I made a mistake on buying my leaf springs

be right there, let me grab my beer.

but seriously, i know because i was going to put my springs that are spring under, over my axle while doing a solid axle swap in the front. but my sua springs (3 inches of lift, pack being 5 inches thick, axle tube being what 3 inches? netting me 11ish inches of lift)

 

Well technically yes. I wanted rear leaf springs to go with the Fabtech 6inch lift kit that i already have on the truck. So that the rear would equally match the ride height of the front of my truck so it would have a better setup then stock springs with an AAL and a 3inch block. Plus with fabtechs set up in the rear its not a good off-road nor on-road set up. I get a fair amount of axle wrap due to the lift blocks on those worn out stock leaf springs and the ride is harsh. Now im somewhat new on how all this works on measuring for correct springs and the actual terminology used on lift kits, but what its looking like to me is that (and correct me if im wrong) "Fabtechs" TRUE terminology is 6 Inch lift in the front, 3 Inch leveling block in the back. Not a true 6inch lift all around. The front suspension of my truck may be a true 6inches, but they just level out the rear with a 3 inch block and an AAL to bring the rear to match the front.

As far as the springs go yes. Thats what was said before i bought them that these springs are a true 6inch spring, but like i said im somewhat new and maybe not fully understanding what to measure to get things at the same height using different parts. I thought that beings my truck has a 6inch lift kit then it must be truly 6inches of lift in the rear.

 

you still need to actually install the leaf pack all the way and put the weight on the truck to see what it will do. every leaf pack will droop out differently and sit differently with weight on it.

the way to measure for a leaf pack is weigh your truck, weight on each tire. call alcan or deaver and have a custom pack made for how much weight you have and how much lift you want. wallah done.

 

Bingo. 6inch fabtech lift was installed on the truck and wanted to tear out the stock springs, block and AAL and replace with a set of springs that would match ride height of the front

 

Thanks for the tip and i thought about that as well after the fact will do next time

 

Well honestly no i dident... I just saw how things were modified from the fabtech setup and figured that was a true 6inch lift. Having thought that i thought a 6inch spring would directly replace the stock springs, aal and blocks and the axle droop and ride height would stay the same and there would be no need to extend anything. In better terms i wasent expecting the added droop effect... im a noobie

 

Before you get all ansy thinking you have the wrong springs and start buying more stuff, put the one you have on the truck and make sure that they are the wrong ones.

 

Then post some good profile pics of the truck so you can get the help you need

 

Yea i guess i should give it one last crack to confirm it... I guess before i do anything i need to extend my brake lines, abs lines and e brake cable.

Somethings telling me im going to have to get longer shackles and if that's the case then there goes my hitch

 

This was also going through my head and was actually mentioned at some point before i went ahead and bought these springs... OME stock height springs and keeping the 3inch block.

 

you should be able to just disconnect everything from the axle (ie brake lines, abs, ect) and just put the springs on to check. Even when I replaced my stock springs with less abused stock springs, I still had to fight with them to get the shackle on. Once I did and set it back down the springs went almost flat from the weight. Once the springs are under weight of the truck, take some pictures of the side and the shackle angle.

 

Alright, sorry for the long delay on this project lol. So sunday i dove back in to this project (pics coming soon) with the added supplies such as extended brake line, extra bolts and bilstein 5125 170/60 valving shocks. So far i have the truck up on stands (safely on cinderblock on the load side), the brake line installed, tail pipe cut off and shackle bolts, ubolts lossened. Tonight i will be cutting the other spring mount bolt off and hopefully mounting up the springs. Will have pics soon. Also i aremoved the 6 degree spacer, i think that had alot to do with the rear spring being so high up

 

The 6* spacer is to ease increased driveshaft angle from additional lift. A longer shackle will give you more lift, you'll need a shorter one to lesson the 6" spring lift, or remove a few leaves.

 

You wouldnt want stock height ome leafs. You'd want the ome Dakar's! They are supposed to net ya just under 3". So the dskars paired with your block would be about perfect to get ya where you'd want to be, if your current springs don't end up working out! With the Dakar's you can get their AAL to slip into the pack as well if ya want a lil extra pay load capacity or need a bit more height!
On another note you're pry gunna want to keep the axle shim on those leafs! Might end up with some new vibs otherwise. You'll notice your blocks are angled aswell to correct the drive line angles. That's why your new leafs have that shim on there.

 

Ok guys, moment of truth came today and i have to say i was more then surprised. These springs leveled out my truck perfectly!!!! However i ran into a bit of a snag... i need longer shackles as you will see from the pictures below. With the weight of the truck on the springs the shackles are very close to the frame and if i bounce the truck hard enough you can hear them coming in contact with the frame. The only problem is, if i do get longer shackles i don't want to lose my trailer hitch and i think if i go with a longer shackle im gonna have interference issues. Also i like where my truck sits currently with the springs installed, however i don't mind going up another inch max. Given the pictures below, what do you guys think would be the best approach to this simple problem. I should also mention that i will be fabbing up longer bump stops for the axle, so i wont have to worry about aver flexing things.

Here is how the truck sits currently with the new springs installed




Here is my issue (springs have full weight of the truck on them)

 

Seems to me that the springs are a little long.

 

I think they need to be longer due to the added lift the springs are making... the bigger the arch the longer the spring. When i had the truck up in the air (full droop) with the springs installed, the bottom of the shackle was pointing slightly in the opposite direction

 

Nice, I knew that'd work out. Do you have the shocks on? That will make a difference.

 

After stumbling through this thread why not just remove the blocks and leave the springs alone

 

I did have the shocks on but with the added resistance of the shocks I couldn't bounce the truck up and down enough to get everything to settle and get a true height/reading... So I removed the shocks bounced the truck a few times and then everything settled to where its suppose to, looked under the truck and saw the stock shackles were close to being maxed out and with enough force makes contact with the frame. I'm gonna need longer shackles definitely but I don't know how long.

As far as having the shock take care of this problem. Won't the shackle eventually make contact if the rear flexes enough??