SCOOBYDANNN
1/2 ton status
After Building my tubular doubler crossmember and mounting it about 1 1/2-2" above stock the drivelines were not happy even at ride height(6"lift/hill shackles(5 1/2".)) So after taking the front shaft out 3 or 4 times grinding a little here and there; there was still a little bind in the front. (note to self--need to bring the front down
.)
Focus some attention to the rear. I bolt everything up and jack the axle in the air so see if the rear binds---yup--it barely moves once the two top yokes meet. (note to self--need to bring the rear down too )
To bring the rear down was no big deal--take out the overloads--done, but still need to grind ever so slightly to clear the yokes at full drop.
After some research on this lovely site (that turned my beautiful truck into what it is today
) I decided on the 52" spring swap. Why? Because it is cheap if not almost free (if i didn't cut the frame off at the rad mount.
)
So I call around to see if any of my friends have some leave--sure enough a good friend has some he was going to throw away. SCORE!
With out measuring ANYTHING I procede to mount these springs.
First things first I need to make a crossmember so I can mount everything.
All I did for the crossmember was slide a peice of 2"x4"x1/4" rectangular tubing right flush with the boudy mounts.
On top of the crossmember (in front of it anyway) is my bumper. It is just your typical 3"x4"x1/4" rectangular tubing with a taper at the ends. I should have also kicked the ends a little backwards for a little cleaner look but I was too far too late.
One of the first things I did in relation to mounting the springs was to figure out where they went. So I bolted them into the rear shackle and at the axle. With them bolted to both the shackle and axle I could move the entire axle front or back to see where I wanted the end result.
This is the moment I realized something wasn't right (with me thinking these were 52's) It turns out these are 56"ers
I ended up being happy with the shackle angle and axle placement with the front hangers mounted 6" foreward of the origional
Now without any real evidence that these springs work (except the 2 that replied to one of my posts) i thought a little ahead and drilled an extra set of holes incase i decide to change to 52's
With everything in place where they are my wheelbase stayed the same. Now this is because I put the long side towards the front.
If I were to do it the other way it would have moved the axle foreward about 4". This would not have worked in my application because of where my ram is placed. As of now I have to move the ram back about 1" to clear the draglink on full compression.
If I were to guess I would say it gives you a 4" lift. You can also see the shackle angle--not too bad i think. The shackles are 5 1/2"ers in the stock location.
a view from the front
Enjoy
Any observations welcomed.
There wont be any testing for a couple of weeks so dont worry--i will run these to see if they will work for anyone else.
thanks
Dan
.) Focus some attention to the rear. I bolt everything up and jack the axle in the air so see if the rear binds---yup--it barely moves once the two top yokes meet. (note to self--need to bring the rear down too
)To bring the rear down was no big deal--take out the overloads--done, but still need to grind ever so slightly to clear the yokes at full drop.
After some research on this lovely site (that turned my beautiful truck into what it is today
) I decided on the 52" spring swap. Why? Because it is cheap if not almost free (if i didn't cut the frame off at the rad mount. )So I call around to see if any of my friends have some leave--sure enough a good friend has some he was going to throw away. SCORE!
With out measuring ANYTHING I procede to mount these springs.
First things first I need to make a crossmember so I can mount everything.
All I did for the crossmember was slide a peice of 2"x4"x1/4" rectangular tubing right flush with the boudy mounts.
On top of the crossmember (in front of it anyway) is my bumper. It is just your typical 3"x4"x1/4" rectangular tubing with a taper at the ends. I should have also kicked the ends a little backwards for a little cleaner look but I was too far too late.
One of the first things I did in relation to mounting the springs was to figure out where they went. So I bolted them into the rear shackle and at the axle. With them bolted to both the shackle and axle I could move the entire axle front or back to see where I wanted the end result.
This is the moment I realized something wasn't right (with me thinking these were 52's) It turns out these are 56"ers
I ended up being happy with the shackle angle and axle placement with the front hangers mounted 6" foreward of the origional
Now without any real evidence that these springs work (except the 2 that replied to one of my posts) i thought a little ahead and drilled an extra set of holes incase i decide to change to 52's
With everything in place where they are my wheelbase stayed the same. Now this is because I put the long side towards the front.
If I were to do it the other way it would have moved the axle foreward about 4". This would not have worked in my application because of where my ram is placed. As of now I have to move the ram back about 1" to clear the draglink on full compression.
If I were to guess I would say it gives you a 4" lift. You can also see the shackle angle--not too bad i think. The shackles are 5 1/2"ers in the stock location.
a view from the front
Enjoy
Any observations welcomed.
There wont be any testing for a couple of weeks so dont worry--i will run these to see if they will work for anyone else.
thanks
Dan
Last edited:
