lowering a pickup

how do you lower a econo pickup .The easy way if there is one?

Wolfdog, I think Truckin' featured a recent project with a Green and Black Econoline, where they disassembled the leaf spring packs, leaving just one spring, and installing air ride! I thought it was cool! I'll try to see if I can find anything about it, but maybe someone else has it fresh in their memory...

truckinweb.com has an article about that two toned green Econoline.

That was on Ebay about a month ago or so.

The previous owner of my '67 did this to lower the rear

HERE'S MY ATTEMPT. IT'S STILL IN PROGRESS THOUGH. [img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]

Balcones... what was your source for the links? I probably asked in the other thread. Did you have the same issues with the axle wrappimg the shock mounts the wrong way like above? AND FINALLY would a four-link work on the front?

SASKTRINI- I PURCHASED THE FOUR LINK ON-LINE@ AIRBAGIT.COM. I PAID $199 FOR IT A YEAR AGO. AS FOR THE SHOCK MOUNTS I AM STILL RESEARCHING PLACEMENT AND WILL PROBABLY INSTALL A CROSS BAR OVER THE REAR END AND MOUNT THEM DOWN FROM THERE. I WILL TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN I GET BACK AROUND TO SHOCK PLACEMENT. THANKS.
-GABE-

Nice work !

I was wondering what kind of shocks to get, too.
Are there shocks that expand and compress like the airbags and still provide enough dampening?

I HAVE NOT RESEARCHED THE SHOCKS YET, BUT I BELIEVE YOU JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE THEY WILL HAVE ENOUGH TRAVEL FOR YOUR SET UP. -GABE-

I'm really frustrated with the airbag set up in my van.
If you look at the new welded leaf spring brackets, you'll notice that the angle doesn't match.
That means, the pinion doesn't point up to match the trans output shaft angle.
When the bags are deflated and the rear sits at the lowest, the driveshaft angle is ok but has only the leafs for support.
When I start to inflate, the rear moves up and the angle increases and causes a nasty vibration.
When it's full up, the van is level with the front but not driveable due to the vibration.
The only way I can drive this is just a little pumped up over the lowest setting.

The solution I could think of to fix this is to install a constant velocity drive shaft like the 4x4 guys have.
Arizona driveline wants $400 for a custom CV drive shaft with all the flanges welded in.
That's a lot of lettuce just for having a "cool" airbagged van scooting around that isn't even lowered properly at the front end and looks
like a cockroach with the rear always pointing down.
I already installed a 2° wedge to bring the pinion up, the airbag brackets worry me if I'd go higher.
A four link setup is out of question due to cost, lack of experienced help and patience.

I have repaired or replaced almost everything imaginable on this van to make it road worthy and I'm about to pull this airbag stuff out
and install original shocks and put the axle back were it was.


Cheers...

econorat,

When you do the axle flip on the springs, the depth changes front to back... the rear axle has a different depth than the front axle. I think you'd have to add a block under the front axle too to get the nose as close to the ground as the rear. I would think that if you take the depth of the rear axle tube, subtract the depth of the front axle tube, and divide by two, that would equal the size of spacer to get the flipped front axle level with the flipped rear axle.

I would get the rear axle spring seats moved... rotated to a better angle... I think that's where the original owner went wrong. I hope it works out, and you keep up with this project!

Corey

I was talking about something like this the other day with someone, It was mentioned that the pinion and the transmission should be parralel with each other. hard to tell from the pic ,but sask is probably right about moving the spring perches around. pick a normal ride hieght and adjust it to that. sounds pretty easy if ya say it fast enuff eh? btw I am no expert just an observation.

Thanks for the input guys, I'll take pics this weekend to show you the differences.
I finally drove it home today after three months of working on it in a friends garage.
It isn't that bad, just can't bring the rear full up. A little bouncy but I'll get shocks next week for the rear end.
Some metallic shattering coming from the front left & right, sound like either
the shackle's worn bushings or springs hitting the frame.
The driveshaft was off by 30 thousands and goes to the shop next week.
The new rebuilt 300 purrs nicely

Excellent

econorat wrote:Thanks for the input guys, I'll take pics this weekend to show you the differences.
I finally drove it home today after three months of working on it in a friends garage.
It isn't that bad, just can't bring the rear full up. A little bouncy but I'll get shocks next week for the rear end.
Some metallic shattering coming from the front left & right, sound like either
the shackle's worn bushings or springs hitting the frame.
The driveshaft was off by 30 thousands and goes to the shop next week.
The new rebuilt 300 purrs nicely

any pics of how she sits? would love to see those bags in action