However I'm trying to figure out if I have a problem or if my expectations were too "low" (literally). I was expecting some rake, especially since I haven't done the front torsion bars yet, but I've got a serious Mystery Machine thing going here. By my measurements, the rear is almost 4" higher than the front!
I'll post a more complete install thread with more pictures into my main build thread, but here are before and afters:
Before front lift:
After body lift:
After rear spring lift: (middle hole on the shackle)
Caveats:
Yes, I know I have the original size tires, so it'll look weird. Yes, my driveway is double-sloped, which contributes to the weirdness, but here's a shot in my buddy's shop (with a flat/level floor) so you can see there's still plenty of rake:
As I said, I'm on the middle shackle hole. Obviously I'll probably have drop it to the top hole. I had planned to turn the stock keys but not install the re-indexed keys after all the talk around here and looking at Tom's nearly identical van on stock keys. I need to take a better measurement on flat ground again, but I think I have at least an extra inch or more in the rear over Tom's van right now. He was kind enough to go measure for me:
He's right that his has probably settled some, but the difference seems bigger than that.I've got 21.5" rear, and 20.25" front. Remember, FWIW, my kit has had over 3 yrs of good fs road "use" on it, to say the least.
FWIW, I knew I'd screwed up the torquing procedure at the shop, so I took it back to a flat parking lot and loosened and re-torqued the shackle and spring-to-shackle bolts just to make sure I hadn't tightened things down with any pre-load on.
So, does this look excessive to anyone else, or is this just a matter of my expectations being a bit off and it looking weird because I haven't done the torsion bars and I have teeny tires on?