[mopar56]

well I have reversed the rear axle on the new perch's as discussed in "axle flip", its just mocked up now I will tack then weld in place when I finish the front end and get the motor and trans in, I took out the upper control arms and rebuilt them, removed the front shocks, so it should just be a matter of raising the front end end the coil springs should just drop out, so the question is...how much should I cut off each coil to proportionly drop the front end? my son has done some reading on this and some say that if you go too much that you run the risk of the steering linkage contacting the frame and others say don't do it, use drop Dakota spindles instead, etc, but this is a bit of a budget build and I am trying to work with what I have, my thought here was to cut off one coil as the front end of these frames/trucks always ride lower than the back anyway especially with the engine and trans weight up there, any thoughts?, FYI... for those of you who didnt follow earlier this is a 1983 2wd Dodge truck frame going under a 1956 cab with a 318la motor

 

[dana44]

I would suggest assembling the front suspension, then sticking 700lbs (engine/trans weight) into the front engine cradle to determine what things look like. The front suspension will alter what with the axle being in a different location to start with, and you can then see how much would be acceptable to lower the front end. Guessing without having the weight in there may be more expensive in the end if too much is cut off. With the weight in the engine bay, start with half a coil first, set everything together, then adjust with a quarter coil at a time, that way you can watch the linkage for binding locations and clearance. With the weight in the front, the coils come out easy by placing the frame on a jackstand, floor jack under the coil and undoing the lower conrtol arm, then lowering the floor jack.

 

[mopar56]

ok so you say I can remove the coils with the upper arm still in place and with out splitting the ball joint?, I want to avoid splitting the ball joint if I can as the boot damages so easy and as mentioned earlier the upper a arms are already still out

 

[dana44]

Double check the design, I think the top of the spring sits in a perch and the bottom sits in the lower A arm, like the Dakota. Yes, this allows the abiity to support the spring from underheath, remove the lower A arm bolts and gently lower the A arm (frame resting on jack stands), and remove the coil spring that way. If you don't have the weight of the engine in the truck, it will just lift the whole frame up and you won't be able to remove the spring (wife's 81 Camaro did this and I had to get creative to get the front suspension together to make it a roller). Do a safety thing like running a piece of pipe or rebar through the whole thing where the shock would go, that way if it slips, the rebar should keep the spring from being able to smash you.

 

[mopar56]

ok thanks. I like the saftey bar idea, I hate getting "smashed", lol

 

[mopar56]

well I got the left front done over the weekend, didnt have as much time to work on it as I had hoped, boy what a b#t*@ of a job getting the upper a arm back in, I thought maybe I bent the thing where the bushings go in when I pressed the new ones in and out,(they were in there solid), but when matched and measured against the ones in my sons 1980 they seemed the same, I remember them being tight coming off the frame but I didnt thing it would require as much effort as it did getting them back, I actually had to have assistance getting it back in and the camber bolts back in, any tricks?

 

[mopar56]

ok fyi anyone doing these nasty job...PRESS the old bushings out,although I have a press I did not at the time I did this have a socket big enough to push the bushings into so I hammerd them out disdorting the a arm slightly hence causing the tight fit, I was able to press repair my oops and now they fit like a glove the chassis is on the ground and looks good

 

[mopar56]

ok, new problem, I have the chassis all together and it looks good and its low, the weather is starting to turn so time to move the chassis back in the shop and under the cab, WRONG! it wont roll, how come...well I am trying to use the 14" rally's I planned for the truck but it seems the caliper brackets are rubbing on the rims on the front wheels, although I do have a back up plan to use some 15" police rims I have, I am wondering if there is another way to solve this, I still have the Volare clip I origanally planned for the other frame, is it possible to switch the caliper brackets and rotors over?, would the spindles be the same diameter and the brackets bolt up?

 

[dana44]

Verify the rims are touching. Some of the disc setups won't work with 14 inch wheels, the calipers, brackets and rotors all have to change, and that depends on whether the bracket can attach to the spindle, and the spindle fits the bearings in the caliper. Swap to the 15s for now at least, get her inside and go from there.

 

[valiant67]

I am sure the truck has the larger rotors on it. Cars, depending on the body style used a smaller rotor that could accept 14" wheels like the Volare or a larger rotor that required 15" wheels like the 75-79 Cordoba.

I know on the cars you could swap caliper brackets and rotors but I don't know if that applied to the truck as well.

 

[mopar56]

Hi thanks, well this morning I measured the caliper bracket bolt pattern and it looks like 3" center to center on the Volare and 3.5" center to center on the truck there and even if it worked I would end up with smaller diameter rotors, not a good idea, my only other thought was wheel spacers, maybe if the wheel was further out the caliper would have more room? but I dont think so, I re-installed the police rims I have for now but this of course to gives me one more inch of height that I didnt want, oh well..