I need help please with a rear shackle flip.

I have a 77 f250 and have bought another set of front of rear spring hangers I'm using at the rear of rear for the flip. I have two questions.

1. How are you all centering the axel in the wheel well? It seems like I'll have to move the front hanger backwards on the frame but Is there a way other than trail & error till you get it right. If this is how to do it, are you guys tacking the hangers to frame each time you need to load the suspension?

2. I have 2.25 inch wide rear springs. Does anyone know of a hanger for the front of the rear that will hang lower that the stock one for some lift?

Thanks in advance, I have a lot going on with the truck and when it starts to go back together I'll post Picts and build up.

 

Early 80's chev rear hangers. I'll post pics in a bit..

 

chevy was the only one that used a drop hanger for there 4x4 , all others used a rear block !
if memory serves it was 4" drop !

 

I've read 73fordguy posts before that say the early 80s chebby hanges work but I don't think they are for 2.25 inch wide springs. From what I've found the early Fords were the only ones to run springs this thin?

 

if the hangers are a little wider you can always put a spacer in there if needed or use the chevy spring !

 

As per F350 words:

For the rear, the popular thing to do is the shackle flip. Since this requires the removal of the rear hanger anyway, half of the work is already done. Now since the perfect donor hanger is to use the fixed hanger found at the front of the rear spring, this means that another hanger needs to be installed where this one was removed.

Step by step:
Remove both hangers, and throw the inverted rear hangers in trash.
Purchase, a longer hanger for the front of the rear spring. 1/2 ton, or 2wd hangers are longer and will provide more lift. Make sure that the width is the same as the spring. Chebby hangers can be used here too.
Align the 64" rear spring so the axle is centered in the wheel opening.
Install the newly purchased hanger in the front of the spring and attach to the frame.
Install the original front hanger in the very rear of the spring and hang the shackle from this. Bolt up and verify that all hangers are level. Use a quality fastener here.

This will net some pretty serious lift and much will depend on the rear spring that you use. This 64" spring is easy to find in the salvage yard, and will cost way less than new springs.

When looking for spring hangers, don’t limit yourself to just this era of ford trucks. They are limited in numbers at the salvage yards and just try to find a new one at a dealership. That being said, you can use a later model spring hanger, the hanger does not care. I suggested that one look into chabby hangers, if you are going to remove the spring from a 2000 plus silverado, grab the front hanger too. Use this on the front of the spring, and then use the factory ford one on the very back of the spring for the shackle flip. This is a very inexpensive way to lift a vehicle and still use the comfort and versatility of the newer spring.

Rear:
Stock 64" long 3500 series chebby silverado rear leaf
2001 chebby silverado 1500 series front spring hanger mounted lower to provide more lift
Stock Ford front spring hanger installed in the very rear to accommodate shackle flip
Relocated shock mount to accommodate 14" travel shocks

And here are some more words of wisdom:

For the rear, you have many options here, but the best so far, is to ditch the stock leaf all together. You will probably consider a shackle flip, and since you are removing the rear pivot, you might as well remove and replace the front one as well.
What I did was remove the front fixed hanger and mounted it to the rear. This creates a new mount for the shackle. For the front fixed mount, I replaced mine with a late Chebby hanger. It was longer and created more lift. These lift figures will vary depending on how you mount it to the frame. The longest hangers can create as much as 6 inches of lift when combined with a shackle flip.
Alright, so you have the hangers off completely, and now you have a few options. The best option here is to use a 64" long rear leaf, also from a late model chebby truck. 2wd, or 4wd this does not matter, and it will fit the shackle, and hanger from your highboy.
I used the very end bolt holes as a reference for my new bolt holes. The very outside holes became the inside mounting holes. This required me to drill a bunch of holes for the new 1/2" hardware, but I was confident in axle alignment because I was able to use 4 existing holes. Shackle angle is at 23 degrees, and has a bunch of flex with a 2wd 1500 64" stock leaf.
Longer shackles will change this. Weight capacity is very limited if you use a 1/2 ton rated spring. The fix here is to use a 3/4 ton spring.
Lift figures will vary based upon different springs, and which hangers you use. It is very easy to create the 10+ inches of lift with this method of lift, and though it sounds rather complex, it is really pretty easy, as long as you can read a tape measure, and are careful to attach everything with safety in mind.
These rather flat springs really flex well, and offer a fantastic ride over the stock units. Because they are flat, they do a pretty good job of controlling the axle, and help to eliminate wheel hop. I can really lay on the throttle, and spin up the rear tires in any condition, and the axle does not hop. It does get a little weird if I lock the brakes up, but this has only happened once or twice.
While this combo sounds like a bunch of work, when compared to the amount of work required for a similar modification, the rewards are well worth the effort.
Shock lengths become the limiting factor, because the springs at this point are capable of more travel than the shocks can travel when using the stock mounting locations, but for the weekend user, the stock locations will be fine. For a more aggressive user, new mounts that are farther apart will be a benefit.
I am still working out the bugs for additional travel, but I am using just about the entire stroke of a 14" front shock. Not bad for such a large truck. Fenders really suffer (Thanks again to Steve / chasetruck754 for all of the fenders I keep crushing, lol), a little because of the additional flex, but this can be eliminated with the use of an aftermarket bump stop.
Guess I should state the obvious: brake lines, steering, drive shafts will all have to be addressed

 

Yup ^^^


Here's the chev hanger pic and front hanger now at back




Note that rear shackle NEEDS to be kicked back a bit from vertical of it will kick forward and bind. Drilling hanger in proper spot is key. I did it with two small bolts corner to corner(or tack weld if ya got a good welder) then put weight on axle and moved when necessary..


Still flexes good too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR8iX_Q2X_0

 

Ok, back to the driveway. You guys are great, thanx for the help!

 

Or make your own....







Couldn't find chev ones for my other 79 truck so I whipped these up. Need to drill couple holes still

 

Very cool. Just ordered the chevy ones from ATS. If they worked for the way you wheel, they'll be fine for my application.

 

Your brother had some cool looking "ladders" to get in & out of truck - any pictures of them?

 

Havnt wheeled the truck for a month or so after a good snowfall..Lots of fun though.





back to the hangers though , they do have a factory angle iron back plate that acts as a gusset to the frame that bolts on. Problem is it would have to be modified with our crossmember rivots interfering youd have to grind them out, redrill angle plate and bolt both hanger gusset and crossmember through gusset plate. Easy fix for me was to weld on some 1/4 plate gussets. problem is its not so easily removeable now but Id just torch the top weld off.



Also I never had an issue but it "could" be an issue with hard use. I drove without the gussets for awhile though. not a bad idea

I have all these pics on file for guys that ask these questions

 

Good info. Thanx. Spacers making up for the 1/4 inch worked out ok?

 

I kept it pretty simple. Just drilled the rivits out and made a plate to drop the hangers down. One thing, the bottom of my frame was not at a 90* angle so the plate should only be tacked and then bent to the angle you need to get it straight with the side of the frame. You don't want to find that out after you weld it all up.

 

Looks good! That was just too much work for me. I know I'm not changing my setup so I welded the gussets up permanent witha 7018 stick rod as they have no need to come off. Took me about 1/2 hour in total compared to 2 1/2 -3 hours with plate and rivets.