andyblack
Registered Loser
You're doing the right thing. Ditching that stiff, thick add-a-leaf and replacing it with the zero-rate is the way to go. What length shackle are you going to use? They look like 6" in the picture.
CK5
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76 K5 Build; More Parts....Trucks
- Thread starter toomany
- Start date
They are 6". I can move the hangers around if I really need to, to get a good angle. Or make up a different length. Might have to cut and rotate my rear axle to get a good pinion angle too. We'll see once I get some weight on it.
andyblack
Registered Loser
I put some 6" shackles on mine with stock 52" rears and no zero rates and now my pinion is pointing a degree or two too high. But that's on a short wheel base pickup, and I have the t-case spaced down 1". I think I'm going with 4.5" or 5" shackles when I get some $$. Sounds like you're on top of it though. Carry on. 
Got the D60 in and sitting on the 44's in the front.
Started about 9:30 this morning. My friend Zach was coming over to work on his truck (the blue one in the pictures a few posts back), and I was going to work on mine. By 10:30 I had the old one out and off to the side. Had to take a break to run to the junkyard to try to find a t-case adapter. Couldn't find what we were looking for, came back home and dug around in my stash of parts to come up with a solution. It was going on 2pm by this time, he had to go so I was left alone to finish mine.
Used the easy inches to move the axle forward 1.5". Found out I had aluminum shims in the old one, one was cracked. Fought with the springs for about 30 minutes trying to get everything lined up (Dodge spring spacing is about half an inch off). Ended up dropping the drivers side leaf from the shackle, tighten the u-bolts then put the spring back up. My brake lines seem like they will be long enough, still need to bleed them...only gravity bled so far. Steering box went on and crossover install went very smooth. Tons of clearance around the drag link. I think the box is leaking from the seal around the top cap as I have a drip from somewhere and it's wet up there. Need to adjust the drag link a little too, turns farther one way than the other. My front drive shaft is too short now and the other one I have is about 5 inches too long. Going to have to shorten that one. I'll deal with that after I get the rear finished. For the lower shock mounts I just cut the factory ones on the axle and bent them out (Dodge ones stick straight out), will weld them when I do the drive shaft. Should work until I figure out something better. I've got a decent amount of clearance between the tire and firewall, enough that I shouldn't have to trim much back there. The front half of the fender is where it hits. A "de-fang" is instore for the fenders. I'm also going to have to find either some longer studs or some long bolts for the pumpkin side of the diff. The nuts catch a few threads. It'd probably be fine...but I'm going to put something longer in there for peace of mind.
Side profile. Can see how bald my 38's have gotten. I don't plan to run the 44's on the street.
What I did for the shock mounts. Will run a bead down the cut line. Might try to find some Ford towers and do a mount off the top of the spring plate.
Underside shot. There is more clearance around the passenger side leaf spring than it looks in the pic. Don't mind the silicone job on the diff cover. That's coming off again in the next couple days. I put some used motor oil in there to clean/flush out what I couldn't scrape out. Plan on locking the hubs in and driving around the backyard a few times, then drain it out and fill with gear oil. Should have a locker by then too.
Started about 9:30 this morning. My friend Zach was coming over to work on his truck (the blue one in the pictures a few posts back), and I was going to work on mine. By 10:30 I had the old one out and off to the side. Had to take a break to run to the junkyard to try to find a t-case adapter. Couldn't find what we were looking for, came back home and dug around in my stash of parts to come up with a solution. It was going on 2pm by this time, he had to go so I was left alone to finish mine.
Used the easy inches to move the axle forward 1.5". Found out I had aluminum shims in the old one, one was cracked. Fought with the springs for about 30 minutes trying to get everything lined up (Dodge spring spacing is about half an inch off). Ended up dropping the drivers side leaf from the shackle, tighten the u-bolts then put the spring back up. My brake lines seem like they will be long enough, still need to bleed them...only gravity bled so far. Steering box went on and crossover install went very smooth. Tons of clearance around the drag link. I think the box is leaking from the seal around the top cap as I have a drip from somewhere and it's wet up there. Need to adjust the drag link a little too, turns farther one way than the other. My front drive shaft is too short now and the other one I have is about 5 inches too long. Going to have to shorten that one. I'll deal with that after I get the rear finished. For the lower shock mounts I just cut the factory ones on the axle and bent them out (Dodge ones stick straight out), will weld them when I do the drive shaft. Should work until I figure out something better. I've got a decent amount of clearance between the tire and firewall, enough that I shouldn't have to trim much back there. The front half of the fender is where it hits. A "de-fang" is instore for the fenders. I'm also going to have to find either some longer studs or some long bolts for the pumpkin side of the diff. The nuts catch a few threads. It'd probably be fine...but I'm going to put something longer in there for peace of mind.
Side profile. Can see how bald my 38's have gotten. I don't plan to run the 44's on the street.
What I did for the shock mounts. Will run a bead down the cut line. Might try to find some Ford towers and do a mount off the top of the spring plate.
Underside shot. There is more clearance around the passenger side leaf spring than it looks in the pic. Don't mind the silicone job on the diff cover. That's coming off again in the next couple days. I put some used motor oil in there to clean/flush out what I couldn't scrape out. Plan on locking the hubs in and driving around the backyard a few times, then drain it out and fill with gear oil. Should have a locker by then too.
andyblack
Registered Loser
Cool man. So what t-case adapter do you need? Also the pinion looks too straight up. Like it needs some negative castor maybe. I know some Dodge axles are like that. Could be just the picture though. Man you knocked that job out quick!
We're looking to adapt a Th350 to a 208. I know it's possible to mix/match a 700R4 adapter and cut some of the shaft off of a Th350. Or use a kit which is basically a 4" aluminum spacer to use the 700's adapter and a 6" (?) tailshaft. I've had a few of those kits pass through my hands before, just never seem to hang onto them. We were hoping to find one out there as we've both seen them there before. The solution we came up with is to make a custom spud shaft to mate the 4x4 Th350 already in the truck, use the 700R4 adapter along with the 208 meant for the 700. The shaft will be a cut off splined section from a scrap Th350c and a drive shaft yoke. The drive shaft yoke will be cut down and slip over the splines on the back of the 4x4 trans, male spline piece will go into the other end and mate into the female 208 splines. It all measures out and should work. pretty much the same thing as a Th350/205 shaft, except with a different end. All of that work to get rid of the 203 he's currently got on there. It had a part time kit that blew up and took out some of the back of the case. If I remember I'll take some pictures.
The pinion angle doesn't look too bad to me. Haven't checked it with an angle finder yet tho. Worry about that once I get a drive shaft built for it.
Everything had been off in the last year or so...so it wasn't bad at all. Air tools make it easy too.
andyblack
Registered Loser
Sounds like a lot of work. Why not try to find a TH700 or TH400 to use instead?
I actually had one of those blocks and adapters. Not sure where it ran off too. I'm guessing it got scrapped.
Mainly because he's got a fresh Th350 in there now. I've got a Th400/203 he could use, but I don't know the condition of it. It came in a parts truck. All of my other transmissions are two wheel drive...same with his parts stash. This is/was a free solution.
I got the shaft made up today, will try to get a couple pictures. It splines all the way onto the output of the Th350, the male end splines into the 208 about 3 inches. There is about 1" of male spline in the sleeve between the two. I welded the two pieces together. I would have liked to have more engagement in the sleeve, but there is only so much room between the two so it is what it is. I think I got the most I possibly could.
Will it work...who knows. Zach plans on coming over tomorrow to put everything back together.
I know I sold one of mine that I had. May have scrapped the others.
Spent sometime on it today after work. Got my easy inches in, moved the axle back 1.5". Had to drill the spring plates before I could tighten everything down. Took the add a leaf out of my spring pack. Fought with the spring hangers for a couple hours but I finally won out and they are off. Even with grinders, air chisels, torches....those two rivets on the bottom of the frame are a pain in the ass. I didn't want to drop the tank because it's got about 20 gallons in it and my exhaust it right underneath of them on both sides. Both of the bolts in the rear of the springs are seized into the bushings, so I'll probably burn those out and put some new ones in. It was starting to get late by the time I had the hangers off so I called it a night. Don't want to make too much noise after 9. It'll probably be Saturday morning by the time I get a chance to get back at it.
Leaf pack and easy inch. The massive amount of ail/grime on everything is from the leaky 350 that I had stuck in when I had gotten the truck.
Bare frame rails. Note the surface rust starting on the bottom of the bed floor. That's after one winter of driving in the snow/salt up here.
How it sits right now. The concrete blocks under the jack stands are solid. I know I should use wood or taller stands. Now would be the perfect time to swap to rear disc's. I did buy some caliper brackets a couple months back from a member here....and I do have calipers and rotors from my old axle. Planned on using the calipers, but would prefer to keep the axle complete right now. Because once you start pulling parts off they never seem to get back together again.
For reference on how high it sits. My Blazer has 6" front springs and an easy inch....so 7" of lift plus the 44" tires. The blue truck has 4" springs and 35's. I'm 5'9" and pretty much eye level with the hood.
Another day to finish the rear end and probably one more after that to finish the small things. Bleed brakes, front driveshaft, trim fenders, re-torque bolts.
Leaf pack and easy inch. The massive amount of ail/grime on everything is from the leaky 350 that I had stuck in when I had gotten the truck.
Bare frame rails. Note the surface rust starting on the bottom of the bed floor. That's after one winter of driving in the snow/salt up here.
How it sits right now. The concrete blocks under the jack stands are solid. I know I should use wood or taller stands. Now would be the perfect time to swap to rear disc's. I did buy some caliper brackets a couple months back from a member here....and I do have calipers and rotors from my old axle. Planned on using the calipers, but would prefer to keep the axle complete right now. Because once you start pulling parts off they never seem to get back together again.
For reference on how high it sits. My Blazer has 6" front springs and an easy inch....so 7" of lift plus the 44" tires. The blue truck has 4" springs and 35's. I'm 5'9" and pretty much eye level with the hood.
Another day to finish the rear end and probably one more after that to finish the small things. Bleed brakes, front driveshaft, trim fenders, re-torque bolts.
andyblack
Registered Loser
You're almost done. 
Those rear spring packs are still mighty thick, even after you took the add-a-leaves out. Did it ride real rough before?
I didn't think it would be that tall but when you put it across from the "normal" height truck, you can really see how tall it is. It may be hard to get in and out of sometimes, but oh well.
Those rear spring packs are still mighty thick, even after you took the add-a-leaves out. Did it ride real rough before?
I didn't think it would be that tall but when you put it across from the "normal" height truck, you can really see how tall it is. It may be hard to get in and out of sometimes, but oh well.
Found some time this morning to get the rear end buttoned up. Pounded out the old bushings and slipped the new poly ones in. Was only able to get four of the six bolts in on each flip bracket. The ones in the bottom of the frame didn't quite line up. No fault of the parts, my frame is a little tweaked back there. When I have the welder out I'll run a couple beads to hold it together. Ended up with a shackle angle pretty much straight up/down. Have to wait and see how it rides and if I want to move the hangers any. Truck sits level enough for me and what I'm going to do with it. Down slightly in the rear, maybe half an inch. Unless it decides to change after I get some miles on it...don't think I'll have to mess with the spring pack again. Rear driveshaft still fits fine, pinion points almost straight at the t-case so I might have to rotate the axle some. All the hardware still needs to be torqued down, will do that when I'm out there next time. Rear will need some trimming, maybe a comp cut on the rear quarters. Aired all of my tires up to 25psi, three were at 5psi and one had come off the bead. Fought with that for an hour before I finally got it to take. Wanted to air them up so I can see just how much trimming I'll need.
How it sits now
Shackle angles
How tires sit in the wheel wells.
How it sits now
Shackle angles
How tires sit in the wheel wells.
Time for some trimming.
Martin
Martin
If the rain holds off tommorow I should be able to get everything trimmed and tightend down.
andyblack
Registered Loser
Where are you planning to take it off road at?
I got rained out after work today. So maybe tomorrow morning I'll be able to get out there.
We usually hit up The Mounds (http://www.themounds.org/) or the trails just north of a friends house. We're trying to get a couple trips going to new areas, either to Rocks and Valleys (http://rocksandvalleys.com/) or Bundy Hill (http://www.bundyhilloffroad.com/). Rocks and Valleys is about the same distance from my house as The Mounds...just north instead of south. Guy I know .takes his Jeep there all the time. Twisted Trails (http://twistedtrailsoffroadpark.com/) looks like it might be good too. Plus the Silver Lake (http://www.thinkdunes.com/) sand dunes...but that's more for when we take the bikes/4wheelers.
I usually drive my truck to the wheeling spots. Might have to find a trailer soon or start trailering the big tires and switch them out when I get there.
We usually hit up The Mounds (http://www.themounds.org/) or the trails just north of a friends house. We're trying to get a couple trips going to new areas, either to Rocks and Valleys (http://rocksandvalleys.com/) or Bundy Hill (http://www.bundyhilloffroad.com/). Rocks and Valleys is about the same distance from my house as The Mounds...just north instead of south. Guy I know .takes his Jeep there all the time. Twisted Trails (http://twistedtrailsoffroadpark.com/) looks like it might be good too. Plus the Silver Lake (http://www.thinkdunes.com/) sand dunes...but that's more for when we take the bikes/4wheelers.
I usually drive my truck to the wheeling spots. Might have to find a trailer soon or start trailering the big tires and switch them out when I get there.
Bundy hill is decent but tailored to jeeps(tight) if you don't mind body damage you are fine.
andyblack
Registered Loser
What about this Drummond Island I've heard about? I know it's a long ways from you, but I've seen some videos and it looks like a killer spot to wheel. Is it still open?
Not sure I'm ready to tear up the body that much yet. Wheelin buddy has a 68 Chevy on 3/4 tons axles with some wide ass rims....like still wider than my truck now. Doubt he'd fit well out there.
As far as I know, Drummond Island is still open. http://www.drummondislandchamber.com/index.php?page=ATV_ORV According to their site, it's about 255miles away. Defenetly a several day trip for sure.
andyblack
Registered Loser
Whoa. Yeah that's a little too far away. Nevermind then.
