can this be done and how hard would it be, i am thinking of going sas on my 93 chevy my buddy has a ford f150 with coils he said he would sell me the axle cheap. i was wondering if it could be converted to leaf or would i be better off leaving it coil? also what year did they start putting disc on the 44 with the open knuckle? thanks, chris
CK5
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changing a coil axle to leaf spring
- Thread starter bad_bo_ti
- Start date
pvfjr
1/2 ton status
Sure, you can cut/grind all the coil crap off of it and weld some perches on top. I forget where to get them, I think maybe DIY4X4.com would have them.
K5MONSTERCHEV
1/2 ton status
Get the upper coil pockets off the truck from your friend.
pvfjr
1/2 ton status
I think leaf springs would be easier to set up, but that's just me. Coils are definitely doable, and since you're starting from scratch anyway, it's all up to you.
bad_bo_ti said:
Depends on how trick you want to make the linkage. For anything beyond a radius arm/tracbar system you'll want to consult ExcelCAD (search this name) for the linkage geometry.
Keep in mind that for 'cross over steering', i.e. draglink across the width of the truck, that you'll really want to use a tracbar for lateral axle location. This will allow you to tune the bumpsteer.
With a radius arm/tracbar design there are just two things I consider important.
1)Put the radius arm frame pivots where you'll get the least plunge in the front driveshaft. (shortly will be able to 'fool' ExcelCAD into helping with this [hint, hint]).
2) Bumpsteer. Ideally the tracbar and the draglink are the same length and parallel as viewed from the top and from the front. If they aren't, then you'll need to fiddle the pivot points (usually of the tracbar) so that the different travel arcs overlay each other within the travel range as much as possible.
With leaf springs the ideal draglink is very close to level with a *slight* down-slope to the right knuckle. With a tracbar the draglink can be any angle that the joints will work at as long as the tracbar is as stated above.
