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11-01-2010, 10:02 PM | #1 |
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home-made rear spring shackles
i'm thinking of bolting 2 sets of stock rear shackles together on a 93 single cab 1500 to drop it about 4 or 5 inches and i'm curious if anyone has done something similar.
i'll have to cut 2 squares out of my bed floor to allow for the spring eyes and part of the leaf so it doesn't hit. i'm gonna weld something to them also so they don't swivel where i bolt them together. it may be too much of an angle though for the drive-shaft?? |
11-01-2010, 10:25 PM | #2 |
Chris
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
I think I saw some on an offroad site once, with shackle flips and extended shackles for lifting not lowering but I don't see why it wouldn't work. You could get or make some axle flip bracket cheaper though. I saw some for 73-87's for like $30 on ebay.
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11-01-2010, 10:44 PM | #3 |
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
i'm thinking along the lines of a 4" drop like shackle/hanger kit but doing it all at the back so i don't have to c-notch the frame (with flip-kit) or deal with the hassle of getting the stock hangers off.
my main concern is that it's gonna throw the nose of the diff. down too much and cause the u-joint to bind and pop. i really don't wanna cut the frame. |
11-01-2010, 11:16 PM | #4 |
Chris
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
some flip kits you don't have to cut the frame, but if you haul stuff it can bottom out.
They have shins that are angled to help correct the pinion angles.
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11-02-2010, 02:03 AM | #5 |
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
this is how i'm talking about doing it.
i wonder if it would be alright like that or if i should weld them so they won't move in the middle. it'll be 4.5 inches added to it but i don't know if it would lower the truck that much or not. that's about what i'd like to get. |
11-02-2010, 07:33 AM | #6 |
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
You dont want them moving in the middle and if they are not straight it will make your truck lean a bit, Autozone sells them for around $27
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11-02-2010, 07:59 AM | #7 | |
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
Quote:
Anything over 4", no matter how you get there, should be notched. Weld them. Last edited by 1badgmc; 11-02-2010 at 08:00 AM. |
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11-02-2010, 08:17 AM | #8 |
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
If you're going for 4" of drop, you'll have to do 8" on a single end of a leaf, so you'll need another 4" from what you have now. Pinion angle is going to need attention, moreso because all the drop is on the rear.
Last edited by BigBlocksRule; 11-02-2010 at 08:18 AM. |
11-02-2010, 09:03 AM | #9 |
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
I agree with 1badgmc's notch comment. When I did my flip the leaf pad on the driver side was hitting the corner of my notch because the previous owner put it in a little too far forward. It was hitting on the wavy road and I thought the truck was going to beat itself to death before I fixed it. You definetly do not want the shackles to bend in the middle. It would make for an interesting ride in the rear. I would imagine the pinion angle will be an issue. Probably pointing down to much which could be shimmed. I wonder too if you will have problem with the pumpkin bottoming out on speed bumps and large ramps, etc. That would be putting it pretty close to the ground I think.
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11-02-2010, 11:46 AM | #10 |
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
interesting comment bigblocksrule.
i'm not sure if that is the case or not. i have another truck with 2" lowered shackles that are 6" (hole to hole) instead of the 4" stock ones which does it all at the rear. on paper this should give me 4" instead of 2" because i have 8" hole to hole with the shackles bolted together. update: bigblocksrule was right. i measured my lowered shackles and they are 8" hole to hole (the same as two stockers bolted together)--not 6" as i thought, in order to get 2 inches of drop. Last edited by cris well; 11-02-2010 at 02:27 PM. Reason: update |
11-02-2010, 12:18 PM | #11 |
Chris
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
well on the flip kit I'm going by what I saw hear with guys having 73-87's flip kit no notch and had a couple inches or clearance once the bump stop was removed from the rear frame and would work fine unless they hauled something. I don't know who it was but I can remember talking to them about it.
I had always assumed flip kit you HAD to notch, but they said they had room and had pics, it did have an inch or 3, looked like 2-3 inches in the pics but not being in person, not sure. here's the link, with pics, flip kit no notch... http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...flip+kit+notch
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Chris GIT R DONE!!!!!! Check out all our rides, http://www.cardomain.com/id/benwa454 Last edited by benoit454; 11-02-2010 at 12:24 PM. |
11-02-2010, 12:34 PM | #12 | |
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
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11-02-2010, 01:19 PM | #13 |
Chris
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
well that part i did not know anything about for sure.
It's good info though, because I would have thought an 88-98 would be the same w/ a flip kit. Good to know it's not. I had no idea or info on it since this is my first 88-98 truck and it's 4x4. But, I am sorry about that, thought it might be the same. I figure shackles and hangers would be easier then a flip kit, only since you have to cut the frame and notch it. I'm afraid of doing that myself. I would have to agree, they need to be welded so they don't flex, may want to plate over the side or something.
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Chris GIT R DONE!!!!!! Check out all our rides, http://www.cardomain.com/id/benwa454 Last edited by benoit454; 11-02-2010 at 01:22 PM. |
11-02-2010, 02:45 PM | #14 | ||
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
Quote:
Quote:
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11-02-2010, 09:33 PM | #15 |
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
ok. so now i have a new plan.
after taking bigblocksrule's advice i'm gonna use the 2" drop shackles and then the stockers bolted to them. that will give me 12" all together (8" over what the stock shackles have) and hopefully get 4" of drop out of it. i found some pinion shims for about $20-25 bucks if i need them. now i just have to cut my bed floor up! |
11-02-2010, 09:56 PM | #16 |
Chris
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Monaville, WV
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
All good info because I haven't personally worked on much lowering, lifting, I have done lift but not lowering. I want to, be it a square or gmt400 88-98, whichever.
The hangers don't bother me, I've had to change 2 already in the last couple years, due to rust, not an issue, my grinder makes quick work of them. I am scared to cut a frame but it doesn't seem bad and seems to be pretty easy to flip the axle.
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11-03-2010, 07:23 AM | #17 |
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Re: home-made rear spring shackles
Let us know how this works. It's an interesting idea.
I would still make sure the two are welded together in the middle. Your rearend is going to be all over the place if you don't.
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