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considering 57" spring swap(rear)

Jonny-K5

Jonny-K5

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pondering the idea of doing this. wasnt there a write up on it somewhere? i was looking last night and couldnt find anything.
im thinking of running the 57's with my 2.5" ORD shackle flip(mounted backwards) with a HD shackle like ORD is selling now. anyone know what kind of lift this will provide? i seem to remember most people using the 4" flip.not sure if this combo will work. i want to keep it under 4" of lift.

the spring centering pin is offset correct? how far and in what direction?
 
I've heard the 57" main leaf is pretty thin and can break easily. Just a fyi. Might want to search a little to verify that.
 
thanks for the heads up. i just looked thru some old posts and answered the pin location question. anyone ever do a write up on this?
 
Havent done a write but I can answer your questions becasause I just put in 57's that I have had sitting in my back yard for a while. They are very soft, and I have the heavy duty ord shackle (the longer one though) with the old echobit flip and I am probably just over 4 inches with the zero rate back there. The pin is one inch further foreward, so I made myself some zero rates and moved my axle back an inch and a half. I bought some poly bushings and grooved them then had ord send me the greasable bolts. They are 9/16" and 5/8" in size. I can take some pics of my truck when I get home if you want, as far as the way it sits with my 38"s under there. Ask away though while its still fresh in my head.
 
hmmm. sounds like if i use stock springs i will probly end up with no lift using my 2.5 flip.:thinking:
 
I think you will proabably end up with a little over 2.5 inches, only beacause I had stock 52's back there and when I went to my 57's it seemed as though I gained a half an inch. I think this was due to the longer shackle and the zero rate. I can only venture to say that I am just above 5 inches of lift. I have 6 inch springs in the front of my truck with longer shackles and the blazer sits about a half inch lower in the rear, where as before I was at about an inch lower in the rear with my 52's. Once you get a zero rate on there you will be under 4 inches, but I dont think with your setup that you would be much below that. Its really difficult to gauge where the truck might end up. Different springs will sag differently, there are many factors. I say just bolt them in if you have them and go from there. I plan on doing my front 52's soon but I am not really going to worry about how the truck sits until I get them in, then I tweak the springs/zero rates or whatever it takes from there. As long as you know going into it that you may have to pull the springs to add or take away a leaf then its not so bad.
 
tRustyk5 did a write up a few years ago. search his name
 
57" Ferd springs, add a leaf, and 2 1/2 block. Sat about an inch to an inch and a half low in the back. Also a shackle flip using 3/4 ton front hangers.
Its a really flexy set up, almost too flexy.

Picture 561.jpg
 
Are you running bump stops or anything like that? I am a little worried that may happen to me but I plan on bump stops and anitwrap bar to keep the rear axle under control.
 
I did the swap with 3" wide 57" springs. Way nice ride. I used the ORD 4" flip and made a shackle that was about 3/4" longer. I ended up with about 7" of lift. I also did a 1-ton swap at the same time and welded new perches on, but first I drilled the hole for the center pin to move the axle back 1.5" The wheel sits nicely in the wheelwell. I have not had any wrap or hopping with the 3" wide springs.

The old writeup, BTW, was on the echobit site, and when he bailed it disappeared with him.
 
K5er4Life said:
Are you running bump stops or anything like that? I am a little worried that may happen to me but I plan on bump stops and anitwrap bar to keep the rear axle under control.
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I had the bump stops in the stock location, so basically no, I wasnt running bump stops. I now have a set of Alcan lift springs, I need to drop my bump stops. I dont have nearly as much axle wrap as I had them build the springs stiffer than the Fords.
 
Jonny-K5 said:
what fords came with 3" wide springs?
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any 4wd came with 3'' wides as long as the f-250. i got a set out of a mid 70's 2wd f-250 and they are 3'' wide. you can splice the ford hangar with the chevy so it will mount to your original spring hangar.
i think they would be stronger being wider.
 
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