After doing some digging I've read of a few other people pulling cone type sure grips from Dakota so they must have used them for a bit at least on earlier ones

 

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

 

they used the 8-1/4 in their cars and pickups all the way in the 70s. all, up to (and including) 1996 have the same spline count. No matter what vehicle it came out of. 97 and up they changed axle spline count. so that cone type could be either from an older vehicle or bought aftermarket.
I have had 8-1/4s in 70s trucks, I have one in my 78 Sport Fury and my 80 Volare. this was stock rear end for these cars.

 

 

Got the rear suspension and axle loosely mounted. Makes me wish I would have painted the leaf springs, but gotta draw a line somewhere, it's not a show truck after all. Removed the ball joints from the lower control arms and got the bushings removed from one of the uppers. Get the other ones removed tomorrow and start putting the front together.

Gave a quick coat of paint on the abs valve and the proportioning valve, will have to take them to the parts store this week to get the fittings matched up to make new brake lines, unless anyone knows what sizes everything takes off hand. I know the wheel cylinder is a m10x1.0 but not sure after that.
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Great job. can always throw some paint on them now; just spray bomb them with a coat of Xtend Rust Dissolver first. Like you said, not a show truck.

 

Thanks, ya I think I might do that. My OCD is kicking in and it's bothering me, at least it'll look better sitting here.

I wasn't going to paint my front control arms either but I think I might now. I have a quart of Eastwood rust encapsulator that seems to brush on nicely that I'm going to try on them.

 

Hey just a recommendation if you're going to use those leaf springs. Do a full tear down on them, sandblast or wire wheel them really good, paint them with por-15. Go to speedway motors and order a couple rolls of their Teflon leafspring liners, and new square Insulator tip pads. Did that on my 93 and the leafspring work smoother and I'll never have toworry about squeaking. I also put in new leafspring shackles and poly bushings. Im OCD about my stuff too and I couldn't just spray my leafsprings with a rattle can and call them good, and the price of new ones is ridiculous. I also bought leafsprings clamps that are wider and have a larger contact area, I had to make my own rubber Insulators for them but that wasn't hard to do, I had a big piece of rubber sheet laying around.

 

They were apart, had a local spring shop rearc what they could then add a leaf, they also put in new tip pads and clamps, but if course they don't clean them up at al when they have them apart. We looked at the bushings and he said he wouldn't touch them as they still looked good so I left them alone as I figured they'd be a big headache to remove and they really didn't look bad.

The lower control arm bushings look in good shape too luckily so I can reuse them. Just changing the uppers as they looked pretty hard and cracked.

 

As far as not cleaning them when they had them apart... That's B.S. any shop that "rebuilds" leafsprings would strip and Paint them while apart. If I were you I'd tear them back down. I've got extra rubber sheet and clamps you can have for free (just cover shipping) probably have extra pads as well that are very good quality. The clamps I used are made of thicker steel and there wider for a better clamping area. Speedwaymotors.com has 8ft rolls of Teflon liner for 6$ a roll. It prevents wear on the springs and basically gives a lubricated surface for your springs to move against. Add to that the por-15, and yes por-15 is the best, .youll have a set of springs that'll last longer than the truck. Suspension and brakes are something to never skimp on. It's what makes your truck safe to drive. So e people may disagree with my opinion on how I did my spring packs but the performance speaks for itself. With this way you limit wear on metal surfaces, you give those surfaces a smooth surface to move against with limited friction, you dampen vibrations that travel to the frame and cab through the springs, and you protect from broken parts do to corrosion.

As for the bushings, just because they "look" good doesn't necessarily mean they are. I'd go ahead and spend the money on the poly bushing set, and zinc coated or harden stainless bolts. The leafsprings bushings aren't too bad labor wise. Burn the rubber out of the leafsprings with a propane torch, then use a flat tip screw driver and a hammer to knock out the metal sleeves. Same process with the hangar bushings. Then strip and Paint everything, Including the holes for the bushings, then build up your spring packs. Cut your Teflon strips to length, poke a hole for the bolt to go through the center, assemble, tighten the bolt the using a c clamp get your leaf spring clamps installed. Once everything's together just use a box knife to trim off the excess Teflon .and install everything back on the truck. Probably take about a day for the whole process.
You look to be doing the same stuff to your truck as I am to mine. What's the point if in 3 to 5 years you've gotta rebuild the leafs again? Just my opinion. I know that ten years from now my suspension will still be in amazing shape.