hey guys i have a 34 chevy pickup that i have been working on.im putting in a 6" drop axel i want to mount the axel on the top side of the leaf springs. to lower the suspension as much as i can. does anyone know of any problems i might have by doing this?
Pretty straight forward job. You will obviously need to make another spring plate to add to the bottom of the axle. The way I would do it is cut and drill it to match the current pad on the axle using 1/2" plate. Don't forget the center hole for the spring bolt. Then I would weld 4 spacer tubes on the plate over the U-bolt holes so they span the height of the axle and seat on the under side of the axle pad. Do the welding with everything bolted up so it will be sure to line up. You probably need to have the holes in the axle pad spot-face machined to accept the tubes. size the tubes so the plate just touches the bottom of the axle. Get new longer U-bolts made at your local spring shop and you are in business! Doing it this way you are not welding on the forged axle which may have safety implications and would mar it making reversion back to stock setup a little more difficult.
hey willys,
that was my next step measuring and figguring what to do about that. im still not happy with my ground clearence from the bottom of the leaf springs to ground. its not enough. im thinking about a mono leaf . what do you know about them. can they be used for front ends? if i can use a mono leaf that would help out the clearence problem. i wll have to do allot of fabrication on axel mounts as it is. i think i have that figgured out. frame to axel clearence will be the next step. thanks for your help. stick
It sounds like your desired stance has out-stripped the lowering available with a solid axle. I recommend you look into a MII independent suspension X-member which will allow you to get the nose really in the weeds and still maintain a safe and comfortable ride. Since your pickup is full-fendered, a MII will go in w/o messing up the look of the truck. May need to put a couple of bumps in the fender sheet metal but that can be done to look very slick.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Hot Rod Forum
2.2M posts
175.6K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to hot rod owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about restoration, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!