Deaver J59s: Leaf Spring Installation Orientation Question

I was being funny...lol everything does have a torque spec. I go with the German torque specs usually, gudentite

 

Does this mean that the Deaver J59 springs should be different lengths? Because I also looked for side-specific install instructions (of which I thought I'd find on the DeaverSprings website, but I couldn't find anything, so I jumped to the project assuming they were the same length.

Also, I tightened the left side a bit before I tightened the right; I found the axle was pulled to the left and it was impossible to line up the metal nib on the underside of the leafs for the right side, so I had to loosen the left side to align that (pictured below):

 

I wait for the vein in my forehead to pop out.

 

Some leaf sets are side specific, but I don't believe the J59's are.

 

Another question; the settled angle of the differential.

I outlined the relative angles of the settled and semi-torqued (not completely to spec) rear suspension components. The picture is pretty bad, and the angles may not be represented appropriately. However, the driveshaft yoke seems to be bare with the new leaf springs, am I just noticing the shiny metal because I just replaced the springs, or do you all think the yoke extension is normal? Does it look like the yoke will fall out of the driveshaft (because that's how I feel when I look at it)? (See picture below)

I allowed the suspension to get loaded before I started torquing it all down; I only hand-tightened the bolts/nuts before I dropped the truck with wheels off the jacks (because I read somewhere that you're supposed to first load the suspension before torquing.

Also also, maybe this is normal and the leaf springs will need to settle a bit before the rest of the components fall into place? Though everything is semi-torqued, so I can't imagine how the differential would tip-up to allowing the yoke to collapse a bit.

 

Lifted springs will expose more of the yoke, so that's not a bad thing. Since people with the 2.5" OME kits don't have a problem dropping drive shafts, you should be fine.

 

I swear I was going to faint after tightening all the bolts to just 67 ft/lbs, but it was hot, I was dehydrated and ready to just tidy up and take a shower - so I blew past the fatigue and thirst to get this project done.

I had imagined before I started, I would take pictures all along the way like the best write-ups I've had the pleasure of viewing online. Once I started, those plans were out and I just had to keep going; I didn't take but five photos pretty much after I was done. The only before images I have are of my OME shocks, OME Dakars in my Suspension album.

So yeah, I have no side-by-side before and after photos for everyone to gleam; I was in a hurry.

 

Thank you for this.

I realized that in fact the J59s have risen the rear end by maybe 0.5-inch to 1-inch compared to the OME Dakars that were on there before; I reckon the Dakars were long worn out and this is why I am noticing the bare portion of yoke.

This bare portion of yoke however, does not seem to be fresh; it does appear there is some dirty grease on the yoke, thus I may have reason to believe that it was exposed throughout the use of Dakar's life. Deaver's coming-of-age enthusiasm is springing to action, uplifting the yoke with great passion.

Also, Deaver hasn't found his true love, so it's apparent he isn't settling any time soon.

Thank you all for the responses; my anxiety is nil and Deaver will be carrying me on his shoulder for many a ten thousand mile journey ahead.

 

That's interesting. Deavers are 1.5" lift, the Dakars are like 2.5"... Dakars must have been rekt!

 

Although the only angles I have of the before and after are quite sub-par (for my standards), you can see the comparison before/after below. The after image is a higher angle (because I had to remove the spare tire to remove the greaseable shackles and replace them with OEM shackles), but you may be able to (with a keen eye) visually measure the changes (both pictures were taken with the truck parked in the same spot before and after the project.

Maybe by the visual inspection of the distance between bump stops on the frame and the leaf spring up/down, you might be able to see a difference in height (it's not by much); this must mean your hypothesis is true: Dakars must've been worn out, because the Deavers (though they haven't settled), are taller.

Edit: I don't have my spare tire installed, could that make up for the height difference? But even if that were true it's beside the point: the Dakars should be as tall or taller than the J59s even with the spare tire removed (or I'm so tired that nothing makes sense right now).



Conclusion:

• I need to reinstall my spare tire and snap another photo for before/after comparisons (to match the load that was on the suspension before I replaced the components)
• Dakar leaf springs look worn, nonetheless
• J59s aren't settled yet
• I need to torque to spec and retorque after a few hundred miles

 

yeah, those dakars look pretty flat, too.

I just noticed your brake proportioning valves wasn't extended. Might want to address that. It's a simple bracket you can make using some 1" flatbar and a drill. that bracket thing just needs to go up the same amount as your overall lift. That will help increase rear brake effectiveness.

 

I will have to look into what that is tomorrow morning after work; I've read a couple posts about it since I started reading about suspension upgrades.

Tomorrow morning the soonest I will be able to get back to you on this.

 

Ideally, you'd measure the distance from the bed to the bracket before the lift, then figure out how long of a bracket you need to make, but with the J59s and stock shackles, that's ~1.5". When I lifted the rear of mine with longer shackles, there was enough adjustment on the threaded shaft that I didn't need a bracket. For sure when I do my J59s, I'll need to make one.


It's just one of these:
(stolen from another TW post):

 

Get some weight in the back and flex them out a bit.Then take a measurement. Mine road pretty tall tell I flexed them.

 

This answers what a "proportioning" or "pressure-reducing" valve does:


But what effect does fabricating an extension do for the valve?

 

I will definitely flex it once I finish the front end work I plan on doing.

 

There are 2 reasons for this valve:


1) weight:
When you load the bed with weight, the rear end squats down. With the additional weight, you're able to use more braking power on the rear brakes without them locking up. So more weight lowers that valve arm (closer to axle) and that increases the braking pressure.


2) brake dive:
When you slam on the brakes, the front end dives down, and the rear end comes up. If you continue to apply consistent braking pressure, the rear tires will lock up because of the reduction in weight over the rear tires (opposite problem of #1). This valve lowers the braking pressure when the rear end gets farther from the axle to help prevent locking.

So, the valve itself in bolted to the body/frame, with a lever arm connected to the axle.

When you lift your truck, you are moving the axle farther away form the body, which is essentially tricking that valve into thinking there is less weight on the rear end unless you move the valve arm up the same amount it was lifted.

 

Information is like

(like it's so damn good)

 

Once you do that, now the fun begins.

Find an empty parking lot. Get some cones or something to measure the stopping distance. If the bracket is too high (valve arm too close to body), you'll likely skid the rears pretty easily because the truck thinks it's heavier than it is). If it's too low, you won't be getting very good braking power and your stopping distance will be long.

Having ABS might prevent the tires from skidding, which is why you measure your stopping distance. Skidding (too much brake) or not enough brake lengthen your stopping distance.

Or just ask someone to measure the distance on their stock height what that measurement is, and that's probably "close enough"

 

This is great information; I never had the thought in my mind that it should be dialed-in.