Best way to lower rear leafs.

[NorCalC20LWB]

Looking for suggestions on the best way lower the rear end to eliminate so much "rake". Mine is a custom camper, so the rear leafs are pretty heavy duty I think. Not a big fan of the lowered look overall, especially on a 3/4 ton long bed, but I would like a more level look. So, what is the best way to lower the rear to even out the stance? Drop shackles, remove a leaf or 2?

[hamjet]

The proper way is to arch the leaves less than they are,(you can leave the main leaf in ), or if theres a block under the springs remove it.. not hard re-arching, just need something like two short pieces of rail or something similar spaced about 8" apart and a sledge hammer. I've done it myself, but it helps having someone to help..(I worked at a spring shop some 43 years ago) Then set the leaves back in place and lower the truck down and see if its to your liking , if alls good, put the center bolt in and u-bolts in and tighten everything up..

[1971 for fun]

I did 2" drop shackles on my 71 c20 and it's definitely better.

[Mike C]

How low do you want to go? As mentioned, you can get 1 1/2" or so in the back with drop shackles. You can buy replacement leaf springs in 2", 4" or 6" drop. You can have your own springs de-arched and hope the spring shop hits the height you want. Or you can flip the rear axle housing to the top of the springs. The 4" springs with shackles would be a nice combo as well.

I flipped my truck using a DJM kit (for now, when I get the big block in the truck I'm going to just weld on mounts.) The DJM kit lets you go back to underslung easily if you want and it lets you adjust pinion angle. The flip on my truck netted just over 7" drop in the rear, so be sure you want to go that low.

[NorCalC20LWB]

Thanks for the very helpful information....did not know you could de-arch leafs, not sure I would be comfortable doing that myself. I measured the ground to fender distance and came up with 32 1/2" in front and about 36" in the rear. So with a 3 1/2" difference maybe the simplest method of a drop shackle would make the stance a bit more even. I assume that's a pretty inexpensive solution also. If not will look into re-arching or new springs. Again thank you for sharing your knowledge!


Or I could use this method

[Mike C]

You can have the leaves de-arched. Not really a DIY project...

The shackles cost about $50 if I remember? That's what I did on my C2500 to get the back down a little. Still sat slightly higher in the rear but that was a good mod.

Firewood works great for lowering!