Well gotta lotta customer work in here to so not totally dedicated to beefy. But a quik text of the damping, and just jacking one leaf pak up I got almost 4 inches of compression before I saw any movement in the truck, which is good because I didn't wanna end up craaazy tall. Lol. Gonna keep cruizin forward with er throughout the day and get er back on all 4s today!

 

thats badass. im jealous not gonna lie hahahaha looking wicked so far.

 

thanks man, ya i am pretty pumped out how shes coming along.

been moving slow on er because have so much customer work in right now.... but cant complain about that.

got everything painted today, leaf springs completely in, just gotta but longer u bolts tomorrow.

in the pic its still sitting on the jackstands. slight load on the leafs but there is alot more to come. but including the lift from the tires, it will come up about 6 inches total from where it is sitting right now.... but who knows. lol...pretty sure that this lift configuration is a first.





once i have everything tightened up and steering in, i am gonna take it around the block and settle the springs, then i will do the shock towers. been putting that off until last because i want to have placement perfect and the springs have to settle before they can be set up.

will have pics up tomorrow as soon as i can.

 

well here we go, got axle all bolted in and its on loaded suspension with axle lined up to wheels. they are not bolted on but they are set up at ride height. all total i wen up about 7 inches from the previous lift height.

only problem is that i def underestimated the sag the truck would create on the leafs. they sit beautifull but i flattened out the shackles completely. i am going to move the axle forward 3 inches via moving the front spring mount 3 inches forward but leaving the shackle hangers in the same place, this should resurrect the shackle angle. my caster angle is beautifull, and i love the lift height. just cant wait to drive er!! heres a few pics,

first couple with the 35s on it





now with the new 38, and the bumper hangin there



you can see the flattened out shackle... and a bracket i still have to cut off... lol



this shot shows how much room i have for forward movement on the front hanger. and i think itll look real good with the axle moved a lil more forward. cant go wrong there.



i am going to get the rear end lifted tomorrow, and once shes leved out i will knock out the steering and shocks. you know i will post pics. lol

 

Looks great man i miss fabbing. Glad you caught that shackle issue before you thought you were done!

 

thanks man, ya i love the fab work. gives me alot of pride for a job well done.

so ready to drive er. def looking forward to getting her done and out of the shop. lol

 

You should just leave it like that but that lift is going to be so cool

 

Well I decided not to move my axle forward. My pittman arm is sitting perfect over my tie rod and I don't want to loose that, plus I really like how the front crossmember looks, so I am making new shackle hangers. Easiest solution to. Lol. Will def have the wheels back on and front end done today, and get started on back. Once front and rear are lifted I will tackle steering and front shocks...and maybe sway bar. Haven't decided on that one yet tho.

Any opinions on high lifts and sway bars?

 

I have run solid axle leaf spring suspensions on a selection of vehicles, I never bothered with a sway bar. Even towing my camper it just wasn't an issue. Given how stiff your front springs are..... I don't think ya really need to worry about it much.

 

ya i have to and usually would never think about it, but this front end is sooooo heavy. and after placing the shackle hangers perfectly the truck actually squatted the springs the the point it flattened out the shackles.

i moved back the shackle hangers and now the shackle angle is prefect. my springs are not as stiff as they look. the front end of the truck is heavier than the super duty. so the spring rate should be very comfortable. not all that stiff. that is what has made me wonder about the sway bars. i guess time will tell.

front end is complete other than shocks and steering, and maybe sway bay, i am going to do my best to settle the springs. it looks like i am going to be doing a ten inch lift on the rear to level it out.

i thing i am going to build 6 inch drop for the rear leafs, then i am going to switch the overload leaves to the bottom of the leaf pack, this should act like an add a leaf. the remaining 2-3 inches i will use blocks for.

anyone see any better solution without buying new springs?