After the Belltech 2" drop shackles I DEFINITELY have the vibration at 20 mph. I know this puts stress on the pinion flange and the driveshaft, but what short term / long term effects will it really have?

How hard was it to rotate the shims? And you said they were on the *bottom* of the spring pack, right? You mentioned C-clamps but the leaf springs are already clipped or clamped.

Let me know if I get your method right:
1. Support the axle on the pumpkin by a floor jack.
2. Take the U bolts off, take the plate off, find the center pin, loosen it.
3. If the shim is on the bottom how do I make it to rotate?

I need this info since I want to take my truck to the track this weekend. 160 miles round trip and I want to make sure this vibration will not kill my truck.

TIA!

 

Funny you should ask, I just did another members truck today! This exactly how I did it today:
I installed the the shackles first and since you have already done this I wont go into that portion. Loosen lug nuts on the rear wheels first. You need to get the truck up in the air high enough to put jack stands under the chassis even with the front portion of the rear door, so that when you let the rear end down off the jack, the tires will be a few inches off the ground. Do one side at a time. Remove wheel with a 21mm socket. Take a c-clamp and clamp the springs tightly together about 4 inch's away from the u-bolts. Keep the jack under the pumpkin of the rear end with a little truck weight on the jack. Use a 21mm socket and remove the 2 u-bolts. Slowly lower the jack, so that the center pin of the leaf springs pops out of the rear end housing perch about 1 inch. Take a vice grip and attach it to the center pin on the bottom of the leaf spring pack. Take a 15mm(I believe?) socket and rachet and loosen the nut on the center pin enough to allow the bottom shim on the leaf pack to rotate. The thicker portion of the shim will now go towards the rear of the truck. Once rotated, tighten the nut on the center pin. You must now raise the rear end housing with the jack until the center pin just touches the perch. You will have to push the spring towards the center of the truck to get the pin back into the perch and you may have to wiggle the rear end to get the pin in. Once the pin is in the perch hole, pump up the jack slightly and re-install the u-bolts and torque the nuts to 100 ft lbs. Remove c-clamp and re-install wheel and torgue nuts 140 to 155 ft lbs. Now complete the other side, remove jack stands and your vibration will be gone!!! Good luck and let me know if you need more help. Should take you about 1 hour.

 

Thanks so much Richo.

This is what makes this forum so great! The sharing of information in making our trucks better.

Anyway, do I really need C-clamps? I don't have any and don't know anyone I can borrow from.

Chester

 

Chesterc, you will need a c-clamp or a c-type vice grip in order to keep the leaf springs from separating when you loosen the the center pin. Any Ace hardware, Home Depot, Lowes has these c-clamps for less than $5.00 dollars. The clamps that are on the leaf springs from the factory will not stop the springs from separating. I would use the c-clamp and it will be a good thing to keep for changing disc brake pads. You can use the c-clamp with one of the old brake pads to push the piston back into the caliper. Good tool to have and try and get a larger one. Good Luck!!!

 

Muchos gracias!
If it doesn't rain this weekend, I'll be able to do it.