When you do this again on your next truck, for an axle flip go to your local Chrysler dealer and order P4120074. Weld-on leaf spring saddle, for about $10/pr.
When you do this again on your next truck, for an axle flip go to your local Chrysler dealer and order P4120074. Weld-on leaf spring saddle, for about $10/pr.
In reply to SkinnyG:
I'll have to re-wire my garage if I want to have any of my welds penetrate the axle tubes. Plus I don't know if I trust myself to dial the pinion angle properly. For me the flip kit was perfect, but I certainly paid handsomely for someone else to engineer it for me.
Small update- Spent a couple hours in the garage last night. Ruined one brake line bending it like a fool but was successful on the other side. Replaced the shoes, wheel cylinder, and hardware on one side. Getting another wheel cylinder for the other side tonight. Should have the rear brakes done shortly, then to re-make my exhaust and get the bed back on! Then get it aligned, move the tires from the steelies to the factory wheels, etc, etc. I'll try and snap some pictures tonight- hopefully I end up with 2 brake lines that don't look like total E36 M3.
This thread really makes me want to find a 2WD twuck of some sort and fix it up.
In reply to Sky_Render:
This thread makes me feel like a bad owner with the abuse that rusty plow truck has sustained.
Went out last night and engaged in a battle of the wits with my rear brakes. I assembled the passenger side in record time and it went really smoothly, although in doing so I realized I had forgotten a retaining clip where the e-brake lever attaches to the trailing shoe on the drivers side. So back to the drivers side I went to battle, swear, bleed, and overall get far too frustrated re-doing that side. What ended up being the issue was that everything was together correctly but the e-brake lever was contacting the trailing shoe and not letting it return to place. I bashed the shoes with my fist a dozen or more times trying to get everything to center but couldn't. Finally I put a drum on, grabbed the e-brake and just gave it a yank and everything self centered. I put a dab of brake grease on the inside of the shoe (metal portion) where it contacted that e-brake lever and everything seems good now. More of a struggle than it should have been, as seems to be the case when you get frustrated.
Anyhow, with that taken care of the rear brakes are now complete, new lines, new shoes, hardware, and wheel cylinders. Once I get everything bled hopefully they won't be an issue for some time.
Here's a couple exciting pictures of new brake lines. Shortly after this I put the wheels back on and set it back on the ground. I need to get some exhaust tubing and finish the end section of my exhaust.
Oh yeah, and in typical fashion these lines and all of the brake components were replaced solely because that one little rubber line in the center of the last picture was starting to look worn out. Ha ha E36 M3.
In reply to SkinnyG:
Old post but I just put 2 and 2 together, I've looked and your build threads for both the Firefly and the Silverado, love em! Thanks for following along with mine!
looking sharp!
In reply to JGRAHAM:
Thanks! I love your Ranger, been following along with that thread myself.
I actually have a set of FR500's that I'm tempted to throw on this truck, but I am not a huge fan of wheel spacers/adapters.
Had about an hour last night to putz in the garage so I took full advantage of it and got my exhaust re routed to clear the new rear spring hangers. I like how it turned out- obviously it needs to be fully welded and the ends could probably be cleaned off a bit but I think it'll do just fine. Editors note: I eyed this all up with the pipes long and then attempted to cut the two pipes off at an angle with my 4.5" grinder. Naturally it didn't go all the way through the pipes so I had to rotate around them and then basically break them off when there was just a little left. This was a dumb move on my part. I got ahead of myself and should have fully welded and cut the one tube first, THEN sized & welded the other tube. Would've been easier. Oh well this will do just fine.
Got the exhaust all welded up and attached a hanger near the back. Feels really solid and I'm pleased with how it turned out. Also I did something I don't commonly do and actually used my little work bench. Sure was nice to weld standing up instead of tripping over myself and trying to balance the piece I'm welding on my knees. Smart.
In the above picture you'll notice some tape and some newspaper- I sanded the pipes down with some 600 grit and they got a kinda neat "brushed" look to them so I decided to try some clearcoat over it and see if they would stay that way.
Oh yes, I'm a hack. That IS clear coat dripping off the exhaust. I sprayed it on heavy and it was cold in the garage. What isn't pictured is my little heater blaring directly on the pipes to help them dry.
And then I gained 10 horsepower!
Woof. Here's a disappointing Saturday update. Got the brakes bled which went just fine, but when my awesome friends came over and helped lift the bed back on the results were not what I was hoping for.
It is about 2" too high in the rear for my liking. This HAS to change.
The rake just doesn't do it for me. I can't hack it, especially on a long bed truck. The front bumper is practically scraping the ground and the rear bumper looks like it's at stock height. Thankfully, I'm feeling better already after a few clicks on LMC Truck. Drop shackles are on the way that will lower the rear another 1 or 2 inches, I'm thinking it needs two. So, it's back together, but it still needs to be lower, and it still needs an alignment. Which, naturally I'm going to hold off on until I get the stance the way I want it.
So, all in all not a bad Saturday but boy it was disappointing when I set the bed on and it just looked awful.
Anyhow, that's how it goes. More to come!
Blocks. Or longer shackles. I would NOT take a leaf out.
In reply to SkinnyG:
Longer shackles are already on order :)
I'm really surprised- I thought the spindle/spring front and flip in the rear got these things pretty level.
Super secret spy photo!
by 'spy photo' I mean terrible cell phone picture in the dark next to a C20. This means that the truck is out of the garage! It is at a shop my friend works at getting the good tires from the steelies mounted on the factory alloys, and a much needed alignment. I had to sneak it there at 6am through neighborhoods because the front tires protested loudly with any forward motion above 25 mph.
I think these little guys have helped me get the stance how I want it:
Stock on the left- 1-2" drop shackles on the right.
Installed!
I measured and the 1" drop setting was about 1.5" lower than the stock shackle, so that's what I went with. I haven't gotten a real good look at the truck yet but some crappy measurements tell me I have about 3/4" of 'rake' between the front wheel arches and the rears. That should be acceptable. If not- I still have the 2" drop setting to play with, and because everything is new it comes apart nicely.
With any luck I will be picking this old gal up tonight after work aligned and on good tires.
I probably already mentioned - I have BellTech 3" spindles, and initially lopped a coil off the stock springs to get the height I wanted, but the half-ton coils are too soft. I bought some Moog 1-ton coils and ended up lopping a coil and a half or so to get the height I wanted.
The back has heavy leafs (Big 10?), which drop lower (6"?) when flipped because there are 8 leafs in it or something.
Looking forward to an awesome photo in daylight of the finished height!
In reply to SkinnyG:
That could explain why the rear didn't get as low as I thought- mine has the 4-leaf pack.
In front I have McGaughys 2.5" spindles and 2" drop springs... it seems way lower than 4.5" to me though. I'm anxious about the ride height- it looked perfect this morning with a set of tires in the back so it may be a bit high unloaded. The only other consideration is that when I dropped it off the camber was wayyy far off, so I'm anticipating the front coming up ever so slightly when it's aligned. Hopefully that is just enough to level it off how I like.
I'm far more excited to pick it up after work today than I'd care to admit in public. I'll get pictures ASAP when I'm off work. It's like 18 degrees but I may even wash it!! Stay tuned.
Well, this weekend was a bit of a blur- I got the truck aligned Friday and it started snowing so I brought it home and had some beers. Saturday it was a little nicer and I rolled the truck out of the garage to check out the stance. This is where we were at with the drop shackles in the 1" position and a fresh alignment.
Not unhappy I decided to take it for a drive. I went over to my old man's house then I took it on a nice 40 or 50 mile cruise around Lake Minnetonka. In that time I learned that the front tires rub. Like a lot. Unless you're going straight on a smooth road they hit. The truck also felt labored and slow...er than normal for a 305. After some investigation the rear drums were dragging. So I had some things to address.
I woke up on Sunday and put the rear shackles in the 2" position in an effort to A.) lower the truck more (because, lower is better right?) and B.) in hopes that if the truck was leveled a bit more it would take some weight off the front tires and give me a hair more clearance. While I had the rear of the truck up I also adjusted the rear shoes. Success! The brakes were no longer dragging, the truck looked better lowered another inch, and that did afford me just a hair more front end clearance. I certainly still need to come up with some shorter tires because it still rubs, but it's better.
Here's how it sits now. This I'm happy with.
Tonight I changed the oil and went for a wonderful little cruise around a lake near my house before the storm rolled in. Tornado warning... In March. Saw some lightning, the truck was running awesome, it was a great little cruise after a crappy Monday of work.
Lots of little stuff left to do, but hopefully the big stuff is dialed in for the summer!
Height looks awesome!
1-ton front coils might be stiffer than your drop coils (I've found MOST drop coils for anything are too low and too soft). You could trim some 1-ton coils to the same height, and it will rub less.
Still have decent bump stops up front?
My winters are 235/75R15 and do not noticeably rub with the fender edge 27" off the ground. They rubbed ALL THE TIME with cut half-ton springs. My summers are 235/70R15 & 275/60R15 and don't rub at all.
Right now, the back of mine is 26" to the fender edge, but both tanks are full and there are six sand bags in the back.
In reply to SkinnyG:
Thanks! I'm happy with the ride height. It still has the stock (albeit crushed at this point from the previously heated coils) bumpstops, and I am running the same size tire as you- 235/75r15. I believe my aluminum wheels to be 7" wide, are you running 8" wheels? I was investigating a bit last night and mine rub inboard of the fender edge, just past where the inner fender bolts to the fender itself. Like 2-3" in from the wheel arch trim.
I haven't taken any measurements of the fender arches yet, but I think I'm very close to that 27" mark last time I did.
I may try 1 ton coils, I may try to butcher my inner fenders so the 235's clear, or I may just get a pair of 225/70's for the front. For now I'm enjoying having it back together and suffering through the rubbing. Where it rubs is pretty smooth so I'm not too concerned about puncturing a tire or anything crazy.
In other news I sold the 383 the other night so that frees up some cash which is nice, and I did this redneck butchery last night...
Jb weld over a pinhole in one of my patches on the header. I'm obviously capable of pulling the thing out and filling that weld in, but at this point I don't want to take everything apart to fix one pinhole, so out comes the JB weld!
I'll know later today if this was an exercise in futility or an awesome noise quieter.
On second thought, I probably could have gotten the welder in there and filled it in on the truck. So I may have just necessitated taking the header out to clean off the JB weld if it doesn't work.
Yay for making MORE work not less! !
I'm running 8" factory rally's. I have no contact to the inner fenders edges at all (just the top on bumps to end all bumps), I'm not sure how you're making contact, but I have the round-eye front, which I read somewhere has larger (more cavernous) inner fenders.
In reply to SkinnyG:
Who knows, It seems to be getting a little better as the rear springs settle. The 8" wheels may make the tires just short enough, or put them in just a different enough spot to make everything work. I'm gonna put up with the rubbing a bit longer before I get onto cutting up my inner fenders. Which is no shame because they're pretty much trashed anyway.
As for the JB weld on the header- it seems to have worked! It was just a pinhole leak but it sounds much better now. I still think I need to replace the collector gaskets, which would explain the orange high-temp silicone on the headers when I got them.
Other driving impressions- the truck rides surprisingly well. It gets a little bouncy on the right washboard style roads, but otherwise it's not bad on regular surfaces. It feels pretty solid and doesn't really rattle or clatter much at all. Large bumps naturally it bottoms out pretty good but that's to be expected. The carb needs to be gone through- throttle response is kinda soggy and it has a fair sized stumble if you try to open the secondaries quickly. Otherwise it runs great. Taking off the emissions and putting on a set of the headers is good for at least 10 horsepower on the butt dyno. It sounds way happier up in the RPM range than it did with the super restrictive cast iron exhaust manifolds. I think the next things on the agenda will be valve cover gaskets, plugs/wires/cap/rotor, and a basic carb rebuild. Oh yeah and to address the rubbing 
Well- I've been driving this old gal as much as possible since I achieved 'relative completion' back in the beginning of march- and it's been rubbing the front inner fenders madly the entire time. Like, Constantly. It's also been very very unforgiving over bumps. So, yesterday I finally decided to take some steps and replaced the lower bumpstops. These were original and had been holding the truck up for lord knows how many years with the old heated springs. Needless to say they were junk. Beaten, battered, split down the middle and left for dead. I yanked them out and spent an hour or so fighting to get the new ones in. Finally I got them somewhat into position and just dropped the truck down on them. They've been staying and let me tell you, what a world of difference. The bumpstops limit the tire rub a ton, and the truck is way quieter and smoother over bumps. I'm thinking the previous ones were so mangled the lower control arm was almost hitting the frame on some of the larger bumps.
The larger issue with this is that the truck is essentially sitting on the front bumpstops now. I don't oppose to this specifically but it is a bit hackneyed, and it also means that at some point these ones will wear out, the front will sag, and it will be brutal again. Thankfully they're cheap so if I have to put some in down the road I'm ok with it. I think the best solution would be (as SkinnyG mentioned) to replace the drop springs with some cut HD springs. The drop springs seem kinda mushy and actually lower the truck more than 2", and don't seem to have an appropriate rate to go with the drop. They certainly are lower though, so I guess they live up to their name.
Anyhow, thanks for reading! The truck has been moved to the driveway and I've put the 1964 Dart in the garage for the last month getting it's own unnecessary "upgrades". I may document that madness in the future.
Finally pulled the trigger on a set of AC Delco HD springs from Rock Auto. they were $70 bucks and I intend on cutting one full coil off them. I have a couple little trips planned for the truck the next two weekends, as well as intentions of taking it all over the midwest for a full week on my honeymoon in August. I also got a backup set of lower ball joints should I demolish the boots getting the current ones apart.
Beyond that the truck has just been getting driven and washed on occasion. It definitely needs a few other odds and ends, as they always do, but I'm fairly satisfied with it. Hopefully the HD springs with a coil cut give me better ride control and less tire-rubbing in the front.
And because everyone likes pictures- here's a fairly uninspiring shot from a successful junkyard trip earlier this month where I found one of these awesome little turbo Dodges!
There is no need to risk destroying ball joint boots. Use the hammer trick. I haven't hurt a balljoint since the 80s when I threw my pickle fork away, and I have installed a looooootttt of drop coils and spindles on GM trucks.
In reply to Cousin_Eddie:
The old bash the side of the spindle itself with the nut loose? I haven't had terrific luck with that in the past but as this stuff is all pretty fresh I'm definitely going to give it a go. Thanks for the reminder.
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