[mopar56]

well as mentioned earlier I picked up a 1983 Dodge truck 2wd frame complete to install under my 56, this weekend it got a pressure wash, wire brush, inspection, and a fresh coat of black anti rust paint, all looks good except for the right upper control arm which I have to replace then I will probably do the left bushings as well, the frame currently has a 8 1/4 which I am going to replace with the 8 3/4 I had purchased for the original frame but as I wanted to lower the truck I was thinking of swapping the axle. What do most people do about hr perches? cut and re-weld?, there must be specs for this and I am not that confident of a welder, or is there some sort of kit one could purchase?, Thanks

 

[dana44]

Cut and reweld is the best way to do it, Flipping the rear upside down and reattaching doesn't work, the vent and oil drain, along with the lubricant being on the wrong side of the gears doesn't work too well. Don't worry about the welding too much because the U clamps hold it together pretty well, or mock it up and mark it really well and have someone tack it together for you, or take it somewhere to have it welded. Once it is clamped in, she isn't going anywhere. There are also lowering blocks, but if the pads are on top of the axle housing to begin with, that doesn't do you much good.

 

[mopar56]

sorry..I should have varified "flip", I meant move from the bottom of the spring to the top not actually flip upside down, I guess what I was more concerned with was the placement of the pads as they are not at 90 degree to the axle they are offset so how to I figure this out?

 

[dana44]

OK. I didn't think you wanted to flip the rear end upside down, but hey, stranger things have been said before, just wanted to make sure.

Get a set of spring perches. The ones on the rear end, if you don't want to use them, can be left alone, they don't have to come off if they are in the correct width, the U-bolts go on the sides of the pad and they won't be touched or hurt anything, take them off later if you want. A new set isn't that expensive, you can get everything positioned properly, then tack the four corners, which will hold for someone else to weld them for you.

when you then have everything mocked up,put the tires on, sit it on the ground. What you want is an equal angle at the transmission and the rear end. If the angle is slightly down at the transmission, you want the opposite at the rear end. When the vehicle is sitting on its weight, the angle is usually only a couple degrees pointed down because the rear end winds up to straighten out. There are also rear end rubber snubbers that are adjustable, which touch the bottom of the floor to prevent winding up too much. Something you may consider.

 

[tazdevil]

Yes, as Dana said, pinion angle is critical. The older Chrysler performance book states a down angle of 4-6 degrees.

 

[mopar56]

ahh...aftermarket pearchs, awesome, I will start looking, this would be better than cutting off the old ones and risk damageing the axle, I can tack them first then maybe road test to asure correct position with out tossing a u-joint, how firmly should they be welded? would they require a full bead do you think or several decent spot welds? this I could do I,m sure, do you know any brands of these pearchs, and thanks for the 4-6 degree, I suppose I could use the old ones as a degree template to.

 

[mopar56]

ok I found a couple companys that make these, "Rockwell", "Ruffstuff", maybe a couple others but I need my axle diameter and width of spring/perch so I will have to get that tonight after work and get the performance store working on that for me tomorrow, thanks

 

[tazdevil]

Definitely do a full bead around the perch. I got mine from a reputable truck parts store, including the right length U bolts.
Be sure to support the pumpkin when installing the new axle.

 

[dana44]

A good tack on each corner will allow you to test it, then a full bead, just match the factory weld size.

 

[mopar56]

Ok, will do, got the perch's today, they fit perfect and only $23.00, also got some new u-bolts, upper b,j,s and control arm bushings, hopefully I will get the chassis done this weekend!

 

[dana44]

Yeaaaaa!!!

 

[mopar56]

well I got a fair amount done this weekend, got the body off the old frame and the old frame torn down, front Volare clip out, rear springs and hangers, 8 3/4 rear end, and the body mounts cut off, all these will now be parted out with the exception of the mounts I will need, I also got the upper control arms off the new donor frame, and removed the bushings for replacement, (not fun) but I am having some troubles removing the ball joints even after borrowing the proper factory socket and using oxy, actelyne, any ideas?, also I swapped in, (mock up) the 8 3/4 on top of the springs however I have a question re: mounting it, normally the shock mount/spring hanger installs under the axle but now it will mount under the leafspring so in order to do that I think I will need to turn the u bolts around?, they used to go across the spring hanger in the same direction as the axle but I think now they will need to go front to back as they interfere with the old spring perch's that I wont be using, has anyone done this before?

 

[dana44]

Breaker bar for the balljoint, they are threaded as you can tell, but, check the seam to make sure they weren't tack welded and that part needs to be cut to remove them. They are fun.

As far as the shock mounting plate goes, not real positive what the problem is, hard do decipher the actual issue, but, if the shock attachment position is now underneath the shock, you may need to locate another set of mounting plates, or cut and reattach the mounting to the inside rear edge pointing to the opposite side of the truck, then angle the shocks inward at the top for better handling. There should be or you can add, a bar running across the frame the shocks attach to, move both shocks more towards the center as necessary, then you can leave the mounting plates alone if they are indeed located below and inside the leaf spring.

 

[mopar56]

well as far as the breaker bar goes, I did try that but with the control arm now out of the truck and the shape of the arm it is difficult to get a solid grasp of the arm to put any sort of pull on it I was going to take it to the repair shop where I borrowed the ball joint tool from today to see if they had a 3/4 impact maybe a bit more torque would help?,I checked for a weld there is nothing I can see, good thought though, as far as the shock plate goes there is a curve in the plate that is molded to the axle shape when it mounts under it as the spring normally sites on top but now that the spring is on the bottom the axle plate still has to go to the bottom to give the now shorter shock some travel and because that is what will sandwich the spring between the shock plate and axle but the curve is now under the flat spring instead of the curved axle but I guess once all is tightened up it should be ok?

 

[dana44]

The curve won't hurt anything as long as there are even flat spots that sit against the tightening points of the U-bolts. That, or find another set of plates, tons of designs out there, it's a salvage yard item. Impact wrench, yes, or if you have the breater bar and cheater, get the two bushing holes on a long metal pipe to hold the A arm, have the pipe straight up and down, slide the A arm on it, then you can torque on the balljoint straight down, otherwise, yeah, giving the guy five bucks to do it for you is affordable.

 

[mopar56]

well thats a great idea with the pipe or bar through the bushing holes however a stronger impact tourque value than I had at the shop that leant the tool did the job, you gotta love MORE POWER! so the new joint is in and now just nned to put the bushings in and do the other side possibly, ... I needed to get a used one which is being deliverd by my son tonight, so I may not be done with the other shop yet, great guy he did it no charge so he's got some donoughts coming his way

 

[dana44]

I thought donuts were for cops!

 

[mopar56]

we're Canadian, coffee and donuts are for all ocaision's! lol

 

[dana44]

Oh, well, learn something new every day.Thanks!