Got the axles flipped on my pickup

Well, I just finished flipping the axles on my econoline. Without me sitting in it, it turns lock to lock. Haven't tried with me sitting in it yet, much less driving. I love the way the rear sits, but the front is still a little high. I have a 3" drop/3" narrowed axle in the garage. I am going to try to put that on under the leafs and take a couple out to see if that gets the front down were I would like it. So far so good though.

Later,
Chad

that looks amazing, good work!

Looking good Chad!

took some measurements and it looks like I have about 4.5" of clearance at the transmission as it sits. And it does turn lock to lock with me sitting in it. I think I will be raising the rear up an inch to level it out and call it good.

econolines always look good slammed

Looks good, keeping the turn lock to lock is a battle especially with that little hump inside the wheel well. What size wheel tire are you running? Any pics of the suspension that you could show us?

the tires are 195/70R14 and I don't have any pictures yet. The front is just mocked up, not really picture worthy right now. Will get some when I get the front 100% done.

I agree it is looking sweet. I would also love to see any pics of the work in progress if you have them???

definitely want more info on this

Im gonna try a lower profile tire in frnt to start...that may be an option for you...

I decided to see how far I could go with the stock axle. I got the front down 1 more inch. Hard to tell in the pictures, but in person it made a huge difference. This is about as low as I am going to be able to go on the stock axle.

I am going to go pick up a lift shackle kit for the rear to lift it back up an inch or two.

so all you did was flip the axle on top of the springs front and back and you can still turn stop to stop

i wanna know how it drives afterwards ive heard they turn scary

Yeah, thats all I did. I am sure that it will be a religious experience driving it.

I think I finally got the height dialed in. I put a universal lift shackle kit on the rear and got it up about 2". It sits nice and level now.

when you taking it on the road? i cant wait to hear how it drives. even though u live in the southwest and probably have some really nice roads compared to our's

The roads out here are awesome, but we pay for it with some seriously high registration taxes. I am hoping to get it back on the road sometime this summer. I am going to do a complete rewire, but it runs and drives as it is now. So I will probably do the brake lines and get the mustang tank fitted and go for a drive before starting the rewire.

I should say that it runs and drives minus the brakes and the gas tank had holes rusted in it so I got a mustang tank to replace that

our license plates are 186 dollars to start and 86 every year our roads suck ass none the less i want to lower my van but i have heard these vans suffer some serious bump steer with flipped axle's

So, having been a few years, I'm curious to hear how it drives with the axles flipped? Did you end up having to do anything else?

Honestly, it hasn't moved much in all this time. I did get it together and got it driving, but then ran into another project that took my time, lost my job, got it back, ran into parts fitment issue, lost interest, got it back, got another project then went through a divorce, so didn't spend a bunch of time on it.

I did take it to my buddy Todds suspension shop recently, Lowboy Motorsports. I pretty much mocked everything up and said "Todd will fix it". I took it to his shop and have had a steady stream of people that wanted to buy it. I made a deal with a buddy and fellow econoline fan of mine. He is the former owner of the black bagged econoline pickup that a lot of you have seen. Todd is the one that bagged that econoline.

Anyways, at this point it is moving and stopping under its own power. It drives fine with the flipped axles on smooth roads, but doesn't like bumps. There isn't much axle clearance. Todd is going to put some notches in and dial in some good shocks to help with that issue. Otherwise its rocking and rolling. Here are some pictures of the truck and a picture of the other slow moving project that is taking my time.

Man, that does look sweet... I definitely like the look, but mine (van) is going to be a daily driver, so the drive-ability concerns me. Did you mod the tie rods or ends any? I'll probably try deleting a leaf or 2 first, as most seem to be happy with that, but I have the feeling that the itch will remain... I actually don't have it yet; just bought it from a guy in Tempe, waiting for it to be transported.

BTW, where did you find the bullet caps that are on the Chevy?

I didn't really have to do anything with the steering. Of course, like I said, I just mocked it up and figured my suspension guy would go through it and make sure it was road worthy.

No idea on the caps though. They came with the wheels when I got them from a guy here in town. I think you can get them from coker though.

I can't believe your rear axle isn't nearly hitting the frame or close to it, especially when you drive it. Did you C notch the frame? My axle was within an inch of the frame when I let the jack down so I had to notch it.
Also, I'm running much larger tires on mine in front and the only issue I have is I need to roll the fender lip a bit, nothing drastic. Mainly due to the offset of the wheel, not the tire size. I don't remember the size but they are 15's.

Yeah, like I said, it doesn't like bumps at all and will get some notches put in front and rear. Also I had to get a flex hose for the lower radiator hose to make room for the front axle travel.

How bad does it bump-steer?