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diy4x zero rate and 4" EZ ride springs finished, good bye 6" pro comp!

xpndbl3

xpndbl3

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orland park, IL
so i want to move my dana 60 axle forward one inch. I get that the one bolt hold that is drilled is 1" forward, but then there is 3 holes total, so the leaf spring center pin goes through the center hole?

What do the short bolts/nuts included in the kit do to relocate the spring forward?


Anyone have a pic of this thing in action before the front axle is bolted up?
 
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xpndbl3 said:
so i want to move my dana 60 axle forward one inch. I get that the one bolt hold that is drilled is 1" forward, but then there is 3 holes total, so the leaf spring center pin goes through the center hole?

What do the short bolts/nuts included in the kit do to relocate the spring forward?


Anyone have a pic of this thing in action before the front axle is bolted up?
Click to expand...

The short bolts are your "new" center pin. They go through the center hole. The nut should be in the countersink, and the head of the bolt sticking out on the square side. One side is radiused and the other is square. The square side goes on the Axle, the round on the spring. Then you can twist the zero rate 180, to set your new center pin forward, or backward, and depending on which hole you choose, the distance. So the bolt that goes through the spring should be one of the two outside holes, and should be counter sunk on the bottom Of the zero rate/axle/square side.
 
Lots of guys skip the overload in the front. Some keep them and cut them short and still some keep them in place and full length.

The upside of no overload is
less sticking out to hang up on.
Usually a bit more flex available on up travel.
Less lift.

The downside of no overload is
Shorter spring life.
Less lift.

Keeping them in and trimming shorter is a nice compromise.
 
so got the u-bolts off no problem, and the front bolts came out with an impact in nothing flat. Went to remove the rears and the nuts came off but bolts are seized in the bushings, tried map gas with no luck....guess I need to cut the bolts/bushings into a few pieces?
 
cut the bolt between the bushing and shackle on each side with a cut off wheel...
 
ryoken said:
cut the bolt between the bushing and shackle on each side with a cut off wheel...
Click to expand...

:waytogo: yep, standard rust belt spring bolt removal procedure :D your bolt is rusted to the metal sleeve inside the bushing.
 
haha usually on the leaf sprung race cars we deal with up here the MAP gas torch does the trick, but not this time. I'll definitely be doing some cutting tomorrow, now to guess if the neighbors call the cops on me for "noise" during the day while doing this. I love my community.
 
If you've got an impact, try one other thing.
If the springs have been on there a long time, see if you can turn the bolts. If not, then its probably cutting time.
But, if they will turn, try turning them while hitting the end to drive it out. I have seen bolts get flat spots worn in them from long use, and it locks them in place.
If you can turn them so the flat spot is facing the other way, they will come out.
 
definitely ran the impact in forward and reverse for quite some time trying to get them out while using the map gas torch. They only have 9k miles on them or so, just stuck from our salt belt
 
well cut the bolts into 3 pieces and a few sawzall blades later got it done. These 4" EZ rides sure are softer than my 6" pro comp. I can actually move the bumper when jumping on it over the old ones not moving at all. Did new u-bolts, spring plates, and the EZ inch from diy4x along with his greaseable bolts, which hopefully will stop the next set from getting seized in there. I'll load up some pics tomorrow when it's light out again.
 
Them spring pins suck to remove, so do the body mounts, and shackles too. Thats the major downfall of the rusty salty belt. Im about to do the same thing, Im just going to make mine out of some 1/2in plate steel because i dont need the full 1in, it messes with the crossover im going to be installing, i just really need a tiny bit of lift and i really want to move my axle forward for driveshaft length and clearance.
 
wow is all i can say....probably 75% of the harshness in the ride is gone now, I noticed it does lean in corners, but I take them slow regardless. Had to tighten up the u-bolts a good amount after 20 miles, probably check them again in 50 miles or so and see how they're doing. REALLY happy I made the swap.
 
xpndbl3 said:
wow is all i can say....probably 75% of the harshness in the ride is gone now, I noticed it does lean in corners, but I take them slow regardless. Had to tighten up the u-bolts a good amount after 20 miles, probably check them again in 50 miles or so and see how they're doing. REALLY happy I made the swap.
Click to expand...

Congrats. I think you'll like the ride. Takes a bit of getting used to when you are familiar with the heavy spring rates.
 
thanks again for the quality parts as well everything fit perfectly, no grinding of holes, cutting and rewelding brackets or anything else like I'm used to in the drag racing world for "bolt ons".....it almost made it too easy lol
 
xpndbl3 said:
thanks again for the quality parts as well everything fit perfectly, no grinding of holes, cutting and rewelding brackets or anything else like I'm used to in the drag racing world for "bolt ons".....it almost made it too easy lol
Click to expand...


Good to hear everything fit well. We do our best and strive for 100% but you know...


Still, nice to hear about it when it does all go together perfectly.
 
xpndbl3 said:
well cut the bolts into 3 pieces and a few sawzall blades later got it done.

...along with his greaseable bolts, which hopefully will stop the next set from getting seized in there.
Click to expand...
I was trying to tell you it's not a "bolt in" job (or more accurately a "bolt out" job). I put new bolts in the rear eyes before shipping for this reason.

The greasable bolts look really nice, but that's what I cut apart to get those springs out. Just because you can get grease in there, doesn't mean the grease goes everywhere. You will see it make 1 or 2 paths to the outside of the bushing and then everything you pump in takes the same path. Ideally you would pull the bolts periodically and regrease them by hand, but I don't think anybody is really going to do that.

The other issue is that the sleeves tend to be real thin in the back and after tightening the shackle bolts a number of times, the sleeves deform a little, wedging them in and locking the bolts in place. The stock setup just uses a real small bolt, but everybody tries to go bigger when they swap springs.

Now I'm trying out anti-sieze on the spring bolts and sleeves. I can let you know in a few years if it works. :dunno:
 
xpndbl3 said:
wow is all i can say....probably 75% of the harshness in the ride is gone now, I noticed it does lean in corners, but I take them slow regardless. REALLY happy I made the swap.
Click to expand...
Glad it worked out right. Big trucks are supposed to lean. It helps scare the econobox drivers into backing off. :waytogo:
 
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