I thought i would start a little redo thread of my RSK i had previously done a few years ago and had held up fine over some abuse but i thought id redo it as i have the motor out and some free time.

I first started by cutting off all the old BS in the front with the torch and made up some plates out of 3/16 to box my frme horns. I also cut off the old factory spring hangers.





I tried to bend it but with no rosebud i couldnt get it to move much so i sliced about 3/4 of the material heated the rest bent it and welded the sliced portion

 

Next i tacked them up with my tombstone and burned them in with my lincoln 170 mig welder. Sorry if i have some mimssing ictures but my phone is a flip phone and the memory was constantly full









I also made a bottum plate to fill in the section where the old shackle used to sit

 

I then used a combination of 1 1/2 x4 box tubing 1/4 plate and 3/16 plate for the front faceplate
I cut the square tubing to 39 1/2 inches which is tge width of the leaf springs st the ubolt plate and welded the 1/4 plate to the outsides of the square tube.
Before i welded any of my spring mounts on i center punched them 4 1/4 inches down so i wouldnt have any trouble finding my center for the holes





















Needless to say it was raining all day when i was working on the front end

 

I wish i had made these outer most side plates with more shape to them but it was getting late and needed to get the truck so i could roll it away from the garage and we are expecting snow so i wanted to get a coat of primer or paint on the hangers before they begin to rust. I may revist it and cut some 45s in to the bottum piece and reweld it.





























The other thing i iwish i had done differently was cut that 3/16 faceplate a little bit narrower and takin a longer piece of material out of it ss i think it looks a little bit boxy.<br/>

 

The bolt hole for the leaf spring is probably about 2 3/16 inside from the front of the frame horn. The next step is to redo the front leaf springs' rear spring hanger. I think im going to do them similar to the chevorolet shackle hanger style as i have allready picked up some 2" od 3" wide poly bushings and 2"id pipe.

Also to note the springs in the truck are 6" lift superduty springs...i may end up with some stock superduty springs or 2-4" lift springs as id like to lower tge truck.

 

That's coming along nicely! If you don't mind me throwing my $.02 worth in, I think the only thing I would have done differently was make it a bolt-in unit instead of welding it to the frame. The way you have done it is just fine, not a thing wrong with it. It should work quite well. Just sometimes it's nice to be able to pull it back off with little effort and change something like paint or making a duplicate for a friend or even bolting something else to it like a winch bumper or grill guard. Keep up the good work!

 

Thankyou, i know exactly what you mean, i was just lookin thru my old pictures trying to find a picture of my previous rsk and upon finding one i was thinking that maybe i should have slid the hanger even a lil farther forward. I guess time will tell and hell, thats what the torch is for

 

I am confused?

The rad support mount and the front spring mount share 3 rivets.
When you cut the spring hanger off, what holds the rad support mount?

And if you did retain the 3 rivets... what happens when the rad support mount rots out or gets damaged, how are you going to go about replacing it?

Also, any drains in the boxed section of the frame to allow moisture out?

 

For the rad core support mount i cut the 3 rivets allowing the spring hanger to fall off then proceeded to plug weld the rivets to the frame to secure the rad support mount. If i ever have to remove the mount i can just cut the face off the rivets and remove the mount and plug weld them again.

As far as drain holes i didnt poke any yet but i do plan to and that is a good idea

 

Heres what i did for the rear hanger. The only part i have left to do is weld the frame plate as i couldnt get the. Mig welder out to where i was working without moving the truc so i just stick welded the spring hanger mounts.

 

What springs are you using that the rear pivot is between the cab mount?

 

They are superduty leaf springs (6" lift)

 

315/75r16 as a test fit to see how the truck sits





I ended up lowering the rear about 2 inches today by raising the rear spring hanger and installing shorter shackles

















I may have to swap in 4" superduty springs, still trying to figure how it will sit as there is 700lbs in bed and no motor tranny transfercase