How to: Chevy 63" Leaf Spring Swap

Probably not

I have scs wheels and 1.25” spacers and barely rub the shock at full stuff

 

Has anyone used a 6" shackle on this swap for the 2nd Gen tacoma? I bought the low range kit a while back and it came with a 6" shackle. My understanding would be that it would give more lift than the 5", but is it possible to avoid the extra lift by using a different shackle angle?

 

The 6” will be very minimal lift compared to the 5”

 

Been reading through this thread for a while now. Definitely going to do the swap within the next year. Any of you guys that have done the swap have a once piece drive shaft? If so, did you need to get and extended slip yoke to accommodate for the down travel? I only plan on using 14 inch Bilsteins for the time being. Longer shocks possibly when my truck is no longer my DD.

 

I'm running longer leafs and shocks than most in this thread and am still using the stock slip on my one piece driveshaft.

I will suggest that you go with a heavier wall on the new tube if you plan to do any serious crawling. I've lost track of the number of driveshafts I've mangled on the rocks. I'm running a piece of 3.5" x 3/8 wall now and haven't had any issues.

 

I am getting ready to do the swap and then I'll be upgrading my stock DS so the rear section has a DC joint after the CB and the slip yoke will be flipped to the diff side at that time. I am looking into upgrading the tubing and slip yoke length but haven't made a definitive decision on it yet.

 

Right on. Who did you have build your drive shaft? I’ve been looking in to Tom Woods, had a friend get one built for his runner and like it.

 

I had a local driveshaft shop put mine together. See if you have a shop near you before spending the coin on a TW shaft. I had my front shaft built by them, but the rear is simple. The stock ujoints and slip are fine, but if you want a heavier wall tube you may have to source that yourself. Call your local shop and let them know what you're after.

 

Gotcha. I’ll look around my town and see what kind of shops are around me. Thanks for the info!

 

So the Ruffstuff front spring mount is designed to be “Frenched”... has anyone done this? I know that is cutting your frame and I understand it is more work as to weld the back side means but wouldn’t it be better?

 

It doesn't need to be frenched into the frame.





Removing the gas tank makes life a whole lot easier when you're welding in the front leaf mounts.

 

I welded my driver’s side mount on 3 sides and drilled a couple of holes in the mount to weld it in the middle.
I didn’t have the balls to weld that close to the tank and was too lazy to remove the tank.

 

I think I may go that route. We are attempting to 63 swap and do Archive shock relocates in one day. Should be able to do it going to have several skilled sets of hands on deck helping so it'll be a thrash for sure. Going to get the game plan together the night before and strip as much as we can.

 

Truck pull in to pull out 12 hours. With a shock relocation, you can do it

 

Yeah I figured we will be able to do it pretty easily with 2 guys per side. Plus we may do a couple other projects that day as well.

 

Anyone done the swap with a 2wd leaf pack with the 2+1 leaf spring configuration? Found a good deal on a set locally but would rather not have to get an add-a-leaf later on. Typically I don't carry all that much weight around, so it could be a good solution for me. What do yall think?

 

3 leaf or none

 

Any reason why you say the 2+1 is a no go?

 

I have a 3 plus overload so most of the people I’ve done swaps for just get them out of a regular 1500 and run 3 total leafs

 

Also what every you do don’t buy from the place @Trident904 did