Solid Axle Conversion Tech

[kkustomz]

The only spring pad width that is a nice install is 31.5" to 32.5" on the 88-98 chevy trucks, all the later axles are too wide unless u want your shackles hanging under the frame in the back and making for a serious pinion angle to be corrected that is if you use leaf springs.

[kkustomz]

Originally Posted by GreaseDog

i've noticed a couple of you mentioning the Off Road Direct kit. having purchased one myself, i would use extreme caution when dealing with them. the kit that i bought was complete crap.

i sent it back and went with a brand new setup from www.sky-manufacturing.com and couldnt be happier. i am adding some additional bracing to the kit as well. the shackle/hanger design is 10x better than anything else on the market.

I have a set of sky hangers if anyone needs to buy them. They suck too!!! The shackle hangers are 3/8 thick welded to a piece of 1/8 1.250 tubing???? Were the bushing goes. Stock gm rear shackle hangers are the only way to go for under a 15" lift

[rabbit86_06]

seems to me that only use 1/2ton drivetrain why not 3/4 ton drive train out of a ford

[kkustomz]

Originally Posted by rabbit86_06

seems to me that only use 1/2ton drivetrain why not 3/4 ton drive train out of a ford

??? are u asking why use anything but 1/2 ton ford stuff?

1/2 ton ford-
Its small, and generally when doing a sas you want to build a strong machine so u dont use the smallest axle out there. Haha, its 5 lug. It may also have nasty coil spring mounts and track bars massivly welded to it

3/4 ton front will still be the same dana 44 small axle, just with leaf spring brackets.

The 1 ton has the dana 60hp!!!

[kirknd4spd]

Originally Posted by kkustomz

I have a set of sky hangers if anyone needs to buy them. They suck too!!! The shackle hangers are 3/8 thick welded to a piece of 1/8 1.250 tubing???? Were the bushing goes. Stock gm rear shackle hangers are the only way to go for under a 15" lift

IMO, Sky has the best brackets you can buy. I dont know what the hell you're talking about though, my Sky brackets don't have any tubing at all. There's tube in the shackles themselves, but not the hangers. And I don't see anything wrong with that. And I'm only gonna have 6-7" of lift using my Sky brackets, BTW. You don't have to have 15"+ lift to use this stuff.
You don't really seem to know what you're talking about to me

[kirknd4spd]

Originally Posted by rabbit86_06

seems to me that only use 1/2ton drivetrain why not 3/4 ton drive train out of a ford

What are you asking?

[kkustomz]

"You don't really seem to know what you're talking about to me"

haha, ur a funny guy!!!


Come on man, you dont place the brakets 6" off the frame. You place them against the frame out of sight and buy the right spring for the amount of lift you want. Nothing looks worse than brackets hanging under a truck with 4-6" springs with no arch a foot below the bumper.

And yes the shackles are thick and are welded to a cheesy piece of tubing. The arms might as well be 1/8 thick and use a narrow bushing, not the monster ones.

In a stock type sas. You have to use a low mounting point on the front crossmember if you the sky shackles unless you you are going to rotate the pinion up hill and rotate your inner c's alot. Which most people are not capable of doing. Not to mention they use those really wide bushings that suck!

I guess i need to post pics of this stuff to point it out.

[kkustomz]

"You don't really seem to know what you're talking about to me ."

I am still laughing, Thanks!!

I needed that!

[kirknd4spd]

Originally Posted by kkustomz

Come on man, you dont place the brakets 6" off the frame.

The only things you'll see below the frame rails are the crossmember and the shackles. You won't see the shackle hangers. Even on a stock SFA truck, you see the shackles hanging down below the frame. And the Sky crossmember doesn't look like it will hang any lower than the stock crossmember on the front of the frame.
I still don't know what you're talking about.

And if you really don't like the shackles that much, make some or buy some different shackles. That's no big deal.

[rstoner1026]

I really didn't like the 6" lift before springs either. I like how many kits just have brackets bolted/welded to the frame and only provide 3" of lift, which about the min.
Here's a pic from my build thread showing what 3" below the frame looks like. Also, remember I have a 3" BL.


I know that many have bad things to say about the ORD kit, but I really didn't have any problems with mine (other than the bushings). But, I did the ORD with plans of modifying it. Price was right and a good base to start with.

[kkustomz]

There front crossmemer bolt holes are 6-8" below the frame. So if your not lifting ur truck 15" it wouldnt work anyway. Not to mention add a stock bumper to that truck and it would look ridiculus.

Oh and dont get me going on shackle reversals either

We will forgive you. Its okay

I dont feel like drawing the geometry problems! Thats tops secret!

[rstoner1026]

Originally Posted by kkustomz

Here is a pic of the superduty axle 38.5 spring pads moved to
32.5

I was looking at doing this if I couldn't find a 77.5-79 d60... never saw it done before, but looks good.

[kkustomz]

it worked really well and the 4 wheel disc brakes stop like no tomorrow. Theres only two down falls... the unit bearing.... but dynatrac make a conversion to make a serviceable bearing for 3 grand... and the steering... no one makes a highsteer arm for the ford... the one that oru and parts mike sale only lift the steering about 2" higher a stock dana 44 or 60 arm. I made this one.

Yes those 78-79 ford axles are getting rare!!!

[kkustomz]

It steers great with the rockram, no bump steer at all!!! I dont like how the draglink dust boots dont really fit the tie rods and when you tighted them they get pinched. It seems like you can not get quality parts anymore!

[wildcathptq]

It all sounds like crap to me. Na jk. Anybody need custom work done...Id ask kkustomz. Hell of a job!

[kirknd4spd]

kkustomz, I see now what you were talking about. I was just tired last night, and I wasn't understanding exactly what you were saying.
I still think the Sky brackets are some of the best you can get. Sure, they aren't perfect, but what SAS kit is perfect? I do agree that it would look better if the crossmember didn't hang the springs down so low, but when I clamped it all up on my truck to see how it would look, I didn't think it looked bad. However, mine didn't seem to hang as low as the crossmember in that pic you posted. Maybe the difference is in NBS vs OBS frames, or maybe that truck has a body lift (I tied my valence 3" below the bumper on mine and filled the gap with a sheet of plastic just to see how visible the crossmember will be on mine when I lose the body lift). And I'm pretty sure a stock bumper hangs lower than the aftermarket bumper in that pic. At least on a NBS I think it does.

[kkustomz]

your going to have to rotate your inner c's for sure if you want proper 4-6 degrees of caster using that kit it if you want it to trac back to center. If you are not lifting high then u wont have a issue with the driveshaft angle using those kits, just the steering angle.

You know how the frames are about 8" lower under the cab than the radiator support right? There kit places the rear leafspring bolt a few inches below that, and then when you look at it from the side, the spring will be going up hill in the front.......abunch!!! The pads on your front axle where made to set level for proper geometry, not leaning back 8-10 degrees

[rstoner1026]

Originally Posted by kkustomz

your going to have to rotate your inner c's

Or have to drop the rear shackle hanger and longer shackles to accommodate the extra lift... like kk said, make sure the bottom pads of the springs are "flat or level" relative to to the ground (parallel)

[kkustomz]

no the shackles would need to be shorter... were talking about the front end...

[rstoner1026]

I've never messed with the SKY kit before. I thought that you were saying the since the front hangers are 6" from the frame and the shackle hangers (rear of the front springs) were mounted higher, which causes the springs to be off, thus the need to rotate the c's...
That's why I said to lower the hangers and get longer shackles
I guess I just need to see a SKY kit