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Originally Posted by Baketown Scotty
Thanks for the write up. Hope to do this to my Suburban like Dsuper5. I followed all pretty good except how you determined where to drill the holes for the rear springs front and rear hangars. If you get a chance I would appreciate if you could describe that for me. Thanks again for doing this and the documentation.
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Not a problem at all. The swap actually works really well for me.
As far as locating the spring hanger, I started by making a reference mark (used a plumb bob) on the frame which showed the original center of the axle. Since the 1/2 ton 63 - 64" springs nearly flatten when loaded, I just measured from the spring center pin to the front spring eye center and used that as my mark for the hanger eye. I then used C clamps to mock up the springs, shackles and hangers and sat the truck onto the axle to compare the axle / frame center line with a plumb . It came out about 1/4" to the rear of the center mark on the frame which worked because I wanted to move the axle back anyway.
After measuring 20 more times and using reference points that were the same on both sides of the frame, I was pretty confident of two things - my frame was as straight as I could ask for and that my rear axle was squared to the frame as best as possible.
With the front mounts still clamped, the center punch came out and the holes were drilled and bolted.
Using the front mounts to measure, I adjusted the rear hangers so that my shackle angles were where I wanted them and the hangers were exactly the same distance apart. Drill, bolt and done.
My biggest concern was getting the axle as close to 90 degrees to the frame centerline so it didn't dog walk. It seems to be tracking straight so I guess I got it.