..rather than continue my old thread on the front end, figured I'd start over with the rear axle.
Going from a 9.25 to Dana70 on my '01 Ram 1500 ext cab longbed.
Went with a shackle flip from Gatsbys (ebay) and spring perches from Ballistic Fabrication. I used the original spacers and since the shackle flip rotates the rear of the leafspring down, I milled the spacer 5 degrees to account for the new angle.

 

Oooo, pretty.

Did you consider going to a one piece drive shaft?

 

what worries me is that my D70 I bought looks different... also, if I may ask, why did you get new perches? are you running stock 2.5'' 1/2ton springs or the 70's 3'' spings

 

yes, I discussed driveshaft options with the shop. Overall length it is 85" and the shop doesnt have tubing that long; plus the 2-piece driveshaft has more benefits (strength, less prone to vibration, clearance)

I am using the original 2.5" springs.

 

Really? The two piece shaft is much more complicated though.. more to possibly fail. Back in the day, when we had issues with a hard to find vibration on the trucks with two piece shafts, we would replace 'em with a one piece, and the problem would disappear. Of course, there was a shop right down the street from the dealership I worked at that did custom driveshafts....

Still, looks to be an excellent upgrade. Are the 2.5" spring going to be able to manage the weight of that axle??

 

Good point, I never considered the axle weight causing a problem with 2.5" springs. I think that would apply more to hardcore tire-in-the-air driving than what I plan on doing. I'm not even sure how much more a Dana 70 weighs over a 9.25" axle. I do know that the 9.25" FEELS heavier dragging it around. 2 of us loaded the Dana70 in the back of an El Camino easily enough without problem.

 

Spent today putting the rear back together...I can see the light at the end of the long-pain-in-the-*** project tunnel!
I used Ballistic Fabrications leaf spring plates and U-bolts from Fat Bobs Garage. To compensate for the shackle flip rotating the axle forward slightly, the spring plate allows you to move the axle back 1". Since the factory block doesnt allow any adjustment, I made a block out of 1/2" plate and drilled it to fit into the centering bolt on the leaf springs, and then welded in a bolt shank to fit into the block offset 1" to match up with the spring plate.
Got the drums turned today and painted them up with some caliper paint to help keep the rust down...now just need to hook up the parking brakes and bleed the brakes.
Set it back down on the tires for the first time...the shackle flip+the slightly taller spring perch+the 1/2" block levels the truck out pretty much dead on with the 6" lift on the front. More pics later...

 

Lookin' Good!

 

Very clean OP. You done yet? Finish pictures...of course.

 

Me likey!