couple questions about rear suspension and drive shaft

[BIGBLU 72]

I am faced with the problem of a broken trailing arm and currently have it fixed with two pieces of 8 gauge angle iron and 4 massive stainless bolts haha. so i was wondering what kinda price im looking at to buy them new/used cause i would like to keep the truck coil over or is it gunna be cheaper/better for my truck to switch to rear leaves? what are some advantages/disadvantages of both. also what are some problems with the two piece drive shaft as i would like to switch to a one piece. my truck is a LWB btw

[Sinister]

I wouldn't drive it like that. I'd check the parts section of the Board for a trailing arm.
I don't see the point of a one piece driveshaft on a LWB, but to each his own.

[bobbo]

Regarding the driveshaft, I have a one piece in my LB only after realizing the two piece didn't have a slip yoke on the rear portion, every time I loaded it the driveshaft put pressure on the carrier and would break the carrier bearing. I had already spent some money on the two piece to have u-joints and carrier replaced and balanced three times before realizing what was going on. I don't know why there wasn't a slip yoke, but opted to go with a one piece now which eliminates any of the problems.

[BIGBLU 72]

thanks for the ideas

[Longhorn Man]

I wouldn't drive it like that that either personally.

Leaf verses spring... never ending debate.
They are rated for the same weight, the coils give a better ride and if taking off fast is your thing, they'll help you hook up better.
Some willl tell you leafs are better for a work truck.
I'd just locate some new trailing arms and U bolts, and swap them out.
I would also recomend getting rid of the coil overs. If they are true coil overs, then they are stressing the shock mounts and will probably break sometime in the future. I've seen shock mounts with plain old shocks break off, let alone with coil overs.

[BIGBLU 72]

how do i get rid of the coil overs without changing suspension? (i dnt really understand). and are SWB trailing arms the same are LWB?

[jake wells]

i have to agree about how smooth the coil springs my truck drives like a Buick

[Longhorn Man]

trailing arms are the same SWB to LWB, the 3/4 ton pieces have been beefed up from the factory, and swap right in place of the 1/2 ton units.
Looking over this again, you may be using the wrong term... do you have coil springs, and then seperate shocks, or do you have shocks with coils wrapped around them like this?

Those are coilovers in the photo.

[BIGBLU 72]

coil spring and sperate shocks...the stock setup on a 68 chevy

[BIGBLU 72]

ttt

[texanidiot25]

It's just a coil spring rear. Coil sprung.. Coil over is when the coil goes over the shock. Two different setups