Well, I asked before why the rear tires were closer to the front of the fender than they were to the back. But this is a little too close. I got my new wheels today and got the tallest, skinniest tires I could get. I thought it would be close. I measured and I can gain an inch by reversing the springs. Any good advise on that job would be appreciated. I don't have the center cap on in this pic.
It's a bunch of work to gain an inch, but it looks like it's needed. (What make/brand are those wheels?) Those are great lookin'! I can't wait to see the "cap on" pictures.
I think you will gain closer to two inches. Don't you go from an inch in front of the center to an inch behind? If you know someone with a variable speed drill press (hydrastatic) then they can drill you a new centerbolt hole and gain a little more. Springs are actually quite easy to drill if you can turn the drill at the right speed. You see this demonstrated at swap meets where they are trying to sell you drill sets and have a spring with a bunch of holes drilled in it. What they don't tell you is if you take them home and put one in a high speed drill motor they promptly burn up. Another thing you can do is to drill a new centerbolt hole FORWARD of the existing one in the spring perch on the axle tube. Just an inch won't bother your U-bolts or shock mounts. Remember, if you move the rear much you will need a new driveshaft. By the looks of your truck I bet you can whip this glitch.
The wheels are Pacers. They are 16 inch by 7 inch. They have a 3.63 inch backspace. These are the only ones I could find that gave me the backspace I needed to avoid having to monkey witht he steering arms in front. The tires are LT235 85 R16. I saw on stovebolt where someone was talking about a centering kit that could gain 2.5 inches clearance. I am following up on it. Gater
Hmmm- What Evan said makes me wonder- It will be interesting to see if you can move things back without messin' with the drive shaft. You have a split drive line on that, (right?) but how much can you move things before you'll have to fab something new? (Not that it wouldn't be needed or worth it!) It goes without saying, but keep us posted!
Here is a pic showing the "centering kit". Looks like he gained about 2.5 inches. I had to shorten the drive shaft a little to get this rear to fit. I have an extra original. Some things I would never take to salvage. Yeah, the 3800 had an open drive line even in '48. These are all good ideas. What do you think about the one shown in this picture? Gater
Here are some pics of the rear axle. I could probably get rid of the overload springs if I have to get into this again. That would simplify things some. If I go the new center hole route I could drop the axle, remove the springs, take them to be re drilled, have new u bolts made, and then replace the springs, center on the new holes and put on the new u bolts. Is that right?
Hey Gater, humor me! Take some measurements, if you haven't already. Total length of the spring taken from front eye center to back eye center. Then front eye center to centerline of the rear axle. Then centerline of rear axle to rear eye center. Oh, BTW, the wheels are awesome. You done good son!
Ken, I can get accurate measures tomorrow. My butt is draggin' out my tracks right now. I think I can gain about an inch by swopping the springs around but I don't think aI want to do that. I looked at my shop manual and, with the 3800 you have to use a puller to pull the shackle pins. That is fine with a flatbed but I think I would have to take my rear fenders and running boards off to do it with my truck. I am going to talk to the guy that has done all my welding on Tuesday. I think I can drop the axle and get him to weld a plate like the one shown above in another post that will allow me to gain up to 2.5 inches without having to disassemble my truck. I will also get rid of the overload springs and shorten my u-bolts to fit. Safety is an issue so I will consult with my welder guy who also fabricates cars from scratch. I haven't completely made up my mind but, barring any real safety issues, I think this will be the quickest, easiest way to get to where I want to be... 60 MPH in the sun. Gater
Uh , have I missed something here ? this looks like the classic springs installed 180° out thing , that moves the wheels too far and simply reversing them should get you right where you want to be..... That kit thing looks O.K. , I'd rather see a continuous weld on it tho' .
I don't disagree here, but... If you swing the springs 180 degree to gain "wheelbase", what do you have to do with the driveshaft?
No matter what I do I may have to either go back to my original driveshaft length, ( I still have an origianl in addition to the one that I shortened so that this rear would fit to start with) or monkey with the length of the one that is in it now. First thing I have to do is gain clearance from the fender then the rest of the adjustments to brake lines, emergency cables, driveshafts should be secondary. If I usderstand what Nate is saying 180 degrees out just means they can be changed so that the front is in back and back is in front. That works if the center pin in the springs are off center towards the front to start with. For some reason that I don't think anyone knows, they all seem to be that way. Gater
Ken, I measured my springs today. Overall length from center of grease fitting to center of grease fitting = 44.5 inches Center front grease fitting to center of axle = 21.5 Center rear grease fitting to center of axle = 23 What to you think? Are the pins that hold the springs to the shackles very hard to get out? The shop manual shows using a dent puller with an attachment that screws into the grease fitting hole. After taking out the keeper pin it might come out fairly easy? Thanks, Gater
Sometimes they come apart easily , sometimes not . It sounds to me like that's your problem and many have done this and the open driveline just slides to-gether a little bit.... It makes the truck steer ' twitchy ' too .
Ok, based on the measurements, if you "flip flop" the springs (another tech term) you would go from having 21 1/2 inches from the front eye center to the rear axle to having 23 inches from the front to the rear axle, thus gaining you 1 1/2 inches of wheelbase. That should be about right from the looks of the pictures. Is your old driveshaft an inch and a half longer than the one you've got on now?
Ken, I just sent you a PM on this. Sorry. I figure I might go two stage on this. First swop the springs around then move the center hole forward if I need even more clearance. That way the moving of the center hole would not be as radical and I wouldn't have to move the ubolts too far from the cneter of the springs. I looked at my old driveline and it is 1 inch longer. Gater
Not a professional, but broke My idea may not be the best or easiest but it worked great to get out the shackle bushings. I got a large bolt that was just smaller than the diameter of the shackle bushing (grade 8 fine thread) and ground the head so it was just smaller than the hole in the spring. I screwed out the grease fitting with shackle pin, ran the bolt through the spring so it pulled against the bushing. Put an old wore out deep socket over the other end, then a washer and nut, hooked up the old air wrench and sucked the bushing out with ease. Pulled all four rear bushings out in just a few minutes. Try it, it's cheeper than an expensive tool make for the job. TB'sD
Okay, I have used a poor man's press before so I think I understand getting the bushing out but I have to get the spring eye pin out first. I think the 1 ton truck, according to my shop manual, is different from the 1/2 in that the 1 ton has a heavier shackle and the pin has to be pulled with a dent puller. The pin is inside the bushing. I need to get the pin out before I get the bushing out. Did you have to do this too? If all I am going to do is turn them around and the bushing is OK do I even need to take it out? Gater
Bushings Hey Gater, Don't be afraid of the spring bushings. On the inside of the frame are holes so you can drive the pins out. A bushing driver set works best but you can use a socket to remove and replace the bushing. It works best if you back up your spring with a sledg when replacing the bushing. Chris
