leaf springs

[Booncha57]

I am in the process of returning my ranger to stock height from being lowered. I raised the front up yesterday and today I attempted to do the rear. I bought the truck lowered so I'm not sure if it was all done "right" or not (whatever that means). How do I go about doing this properly? I jacked i up by the rear-end, then after I removed those u-bolt clamp things, do I want to lower the rear end and put jack-stands on the frame or something? I'll add that the springs are above the axle, does that mean it had a flip kit? If so, do I need something else to put this together like it was originally or can I just flip it over? Looking at the spring I can see that I'm not going to be able to get the rear bolt out, unless you can take the front one out first and you can somehow move the back around. Maybe you have to take the hanger/bracket off too? Once I get the nut off, the bolt will not clear part of the frame I guess is what it is. Like the nut was put on the wrong side or something, but I don't see how it was put in unless that bracket/hanger thing can be moved or taken off. Sorry this is so long, I'm just disappointed that I couldn't finish the job today.

 

[Insanejughead]

The shackles could have been flipped... If the springs are above the axle, then it is stock. A flip kit would have put the axle on top of the springs and would not be stock.

Check on the shackles. The best way to tell is to look at the hangar that the shackle is bolted to. If the hangar is BOLTED to the frame, then it was changed at one time, if it is RIVETED to the frame then it was never touched.

Pictures of your problem would help us figure it out in a pinch too!

 

[Loanranger]

It does sound like the shackle bracket was flipped on the frame, or some other bracket was put in it's place, because the bolt holding the shackle to the mount should be just that, a bolt. The nut has a flange on it, and is captured by the frame, so you shouldn't even have to do anything to the nut to get the bolt out. As far as the shackle to spring bolt, it does come in from the frame side, with the nut on the outside, but there should be barely enough room to slide the bolt out with the shackle pointing straight down.

 

[Booncha57]

The bracket that holds the shackle is riveted to the frame and the axle is under the springs so I guess it's the stock setup. I have a picture of what I'm talking about but I don't know how to post it! I think I posted one like a year ago but I can't remember how I did it. So do I have to take out the shackle-to-frame bolt to get the spring off or should I not have to touch that. If I could get that one out and drop it down to remove the shackle to spring bolt, that would work.

 

[mhughes165]

id want to see a picture of it,

email it to me

mystik@starraiser.com

ill post it up for u

doesnt even sound like the backs been lowered......

 

[Loanranger]

It does sound like the back hasn't been lowered. Do you still have a full leaf pack in there?

 

[ILLEGALCONCEPTS]

It could also be drop leaves in the back. That's how I did mine and no one would know just by looking underneath that didn't know Rangers well.

How much lower is it? You could just get blocks to raise it back up. They would go in between the axle and spring pack and puch the axle further away from the springs.

James

 

[Booncha57]

The back is definitely lower than the front after I put the stock springs in the front. The kid I got the truck from said he lowered the front and back and he gave me the original springs for both. I just emailed you the pics mhughes, thanks for the help.

 

[mhughes165]

i have them, im uploading them to my photobucket as i speak, all i can say.....is holy cut leafsprings batman.....

considering how he lowered the back, imma ASSUME he just cut the springs up front, truck prolly rode like total ass, id give the truck a complete once over, and look for OTHER ricer type mods, as on most vehicles then can be very dangerous

 

[ILLEGALCONCEPTS]

I wonder if the previous owner removed the middle leaf on the stock spring pack. I've been there and done that. It actually rode very well, but it created the problem the rear kept sagging more and more. My replacement spring pack only has two leaves but they are thicker that stock and that's how they were designed to work.

James

 

[Booncha57]

So should I just removed the shackle and go from there? I thought they were aftermarket springs of some sort because they are (were, until rust) a slime green color. I'll show you pics of the coils too. They are def. shorter but don't really look cut.

 

[Booncha57]

now I'm really having a hard time with one of the front bolts. Man! I figured I could at least loosen everything up while I waited for replies and now I've gotthe nut chewed up. Without moving the gas tank I can't hammer on a socket so I'm about to go buy some of those stripped bolt sockets whatever they're called and hope that they work.

 

[ILLEGALCONCEPTS]

Can you just cut the bolt off? Take a sawsall to it, get a new bolt/nut/washer and call it good.

Do you have a stock height leaf pack ready to go in?

James

 

[Loanranger]

Yeah, I kindof figured they stripped the leaf pack down, when I got one of my Datsuns, the PO had taken everything but the main leaf out, and added 3 inch blocks. Talk about spring wrap!

 

[Booncha57]

As far as I know they are the stock height. Who knows though. How much danger is involved in torching that nut next to the gas tank? Also, what is the closest metric equivalent to a 13/16" socket?