The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Shackles flipped. Now too low...

This is a continuation of the case of the inverted shackles. The previous owner had the rear shackles mounted under the frame mounts instead of on top. So, I flipped them around. It's a case of good news, bad news. The good is that it rides like a Cadillac compared to the filling-rattling ride of before. The bad is that the truck rides way too low in back now. This in spite of the fact that there are about 4 extra leaves in these new leaf springs. And I'm not even carrying a load. No wonder the PO flipped the shackles!!!
Question: Is there any reason why I couldn't fabricate a big spacer block between the leaf springs and the rear axle spring mount if I get some longer u-bolts?

it'd probably work, but obviously the PO found a way to mask a problem, maybe you should figure out what the problem is instead of hiding it another way ... were those shackles the right length? dump box too heavy for the truck? new spring pak the right size? should be 10 leaf originally I think, you've got 14 and a "Cadillac ride"??

Bill

Bill,
Yup. 14 and she rides like a dream. Well, compared to having no movement at all when the shackles were mounted upside down!!! It's like going from a hard tail to a soft tail Harley. Shackle kit was correct for this year. 10 is correct and I'm glad I went with the 14 'cause it would have ridden even lower with 10 and I wanted more load carrying capacity.

I knew someone was going to say that. The dump bed is pretty small and it's not very heavy. Alot of sheet metal. It has an enormous hydraulic cylinder relative to the size of the bed. It's not bad. There's a big set of rails that ride on top of the truck frame that were fabricated pretty well. However, the angle is such that the bed sits too low in the rear. Appears someone simply took the dump bed off another vehicle and installed it on this chasis without changing the angle of those rails. It's on there real good. Too much work to change it. I'd have to cut the box loose in the rear, fabricate new rails the length of the frame and mess with the geometry of the ram. I'd rather block up the whole frame atop the axle if that's possible.

all your wanting to do is basicly put a block lift under the rear of your truck, many 4x4 do that, so it should work

Don, first off thanks for the offer on the springs in your other post! I'm pretty sure mine are okay just in need of cleaning.
My truck has a leaf stack of nine then a one inch block followed by a five leaf stack at the top, with a normal spring perch on the axle. It also has a plate steel bed so you can imagine how it rides. How many inches does the rear need to be raised? If it's a couple of inches I would think a block would work fine.
Kim

Kim,
I forget. Is yours a 55? Slightly different set up but you still have a total of 14, same as mine. I'm in discussion with the local spring shop about making me a block and some longer u-bolts. BTW, where did you get those chrome rims?

If it's done right, you could probably get away with blocks up to 4". 2-3 wouldn't be a problem. Having a good spring shop is a big help with this stuff.

Fred, I'm going over there on Friday and I do hope I can get a four inch block. The shackles are four inches so after you flip them it changes the ride height by eight. Way too low. I guess my next option would be air bags...Stay tuned for that. Skip

Orchidskip,

I'll go through the obvious.

Are your springs mounted under or over the axle? From the pics it looks like over.

Is this the original axle (i.e. an Eaton)? If not you could be losing an inch or two of height from that.

A 4" lift block is pretty normal thing for big 4x4 guys. Any spring shop should be able to make you some new u-bolts that will fit. But this is not a solution to the problem, only a bandaid. But hey, what the heck... it'll probably work great.

Don't know if I believe the cadillac comment though.

It's a '55, Don. The bottom 9 leaves are hanging from the lower part of the frame, the top 5 in separate mounts near the top of the frame. All of the mounts are riveted.
Ha, I chromed the wheels when I lived in Pasadena and they held up well, then I moved to San Diego and they went south, literally and figuratively. No more chrome for me.

All things considered Kim, I'd say you made the right choice

jhaa, No, really. A Cadillac. A big one with a dump bed.