How to: Chevy 63" Leaf Spring Swap

Gotcha, I considered that heavily, and was pretty much leaning that way. Final straw was figuring out a rough estimate in labor costs. I already have a Dakar pack so I’ll head in that direction

 

You can get some good flex from Dakars, relocation, and shackle hangers like AG or bamf and in some cases just as much as some 63 swaps.

 

I can't wait to have this finished... Truck is going in for regear/lockers this week, after that it's finally time to start hacking. I have all the parts, just finding the time and motivation is the hard part. I'll be doing it pretty well by myself unfortunately.

 

Is it time consuming yes if you want it to look really good and be straight ESPECIALLY when you do it by yourself... minus texts and messages for help... but at the end of the day I don’t think there is anything better then it... ok 3 link and 4 link are different animals.

I have 285/70/17 looking at going to 35s or 37s if I get UCAs

 

If you want to see more my instagram is @tacomaturnerfab

 

I think that's the first 3rd gen 63 swap I've seen! Looks killer man.

 

What leaf pack did you go with, 3+1? I’ll be doing my swap soon-ish. I’m debating trading up my 3+1 for 4+1 since I have a HC rear with swingout.

 

@Trident904 was I believe

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...thread-is-closed-thread.500861/#post-15604918

 

Not the first haha but thank you for the comment. I am also running 4+1 but I am not running the overload spring.

 

What is your rear shackle angle when the truck is on flat ground? Your truck sits pretty much how I want mine to be.

 

You want the rear shackle angle to be at 45 degrees when on level ground at ride height.

 

Not necessarily true. If mine were at 45* static then when I would droop out I would go to 90+ and run the risk of them going the opposite direction upon compression. That would make for a very bad day.

Shackle angle has some to do with ride height but a lot to do with spring choice suspension cycling etc. There isn't a be all end all perfect #. Gotta set it up for what you are wanting to get out of it.

You must of been under a rock for like the last 3 years.

 

Never had that problem and the shackles never went the other direction when fully flexed.

 

Same thing @ovrlndkull said. My shackles are happy at about 25 degrees. Gives me about 4-5 inches of up travel and 9 inches of down. I prefer my CG to be as low as possible when crawling. If I ever want to increase ride height, I can always buy a longer shackle and experiment with that.

 

Correct your set up it worked at that angle mine it wouldn't. Mine are static 25* I swing from full droop at ~75*- full compression at ~10*. A lot of it is how you set everything up and spring selection etc.

 

We need to do the shackles that @JBTacoma has on his Samurai. We can really get some crazy stupid droop then.

 

I want no more than 3-3.5" lift in the rear.

Would swapping out the leafs effect the ride height?...say we used the 3+1 to set the rear shackle, but then I decided to go with a 4+1 later on...

Debating to run and get some 4+1 leafs and take the overload out...I can get a set for $60 and keep my 3+1 as backup I suppose...

 

Need to buy another set of shocks then... that would be my third set since doing the 63 swap

That missing link setup is pretty cool though. Have to save that idea for a future build... unless I just 4 link everything.

 

Yes it will also arch of the spring can be a determining factor. I studied a lot of the springs and there are a shit ton of them out there with all different arches and # of packs. So it all depends on the ones you choose.