started, the drilled out a hole slightly larger than the center pin head.

    Once the hole was drilled, we also had to drill holes into the bumpstops to allow room for the nut on the top side of the center pin to have room.  Once this was taken care of, the U bolts and plates were bolted back on and everything checked for being lined up.

    Trevor still runs the stock steering using an aftermarket drop "S" drag link.  We found that there was enough adjustment in this drag link to account for the axle moving forward 1".

    We had first taken a testing run with the YJ springs and the axle not moved forward and found that his 35" Thornbirds were really getting into the rear part of the front fenders on compression.  After moving the axle forward with no other changes, we found that the Thornbirds were still getting close, but with his shock bottoming out they were no longer coming in contact with the fender seam.