BILTIT

Who has installed longer rear leafs and did it soften the ride more. If yes, is it soft enough?

I am looking to soften up the rear, still seems pretty stiff for my liking. I am looking for 2'' lift overall but i still have the 3'' block in now so a 4'' spring would work.

Chime in with what you put in and how you like it, what you would do differently.

ramsport59

Shackle Flipped and Chevy 63" springs...For the win!

but you need to do alot of moving of mounts to make it work.

Rick

BILTIT

Thats what i was thinking but want to weigh the 56 VS 63 options.

bannerd

I went with longer leafs in the rear to give me a two inch lift. Although, they're not as rough as the stock ones on there... and they're not soft either. After a load of gravel or sand they're soft as can be. Would air bags help?

BILTIT

load lifting bags help for capacity, kelderman help for ride. Still lots of guys with kelderman looking for softer ride though.

How long are your leafs?

bannerd

I'm not sure, I went with custom suspension. I'm running parabolic in the front and then there is eight leafs in the back. I had to move the rear shackle mount back about two inches. Almost went with jungle flip mount, that'll be down the road though. If you take the stock leaf add two inches onto that and then a two inch arch.

enafzige

Well you know my vote

The 63" Chevy springs do ride nice. If you pull the bed, it's not THAT much work to do. I'm sure you've seen the link/write-up originally done by Shaggy's on the Monster Rear Suspension? If not, let me know, and I'll look up the link.

The 63" Chevy springs are nice, because they incorporate a thick bottom overload spring, so carrying capacity is still pretty good. In fact, I ripped the Class V hitch off the back and bent the rear frame rails, and the 63's still looked okay.

It all depends on what you're wanting to spend. To me, the 63's just make sense. If you want to go cheap, buy some used ones, buy some 8" Chevy drop shackles and plate them in, and make some hangers. If you want to go medium price, ask me if I'll sell my setup. If you want to go for the best ride, get a set of 63" Deavers and design a long travel airbag system to supplement.

Any questions feel free to ask...or just come down south and enjoy the Smoky Mountains and test drive my truck to see if it's what you want.

--Eric

BILTIT

I was thinking of some 63 alcans. Just unsure about all the mounting bracket moving. I need to sit down and take some measurements.

What amount of lift will i get from stock chev 63'' springs?

enafzige

The brackets aren't that difficult if you're willing to do some fab work. The front and rear hangers both need to be removed. The front hanger then gets re-used, moved forward, and new holes drilled. In the back, you have to make a new hanger, fab a longer shackle, and reposition the rear hanger toward the rear of the vehicle.

My truck was already lifted 6" via a 6" block. I used the stock 63" springs, an 8" shackle. In conjuction with a 3" block, this gives me 6" lift. So, short answer to your question, simply converting to the 63s give about 3" of lift.

Skyjacker and Procomp both make some cheap springs though to accomodate different lifts if you don't want any block.

Skyjacker - CR33S (single) for 6" of lift
Skyjacker - CR35S (single) for 8" of lift

Pro Comp - 13211 6" of lift (very soft springs)
Pro Comp - 13711 8" of lift (very soft springs)

There's some info here, but a little unclear on the shackle design: http://www.offroadexchange.com/proje...er_rear_su.htm

--Eric

user name

I have been wondering about using the Chrysler car idea and have some custom leafs made that are longer in the rear. I think the idea behind it in the car was the front was shorter to help control axle wrap and the rear(from center pin) was long to keep ride quality. This would eliminate the need to move the front hangers which control axle alignment and only move the rears that don't control axle alignment. I really don't know if this would work well in a truck on not though.

sls001

For rear spring shackles just contact Jungle (Jim) and look here:
http://ramchargercentral.com/jungles...-flip-hangers/

There are also several write-ups on installing the 63" springs in conjunction with these hangers. In reply #5 of this link there is images of a diesel with Jungles kit and the longer springs:
http://ramchargercentral.com/jungles...omer-installs/

BILTIT

enafzige-sent you a PM.

enafzige

Springs of this nature are called asymmetric, and are used commonly on many rear applications. Due to changes in steering geometery as the suspension cycles, front springs generally work better being symetric. There's not room to run a 63" spring on our trucks with out moving the front mount forward...unless you'd attach the rear mount to the back bumper. 63" springs are huge!

BILTIT

Everything i can find shows the 63'' chev spring having a 3'' greater arch height VS stock dodge spring. This should work since i still have the 3'' block in place.

Biggest issue now is shackle flip or not, not sure there is room with low lift though.

enafzige

That link I posted above indicates a 3" lift using the stock 63" chevy springs and the shackle flip.

This agrees well with what I did. I installed the stock chevy springs and shackle flip at the same time I did the 6" Alcans in the front. The back end was 3" low (i.e. the chevy springs and shackle flip only gave me 3" of lift), so I put a 3" block under them to get 6" lift in the rear to match the front.

--Eric