O.K.
I woke up this morning thinking on an inexspensive way to drop the front, after crawling underneath yesterday and trying to see if their was something I missed, while laying in bed I was thinking about the axle flip, we know that the drag link will hit the leaf springs but how much room would be needed to free up space for the drag link to clear the leaf? can it be accomplished by using the lift bars and using the reverse philosophy? by putting the lift bars in between the leaf and the straight axle, and the straight axle on top of the leaf, could be a 4" drop? responses would be nice
Robin , why drop a damn good truck ? , I took a half way look at hotrodjohn's & it look pretty good , but it looked like he cut & droped & welded it back seems to work for him , I knows he drives it every day
cowboy Alvin Tx
67 w100 318 3spd
2005 Ram 2500 CC Diesel 4x4 lwb
LAND OF THE FREE
BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE
Cowboy my trucks front is too high, I need to get it down without loosing drivability, I've been contiplating the way to do it without spending hundreds of dollars
hey buddy, i have a 62 d100 and I had lowered the front of it about 5-6 inches while only spending $16. It cleared the draglink but after i let it settle the straight axle was just way too close to the oil pan for comfort. Hope this helps you. I bought a pair of spring perches from summit and used them just like you would on the rear if you flipped the rear axle. You will have to notch the center of them to be sqaure instead of round so that it will fit snug on top of your axle. I added a pic of the perches so you know what i am talking about. I know this is hard to visualize so i will send you some drawings if this does not make sense.
Jared
O.K. Jared
I think that is exactly along the lines I was thinking, you have those perches inbetween the leafs and the straight axle, with the axle on top, U bolts go through the perches also? which oil pan and engine did you have?
Robin , just messen with ya , as you know I use my truck as a truck & haul trailers & anything else , I just added a pipe bumper the rear , & would like about 1-2 inches taller , Just yesterday I had the lowboy hooked up & loaded with A bunche of tree branches , we cut down & put out back to cut up for the BBQ pit (pecan trees)
cowboy Alvin Tx
67 w100 318 3spd
2005 Ram 2500 CC Diesel 4x4 lwb
LAND OF THE FREE
BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE
MountainMoparRobin wrote:O.K. Jared
I think that is exactly along the lines I was thinking, you have those perches inbetween the leafs and the straight axle, with the axle on top, U bolts go through the perches also? which oil pan and engine did you have?
Yes the perches were in between the axle and the springs with the springs on top. The perches gave me the necessary clearance i needed to clear the drag link. I have a 225 straight six with a front sump oil pan. I have since pulled all of the factory suspension and am putting in a mustang ii.
Jared
When I need to adjust ride height on leaf springs I just heat a line across the spring about 4 inches from the shackle end while measuring distance to the shop floor from the frame with a tape measure. You can raise them this way too with a bottle jack between the spring and frame.
sorry i dont have any pictures because i wanted it super low in the front and i just couldnt get it there and have good axle clearance in relation to the oil pan with the leaf suspension. I did have to notch my axle though to clear my oil pan. Sorry, I can draw a picture of how it was in there if you need to see it or i can mock up the leaf suspension out of the truck and take a pic.
Jared
he is just saying that you can heat the springs up until it lowers to the height you want it at, or if you get it too low you can jack it up while heating the springs until you acheive the height you want. Or you can take the springs out and have them de-arched professionally at a shop that does leaf spring service, like a semi or truck leaf spring place.
Jared
I have a 1971 d100 and I lowered my front end 6" by setting the axle on top of the spring. After alot of messuring I basicly welded a new spring pad on the bottom of the axle. I havent had the truck on the road yet but its looking promising. I dont have any oil pan or steering linkage clearence problems. Also I need stainless trim for the truck. Its a short box. Let me know what you got.
I didnt do anything. It did it by itself. I welded a new spring pad on the opposite side of the axle which was about 1" thick. This new pad has the u-bolt holes and centering hole in it.it worked out pretty slick. I also droped the rear in the same fashion. I welded new sprong pirches on and mounted the axle just like a car.
I was under the 65 D100 I just picked up and it looks doable. Weld the new spring pads on ,trim the old ones off, have the taper reversed so the tie rod goes on top. Shock mounts stay under the springs for stock length shocks. Stare at yours and give me feedback.
It's been a long time since I've delt with a 2WD, I'm use to lifting them.
it can be done, except on mine it would need additional help for the drag link and tie rod ends to clear the springs, but maybe using the lift spacers in the opposite way could possibly give the needed clearance, however I don't have a welder either so will have to wait.
my buddy who flipped the rear of my truck is going to flip the front next month. I'm hoping all is okay. I think everything should clear if you have a rear sump pan.
robin, do not, i repeat do not use spacers between the spring and the axle. this gives some servere steering issues when braking. thats why you never see blocks on the front of a lifted 4x4. my truck had about 1 inch of "lift block" on it when i got it. it was acctually the wedges for pawer steering that had been reversed to form a block, but anyway, it was a night and day difference on how the truck held the road once they were removed.
while laying in bed I was thinking about the axle flip, we know that the drag link will hit the leaf springs 
but how much room would be needed to free up space for the drag link to clear the leaf? 
can it be accomplished by using the lift bars and using the reverse philosophy? 
, I took a half way look at hotrodjohn's & it look pretty good , but it looked like he cut & droped & welded it back seems to work for him , I knows he drives it every day 
