leaf spring relocation

[jraweld]

happy new year everyone,has anyone done the spring relocation without removing the body from the frame and were there any complications also must you set your pinion angle before welding new spring perches on the axle tube and if so any advice on the best way to go about that.does the mounting tabs on the weld in shock crossmember gotoward the front or the rear of the car.thanks for any feedback

[dseale4888]

I had the body off when I did mine. Had the chassis upside downwhen I installed the front boxes. Shock mount tabs go to the front on the crossmember. When I installed my new spring perches on the axle I used a wide piece of flat stock clamped to the old perch and covering the new perch so that I had the same angle on them. After the new ones are on you can remove the old ones.
Dave

[55delray]

happy new year everyone,has anyone done the spring relocation without removing the body from the frame and were there any complications also must you set your pinion angle before welding new spring perches on the axle tube and if so any advice on the best way to go about that.does the mounting tabs on the weld in shock crossmember gotoward the front or the rear of the car.thanks for any feedback

i did mine with the body on the frame. your best bet on pinion angle would be use the ubolts and bolt the readr end all up. you could use 4 car ramps and set the car on all 4 wheels so you can still slide under the car. then check your pinion angle. adjust if need then tack the plates to the rear end. then if you want you can jack it back up and remove u bolts and fully weld perches on. this worked pretty well for me. just my .02 cents

[straycat]

I do it basicaly like 55delray. Since no two body's and frames are the same and I like the biggest tires I can get on the rear so I leave the u-bolts a little loose so I can move the rear sideways to get the exact figure on each side for tire to fender clearance. You can get a cheap Sears magnetic degree wheel and place on your hormonic balancer or pullys, take that reading, than place it on the rear end yoke and get the same deg. reading. If you have not changed the angle of the motor and trans drastically it will end up being between 2 & 5 deg. usually around 3 1/2 deg. When welding, do small lengths and cool with a damp cloth than head to the other side and back and worth, you don't want to warp the housing. I always wanted to buy a digital degree wheel, do they make them? Lon

[D.S.]

I always wanted to buy a didgital degree wheel, do they make them? Lon

This is what I use...
http://www.kell-strom.com/tools/kstools/protract/protractmain.htm

[55delray]

i just remembered i have pics of my whole install prolly close to 50 of them were would be a good place to host them. i dont like photobucket. can i put them in a gallery on here?

[ih8rice]

I agree, its probably best to put the whole car together and them weld in your spring perches, but sometimes its not practical or possible ( like my case) thats when I did some research and found out that when moser sells a rear secifically for a tri-five they build it 10* down. I hope im remembering that right, if you have to go that route, I'd call and ask.

[straycat]

10 deg. down? I respectfully find that hard to believe! Lon

[ih8rice]

thats just the angle on the pads, not the final pinion angle. Keep in mind the place where the pads mount to the spring arn't parallel with the ground.

edit: thinking hard that may have been 10*s up.

[Hotroddder]

There are a few complications.

Best to remove the gas tank and filler neck. Lotsa sparks will be flying around and probably would not be able to weld the new top spring hanger in place with the tank there.

I had the front pocket fit better into one side than the other. It seemed the frame was wider on one side.......

I had to remove the spare tire well to get the notch in and have welding access the passenger side. I got the old spring perch out with it in place, but there is only 3/4" clearance to the frame and I knew that I would not be able to get a proper weld on the new top spring hanger.

That's all the further I am right now. Should make more progress in the next few weeks.

[prostreet]

Hi Guys
Protrackers work really well for this job. They are inexpensive so why not have a few. I put one the rear on the flatest area that nets the same angle as the pinoin. Also the desired pinoin varies with application, if you have more sping wrap or less you can find your total angle may change as much as 5 degrees. There is a bit more to factor in but for most mild street applications it will be a lot less. This depends on drivetrain horse power tire compounds torque convertor and so on. again a mild street driver is much more foregiving but should be calculated as close as possible for optimal use.
here is a link that may help from one of our advertisers.
http://www.classicperform.com/tech_articles/FlipYourRear/FlipYourRear.htm

[57viper]

happy new year everyone,has anyone done the spring relocation without removing the body from the frame and were there any complications also must you set your pinion angle before welding new spring perches on the axle tube and if so any advice on the best way to go about that.does the mounting tabs on the weld in shock crossmember gotoward the front or the rear of the car.thanks for any feedback

Jraweld: I have sent a tech article to you via e-mail with full instructions on this conversion, hope it helps.
Bob

[Zanie]

Craftsman now has a digital 10 inch level for $39.99!! How can you possibly beat that?
It self levels or you can set the angle so you can match the angle of one thing to another. I'm doing a spring pocket kit and mini tubs on my '56 and this thing has been the most valuable tool during the project.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Hand+Tools%2C+Carpentry&pid=00948292000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Laser+Tools&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

Dan

[jeffs55]

Lot of pocket kits going in this year. I'm doing one on the 55 wagon.
The spare well was already cut out, so that's not an issue. I have a new tank and removed the old one, so that's not an issue.
Working with the body on, laying on the floor....that's been an issue.:(
I had problems holding the MIG gun steady, so my welds aren't very pretty.
I've got the pockets and rear cut-outs welded in and ready to weld the upper mounts.
I found that using a rod (or even a long screwdriver) wedged between the frame and body (whatever and wherever it takes) I could rest one hand on that and hold the gun much more steady.
The rear cut-outs ran much better that way...still not really pretty, but better.
I also painted my upper mounts first because I knew there were places I couldn't paint after it's welded. I know some will burn off, but it will still be better than trying to get the spray can (yeah, spray can:o) up in there to paint later.

Huh, I just noticed this thread is a year old...