Reversing front trailings arm mounts

[rustbucket66]

I have my chassis all together and painted, and put the wheels on today. I used 3 inch blocks between the housing and trailing arms, with longer ubolts for the lowering of the rear. Kind of a poor mans way to do it but it works. I'm looking at the front of the trailing arms where the big bolt goes through the bracket and the trailing arm bushing. Has anyone ever knocked the rivets out of the mounts on the crossmemember, and bolted the bracket in upside down?? The position of the big front bolt would be exactly 3 inches higher on the crossmember, and lowering the rear of the frame should go down about the same. I don't think pinion angle would be affected much, and I wouldn't have to use the 3 inch spacer block at the rear of the trailing arms. Has anyone tried this??

[protrash64]

It's been done. I think the aftermarket x-members are designed to mimic this type of mod with the mount higher on the piece.

[markeb01]

Here's an earlier thread with quite a bit of input:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...rm+crossmember

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by rustbucket66

I have my chassis all together and painted, and put the wheels on today. I used 3 inch blocks between the housing and trailing arms, with longer ubolts for the lowering of the rear. Kind of a poor mans way to do it but it works. I'm looking at the front of the trailing arms where the big bolt goes through the bracket and the trailing arm bushing. Has anyone ever knocked the rivets out of the mounts on the crossmemember, and bolted the bracket in upside down?? The position of the big front bolt would be exactly 3 inches higher on the crossmember, and lowering the rear of the frame should go down about the same. I don't think pinion angle would be affected much, and I wouldn't have to use the 3 inch spacer block at the rear of the trailing arms. Has anyone tried this??

Flipping the mounts won't lower the truck, it just restores/changes the pinion angle if the truck is lowered w/springs. It also moves the contact point between the T/A's & the frame closer together (a concern w/extreme drops & OE T/A's).