my yesterday's labors..

[aj johnson]

here are a few pics of my labors yesterday.... Thanks to Blazinzuk for his assistance with the U-Bolts!
Here is a pic of the stock front spring hanger

Stock spring length

New spring length..

Comparison of the springs.. I used a rear spring out of a 1976 3/4 ton chevy van. The only difference between the van and blazer rear springs is a bigger overload and the van springs are only 2 1/8" wide.

Grinding away at the rivets on the front spring hanger...Torch was out of Oxy!

New location for the front spring hanger..Still need to weld it on.

Had to do a quick trim to get the tire back on... it moved the front axle 4" forward.. I like the way it looks!

Here it is sitting level... Raised 4" front and rear. With the tires, it has about 8" lift over a stock rig on stock tires.

I have lots more pics of the whole process and will be posting a write-up on Sandman's site, www.planet4x4.net when I get it all hammered out.

 

[fad2blk99]

Nice work. Can't wait to start cutting into mine. Only, I need more lift to fit 38-42s; so I'm thinking about using my current 4" BDS rears up front. It might be kinda scary though with that much lift and flexy springs...

A couple q’s for ya:

Why did you opt for the narrower spring?

Did you keep the overload when you installed the new springs?

How did you do the rear shackle mount?

 

[DPI]

Great information and pics - Thanks!

btw - are you saying you got 4" of lift in the front with the spring swap?

 

[85mudblazin]

hope you have crossover

 

[aj johnson]

A couple q’s for ya:

Why did you opt for the narrower spring?

Did you keep the overload when you installed the new springs?

How did you do the rear shackle mount?

I opted for the narrower spring for the simplest reason in the world.....
I had them from a van that donated the 400 SBC for the Blimmy, so they were free.. Also, the spring rate seems to be the same, so...why worry about it? I think it will work just fine. If not, then i'll get a pair from the wrecking yard for $70 and throw them in.

One side has the overload still on, the other side I took them off.. I'm still trying to decide if I want them on, but most likely I'll take them off. They don't change the ride height at all, and the only time they will get any "use is under flex, and then I don't want them on because they will limit the travel.
As far as the rear shackle mount, it is still bone stock, and the only thing I'm going to do different is order the 6" shackles from DIY4X.com and put those on. That should net me an additional 1" of lift, which is all I need even if I upgrade to 39.5" tires later on. These tires are 38" TSL Radials, so I may just keep these.

 

[aj johnson]

btw - are you saying you got 4" of lift in the front with the spring swap?

Yes.. 4" exactly. With the 38" tires on it, it sits 8" taller than stock with stock tires.

 

[aj johnson]

hope you have crossover

No kiddin! I don't have it installed yet, it's on the other axle that is going under now, but as it sits, I can't turn left at all!

 

[DPI]

Yes.. 4" exactly. With the 38" tires on it, it sits 8" taller than stock with stock tires.

Cool -


Got any pics of front spring rear shackle sitting like it is now? I am curious about the shackle angle.

Thanks!

 

[aj johnson]

yeah, I'll get some for ya!

 

[aj johnson]

Here ya go!
http://www.planet4x4.net/phpBB2/album_pic.php?pic_id=1192

 

[cybrfire]

Looking good AJ but something is missing!??!?

 

[aj johnson]

lol, yeah, there is alot still missing!
what part are you talking about? shocks? shims? brakelines? your 6" hangers? extended front driveline? ummm... what else am I forgetting on this list?

 

[aj johnson]

Here is a pic of the front hangers, you can see the change in the approach angle is negligible..

as you can see with these two pics, the driveline is too short, and so are the brake lines.

Here is a pic of the spacers I will use for the springs.

and here is a pic of the front spring rear hangers, the angle isn't the greatest, but I think it will work for right now, at least until I can get Kert's 6" hangers.

 

[DPI]

Is that pic of the front hanger of the 52" springs or the factory springs? That looks like a good angle to me, but the springs look like they are inverted like the stock springs.

 

[aj johnson]

the hanger is the stock one.. the springs attatched to it are the new ones..the hanger is moved 4" further forward than stock... what do you mean by "inverted"?

 

[cybrfire]

Looking good AJ but something is missing!??!?

BEADLOCKS!!!!

 

[aj johnson]

D'OH!!!!
dumbass <--
lol... I got them all welded onto the rims, painted and ready to go...only problem is that the rims are 8 lug, and these axles are 6.. soon as I get the other axles under it, I'll slap those beadlocks on there and PM you the first pic! BTW... (shameless DIY4X plug) I'm still every bit as impressed with the design that you came up for those as I was when I first saw your CAD drawing of them...they are just.....that damm good!

 

[cybrfire]

After yours were finished and I saw them in reality rather than just a CAD file I decided to make a set for my CO. One of these days I'll get around to it... Thanks for the plug and I definitely want pics. So many of them I never see again. Don't even know what they get put on.