rearend lowering question

[motomatt383]

a while back somebody posted that they lowered the rear of there truck by raising the leaf spring perches up on the frame. who was that? & how much did it lower it? I'm getting ready to do my truck, motor came out a few hours ago, but i need to do the back 1st, then do the front so it sits with the correct "Hot Rod" rake.
we can thank MeanGreen for those inspirational photos!!!


matt

[mopardwh]

Yeah, thanks Meangreen.

[JACKISBACK]

LOWERED 4 INCHES

[motomatt383]

the perches only go up about 2 inches, but it really yields a 4" drop??? awesome, it appears that the bed floor with have to be notched for the rear perch clerance, i got my angle iron today outa the scrap pile. how'd you get the rivets out? figger'd i'd ask before i spend half a day going about it backwards. my thought was to grind the heads off, the use my air hammer to drive the remaining portion out the back.


matt

[JACKISBACK]

NO I DONT THINK YOU HAVE TO KNOTCH THE BED IT SLIDES RIGHT UNDER THE BED ... MISSES THE BED SUPPORTS... THE RIVVITS CAN OUT WITH A GRINDER.. AND A PUNCH AND BIG HAMMER .... BOLTS BACK IT THEM ... GRADE A BOLTS

[motomatt383]

A PUNCH AND A HAMMER!!! have you bumped your head!!!! give me air & an air hammer. i'm gonna try to see if i can just chisel the head off the bolts & them drive them out. i'm hoping to be doing that by next weekend!

matt

[slick]

Have you considered just flipping the axle or is that lower than you want to go?

[motomatt383]

i think the flip is a hint lower than i'm looking for, i think. also i think the raising of the perches save a bunch of time in recalculating the pinion angle & it appears the frame would need to be notched to avoid hitting.


matt

[meangreen]

what'd i do ??? lol slicks is still lower than mine

you can move the perches up in the rear, but the front you cant because they sit under the frame.

what i would do, is take a ton of measurements of your front end, then start looking for a ford dropped axle with the same measurements. in theory, they should be fairly close because the frames and pretty close to the same width, and ford springs also sit under the frame. ( look for late 50s early 60s)

also, you wont hit the frame if you move the perches up, just run air shocks

[JACKISBACK]

I DID IT ALREADY AND THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS WITH THE BED OR THE FRONT PERCHES