[aggie91]

Originally Posted by robnolimit

Sounds cool, and thanks, BTW, nice place to live.
, Another note on leafs. The WIDTH of a leaf can make a big difference. '54 and earlier chevys, and '47 and back fords use a 1 3/4" wide leaf. Through the 50's it was 2", then 2 1/4", and in the late 60's, 2 1/2". Some newer trucks have 3" or 3 1/2". The wider springs have less side flex, and usually a smoother ride, fewer leafs are required. Changing you leaf set up from 'truck' style, Axle under and shackle going up, to a 'car' style, Axle over, and shackle going up, can really improve the ride, but it drops the load capacity. Many, many people 'flip' the axle, which drops the truck, but almost nobody flips the shackle. Yes, that will lift the truck a bit, appx. 1 1/2", but the ride is way better.

I know this is back tracking a bit, but I did the rear shakle/hanger flip on my son's '82. We are not done and it is not on the ground yet, but my priliminary measurements with how I did the flip put the spring piviot of the shakle at about the same measurement from the floor (actually about 1/8" lower) There are pictures on my son's build thread. We did do a notch on the frame for other reasons and the floor of the bed will be raised 4". That still puts one of the floor cross supports just kissing the hanger...