I know everybody says this....but, thanks for the encouraging replies.
Most of you also have build threads and know rebuilding these old vehicles can wear on one's patience over time. Having a community with the same interests sure helps keep the momentum moving forward.
I have many different projects going on, most do not involve whole truck pictures. I'll move to changing the rear springs to the one's that lower the rear end, they have a couple whole truck pictures.
With the front change to independant suspension back in the 80's, the front dropped a couple inches. From what I can tell, they removed a couple leafs out of the rear to lower it to match the front. It did drop the rear but not enough for my liking.
I ordered the ones advertised as a 3" drop. Don't be fooled, I looked at the picture in the catalog for a long time, I couldn't see how it was gonna happen. Plus I didn't want a full 3" drop anyway, so I figured I'd be happy with a less than3" drop.
The design is great, they simple rolled the spring bushing eye the opposite direction on the rear or the leaf spring. This altered the rear of the spring a couple inches.
The front of the spring stayed the same however. Since the axle is located in the middle of the bushing eyes, the the drop is only a little over an inch. The front is still at the same pivot point.
This pic is with the old springs, even with the couple of leafs missing.
This next pic is after the spring change. Just installing the new leafs did not give me this much drop. I wanted 2 ", the new leafs gave me almost 1 1/2". Keep in mind, if the old leafs already had a couple leafs missing, the change change would be greater.
I eneded up making some longer shackles to get another 5/8" further drop. Know this, in order to get 5/8" drop from the shackles, I had make them 1 1/4" longer.
