I ended up with a 6.5" shackle. If I understand your second question correctly, yes the shackle flip brackets are on opposite sides from normal.iwaxmyjimmy said:
Last edited:
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
Experimenting w/56" rears & wheelbase-52" fronts; finally some flex testing
- Thread starter mrk5
- Start date
The rear 56" springs are from an '87 burb. Basically it was the newest truck I could find with the springs I wanted in our u-pull-it.Brians89K5 said:
I don't know for sure how much lift I've attained. In my pictures posted so far the front is a 2.5" Superlift. So the rear is definitely more than 2.5". I would guess at least 4".
I think in order to get 6" lift out of a 52/56 setup, you'd still need to use lift springs. Especially in the rear. All my lift is coming from the shackle flip and zero-rate. IMO, 6-7" is the longest you'd want to make the shackles on the flip. So I don't see any way to gain more than I have without lift springs or *gasp* lift blocks. Although you could gain another 1" by using some of DIY4x's spring perches with 1" height built in.
Are you rubbing in the rear? With my 3" rear lift and 37" MTRs the only rubbing I had was in the fender well. The way guys are solving this is to tub the rear fenders some. In the front one of the best solutions is to move the front axle forward at least 1" to keep it away from the back of the fender or firewall depending on how much inner fender trimming you've done. The 52s will move the axle forward 2".
exactly what i wanted to know. sorry my redneck ebonics kicked in a lil bit.mrk5 said:
i remember one of ur pics the diff cover was close to are was gonna rub the gas tank. well did u think about mounting a fuel cell in the bed? its just and idea and would prob. cost out of the a$$ but just randomally thought about that. i wanna run 63" rear springs sometime, but i dont wanna move the front spring mounts so i can have a killer departure angle. so i know ill have to move the gas tank. and im ready to get a welder and some steel stock so yall can see my idea for the rear. most deff im gonna have to come up w/ my own way to inboard mount my shocks and deff. gonna have to tub the rear
It's close but it won't hit unless the springs compress enough to reverse arch. I'm going to keep the overload in and use bump stops to keep that from happening anyways. Letting the springs reverse arch is one way to trash them quicker.
Plus if I keep the stock tank I have not I could modify the skid plate and raise up an 1". There is a big gap between the tank and the skid because I have the smaller factory tank. I'm thinking about just making my own skid because the factory piece is getting pretty trashed and it has still allowed the outer edges of the tank to be damaged.
Plus if I keep the stock tank I have not I could modify the skid plate and raise up an 1". There is a big gap between the tank and the skid because I have the smaller factory tank. I'm thinking about just making my own skid because the factory piece is getting pretty trashed and it has still allowed the outer edges of the tank to be damaged.
sounds like a plan
installed front 52s
Worked 24hrs total this weekend to get the 52s installed in the front.
I built my own front spring hangers because I wanted to incorporate them into one piece that makes a crossmember and includes the body mount brackets.
I realized I didn't get a really good "installed" pic of the front hangers/crossmember. If my measuring and figuring came out right, it should have dropped the front hangers down about 1".
I got a new through-the-frame bushing assembly from DIY4x, the cool thing is that he makes it to fit the narrower 52" springs without having to use the large shoulder bushings.
We moved the hanger forward re-using the top front most bolt of the original hanger. We also used the "slug" from the hole saw to patch the old large hole.
Torching out old rubber bushings:
I used a bushing set from Energy Suspension and I really like their bushings because they have bevelled shoulders.
Here it is all installed:
I think the rear may be a tad higher with the 6 leaves and zero-rate. I want to let the suspension settle and see how it all turns out.
The wheelbase now measures 113.5".
Couple of notes of interest. I was just barely able to get the stock draglink installed with the DLEs adjusted as far in as the would go. Basically until they were touching. So it's possible, but I highly doubt it would work well at all as far as functionality is concerned. We were able to get the stock front drive shaft hooked up, but just barely. I doubt it would stay together if the front drooped more than an inch.
Now I just have to get the crossover steering installed and shocks set up.
Oh and I'm working on one other little item. Something I won from Ruffstuff Specialties
Worked 24hrs total this weekend to get the 52s installed in the front.
I built my own front spring hangers because I wanted to incorporate them into one piece that makes a crossmember and includes the body mount brackets.
I realized I didn't get a really good "installed" pic of the front hangers/crossmember. If my measuring and figuring came out right, it should have dropped the front hangers down about 1".
I got a new through-the-frame bushing assembly from DIY4x, the cool thing is that he makes it to fit the narrower 52" springs without having to use the large shoulder bushings.
We moved the hanger forward re-using the top front most bolt of the original hanger. We also used the "slug" from the hole saw to patch the old large hole.
Torching out old rubber bushings:
I used a bushing set from Energy Suspension and I really like their bushings because they have bevelled shoulders.
Here it is all installed:
I think the rear may be a tad higher with the 6 leaves and zero-rate. I want to let the suspension settle and see how it all turns out.
The wheelbase now measures 113.5".
Couple of notes of interest. I was just barely able to get the stock draglink installed with the DLEs adjusted as far in as the would go. Basically until they were touching. So it's possible, but I highly doubt it would work well at all as far as functionality is concerned. We were able to get the stock front drive shaft hooked up, but just barely. I doubt it would stay together if the front drooped more than an inch.
Now I just have to get the crossover steering installed and shocks set up.
Oh and I'm working on one other little item. Something I won from Ruffstuff Specialties
that crossmember looks sweet! can you make me one? im looking for something like that that will give me a little bit of additional lift, so i can keep the 52's/56's with as little arch as possible
im looking for something like that that will give me a little bit of additional lift, so i can keep the 52's/56's with as little arch as possible
I'm also hoping it will help keep the caster angle from getting way out of line.
Here's front on shot:
Here's front on shot:
flex it out!
filo
Registered Member
thank you, all, for the details and pics throughout!!!!
I hope to soon. I just need to get my new brakelines installed. Oh, and steering, and driveshafts, and 
But I do want to flex it out before mounting shocks. Need to figure out what the travel requirements are going to be. Actually last night on the way home I was daydreaming about fabbing an RTI ramp.
Filo, I love your avatar. Everytime I look at it, it makes me smile.
But I do want to flex it out before mounting shocks. Need to figure out what the travel requirements are going to be. Actually last night on the way home I was daydreaming about fabbing an RTI ramp.
Filo, I love your avatar. Everytime I look at it, it makes me smile.
filo
Registered Member
Hey, thanks duude. Us NoObs are here for entertainment, right? 
looks sweet! however i have a question, whats with your reqr shackle angle? at droop it looks like its at the same place it should be at ride height maybe? looks like front is doing most of the work. sweet flex tho!
look harder. the rear is working. just compare the stuffed rear pic to the dropped pic. in the stuffed pic the rim lines up with the bottom of the body and in the dropped pic the top of the tire is below the body. thats a good bit of flex.
yea i see that hes gettin flex out of it, but the shackle angle just seems off or something, maybe scott just couldnt flex it all the way out, if thats the case then this is the pics that im referring to.
this is the pics that im referring to.
there is no way he is flexing it all the way. the spring is not up against the retainer bolt yet. A log is not a RTI ramp. this is.
I didn't push them too far. One reason is that I only snugged the shackle bolts because I've got new permanent ones on the way from BWP. I hope to get an RTI ramp built in the next month or so.
I didn't have much time to mess around today anyways. I might try to use a ramp from our car trailer to improvise something. The stump seemed to work the best today. I tried the dirt pile first, but I couldn't get good traction to keep going up. Damn open diffs!
Here's the only good pic I have of the rear shackles sittin' in the shop:
I didn't have much time to mess around today anyways. I might try to use a ramp from our car trailer to improvise something. The stump seemed to work the best today. I tried the dirt pile first, but I couldn't get good traction to keep going up. Damn open diffs!
Here's the only good pic I have of the rear shackles sittin' in the shop:
Got some better flex pics this weekend:
Video:
Couple of other fun pics:
Son's trike with Daddy's truck in the background.
Video:
Couple of other fun pics:
Son's trike with Daddy's truck in the background.
