Well for the past 3 weeks ive had this noise in my rear end. When I hit a bump or pothole or the occasional small animal (that remarks for you aims4) I have been hearing this metal "clank" noise from the rear Passenger ive been trying to narrow down the clank and today I got under there and like a ton of bricks I noticed something I never suspected. The block the leaf spring sits on has a wedge block on the top, not sure its purpose but it "had" one and now its gone. Heres some pics..

My ? is, should I just tighten down the u bolts without the wedge, the truck sits level and I dont notice any ride change other then the noise.. is this harmful to drive daily or should I park it and get another block with wedge?



Passenger side without the wedge.



Driver side with




This show just how lose my read end is.. notice the large gap between the u bolt plate and rear end... scary. I can literally move it by hand.

 

Uh, that "wedge" is called a shim. It is supposed to correct the pinion angle when the lift is installed. Definitely get one back in there, and make sure it is the proper degree (same as the other side anyway). And for sure do not drive it with loose u-bolts

 

Dont worry the bolts were tightened down before I even posted on here... Guess ill be looking for a replacement shim now, thanks.

 

Trade it in.

No seriously ... short term (tighten them up) is probably not a problem but start now on how to replace it.

 

And they gave you Truck of the Month??? Man, more dirty politics....

 

Yup, not like I knew there was a problem, at first I just assumed it was the rims I had in the back of my truck clanking around, then I got them out and the noise stayed.

Gonna take to shop tomorrow, boss gonna check and see if the shims are even required, if they are he says hes got a few blocks floating around with shims I can rob the shim from if needed.


PS: I have access to some 1999 1 ton rear leaf springs. Would these bolt right up to my truck? Would I gain any lift in the rear?

 

the 1 ton's will likely be 3" wide, rather than the 2.5" you have. you'd have to screw around with the mounts and u-bolts and perches... you'd be better off to build a taller spring pack from the same width springs.

 

Looking through my boss's stuff (and there was alot) I found a set of blocks for my truck that will add 1&1/2 inch of lift to the rear, u bolts and all!... problem solved!

Should have it all on tomorrow will provide pics of course.

 

Make sure they have the proper degree built into them or install the proper degree shims. Otherwise you will be going through u-joints in the rear shaft like crazy.

 

Will do!
Also found a 3inch body lift... got me thinking about putting it to use.

PS: How them boggers run on the road?