I order up the 6 inch block kit from ORU to level out the rear. I am going to throw the block in, but I just wanted to see if any of you helpful guys could tell me anything I might need to know. Do I need to do any sort of shimming or is it pretty much like the front leafs, line em up and bolt em down kind of deal?

 

You didn't put a block in the front did you? It's WAY unsafe.

At the rear get a big enough block to achieve the lift you want all on it's own without the stock lift block since stacking blocks is not safe either. It would also benefit from a tapered block to align the pumpkin with the drive shaft, it doesn't take much U-joint misalignment to result in vibration.

 

what block did it had before? 2' ? or 4' ?

 

While I wouldn't recommend tall blocks, these have been under this truck for the past 250K miles of heavy towing, hauling, and general hard driving. Haven't posed a single issue.



Jason

 

What do you guys do to keep a good pinion angle ???

 

I would never add front blocks! No, I installed a shackle reversal kit from ORU. They have a 6 inch block that brings the rear back to level. I currently am running a stock 4 inch block. So a 6 shouldn't be to much harsher right, and its already wedged so it should give me my angle right?

 

haha your always concerned with pinion angle arn't you?

last time i set it it was with a triangulated 4-link car and i set it a 4* if that helps

 

Yeah im good with mine at -3..I just see a lot of 4x4 lifted trucks where i live & notice alot of them have a really bad angle..So i was wondering how they do it with angled blocks or shims ..Lew

 

You're going to need longer U-bolts. Even if your U-bolts are long enough, they recommend useing new ones everytime you remove them.
You're also going to have to relocate your parking brake cable(s).. And you will also have to lenghten your brake line that goes from the frame to the axle. You don't want to stretch that hose. It may look like it has enough slack in it now, but when you hit full droop it will stretch the line so much it will most likely break.

 

Yeah the block kit comes with longer u-bolts. How do I extend the brake hoses & relocated the parking brake?

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but running 6" rear blocks is just asking for trouble, and anyone driving a truck like that without trailing arms should be pulled over and written a fix-it ticket in the interest of public safety! How many leafs you got in that truck of yours, 5 per side including the shorties? Do you know what axle/spring warp is? Have you seen how much the rear axle "walks" on you when you put the hammer down? You will likely be bottoming out the main driveshaft every time you get on the throttle hard. Not to mention that the OEM blocks come with ears for the U-bolts to go through, however about everyone in the aftermarket industry seems to think they are not needed and a simple center bolt is sufficient to keep them in place... 4" is the maximum allowed by many state laws, and there's a good reason for that. If you don't believe me, take a stroll over to FSB or Pirate4x4, and see what they got to say on that topic... Bottom line if you wanna jack up a 3-ton beast of a truck you gotta do it right, if you don't have the fabrication skills or financial resources for that you should leave it alone till you acquire one or the other.

 

the brake lines can be evtended by relocating the braket or better yet getting a dot approved steel braded line. Any 4x4 shop or catalogue will have them.
The parking brake cables, can be a little tricky. Some kits have a relocation bracket for this, but sometimes you have fabricate one on your own. I had to make one for my Chevy. I just cut the braket loose off the frame then fabed up a plate to drop the stock bracket down and at a angle . I have no Idea what it takes to relocate the bracket on a Ford. My truck is broke down and parked at a friend's property, so I can't go out and look at it to tell you how to do it.

 

I know it's OT but, pinion angle should always be parallel to the tranny, unless there is a CV joint. And we use angled shims.

With lift generally the pinion and of course tranny output angles won't change, and still need to be parallel. But driveshaft angles will, with our two peice drivelines the solution is to lower the support bearing. NOT change the pinion angle.

Oh yes and everything you need to know about 6" blocks is, Don't

 

By no means am I "****** rigger", and any one who knows my truck knows I put a lot of effort and time into the appearnce and performance of my truck. By all means, if you have any better suggestion to lift my rear of truck, please do. There are not many other options to do so, atleast that i know of..

 

Just got done looking at your truck in your gallery, very nice.

If you can't find or don't want to go with a spring option, then I think you would be well advised to go ahead with the blocks but you need a torque arm or something. It sounds like your truck is fast, this would be a must.

If your are any good at fab I always thought (haven't had a need to build yet) a single center torque arm would be a good way to go. This is a single tranglular arm bolted to the rear axle at the diff. And attached but allowed to pivot and swing at the rear crossmember, by the tranny. Basically attached with a shackle and heim joint, this way it can twist and move front to back but not up and down at the tranny end so it becomes impossible for the axle to twist, while allowing articulation, full travel, and driveshaft angle stability. At the same time it would be easy to use it as a driveshaft sheild/skid.

Here's a pick of one, not quite what you would need but the basics are there;


It just seems that even without any blocks axle wrap is and will be a problem for you, and this is a true and permenant solution. And with blocks your springs will stay flatter giving you a better ride.

Just my .02


Edit, with your or my truck the arm could be attached to the axle by using the cover/bolts and a clamp around the pinion housing. And then the stationary end would best be attached at the crossmember that holds the carrier bearing.

I would build something more like this;

But with three bars instead of four, so one was right under the driveline, and two went over the top of the diff to connect in the back.

Hope this helps and I have inspired you to build something like this, I don't think I have ever seen one on a truck like ours.