Spring Swap Thread - 1963 K15

[Dsuper5]

one more time

[Dsuper5]

It rides sooooo much better, no swaying at all, 1ton chevy 62inches for the rear. I weight the thing at the local transfer station 5400 LBS.

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by Dsuper5

It rides sooooo much better, no swaying at all, 1ton chevy 62inches for the rear. I weight the thing at the local transfer station 5400 LBS.

Right on Eddy! Looks like you might have picked up a little flex in the rear from the picture. Way cool! Are you still using 45" springs in front or have you gone longer there? Very cool to see you're happy with the 1 tons. Mine is a little soft in the rear but I love the ride. I was thinking bags or maybe 3/4 tons for the rear. Too cool.

['63GENIII]

BTW Eddy, did you go with greaseable bolts on your springs? I didn't and they made a little noise with the poly bushings.

[Dsuper5]

I went a bit overboard, but then again: greaseable bolts all around and Bilsteins 5160 on all 4 corners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

['63GENIII]

Hmmmm. What are the Bilstiens like? Going overboard isn't necessarily a bad thing. Usually the projects that I go a little overboard on are the ones that I don't have to go back and mess with! LOL

Happy to see you got it done and are happy with it. Nice work!

[Dsuper5]

Fast cornering on asphalt, washboard going 45 to 50, braking hard in a corner (hydro boost)no problem at all, waaaaayyy better handling overall compared to rough country shocks! then again they are 25% of what Bilsteins are.
I decided that i want the best handling out of this truck i can get on and off road, its painted, has ac power seats new window rubbers a mildly enhanced 350 tbi, ron francis wiring bumper to bumper, gps usb ports front and rear. Lockers are probably next ....

I hear you by not going BACK, i am building this truck as best as i can and do not want to go back..maybe a little more power later on. I will paly with it for the 6-8 month then we will see.

[Dsuper5]

still in the shake down phase...

['63GENIII]

Okay, okay already. I give! Seriously though, your Burb looks killar, and wheeling it looks way fun! Im super jealous now! The only new additions to my truck are spiderwebs on the bumpers. LOL!

[Dsuper5]

to finish the evening 2 dash board shots in the making

[heavymech]

So I have a question if you're not sick of answering them. How hard was it to put the 73 sway bar in. Did the brackets mount up easily? Did the B52 kit affect anything? I recently finished the B52 kit on my 67 and I love it. But now the rear ez rides seem like they came off of a deuce and half compared to the front. I already sourced a pair of 64 rears from the bone yard and I ordered the ORD shackle flip. I'm going to relocate the factory front mounts. I love your old truck btw!

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by heavymech

So I have a question if you're not sick of answering them. How hard was it to put the 73 sway bar in. Did the brackets mount up easily? Did the B52 kit affect anything? I recently finished the B52 kit on my 67 and I love it. But now the rear ez rides seem like they came off of a deuce and half compared to the front. I already sourced a pair of 64 rears from the bone yard and I ordered the ORD shackle flip. I'm going to relocate the factory front mounts. I love your old truck btw!

Thanks. The B52 kit allowed the softer springs to be installed which allowed more body roll than I was comfortable with. You actually caught me at a good time for this as I was just re installing the sway bay last night while wrapping up my engine swap.

The crossmember itself is 2"x4" tube. Its held on with 2- 3/8" bolts at the ends to the frame. The little nut gizmos are left over from my B52 kit. DIY makes some killar quality stuff!

I have seen a couple of members modify and install the stock bracketry to get their sway bar installed. As for me... Im a little too lazy. I just happened to have the square stock laying around and as it turned out, it lower the bar enough to make it parallel to the leaves which may or may not help with any kind of binding.
You also need the u bolt plates / spring clamps that accept the sway bar bolt.
I would say that the bar has taken nearly 90% of the sway out of the ride.

[Baketown Scotty]

Thanks for the write up. Hope to do this to my Suburban like Dsuper5. I followed all pretty good except how you determined where to drill the holes for the rear springs front and rear hangars. If you get a chance I would appreciate if you could describe that for me. Thanks again for doing this and the documentation.

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by Baketown Scotty

Thanks for the write up. Hope to do this to my Suburban like Dsuper5. I followed all pretty good except how you determined where to drill the holes for the rear springs front and rear hangars. If you get a chance I would appreciate if you could describe that for me. Thanks again for doing this and the documentation.

Not a problem at all. The swap actually works really well for me.
As far as locating the spring hanger, I started by making a reference mark (used a plumb bob) on the frame which showed the original center of the axle. Since the 1/2 ton 63 - 64" springs nearly flatten when loaded, I just measured from the spring center pin to the front spring eye center and used that as my mark for the hanger eye. I then used C clamps to mock up the springs, shackles and hangers and sat the truck onto the axle to compare the axle / frame center line with a plumb . It came out about 1/4" to the rear of the center mark on the frame which worked because I wanted to move the axle back anyway.
After measuring 20 more times and using reference points that were the same on both sides of the frame, I was pretty confident of two things - my frame was as straight as I could ask for and that my rear axle was squared to the frame as best as possible.
With the front mounts still clamped, the center punch came out and the holes were drilled and bolted.
Using the front mounts to measure, I adjusted the rear hangers so that my shackle angles were where I wanted them and the hangers were exactly the same distance apart. Drill, bolt and done.
My biggest concern was getting the axle as close to 90 degrees to the frame centerline so it didn't dog walk. It seems to be tracking straight so I guess I got it.

[Baketown Scotty]

Great, thank you.

[jwalt2gfd]

Hey Chris, when you put your DIY4x front 4 hole brackets on were you able to place them in exactly the same place on the frame side to side? When I put mine on in the same place the measurement from the center of the bolt hole i am using, the same one you used, is different from side to side. Frame is straight and square. I moved the right bracket back almost a half inch to align the holes and then the core support holes are off. Just wondered whaat your expericene was. thx

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by jwalt2gfd

Hey Chris, when you put your DIY4x front 4 hole brackets on were you able to place them in exactly the same place on the frame side to side? When I put mine on in the same place the measurement from the center of the bolt hole i am using, the same one you used, is different from side to side. Frame is straight and square. I moved the right bracket back almost a half inch to align the holes and then the core support holes are off. Just wondered whaat your expericene was. thx

Hey JWALT,
The holes that lined up for me were the center hole of the DIY bracket and one of the top rivet holes for the cross member brace on the inside of the frame. Even though the holes "kinda" lined up, I did have to wallow them out a little.

Whats a little strange though is that on this last go round on my truck (the engine swap), I pulled the front sheetmetal off. My core support was rotten at the frame / mounting area so I picked up a new - used one off of a later Burb (thanks Randy!). When I went to install the core support, it seemed as though the mounts were farther apart than on the original. I really had to wedge the long support bolts in and then crank down the nuts.

I just chalked it up to tolerances being a little loose on the old truck.

One other thing that it could be. I do know that mine was in a wreck on the passenger side at one time. I don't think that the frame is affected but Im pretty sure that the firewall on that side is pushed in a little. Since the inner fender is supported by the firewall and more or less sets the distance for cab to core support, there could be a discrepancy there? You might want to take a few measurements (core support to cab on both sides)?

[heavymech]

Thank you for an awesome write up on this process. And thanks for taking the time to answer everyone's questions. When are you going to show the us something on the new engine and tune that you have done since this post? Or did I miss it? Are you in trouble with your wife all the time like I am over my truck? lol

['63GENIII]

Anytime. I really like how its worked out. I was able to get her out of the garage yesterday under her own power and down to the exhaust shop.

I have no idea how to post a link but its in the engine and drivetrain section under "7.4 L29 Build for '63 K15 with NV4500" or something like that.

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by heavymech

Thank you for an awesome write up on this process. Are you in trouble with your wife all the time like I am over my truck? lol

Well since I got her Bug back in the garage yesterday, things have been pretty cool at the house. LOL. She was even helping install carpet, hood and fenders just to get it out of the garage. It was pretty funny.

[Captainfab]

Subscribing for future reference

['63GENIII]

Bringing it back from a short pause. An update, a repair, a little maintenance and as usual, a bunch of questions (and of course pics) coming soon.

['63GENIII]

Finally getting back to finish up a few items that were bothering me from the last go round. So far Ive logged at around 7 - 8 thousand miles on the new suspension. Unloaded, its a real comfortable ride, articulates well stops better than before and is an all around improvement for my usage.

There are however a few shortcomings which I was hoping to address before our summer camping trip in 3 weeks, namely;

Ball joints- since I first swapped the front axle onto the truck (7 years ago?) I knew the ball joints on the Dana 44 were marginal. There was a little play evident in that I could rock the wheels top to bottom maybe 1/4". Bearings were repacked and adjusted so I knew it wasn't that.

Front spring pack stiffness - although the ride is super smooth now with the 52s, it has become clear that I needed something a little firmer. The 5/16 - 5 leaf pack has always been a little looser than I like for my taste. I was thinking that maybe going to a 6 leaf pack of the same thickness. Then there was also the issue of a possible hairline crack in the 2nd from the bottom spring on the drivers side. Couldn't tell at the time if it was a scratch or what but back in February, the boy and I were driving and heard what sounded like a 5/8 or 3/4 wrench either fall out of the truck or get kicked up by the wheel. We stopped in traffic, looked around and didn't see anything. Well, lets just say that I found out yesterday what the sound was.

Aside from the ball joints and springs, I was going to do inner and outer bearings and seals, new calipers, vent the axle, install some Warn Premium hubs, change the gear oil and giver her a coat of paint to match the rest of the underside.

[snj8198]

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['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by snj8198

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Lol. You're Killin me Steve!

FWIW, I found a driver's side knuck on EvilBay for just under 100 shipped. I've been looking at 60s since Friday and all I can say is HOLY CRAP THEYRE EXPENSIVE! I may still go that way if I can find a deal on one. Right now though they start at 1600 to 2500.

As always I have Cadillac taste on a Chevette budget!