What to do about rear suspension

[jmsaunders]

I've asked this over in the suspension subforum and didn't get much response so thought I'd ask over here also. I didn't do an S10 frame swap. I'm working on the rear suspension for my 54 (3100) Chevy truck and need to lower the rear end. I've already lowered the front with 2 1/2" drop spindles and like where it sits. It currently has 8 leaves in each leaf pack. My intent is to build a safe daily driver that I can be proud to ride down the road with my wife in or toss the keys to friend and not worry about there being 'safety' issues.

I've been told that I can just have some of the leaves removed, have them re-arched and add lowering blocks if needed to get the rake that I want. However, my concern is that I've heard that since I no longer have a torque tube rear end I run the chance of having axle wrap. (mind you it's a pretty stock 350/350 combo in the truck with an engine I pulled from a van so at best it has a rv cam). Rear gears are 2.55 or 2.73 as best I can tell without pulling the cover and counting teeth (yes I did the jack up one side, spin the tire and count the revolutions of the drive shaft technique )

If that's an issue then I'd rather spend the money and get a multi-leaf conversion kit like this one from cpp http://www.classicperform.com/Store/...ks/4754RLK.htm

Or is it possible to swap out my rear hanger and run 2 1/2 - 3" springs that I pick up from a local pick and pull? It still sits on the original frame (in the rear at least 75 Nova front sub frame). So not sure if this is possible with minimum fab skills or if its an idea that just looks easier than it actually is.


yes I know that I can 4-link it instead but I'm building a daily driver and don't plan to run air in the back. So that makes me want to just keep the leaf springs if possible. (plans to hopefully add bags to the front next year)

I'm also open to ideas to hear how others would tackle the rear suspension.
J'ai
pic is of where the front currently sits, just a lil bit over the tire.

[mknittle]

the kit looks easy enough.