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63" rear spring swap complete.

Zeus33rd

Zeus33rd

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A buddy and I just finished up the 63" spring swap for my truck yesterday. Took a full day to finish up. Went fairly well. The hardest part of the project was grinding and pounding out all the rivets. And that wasn't really hard, just time consuming and miserable. The only thing I'm not really happy with is the shackle angle, alittle too steep I think. Shackle is 6.5" center to center. Thats easy enough to change though. After some testing of course... Might not even mess with it. The wheelbase ended up exactly where it was before the swap at 108". I'm prolly gonna go for another 1.5-2" or so with new redrilled and turned spring perches. On to the pictures-
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I still have some work to do on the booty fabbed shackle mount, gotta "un-booty" it and make it look good. Other than that it's done. :)
 
Kid jethro that is almost the same shackle angle I had a week ago when I started my swap. I then made some chances and now I have about 65* angle. In the pics I posted on wed or thurs my flex was maxed out b/c my shckle hit the frame from such a small angle. If that works for you let me know. The swap looks good.
 
CyberSniper said:
Haven't you cut up a bunch of trucks like me? I always save the front hangers off pickups (different offset than K5s). I find it a lot easier to remove front hangers and use them in the rear than ghettofab stock rear ones. That way they look a little less rednecked.
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Hmmm, I like that idea. I've been bouncing different ideas around in my head for how to un redneck it with parts I already have. The best way would be to just get some ORD/DYI etc flip brackets, but like I said I want to do it with oem stuff if I can. I haven't cut any trucks up in aloooong time so I don't have any of those brackets, I can get some easy enough though. Or I could just build my own. It was just after 12am when I finished this up, long day and did NOT feel like trying to build some nice looking brackets. No worries though, it'll be taken care of. :)
 
yo buddy keep a eye on the spring ends. in your last pic the eye is spreading out. this is a comon problem with stock springs. thay will break when thay get about 1/2 more of what you have now. sorry for the bad info just keep a eye on them. the factory that made them all for gm rolled the eye to tight for the bussings and thay spread like this. i have changed a lot over the years.
 
Cleaned up the rear hanger yesterday. Went to the junk yard with my generator, grinders, and hammer/punch to get the front hangers from the rear of a '77 1/2 ton 4wd. I still need to add the gusset to the back side of the hanger, looks alot better now though. :D
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How much more/less lift does this swap give you after all the brackets are done and its all bolted back together? IM considering doing this swap since i have a lead on some pretty cheap stock 63s and was wondering if i will have to throw an AAL in or anything to get it to be the same height as the stock 52s. Thanks.
 
I like your set up and your shackle angle is good. I run about the same in my rear. I just think it would be a good idea to run a gusset from the hanger to the bottom of the frame, something like the factory one in the rear. BTW...nice welds....very nice welds...daddy likey :D
 
Redneckdude- I set it up so it gave about the same lift as a shackle flip= about 4-5". Depends on where you weld the rear shackle to the frame and the length of the shackles.

79chevyk10- I added gussets shortly after the pictures were taken. And thanks for the good words on the welds. :D


I also built a trackion/ladder bar to deal with the crazy axle wrap that happens from these springs. It's modeled after the Sams Off-road bar. I'll have pictures of it up prolly within a few days. :)
 
3rdshiftdesign said:
any specific reason you welded the hanger brackets on? I prefer things to be unboltable- for whatever reasons. just curious...
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They are riveted from the factory... A rivet is almost as permenant as a weld. And it's quicker/easier to weld them on. :)
 
I have a nice stock of grade 8 bolts so i guess that is one reason to bolt them on for me. I also have a body on my truck, so cutting off welds underneath isn't too much fun.
 
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