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HP Dana 60 Front in '83 K5

I keep forgetting that you're hi-pinion, that will help a ton with driveshaft angles. That is until you decide to clock your t-case flat:D


AR_K5 said:
This was supposed to be a simple regear and shackle flip to remove the blocks.
It never works out that way:D I cant even recall the number of times Ive gone in to do a small upgrade and had my wheelin rig down for months doing major reworks.
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Click to expand...
 
The high pinion will help with angles, but you'll still need a shaft with enough slip to handle 10+" of droop on whichever side the diff is on. I have 8" of useable slip and I use plenty of it when the pass side drops way out.
 
Progress report.

Well I got a little time today while the wife took the kids shoe shopping. I put the truck up on 4-12 ton jack stands. I put the rear ones up as high as they would go, under the lowest point in the frame, just in front of the spring hanger. the back tires were still on the ground just enough that I couldn't turn them. At that point the rear shock mounts measured 29" so I ordered a set of double shock mounts to weld on top of the axle (or under if I mount them vertically).

I also managed to get the front springs off. Now I'm going to take the top 4 leafs (bottom 2 were broken on both packs) of both of the old springs and two or three off the bottom of these shorties and work on moving the front mounts (not looking forward to that).

Oh and I picked up a steering box with a pitman arm ($25) for the crossover steering today.:waytogo:
 
Only in my world does a broken rear diff lead to modifying the mounts for the front bumper. :hack:
 
I still don't have all of this bolted up yet because I get so little time to work on it, so I figured I'd jump the gun and ask what is the consensus on shocks?

I have 4 Rancho 5000 shocks with 11.5" travel (and some others). Those are the 28" extended ones I mentioned earlier. I haven't set any of the new shock mount locations yet.

Now I can just use the factory mounts, or I can make vertical mounts that would fit the shocks between the steering shaft and the frame.

Another thought I had was using all 4 for dual shocks in the rear. I just got a set of dual shock mounts that weld onto the axle tube. I could do them vertical or in a V pattern or I could inboard them.

I have too many ideas, and would like some help eliminating the bad ones.
 
Shocks function better when the are vertical yet you can get more travel when they are angled in.

Ive never seen the purpose of dual shocks. One per corner has always worked good for me, especially if you buy good (expensive) ones.

Lastly, with 52s up front you either need more shock travel or limiting straps, probably both. 52s will easily exceed 11.5", I even had to strap mine with 15" travel.

Now if I were you and looking to save money (I always am:D) I would use the ones you have mounted up front in the factory spot. Limit travel with bumps and straps to keep from tearing stuff up. Then adjust as funds become available
 
single quality shock at each corner is best.... leave the dual shocks for the 80's... :D
 
Sounds good, and Rancho 5k's are good enough for me. So I'll just have to figure out how much travel I have then sort out the angles, once I get everything else buttoned up.
The only reason I considered it was because I have an extra set (different brand).

:thinking:
To inboard, or not to inboard? (rears) and why do these things mount upside down? It looks stupid and the will hold water in the boots.
 
ditch the boots, mud catchers....

inboarding will give better articulation, outboard, more stable...
 
Remember that the more you inboard (greater angle), the less the effective valving. I had some cheap Gabriels or something at a 45* angle and it was like having no shocks at all, the truck wallowed like a wildebeest in heat over every bump.

I'd try and keep the shock as vertical as you can.

-- A
 
:doah:
Ok finally got her back on the ground for the first time.

Moved front rigid spring mount forward about 4.5"
Used 6 leafs with 52" top, and existing 4" hangers

Result: Springs maybe 1" from being flat.
Lost 1.5" lift
Axle moved forward 1.5"
Gained at least more 2" drop (supported by the frame on both sides.)
As it sits it would droop roughly 6" before both tire come off the ground.
And I think the pinion is higher than its stock angle now (but not real sure I was too tired to look)

Stupid me I took the front end off the stands first and made an off cg teeter totter. So I stuck the hilift under the rear receiver hitch an the more I lifted the more the front dropped. So nearly at the top I wrapped a 2" tow strap around the jack, just in case. We it was a good thing because just as weight came off the left stand the whole truck shifted to the left off the stand on the driver side, but the left one (still fully extended) just tilted and stopped. Luckily I was able to just rock it side to side and get it to slide back over and settle down. So I stuck my high lift floor jack under the passenger side of the diff housing and lifted it as high as it would go and kicked the last stand until it came out. When she was flexed with the one stand the front driver side tire was pushed up about 3.5" and the right rear was down about 5".


The wife is gone till Tuesday night, and all I have to do is work on the truck.
:woot:
 
New shackle angle and the drive shaft just sitting on the crossmember. My wife will be picking up my new cable speedo, driver drop, NP241 that I scored for $100. Thanks again Craigslist. Anyway it looks like the driveshaft will be right up against the headers. I never thought I'd have an issue with my drive shaft being too high. :thinking:

I'm thinking more leafs maybe longer shackles too.
 
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52" springs have bigger spring eyes than front springs.
So you'll probably need longer shackles to clear the frame on compression.
 
As you can see it can't spread much more, the springs are nearly flat.
The shackle would be more to get my 1.5" of lost lift back and to get the driveshaft out of the headers. But I think a set of helper springs or maybe a couple more leafs from the old springs would be best to add a little more arch.

The pictures really make it look awful but the frame will all be wire wheeled and reprinted over the next few days if it doesn't rain.
 
Status update.

Spent the last few days working myself to death doing everything 100% by myself, managed to add 1 more spring to the middle of each pack for a total of 7 leafs. It came back up about an inch, whatever, close enough, I don't want to make it too stiff.

I made a trip to the salvage yard to find a tie rod to rob off of a 10 bolt for my crossover steering and found an old Dodge with a full removable top that had a D44 with double flat tops, 5 lug, (what's it worth?). Anyway it kind of pained me to do it but it had this bent tie rod that looked like it might be a good way to get around moving the crossmember (maybe not). It was worth $10 to find out, plus it's hollow so that makes cutting it down easy. And insures I have Ford, Chevy, and Dodge parts from the 70's 80's and 90's


I got my $25 steering box painted. I'm really liking this RustOleum "Rust Converter", how much converting it does I don't know but I wire wheel the crap out of everything clean it and it goes on like a black primer, but it leaves a nice matte black finish. I clear coated my steering box just to see how it turned out.

Here you get to see the next issue that comes with a high pinion axle. The damn headers are going to get smashed.:doah: hopefully I can remove the flanges, weld the pipe to the header and rig something to pull the collector toward the frame just a bit. :dunno:

It's just hard to find much info because so few have created such a pile.
It just never ends, every solution leads to another problem. But I can handle it.
 
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Oh and I picked up two stick of flat bar to make longer shackles with. I wasn't sure if 2"x .25" (1/4) would be strong enough so I got a stick of 2"x .375 (3/8) too.

Not that I would sell it, but what do you think such a rig would be worth once it's drivable, the body lift is off, new poly body bushings, and rhino lines sides? It's also got 4 wheel disk brakes, 4 corner stainless steel braided brake lines, shackle flips, rear locker, polished aluminum rear diff cover, roll bars, near perfect interior, new dash, new door panels, Sun tach, B&M ratchet shifter, built 350, new Q-Jet, dual flow masters, sound system, front and rear receiver hitch. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
 
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AR_K5 said:
Oh and I picked up two stick of flat bar to make longer shackles with. I wasn't sure if 2"x .25" (1/4) would be strong enough so I got a stick of 2"x .375 (3/8) too.

Not that I would sell it, but what do you think such a rig would be worth once it's drivable, the body lift is off, new poly body bushings, and rhino lines sides? It's also got 4 wheel disk brakes, 4 corner stainless steel braided brake lines, shackle flips, rear locker, polished aluminum rear diff cover, roll bars, near perfect interior, new dash, new door panels, Sun tach, B&M ratchet shifter, built 350, new Q-Jet, dual flow masters, sound system, front and rear receiver hitch. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
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Use the 3/8" for shackles especially longer than 5 inches. They see a lot of forces.
 
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