Removing Leafs To Lower??

[HotRod929]

I was wondering how low can I get my truck if I remove a few leafs? I want like 4 or 5 in drop in the back so how many leafs should i take out and which ones? Thanks

HotRod

[cdowns]

I dont think you'll see a significant difference in height unless you take out so many leafs that the remaining spring won't sopport the truck,better to go with blocks and or hangers or rearched springs

[crazy longhorn]

How many leafs do you have in the stack Hotrod?

[HotRod929]

I think I see 5 or 6 counting the big fat one on the bottom. Heres a pic mabe u can guess better. THanks

HotRod

[crazy longhorn]

I would try to leave the top 4 inplace,but do agree with cdowns, that it propably wont drop you too much. You can also opt for a dropped shackle, & between the 2 mods you may get 3-4 " of drop(thats just a guess tho). When you lighten up the spring stack, I would reccomend going to a bolt on slapper bar(try summit or jegs for a truck traction bar). Good luck.....crazyL

[HotRod929]

What is a slapper bar and what does it do? Sorry never herd of it before.

HotRod

[Classic Heartbeat]

You can get 4" by mounting your rear end on top of the springs and still retain the ride. WES www.ClassicHeartbeat.com

[HotRod929]

WES - How do I do that and where can I get the part to do that? Thanks

HotRod

[crazy longhorn]

By flipping the axle, youwill get more like 5 -6 " of drop......that was my experience on the longhorn anyway.....crazyL

[HotRod929]

where can I get the parts to flip my axle?

HotROd

[Ackattack]

I lowered my truck by removing all but 3 leafs. I've even hauled a motorcycle in the back like that (I think the rubber bumper was hitting the frame on bumps though)
I also used 2.5" drop spindles.
Not a real good picture, but...

[Chevy Punk]

There was another member a couple weeks back who did the same thing. You might want to try searching for removing leafs or something like that

[crazy longhorn]

A slapper bar bolts to the leaf, to control wheel hop. ill try to find a pic..... http://store.summitracing.com/partde...57#largerimage

[GloryHound]

After asking the same question earlier this week I figured out that the flip is the cheapest way to go and I think they have the parts at american classics. The big thing is it will require you to do a little welding but nothing major. Also the drop will be between 5 and 6 inches. If you where looking at just drop spindels up front it won't be enough to get you level! You'll need to look into springs, but I would go to the springs after the spindels just to keep your truck riding good and remember,radical spring changes up front will screw with your camber. Another option I've seen out there are dropped leaf springs!!! Haven't heard how these effect the ride though! Something to think about with the flip is you might have to C-notch your frame! Some people have not done this and everything has been great for them Others say everything was not so great and they had to C-notch the frame. I think it probably has to do with the shocks and how worn are your Leaf springs!!

Off the soap box I go before I get thrown off!!

[Ackattack]

Removing the leaf springs was pretty cheap....$20 for new u-bolts (which I didn't NEED, but got any ways) I do plan on getting some traction bars, so maybe $50 total.

[baggedblaz]

are you flipping a 3/4 ton ? just a thought the axle tube might be a little bit bigger ? kinda like lifting a 1 ton with a dana 60 front end instead of a 44. tube sizes might play with you? a 1/2 ton 12 bolt versus a dana60 are the tubes the same? and you might need to notch it also?
i know when we flipped a 1 ton dually it went pretty low, lower than a half ton??(73-87 though)when i did my 2wd 1/2 ton 72 it went pretty low and had to add a leaf to get out of the notch 5 leafs plus 2 adds, then ended up getting new leafs made its still pretty low .....
something to think about?

[GloryHound]

baggedblaz,

Good point! It never occured to me to ask people what kind of rear end they where using. I'll have to look into that more! Here I was all ready to break out the plasma cutter just to avoid the possibility of having a problem Now maybe I can save myself some work and still not have to worry about having a problem!!

Thanks

[crazy longhorn]

yes, that was a very good point! I did a flip on my longhorn, but am running a 12 bolt axle(smaller tubes than a Dana). I also have lightened the spring stack to 4 leafs , to give that 1/2 ton ride. After it was all bolted together, the spring hangers were moved DOWN on the frame 1 1/4" to raise the @ss end back UP.....it was too low! All finished, I figure right at a 5" drop, & with no C notch, I have only 2 3/4" clearance between the frame & axle tubes............crazyL

[Reumster]

Why don't you just put 1/2ton style trailing arms under it? Its not expensive, and I'm almost positive that the trailing crossmember will go into a 3/4ton frame you just have to do some measuring a drilling holes. I was going to do it to a 4x4 blazer I converted to 2wd. And my cousin and I are going to do it to his 3/4ton when I get back to montana. I remember measuring and If I remember it'll fit. With leafs bags don't work as well, and trailing arms are better anyway for lowered trucks

[GloryHound]

Reumster,

They do have load helper airbags for leaf springs and I thought about that and with the removal of some leafs to drop you down you could put these airbags in so you could still haul a load since only one leaf spring is really used to hold your axle in place and the rest of them are for handling wieght, personally I would leave at least two in! It might be workable but I've also heard of some problems with airbags in extreem cold. One guy had them on an S-10 and he was driving to work one morning and they blew out. extreem cold destroys the expansion qualities of the rubber used in airbags. Also when his blew out it dropped his frame to the ground and needless to say he had to get flat bedded home!

[Reumster]

If when his bags blew he had to get towed. He infact had his bag set-up wrong. You are suppost to set-up your suspension so with 0 psi you are on your bump stops and nothing drags. (rolls and turns with 0 psi) And he may have had cheap bags. Because you don't here of Semi/tractor trailers blowing bags in extreme cold. If it was a normal regular occurance they wouldn't use them. Bags are safe. And as far as lowered truck or any thing for that matter they are safer to have.

Trailing arms are the way to go bags or not.

[GloryHound]

Reumster

Not going to argue with you I personally don't have any experience with air bags so all I can relate to is third party info. As for the trailing arms in general they are better for racing purposes, Heck look under Dale Earnhart jr.'s #8 and you'll see trailing arms. The big problem is if your truck has leaf springs you either have to find a donor truck to get the trailing arms off of or you have to buy a kit and most of the kits out there require welding and alignment. If you get your alignment wrong your have to cut a weld or something. For my experience level at this time I think that kind of project is a little to tricky and scary for me to tackle (Unless your willing to come over sometime and have the experience? ) And if I found a donor I think I would try and save the truck before scavenging parts off of it. Two trucks would be better than one!:p

[Reumster]

You could get the trailing arm x-member and trailing arms at any junk yard cheap. Aligning the crossmember wouldn't be hard at all. It would be a simple as measuring from a given point on the doner truck frame back to the rivet hole on the trailing x-member. And transfering the measurement to your truck. A good given point would be a bolt hole in the doner front x-member/or where the upper a-arm bolts up. As long as the doner was the same box length. Not really to hard. Thats what I did to the front of my 4x4 blazer I put a front 2wd crossmember in. Shouldn't be much different. Heck post another topic and ask if anyones done it. I bet someone has.