Lowered rear suspension question?

[lolife99]

There should be a stud for the lower shock mount.
Call ECE if you didn't get it.

[gringoloco]

What he said. You can use a pair of front studs in a pinch...

[Todd68Chevy]

Originally Posted by lolife99

There should be a stud for the lower shock mount.
Call ECE if you didn't get it.

Originally Posted by gringoloco

What he said. You can use a pair of front studs in a pinch...

I will call them tomorrow. I just looked again and the only studs I see are for the front and they are larger. I di not buy the shock brackets from them directly. They are thier brand and were on a frame I bought. Hopefully They will sell me just the studs. I called the local parts store and they could only get the larger one that is like what is on the front. I will just drill them out if I have to. Thanks

[Todd68Chevy]

Talked to ECE this morning and he said just drill out the shock bracket and use the front shock mounting studs I already have and I will be good. Hope the exhaust repair is that easy.

[fleetman]

Originally Posted by lolife99

There should be a stud for the lower shock mount.
Call ECE if you didn't get it.

hello lolife - where can i get this lower rear shock stud ? if its not avaialable at ece. the reason i ask is i just got a set kyb 344067 and 344068 and it has studs for the front upper but nothing for the rear at all .
the old lower shock bolt (rear shock) i removed was worn 1/6 through from years of wear. and the shock bolt hole was actually rideing partially on the bolt threads..... i wonder if those bolts were stock ?
anyway appreciate yours and others help as my rear is in similar shape except i am running bags not coils on my 66 fleetside.

thanks
paul

[lolife99]

I think your local parts house should have them.
This is one I found on the internet.
http://*************/shock-relocating...ck-stud-button
This is what they look like.

[Todd68Chevy]

Originally Posted by fleetman

hello lolife - where can i get this lower rear shock stud ? if its not avaialable at ece. the reason i ask is i just got a set kyb 344067 and 344068 and it has studs for the front upper but nothing for the rear at all .
the old lower shock bolt (rear shock) i removed was worn 1/6 through from years of wear. and the shock bolt hole was actually rideing partially on the bolt threads..... i wonder if those bolts were stock ?
anyway appreciate yours and others help as my rear is in similar shape except i am running bags not coils on my 66 fleetside.

thanks
paul

The guy at ECE told me that he could sell me the stud kit they use with their bracket but suggested I should just drill out the bracket and use one like the top of the front shocks use. Like Lolife stated, the local parts stores around me offer a replacement repair stud that will work fine. It is universal and usually in the HELP product line or maybe Dorman.

[CC69Rat]

Just seeing this one, .. yes much better. Looks good man. It's much easier to re-work the exhaust anyway. I bet it rides a lot better too.

Question. I noticed your Pinion angle appears to be +3 deg or so. Have you considered pinion angle shims? This might (likely) smooth things out even more they're cheap too and will keep from popping the Ujoints unexpectedly. I have some good info on this if you want to PM, or just reply and I'll post it here. Lolife99 -- Does it look a little high to you? I think I might look at ~2 or 3 deg shims for it if it were mine. Just sayin ..

[lolife99]

It's hard to tell about the pinion angle.
A quick check with an angle finder will answer that,... but you have to compare it to the tailshaft of the trans to know if it's correct.

[Todd68Chevy]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

Just seeing this one, .. yes much better. Looks good man. It's much easier to re-work the exhaust anyway. I bet it rides a lot better too.

Question. I noticed your Pinion angle appears to be +3 deg or so. Have you considered pinion angle shims? This might (likely) smooth things out even more they're cheap too and will keep from popping the Ujoints unexpectedly. I have some good info on this if you want to PM, or just reply and I'll post it here. Lolife99 -- Does it look a little high to you? I think I might look at ~2 or 3 deg shims for it if it were mine. Just sayin ..

I have not drove it much because the exhaust is not fixed yet but Yes it rides different and better. I have actually drove the truck 40,000 miles with it lowered (Approx. 37500 miles with heated springs and 2500 miles since I put lowered coils on it) and really did not think it rode bad before but everyone that has followed me said I needed shocks (even after installing new ones).

When I first lowered it with the set up I have now I tried rear end shims and set the angles where I was told they should be and it vibrated (never had before with the heated springs) so I removed them and I think it feels fine. I put u-joints in it when it was first put together and have not had to replace them since. The truck does eat carrier bearings. I think I am on my 5th or 6th bearing. Some have got loose, one had a bearing fail and one I broke the bracket loose from the mounting plate (may have been playing to hard). I would like to see what you have on this if you want to send me a link to a thread or post it here. I do have a cross member that changes the swing arm mounting locations that I was going to use when I redo the truck and make it a short bed.

[Todd68Chevy]

Ok I am finally driving the truck again. While I was fixing the rear suspension, the engine developed an oil leak at one of the pipe plugs in the rear of the block. I finally got the oil leak fixed and the truck back together. I have put over 100 miles on it and it is driving good. Thanks for the help.

[Todd68Chevy]

I took a trip to Michigan last weekend and drove over 950 miles in 4 days. The truck was loaded and did pretty good but I still have a couple issue to address. While driving with minimal load, the headers drug when hitting dips on a 2 lane highway. So my header collectors hit before my front suspension bottoms out. I am going to have to raise the front or install short tube headers. The second issue was when the truck was loaded (possibly loaded to heavy, LOL) and driving down the Interstate, the rear suspenion was hitting somewhere. I think that might be the driveshaft yoke bottoming out in the transmission. I am not sure if I need to shorten the driveshaft or what to do there.

[swanga c10]

great info guys, im looking at a 4.5/6 drop and would like to know if it essential to change the track bar??

[Todd68Chevy]

Originally Posted by swanga c10

great info guys, im looking at a 4.5/6 drop and would like to know if it essential to change the track bar??

With a 5 inch rear drop on mine I had to change the track bar and install shock relocators so with 6 I am sure you will need to. It was scary to drive at time before I changed the track bar. The shocks just make it bounce to much. I went with the super trac arm kit that relocated the right mounting to the right axle u-bolt instead of the diff. housing. Rides and drives good now but with a load in the bed my driveshaft is bottoming out so now I need to fix that problem.