~50 inch front springs

[obijuan]

in an effort to not drill a big hole in the frame and get a better front shackle angle, can i:

take say a nice 8 or 10 inch front spring and remove some leafs to bring it to around 6?

they have a longer main leaf so i figure if theyre just a little flatter it would help out my shackle angle and not have to worry much about shimming and DW.

it looks like the spring eye will be very close to the frame but i dont think it would touch if i replace the hangar bushing. im no suspension scientist but i think it will work. what do yall think?

this is with a "6inch" spring believed to be procomp.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

Removing leaves will lower your ride height and won't change the length of the springs much at all.

Moving the rear shackle hanger is pretty easy and doesn't compromise the frame IMO. Its one upgrade that many more people should do.

And you should make or buy some better shackles and go to a 1/2" bolt, the stock stuff breaks pretty easily.

 

[carpeonnel]

I was wondering the same thing. I need to de-lift my 89 and was thinking about taking a leaf out of the 8" superlifts

 

[carpeonnel]

which leaf are you thinking about taking out? I ask cuz I'm debating which leaf to remove on mine. Mine's got five leafs and I figure I need to remove the middle one or the second longest

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

I was wondering the same thing. I need to de-lift my 89 and was thinking about taking a leaf out of the 8" superlifts

Removing leaves will lower the ride height, no question. It can create other problems, such as more axle wrap and instability. You will probably be fine removing a leaf or two.

 

[carpeonnel]

well mine has the 5 leafs with the bottom 1 only being about 14in long. Was just gonna remove it, but I don't think it'll make much difference. Which leaf would be the best to remove?

Also I have some stronger diy4x shackles now on the front of my K5 but swapped the bolts out for some new grade 8s. I don't know what the stock grade is on chev bolts, but those have to be stronger don't they (eventhough they are only the stock 7/16 size)

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

well mine has the 5 leafs with the bottom 1 only being about 14in long. Was just gonna remove it, but I don't think it'll make much difference. Which leaf would be the best to remove?

Removing longer leaves will affect the ride height more, how much are you looking to drop it?

Also I have some stronger diy4x shackles now on the front of my K5 but swapped the bolts out for some new grade 8s. I don't know what the stock grade is on chev bolts, but those have to be stronger don't they (eventhough they are only the stock 7/16 size)

Chevy used grade 8 stuff quite often actually, especially in applications like shackle bolts.

1/2" bolts are 70% stronger in shear than 7/16" bolts, I've seen several 7/16" grade 8 bolts shear on K5's. Grade 8 doesn't mean indestructible, size has more to do with it than anything.

 

[carpeonnel]

well I wanna drop it around 2-3in. I always wondered why chevy put those 7/16 bolts on the rear of the front suspension. I've always been worried about those 7/16 botls, might have to seen about getting some new bushings and replacing them