Well I am a Structural Engineer pushing around my pencils all day, so I will say this:

I would never stack up lift blocks....not because I have evidence it's bad but because there are better ways to do it.

I just looks cheezy.

Now for the pencil pushing part:
Torque....lever arm, te​​​​​nsel strength, and fatigue.
​​​​​

​​​​​The taller blocks will cause higher forces to be applied to the leaf springs. Is that good or bad I do not know. As long as the springs can take the higher forces and u bolts and nuts will handle the higher tension and are designed for a little higher resistance to fatigue all is good.

imagine....as I sit pushing my pencils around the block was 5 feet tall. The torque applied to springs would be substantially higher than the 2" extra in this case.

will this setup work.....yes
does it cause squirrely behavior? No
will taller blocks cause more spring wrap...yes

just my 20,000 cents because it' hard pushing my pencils around.

EDIT: I have to note that taller blocks can make things squirrely. The mass centroid is moved up when you lift a vehicle. Moving that center of mass makes a vehicle more susceptible to other forces....wind, bumps etc.

I don' think an extra 2" will make a difference...or even 4" but at some point the vehicle will exhibit bending forces on components causing instability.

I would be confident in saying a 5 ft lift would have stability issues.

 

My post was in response to your specific assertion that he was an engineer that had no real world experience.

THIS is what my previous post was addressing. Pirate doesn't post because that's what he thinks might work. He posts from real world experience of success and failure, and fixing failures. To demean and belittle his knowledge does an injustice to someone looking for help, which Pirate is trying to provide. Maybe instead of attacking him for his post, engage him in conversation to see what information he can provide to clear any misconceptions, or maybe see how he qualifies his response to see how it relates to the why's and where for's.

Getting angry (at least it seems like you're angry) doesn't do anything for the thread.

Stewart.

 

In order to facilitate conversation and not arguing like I posted above.....

Pirate, I do have to say, everything I've learned over the years says that using stacked blocks in the rear is a no-no. I had a friend who almost shot his stacked block out from under his axle.

As 1 Ex Camper stated, are you saying it's ok to run stacked blocks in the rear?

Stewart

 

Lots of good info. Thanks everyone.

A few takeaways so far:

1 - While the lift blocks in the rear may not be impacting the wander or handling of the truck, ideally they would be replaced with proper sized leaf springs.
1.1 - If I keep the lift blocks, I should remove the "Add a spring" springs (both front and rear), and replace the snubbers on the axle wrap bars (bottom springs, not in the pack).
1.2 - If I choose to replace the lift blocks, ATS can help me find a set of leaf springs that will work for my application.
2 - Check the track bar bushing and drop bracket bolts
3 - Once the springs are sorted out, I should look at replacing the Rough Country shocks with something better.
4 - With the springs and shocks sorted out, I should find a shop familiar with straight axle vehicles, and have them set the Caster and Toe.
5 - A rear sway bar may not be necessary, but would not hurt (aside from making the ride a bit rougher for the rear passengers)
6 - A good WD hitch will help, but may not be "required" for this weight of trailer

 

 

To figure out how much lift you currently have or make changes the first thing you need to find out is how much lift you currently have. To do that measure all 4 corners of the vehicle from the center of the wheel hub to the center of the fender arch straight up from the hub.

the stock height of the Ex was

front: 23”
rear 24”

While on flat ground be sure to measure the passanger and driver side as we will need all 4 measurements.
also while you have the tape out go ahead and measure the rear block. ( I am curious to know how much lift the add a leaf is giving you ) I am still trying to figure out what is going on with the front leafs but I am going to need some time to do research on my home computer.

 

I disagree. A WD is required, since the stock hitch is only rated for 500# tongue weight without WD.

 

Not super accurate or anything, but here are the measurements I took, from as close to the center of the hub that I could estimate, straight up to the bottom of the fender flair:

Front Driver - 31"
Front Passenger - 32"
Rear Driver - 31.5"
Rear Passenger - 31"

So...I would guess that's about an 8" lift? matches up with my drop hitch.

The large block measures about 5" tall.

 

 

 

His trailer weight is 8000+. He sure as hell better have a TW > 500#!

 

 

A lot of recommendations for adding a rear sway bar if you do not have one, which I do not. Looks like the Hellwig 7643 rear 1 1/4" kit is the one currently available for $273.73 from several retailers. Does that sound about right?

 

While I've already dumped more money into this truck than I will ever get out of it, and I'm not afraid to spend a bit more $$ to do **** properly, I would like to keep as much of my money in my pocket as possible (more gas money for this thirsty beast).

As for time frame...I would like to get a few smaller "practice" camping trips in, but I don't truly *need* to tow the trailer again until about July 14th, when I head to Rock fest in Cadott WI. (about a 2 hour drive one way from my location)