alright gang, i have been lookin at the stance of the truck here lately and have come to the conclusion that shes got a little to much junk in the trunk. let me re-phrase: shes got to much rake do to the 3 cut leaf spring blocks sittin between the helper spring and the axle. this is what i'm referin to:
after a little measuring a quick trip to lowes and the local spring shop, i have all the parts needed to be rid of the lift blocks.
if anyones interested, heres a list of tool/parts you'll need to carry out this task:
- air gun (if you don't have access to one, your still good. just makes it easier)
- 1/2 inch 7/8 th's deep socket
- 1/2 inch 21 mm deep socket
- 1/2 inch 19 mm deep socket
- 1/2 inch ratchet
- 1/2 inch ratchet extension
- pair of vice grips (not pictured)
- hammer
- "C" clamp
- can of PB blaster
- 3 ton floor jack
- saw zaw
- 6x6 block of wood (4x4 would work also)
- 4 brand new 9/16th u bolts
- 8 brand new 7/8th's nuts that fit the 9/16th u bolts
- 8 brand new 9/16th washers
- 24 1/2 inch grade 8 lock washers
- 4 - 1/2 x 4 inch grade 8 bolts (optional insurance - will explain later)
this is what you'll be lookin at from on top of the axle:
start first by givin a generous squirt of pb blaster to the 4 u bolt nuts and the 2 center pin nuts and let them set for a minute or two. after that, place the "C" clamp on the rear of the leaf spring behind the axle here and tighten to compress the springs:
once the clamp is installed, remove the 4 - 21 mm u bolt nuts:
when your done with those, remove the u bolts and the leaf spring clamping plate. this is what you should have:
next step is to loosen the 2 - 19 mm center pin nuts:
once those are loose, position your 3 ton floor jack with the 6x6 block of wood on the jack pad and carfully raise the jack up to the front of the leaf spring in front of the axle. this is were you should have it:
jack the truck up and give yourself 2-3 inches to fit your vice grips in and hold on to the circular head of the center pin. this is what you'll be lookin at:
this is were its a plus if you have an extra pair of hands. if not, you'll just have to reach over the top of the axle and leaf sprins and hold your vice grips in one and and loosen the center pin nuts with the other. this is were i ran into a snag (and were the 4 - 1/2 x 4 inch grade 8 bolts will save u a trip to the hardware store). the first 3 center pin bolts came out perfect. the last one kept spinning in the vice grips due to the nut siezing on the tip of the bolt with about an 1/8 of an inch from the top. heres were u can do one of two things. you can say f all the bolts and cut them off and use the new ones (which if i had 4 all brand new bolts, and didn't have the one side already done, i would have done) or try and get yours out and return your new bolts. like i mentioned in the parts list, its just for insurance in case something does go wrong. back to the how to.
weather you cut the circular head off and pull the bolts out from the top of your springs or you choose to try and get them off by loosening them and taking them out from the bottom of the springs, you'll still have to jack the truck up about another 4-6 inches to replace/slide in the new/old bolts from the bottom. once the center pins are removed, the 3 cut leaf spring blocks will just slide out. if you cut the heads off, make sure they are removed and not sitting on the axle plate. now its time to re-install the center pins. simply slide them up through your springs, place 6 - 1/2 inch lock washers on each bolt and re-tighten. you can now SLOWLY lower your truck back down on to the axle. once this is done, re install the leaf spring clamping plate back on top of the leaf spring (it didn't look like it mattered, but i put the plate back on the way it came off with all the letters/numbers on the plate toward the front of the truck) and feed the new u bolts up through the plate, and then re- install the washers and nuts. i'm sure theres a torque spec on all the nuts but im not sure what they are and didn't have a torque wrench. i just went TIGHT! i put some lock tight on the u bolts just for piece of mind and checked to make sure it was tight after a little drive. this is what the finished product looks like from top and bottom/side:
repeat same steps on the other side of the truck.
heres the truck before:
and heres the after:
hope this helps somebody out.
the u bolts, nuts and washers cost 35 dollars
the 24 grade 8 - 1/2 inch lock washers cost around 8 dollars
the one 1/2 x 4 inch grade 8 bolt and nut cost around 3 dollars.
this is a pretty cheap modification thats not to difficult.
Topic: leveling kit...for the rear (Read 8508 times)