Bit of a zombie thread, but Im gonna do it since its open and pinned
So bit of condensed background, Ive got an 83 eagle wagon with a 80 non-disco front axle center section, v8 javelin coil springs, a 93 XJ 4.0, with a 99 XJ AW4, NP242, and Dana 35 rear. Ive raised the front 2" with 1" spring spacers and the rear with blocks.
Anyways Ive never had a problem with the CV joints popping out, in fact my problem is kinda the opposite, they bind up. At the level things are at going down the road, its fine, but if I hit a sizable pothole or go over a railroad crossing, and the front suspension unloads much at all, I can feel the steering wheel shudder badly from the CV axles either bottoming out in their cups, or maxing out their angle, I cant be sure, at 3x wheel speed of course. I am using aftermarket CV axles, and having compared them to OEM ones, they are shorter, but I tried putting an OEM one in, and the problem was actually far worse. With the car jacked up and suspension completely unloaded, I couldnt turn the front wheels at all, even with a breaker bar.
So, since Im taking the front center section out to re-gear it anyway, I thought Id give a shot at lowering it a bit to make the CVs happier. What do you think would be a good amount, 1"? 2"?
Also, does anyone know what part is supposed to limit the downward travel of the front wheels? right now I think its my swaybar hitting the frame horn (pictured). Is it possible that somewhere in my various parts replacing, my front suspension is traveling downward further than it should be?
Or maybe the v8 javelin springs with the 1" spacer is just too much for practical use, and I should just go down to the 1/2" spacer, I dunno, I like how it looks at this height. Could someone else with a 2" lifted eagle that works alright measure the height from the ground to front bumper or something? I never really had a good baseline to go off of for my lift, as the original spring was worn out and snapped.