Never ending suspension upgrades...

[nico]

My 84 SWB, see below, is currently lowered with 2.5" spindles, 2" hangers, 2" shackles and the thickest overload springs removed. I liked the look when it was on 15" Cragars, but since I've gone with Torq Thrusts, it seems a little high and has too much rake. The new shoes are 17x8 and 17x9.5 with 255/50 and 275/50 Nitto's.

My question is: Can I keep my hangers and then go with a 5" flip kit? I'm not sure what it would do to my pinion angle... What should I go with in the front to level things out: I'm considering 2" springs?

Is 5/7 too low for a static drop driver?

[JohnC]

I'm not sure about the hangers, but flamingbig10 I think has the flip kit with the shackles in place. I think the 2" springs with the spindles you already have would look good with the flip kit. That is the setup I am leaning towards right now.

[bigblock73]

A proper 7" static rear drop would be flip and drop shackles. I am pretty sure you will have to run stock hangers if you want to do a flip. I had the EXACT same rear drop you have now, but have since put the stock hangers back on and did a flip kit.

[nico]

That was my concern... I don't know if the flip kit can be ran with the hangers. I tossed my factory hangers and hate the idea of having to go grind rivets again off one of our parts trucks.

[flamingbig10]

I would go with drop leafs for the rear

[xs-style]

any pics of your crager setup?

[nico]

Here's an old one with the Cragars and one with an extra set of Eagle 17's I had layin around.

[nlped]

You should really find a set of stock hangers and then do the flip. Otherwise, the pinion angle will be way out of "wack" and you will need a big C-notch.

[N2TRUX]

It looks like your getting all the advice you need. I'll just throw a "nice truck" your way and leave it at that...

[nico]

Thanks for the nice truck, and I really appreciate all the replies...

It's amazing how your Cheyenne always stops me in my tracks... I have even thought about selling my 84 just to find a 76 or 77.

I'm still not sure about the hangers and the flip kit. I've gotten many conflicting stories and have no real info to go by. Several others I have spoke with and heard from have done hangers and an axle flip and have no problems.

I'm also not sure about the frame notch... I have seen many 5/7 trucks running a bolt on notch. I would think that 7" of drop would require the same clearances, no matter what components were used to get it.

[nlped]

Because of the need for shims to alleviate the pinion angle issue and the forward movement of the axle assembly due to the drop being produced by the hanger rather than the shackle (which would "move" the axle housing rearward slightly) all can come together to cause issues in the proper articulation of the rear leaf spring suspension. I realize that the bracket for the flip has the spring retainer hole relocated forward to offset the driveshaft length and help accomodate the pinion angle, but the hanger still produces a more pronounced forward shift of the whole assembly when the drop shackles are eliminated.

BTW...Nice looking truck

[nico]

That is what I was concerned about... I ran it for some time with only the hangers and the ride was very smooth. I felt this was because the front of the spring was higher than the rear, allowing the axle to move up and rearward when contacting a bump in the road. Similar to a shackle flip on the front of an older Jeep.

Studying the geometry of the rear-end, I may try removing the shackles and see what happens. I could always add a set of hangers later. It would move the axle forward very-slightly, but that should be corrected with the flip kit... Worst comes to worst, the flip kit's saddles may have to be ground to alter the pinion angle...

Western Chassis Components says there are no problems with running the hangers and flip kit, they just find very few customers that are willing to do all the work of adding hangers with a flip kit, as opposed to shackles.

[nlped]

Cool...I hope that is the case. I look forward to seeing your end results...as I plan on the same amount of drop . I have a whole different dilemma in the rear though...I am using a '96 rearend under mine so the '87 bracket that I have is totally useless because the axle tube is larger in diameter and the new leaf spring perch is taller than the o.e. one. I'm going to build my own flip bracket...Hopefully.

Let me know how your results come out.

Ed

[JohnC]

Originally Posted by nlped

Cool...I hope that is the case. I look forward to seeing your end results...as I plan on the same amount of drop . I have a whole different dilemma in the rear though...I am using a '96 rearend under mine so the '87 bracket that I have is totally useless because the axle tube is larger in diameter and the new leaf spring perch is taller than the o.e. one. I'm going to build my own flip bracket...Hopefully.

Let me know how your results come out.

Ed

I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of this. Good luck man, and keep us informed.