Will 56" rear springs work on the rear of a 71swb

[coggonobrien]

Just trying to decide what springs to purchase for my 4x4 conversion. I'm going to go with the 52" front conversion using DIY4x hardware. Should I go with 52's on the rear as well or can I use 56's? The most offroading the truck will see is driving through corn fields or bucking snow drifts down the gravel. I do plan to have the ability to pull our 24ft tiltbed with vehicles on it. The rest of the truck consists of a fuel injected 396, monster 700r4, np 205, and a dana44/60 combo from an 84 dodge 3/4.

Thanks for the advice.
David

[OLDCHEV4X4]

If your doing a conversion from coils to leafs, put what ever you want on there. Your gonna have to change all the brackets and hangers anyway. I'm gonna put 64" springs on the back of my K5, from a 90 K2500.

[drunkbus]

I put 56" rear springs on my Blazer. If your going to run a lift it's easy to do with a shackle flip. Here's my thread when I lifted my Blazer with some pics.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=413741&page=2

[coggonobrien]

well i want a 4 inch lift to run 35's, will i gain lift running a 56? i'm looking for 4inch total and better ride.

[maskale]

This is on my 76, dont know if this is usefull to u or not, but.


Yes u can. DIY4x brackets, depending on which side u put them will determine the use of 52 or 56. Just make sure u bolt the springs on with the long side to the rear. Unless u want to move ur axle back, or put one each way and mount ur axle in cocked and run down the road with the truck sideways a few inches.


I just installed mine a couple weeks ago, havent drove on them yet.

Brackets from DIY

I made the shackles out of 3/8, they are 1/2-3/4" longer then stock, dont remember exactly. Reason I made them, the bolts are 9/16, I dont want sloppy holes, so I drilled them 9/16". The shackles u buy will have bigger holes for ease of installation, that will also allow the sleeve to sometimes slip into this hole partially. I wanted good sleeve contact on the shackle. Also the shackles u buy will not extend all the way to the edge of the bushing, I also wanted that(see last pic), dont want the shackle trying to cut into the side of the bushing.

Greasable bolts and DOM sleeves from offroaddesign, also installed a zerk in the flip bracket, also replaced the sleeve that came with the DIY bracket with a DOM sleeve.


This pic (cellphone), everything installed. no load on springs, shackles are almost straight. U dont want them perfectly straight, cause u dont want them trying to flip the wrong way if a wheel comes off the ground. Granted in this pic the axle is not on, but I did stand on each spring simulate the weight of axle and tire, there was almost no more droop caused by me standing on the spring.





Weight on the springs now.








After I got axle and wheels on I jacked up on one side of the axle to check shackle swing.

U dont want ur shackle swung to far back when truck is on level groud, if it is it will limit spring flex, I have seen pics of shackles almost stright back when longer springs were put on with out the correct brackets, that aint good.

[drunkbus]

Originally Posted by coggonobrien

well i want a 4 inch lift to run 35's, will i gain lift running a 56? i'm looking for 4inch total and better ride.

Probably won't gain much lift just from stock 56" springs but the shackle flip gives you 4".

[coggonobrien]

sounds good, i was going to use the b52 mounts for the front, shack flip would be good, the 56"er ought to ride nicer shouldn't it?