The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop lowered rearend pics and questions about safety

well you may have heard that i'm trying to get this rear down low. i took four leafs out and added these 5 inch blocks. the blocks are wider than the leaf so that causes me some concern and as you can see the exhuast will need to be modified because it is way to close to the axle. without the the rubber stoppers i have a bout 5 inches of travel before the frame hit the axle. someone offered me some airbags but i would have to get a compressor and make some brackets. would that solve my problem? is this looking unsafe?

http://home.earthlink.net/~dahui7/rearframe.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~dahui7/block.jpg

I don't see anything there to keep the blocks from moving other than the u-bolts. I assume the blocks are aluminum, from what I see, which rules out welding to the perches. One hard jolt and the axle moves, not good.

the blocks have a hole on the bottom that sits on the spring pin and a pin on the top that goes through the pearch.

I assume you took leafs out to soften the ride and not to lower the truck, because the way the axle is mounted you would actually sit lower with more leaf springs.

I would maybe leave more or all the rear springs and use less extreme lowering blocks to achieve the same thing. i would think it would be safer. Especially with a hot motor.

Re-installing the springs wont make it any lower as the other springs go under the ones already there, meaning just longer u-bolts. If I were you Mike, I'd think about c-notching my frame to allow some clearence for the axle. 'Not sure about those blocks, pretty big but....
Little wheels?

You are right about that.

Mikeg,
Be real carefull. Springs and shocks are designed to complement each other by the factory. With the wrong bump recovery ratio you could lose contact with the black stuff & control over road-holding at high speed or in an emergency.
OLD 42 : :confused:

i took some of the lower leafs out because it seem to raise my scrub line.maybe the mono leaf will be a must. its just so much money!i think 500 bucks for the ones i want. who makes a c notch kit?

Mike,

You put much torque to that rear end and you are going to rock it back and snap your U-Joint. Those springs aren't going to resist much drivetrain wind-up. I broke a U-Joint with no lowering blocks with that same number of leafs. I wound up putting a trailing arm in to keep the axle rotation under control under hard shifts.

I don't see any running boards . . . no bed . . . does the truck have a cab on it? What size tires you planning on running? I think you might be surprised when you get the weight back on the truck how much those springs are going to sink. I have driven an AD truck with barely enough ground clearance to snake a jack in under the running board . . . I didn't use any lowering blocks, only removed a few springs and used 14" rims with low profile tires.

This may really be out in left field, but is there anyway you could turn the leaf over? Run them upside down?

How about the old Mopar way of moving the springs in when you add bigger tires. They would weld in new spring mounts on the inside of the frame rails. You could do that and set them as high as you could or till they hit the bed.

You might get away with what you have if you have a set ladder bars added. I'm with the rest of the guys on this one, if the tires ever hookup, out comes the driveline.

everything is on except the running boards, rear fenders, wood, gas tank, and bumpers. the 327 is a little built.. manifold,cam,headers,carb. once the weight is on , im sure i'll have little clearance between the frame and the axle. should i try a 6 inch mono leaf? the front was pretty low and then i added the two inch drop spindles. the clearance underneath the car isnt to bad, seems drivable. i just wonder if a 6 drop monoleaf is still going to be so low that the frame will still hit. any truck guys here that have really lowered their cars. ?any memebers here had to c notch their frames? i've come to the conclusion that this isnt the way to go but could use some other ideas with prices.

You also have to be careful when your springs are lower then your rims, if you have a blow out you could be in for a wild ride.
Good Luck
Drifter

Ideas? How about a 4 link with air bags? Lotsa $$$$ but the right way to go. You'd still need to notch the frame, Classic Performance and others sell a kit for these trucks. 'Just don't like the look of those blocks.....