Has Anyone Done A Flip Kit Rear Axle And Not Had To A C-notch , It Looks Like There Might Be Enough Room , And Do You Have To Use Pinion Shims ? Or Is It Fine With The Kit . I Also Have 2 Inch Lowering Shackles Already And Took The Helper Spring Out , My Flareside 77 Was Really High In The Back Even With The 2 Inch Shackles And Helper Spring Taken Out . I Plan On Using Dropped Beams For The Front 3 Inches . Thanks . ALSO HAS ANYONE DONE THE FRONT BEAM SWAP IN THERE GARAGE ? IS THE SPINDLES HARD TO TAKE OFF AFTER 30 YEARS AND SPRINGS ? ANY PICS OR BEST WAY TO DO THIS OR SHOULD I HAVE A SHOP PERFORM THE FRONT ? THANKS .

 

I took my I-beams down to a machine shop and they charge me 20 buck to get the king pins pressed out. I know some others on here have done it themselves but having somebody with the right tools to do it helps.

 

I just did the I beams about 2 weeks ago and it was super easy. Take the front wheels off and pull the tie rods off. I took the whole spindle/I beam assembly off each side as a unit. My king spins were 28 years old and they pushed out by hand. Didn't really see the need to replace the bushings inside so I cleaned up all the grease and put the new king pins in. Then assembled in opposite order. Took about a day going slow.





As for the rear I went ahead and boxed the frame and c notched it, just in case.

 

I did the 5" DJM flip kit in the rear of my truck and I did a c-notch just because I could and for a little extra clearance. You really don't need to do it though, there is enough clearance without it, unless you are hauling a lot. I figure that now I have room to go lower if I want to... Check my gallery for some pics I took before I put the bed back on.

As far as the front beams, mine were super easy to take out also, although I did have the old bushings pressed out by a shop and they pressed in the new ones and reamed them to the size of the pins for something like $30. I did everything else myself in my garage with standard hand tools.

 

My beams cost $175 to get the kingpins removed and the spindles swapped over to my DJM beams

 

I got a question, psquare7575. When you changed to the Dream Beams, did you have to use a shorter coil or was the stock height fine?

 

Hey Ken,

In addition to what you have done you could also remove the rear hangers and turn them upside down.

 

Stock height. I have 460 HD springs. No apparent issues.

 

Thanks everyone , for the input and pics . Next question , I was told if I bought 2 inch lowering springs that it wouldn't make a difference , the tech said my old springs are probably sagged 2 inches already , if this is true and I have no inside tire wear at all then how does buying lowered springs help or wear tires inside when are trucks are already have sagging old springs , do you think the springs could sag that much over the years or should I buy new lowered springs ?

 

I know with other cars (my Cavalier) sometimes if you buy lowering springs, the car may rise slightly due to worn stock springs. Normally however lowering springs will improve handling, so it is still worth it.