hi everyone, just got a new truck 86 ram 100 shortbed with a slant six. i have a couple questions about the truck. first off the truck seems to sit a little high in the back, i looked and it has not been raised or lifted it just seems to sit a little high. my question is what is the best way to lower one of these trucks in the rear, the front is fine i would just like the back to sit almost level with the front. my next question is about swapping to a v-8. i searched the forum looking for information on doing a swap but didnt come up with much. i have a spare 318 and 904 trans that i would like to put in the truck at some time and if i knew what all i needed i could start piecing together all the parts for my little project. thanks in advance and would also like to say this forum is great and has been really helpful.

 

There are several ways to lower the back. I used a pair of longer shackles on the back perches, and torched the rivets off the the front perches and slid 'em up the frame,welded 'em in place. Made my own shackles, about twice the length of stock. The advantage is by moving both ends of the spring up the pinion angle is relatively unaffected. It's not a radical drop, about 2 1/2".

 

what about using lowering blocks?

 

Lowering blocks will not do it,the axle is under the springs.
The way Lugnuts said is one of the easiest ways,they also sell the parts to do that.

 

i thought you could put the springs under the axle if you wanted to lower the back

 

You can, about a 5-6" drop.

 

Another possibility to lowering the rear could be to simply remove one of the shorter leaves out of the pack on each side. This works fairly well if you have no plans to really haul anything. It softens the ride as well as alows the suspension to drop a little. Trucks are typically set with far more spring rate to haul a payload. So removing one leaf should not change your pinion angel I would think, and yet drop your truck. As to the slant six to V-8 swap. I did the exact same swap in my 83 shorty 4x4. I removed the front clip to make working easier and with the old six removed I chistled the rivets off of the old cross member and yanked it out. I had a 77 power wagon in the yard that donated its cross member so after axing that out with the torch I got it between the rails of mine and took a bare 318 block and bolted a 318 bell housing to it and buttoned that to the tranny to get the placement of the cross member exact and bolted it in with grade 8 stuff. With the parts truck right there I had every thing I needed to do the swap. Starter,alt bracket,powersteering brackets. The only other swap was the exhaust and it was a done deal. Oh and the3 v-8 radiator as well. But all in all it was a simple process I thought.

 

thanks for the help guys, i think i may try to take a leaf out although i hate to just in case i want to haul a heavy load and i do have a boat to pull but it is small and doesnt weigh very much. i have looked online and tried to find some shackles to lower with but i cant find anyplace that sells aftermarket parts for this year model truck. any ideas on places that sell parts for the truck would help alot. thanks again

 

I found this company which does offer lowering shackles for 86 and up pickups if that helps http://www.canuckmotorsports.com/cat...ower.html#2604