Drop brackets for the leaf spring.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

I am getting near the point where I can work on my project truck again.

When you move your front leaf spring bracket to lower a truck. Such as with the drop brackets that are sold. So if the bracket moves the leaf spring forward bolt up. 5 inches how much drop does one get.

5 inches up = 5 inches axle up

or something like

5 inches up = 2.5 inches axle up?

[N2TRUX]

I looked at your previous posts and didn't see what your working on. Please be specific with your request for info.

What I can tell you is your not going to gain 5" from raising your spring hanger because there isn't that much room to work with. Usually you gain 1.5-2" by raising the spring hanger, and another 2" with a shackle.

[tinydb84]

I am in the process of doing a shackle and hanger drop on my C20. The mounting points for the spring on the shackle are 2'' higher and on the hanger are 2'' higher. It is supposed to net me 4'' drop total. (I also pulled three leafs for more drop and better ride) I havent got it all back together yet so I cant tell you how accurate that is.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

I looked at your previous posts and didn't see what your working on. Please be specific with your request for info.

What I can tell you is your not going to gain 5" from raising your spring hanger because there isn't that much room to work with. Usually you gain 1.5-2" by raising the spring hanger, and another 2" with a shackle.

My project truck is a 66 F100 with a crown vic front end. I am getting another frame for it here this week, and I have to do a quick swap because I have a small driveway.

So I am trying to gather info for the rear before I tear into it. I have to shorten the wheel base by a inch or so, and while at it I am going to build more drop into the rear before I go to blocks.

Plus my plans for my C20 will likely need the same thing done to get the right height.

[N2TRUX]

Ok, then my reply was inaccurate since I based it on assuming we were discussing a GM truck frame.

I would not raise the hanger any more than I could raise the rear with shackle, or moving the shackle hanger up. In most cases you want to raise these points equally, or you end up with pinion angle issues. If you compensate for pinion angle via shims, tapered blocks, or rotating you mounting plates your changes can be more dramatic.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

The rear axle has been flipped, and it is just sitting in the mounts till I set up pinion angle. Now after I redo the frame.

If I can get another inch or so I think I will be set. I will just trim ride height with a really short block instead of the bigger one I was looking at.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

The reason I am redoing the frame is that when I built the truck the first time. Is that I took everything into account except track width.

So when I dropped the truck onto the rollers, and tried to drive it around the street to test it out. I soon found I couldn't out turn a big rig.

[N2TRUX]

Two steps forward, one step back. Sounds like you learned from burn..

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

Yes I learned a big lesson from that F-up.

When I got it I didn't just want another bolt on truck, and I found the F100 online for cheap one day. Then I found out about the Crown Vic swap along with the Jaguar swap, and I went with the Crown Vic swap because it is quite a bit tougher.

So as I read the forums everyone just bolted the K member to the bottom which gave a decent drop, and excellent handling. But no one had sectioned the frame for more drop, and I went this route. So I sectioned the frame 3 inches, and cut the springs for 2" more drop. It looked awesome sitting there, but it would barely turn even with the fenders rolled.

So I dropped the K member down a bit, and threw some wood blocks under it so I can move it around easier. Plus finalize my new ride height to where I will have full turning abilities. CV springs, and struts approximate the specs needs for slamming a F100 pretty well.

I thought maybe I could fix the frame, but the way I did it would be a real pita to redo, and clean sheet would be safer. For me doing the work, and after when I drive.

[N2TRUX]

Sounds like you have a tendency to throw caution to the wind and see what shakes out. Not bad if you can fix the fiasco when they dont work. I used to play that way too, but I got much more conservative as I grew older and (hopefully) wiser.

You have my attention. I must see pics...

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

When I did the truck, and from what I can see last time I searched. Is still no one has done a f100 with the CV swap as low as mine is/was. They still are usually around 2 inches higher then where mine sits now, and the track width was the only mess up I couldn't fix.

I spent a few weeks driving the truck around grabbing the necessary parts, and planning the whole thing out. It worked great everything fell in to place as planned. Except the track width. The only thing I forgot about.

On the F100 there was not much besides to shake out issues. The Jaguar swap has been done a 100 times, and if you read everything right. Very little should go wrong. Frame grafting was not an option for me as I would of needed a much better driveway for the set-up. Swapping a C10 frame would of worked. I like my Chevy's Chevy, and my Fords Ford.