budget slammin!

[LONGHAIR]

Heating the coils is a bad deal. Cutting, in small amounts, is fine.
You have to be careful when messing with leaf springs too. Heating and/or bending the leaf springs is worse than doing it to coils. Coil springs do not "locate" the wheel in the truck, they just hold the frame up. The control arms/spindle hold the wheel in place. With leaf springs, there is nothing else stabilizing the axle. Weakening this connection is not safe. Then comes the next factor: If you heat/bend the springs on only one end, you have to be effecting the pinion angle, this may be a problem.
Taking leaves away (other than maybe the big flat over-load) causes problems too. Mainly, you will get axle wrap (wheel hop) from the overly soft springs. They still hold the axle in place, but they cannot control the rotational force, so the pinion "climbs" the ring, until it can't go any more, then it snaps back.....parts breakage=$$$ not cheap.

The cheapest way is to cut the fronts and flip the rear. It is mostly labor, which is you.....

I have no problem with n00bs bringing up old stuff.....it's funny to see how long it takes for someone to notice, but.... asking a guy to scan an article that he referenced more than 5 years ago......is absolutely pricele$$. Especially since bill_ont_canada has not posted since May of 03

[Richard D]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

Heating the coils is a bad deal. Cutting, in small amounts, is fine.
You have to be careful when messing with leaf springs too. Heating and/or bending the leaf springs is worse than doing it to coils. Coil springs do not "locate" the wheel in the truck, they just hold the frame up. The control arms/spindle hold the wheel in place. With leaf springs, there is nothing else stabilizing the axle. Weakening this connection is not safe. Then comes the next factor: If you heat/bend the springs on only one end, you have to be effecting the pinion angle, this may be a problem.
Taking leaves away (other than maybe the big flat over-load) causes problems too. Mainly, you will get axle wrap (wheel hop) from the overly soft springs. They still hold the axle in place, but they cannot control the rotational force, so the pinion "climbs" the ring, until it can't go any more, then it snaps back.....parts breakage=$$$ not cheap.



The cheapest way is to cut the fronts and flip the rear. It is mostly labor, which is you.....

I have no problem with n00bs bringing up old stuff.....it's funny to see how long it takes for someone to notice, but.... asking a guy to scan an article that he referenced more than 5 years ago......is absolutely pricele$$. Especially since bill_ont_canada has not posted since May of 03

I agree on the safety factor. I had a buddy who wanted to lower the rear of his truck but not spend any money. We un-riveted the spring perches and welded them(with good penetration) higher, he has had no problems yet.

On the old scanned article, I felt pretty silly when I realized how old it was, and tried to delete my post but couldn't. Oh well, maybe someone will benefit.

[Slonaker]

Originally Posted by Richard D

maybe someone will benefit.

Or maybe someone will find and scan the article. You never know...

Slonaker

[LONGHAIR]

I agree on the safety factor. I had a buddy who wanted to lower the rear of his truck but not spend any money. We un-riveted the spring perches and welded them(with good penetration) higher, he has had no problems yet.

On the old scanned article, I felt pretty silly when I realized how old it was, and tried to delete my post but couldn't. Oh well, maybe someone will benefit.

There is nothing wrong with moving the brackets, it works fine. Cutting the old rivets out is a lot of work though and you have to be able to re-attach them so that they are safe.

No worries on the article, that is one of the pit-falls of searching through a data-base of a site that has been around this long. The actual information about the trucks is pretty timeless. It is only the more personal stuff that doesn't "travel well". It is just as fun to see several people reply, like it is a new thread. It just so happens that this time it was pointed out quickly. That doesn't necessarily mean that the fun is over though. Someone may come along and comment w/o reading the entire thread....it happens all the time.