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My trucks stance is about 3/4 inch lower in the rear

I can tell by looking at it and by taking a measurement from center of the well in front and back.
Tire pressure the same.

Doesn't really bother me, I don't know if its normal or rear springs relaxing.

If I wanted to raise the rear by 3/4 or more what would be the best way to accomplish it?
Blocks ?

Here's a pic

Not really noticeable, but I do load it at times with supplies or trips to the land fill.
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Thanks for any suggestions.

Is it leaf spring? The leafs on my 04 dodge relaxed. They de-arch and ride like crap.

I've always like the rear just a tat lower than the front. I don't like "road sniffers".

Since the axle is above the leaf springs, blocks will lower the truck further. I have slightly de-arched springs on my 50, but the ride is smoother than my 52 with good springs.

Add-a-leaf

These guys sell individual leaves.

http://thesuspensionking.com/catalo...;osCsid=c2167a7ec2debe2113960fb399bdea9d

Measure from the running boards to the ground front and back with the truck parked on a level surface. It doesn't look lower in the back to me in your 'landfill' pic.

P.S. Who has an indoor landfill??? Must be nice!!

Indoor land fill? We got one, dark and smelly. Called a "Transfer Station". The land fill is far away. Give me the sun and some Seagulls any day. You can still pick up nails and screws with the tires so you don't miss the whole experience. The mud is missing..:)

I like my hotrods raked. Thats why bigs and littles were invented! Don't care for tail draggers.....

"Road sniffers" and "tail draggers".... new terms are fun. At least these make sense to me.

Too bad that you don't live closer DADS! I just removed 3 spring on the rear for a smoother ride. I would give them to you.

I have been sitting here thinking about it....other then stiffening up the ride, which might raise it that way, how is an extra leaf going to raise it up? That would be just like adding a lower block, wouldn't it? That would also put you closer to 1" off in the back in hopes that it strengthens the spring.

Here's the front measurement

Here is the rear

Measurement taken in the garage,
flat surface
Aprox 3/4 inch lower in the rear




The springs on the 50 now are 4 years old , new stock springs from truck shop in orange.


Maybe the rear a little lower is normal?

Easy to lower the rear. Not so easy to raise it. Old school method was to put longer shackles on the rear...but it would be quite easy to lower the front. Just add a block under the caster shim and put longer "U" bolts. Might work.

Does the measurement at the running boards show the same difference? To me it doesn't look like it, it just looks like a difference in wheelwell size that you're measuring. Maybe I'm wrong. What about air or overload shocks? They'll give you an extra capacity for your hauling and might raise the back 1/2"

The front axle is below the spring pack and the rear is opposite so blocks won't lower the front. I had a similar stance and removed the shortest 2 leafs from the front which dropped the front bumper 1 1/2" and improved the ride too. Removing 1 might be enough to equalize the measurement in this case.

just measured the running board
measurement at the rear of the running board is 1/2 higher than the front of the running board.

yes 1/2 higher

Curt B. you got me. What I meant to say was..easy to lift the front...OOPS! Oh well..I was trying to be positive.

These old trucks can be deceiving depending where you look and measure. I tend to measure the boards usually as it's a long expanse that's connected to the front and back fenders, and usually where your eye is visually drawn when looking at stance. That said, in a 60 year old truck things don't always line up as they should and sheet metal isn't always straight anymore (or wasn't to start with).

I try to make sure there's nothing else going on with the box and cab mounting/alignment before I dive into changing the suspension.

Are the rear shackles made of mild steel?

...pic....

Are longer ones available?

The ones on my truck measure 5 inches.
They are not original

If I wanted to make my own to lengthen them, would mild steel flat bar work?

...pic...

Yes. They are mild steel. I have a little experience with this as in my youth I wanted the back end of my car higher. The problem you run into is, the springs will sag just a little more over time. 1 inch longer will only get you about 5/8" higher or so. All things being equal, if your front end is stock, it may be time for a spring replacement. But you can add another few inches to the shackle bars if you want to try it. It WILL work for awhile.

Some of the hot rod shops sell longer ones.

how does the spring know

The geometry changes just enough to cause a weak spring to become weaker. A new set of springs will put it back to where it belongs more efficiently, but in the interest of a fix that could last a few years, it won't hurt anything to raise it. That's the best explanation I can come up with why that fix didn't last when I tried it. Maybe someone else with more than anecdotal evidence can explain it?

Springs were new in 2010

Just want to lift the rear 3/4 inch

I would add another inch then to the shackles then. No hesitation. If the springs are that new, then that should do it. I think they are made out of 3/8" steel. If you make them yourself, there is a taper to the holes that could be difficult. Not sure how necessary that is. I would think there would be a hot rod shop that would offer longer ones or Summit?

If you install longer shackles, put a bolt with a sleeve over it midway between the top and bottom holes. Longer shackles have a tendency to collapse sideways in a tight turn without a center support.
Jerry

OK I'll say it. Your truck looks spectacular in your pictures of the side profile.
If you were to show those pictures and ask, "What's wrong with this picture?", I would bet no one would know that there was a problem.
Carl

I agree, but I guess he wants a different look?

Thanks for the comments

I have a slight, I believe its due to some wheels that were not made properly.

I do ..load... the truck sometimes.

When it's loaded I have a slight rubbing issue. Not enough to be a safety issue but I would like to see if I give the truck an even stance, it might help.

...pic...

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I realize this is not the proper way to accomplish this

Thought I would give it a shot.

Thanks for the tip on the carriage bolt sleeve
I'm thinking ill increase the length by 1 inch to 1 1/4 max
At the slight angle of the rear schackle should give me the lift?

Anyone know of a kit?, otherwise ill look through the scrap bin at work for the 3/8 x2 inch flat plate.

Another thought I had was to make a shim and place between the mount and frame

...?....

My mounts have bolts

Old tires make good shims.

That would make all of the height difference in the world without changing the complex geometry involved with lengthening the shackles. When you just lengthen the shackles by 1 inch, you do not gain 1 inch of lift at all loads due to spring action forcing the shackles rearward, eliminating any of your desired lift.
I would use steel shims between the frame and the mounts.
Carl

If you have bolts holding the mount that's on the frame, wow, yeah, do that instead. All of the ones I have seen are riveted to the frame. Thats a nice idea.

I'm going to resurrect this old post to see if DADS50 can tell me how he ended up resolving his rear shackle issue. I've got the same issue on a '52 3100 I recently purchased (Rear wheel well opening 1 1/4" lower than front and rear of running board 1" lower than front).

I was going to make longer shackles as discussed previously here. Does anyone know the taper of the holes in the side pieces on the shackle so I can make them prior to disassembly?

Thanks
Terry

"(Rear wheel well opening 1 1/4" lower than front and rear of running board 1" lower than front)."

I need to know what in the world this statement means. No offense. I may not be familiar with your regional dialect.
Please break it down for me.
"Rear wheel well opening."
Where exactly are you measuring from on the wheel well?
Are you measuring from this point on the wheel well to the ground?
That is all I can ask about until you can clarify the rest of your statement above.

FYI, the wheel openings on AD trucks are NOT the same height front and rear. The front wheel openings are higher (presumably so the tire has room to steer), the rears lower. If you make the wheel openings the same height the truck will have a slight forward rake. The running board measurement is a good criterion for leveling. I usually put an angle finder on the horizontal part to measure my rake angle in degrees.

Okay DADS50, your turn...