OldIHC

DennyC wrote:So you made me look at my S120 4x4. On mine, as the parts book shows, the pivot is at the front and shackles at the rear of the front springs. At rest the shackle is canted back a little. As a rough visual, the rear eye of the spring is about 3/4" behind the pivot of the frame mount. I also have what looks like very little distance for the front drive shaft to compress and no splines showing.

With that said, I don't think it is a problem. For one thing, after removing and replacing driveshafts, it becomes apparent there is much more travel than the amount of splines showing. They really will compress just about to the shoulders. I also laid on the creeper and studied the geometry and tried to visualize the amount of potential rearward movement of the axle. It is a relatively long front drive shaft and in stock configuration it is not at a very steep angle from horizontal. The other part of it is how much front axle travel can you reasonably expect. typically static load does not vary on the front as much as it does in the rear, unless you are posing a football team sitting on the front fenders. Dynamic load can occur from bumps or potholes, but if you are not 4wd racing it or doing jumps you will probably never see full vertical travel of the front axle.

In short, I think you are looking for a problem that doesn't exist. However if you have modified suspension or any kind of non-stock lift - which it doesn't appear you do from your pictures, ignore everything I just said.

If you are still concerned, I would be happy to compare some photos and/or dimensions with mine to see if they are similar or whose is the most worn.