I don't know how I've missed this thread all this time but this is an awesome rebuild. I'm impressed your doing this all outside with pretty simple tools. Nice work.

 

Nice build! The truck has come a long way. If Chevy's won't work, what about F150 springs? They are 57" long, and the seem to ride and flex as good as chevy's.

 

thanks and what year f150's? anyone have any links on using these?
how much lift expected?
how far does the hanger need to be moved?

 

I got mine from a late 90's 4wd F-150. They were three leaf plus overload, they are 57" long and around 2.5" wide. In my '85, you basically you do everything you would do for the chevy spring except the rear hanger, you can use the stock hanger for that. (not really sure if the measurement is different for a 1st gen pickup) You get the springs and run them backwards from the way they were in the ford. (they are 31.5" from center pin to rear, thus you turn them around)

I am running a 6" eye to eye shackle with mine and I left half the overload in. I got somewhere around 4" of lift from them with this setup.

I assume with a smaller shackle and no overload you could drop it it down to 2" pretty easily.

I don't have any really good pics to show the lift. I have some pics on 34's with a 1" body lift plus these:





You can see the springs here (these were all taken during fender trimming)



This is the link for Chevy springs, read it over (as I said, all the same steps, minus the rear hanger). If you have any questions feel free to PM me.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...threadid=20665

 

that might be the way to go since i can leave to rear hanger where its at, thanks for the info!

 

x2!! I like that option...another thing to consider

 

ending up going to philly for the weekend so i'll have to wait another week to source my springs

 

Ok heres my experience with springs so far,

63" Chevs: Been recommended to me many times, then when I finally go to do the swap I was stopped by a dude who did the swap but didn't have enough weight over the rear to get them to flex well, I realized that most of the trucks ive seen with the chev swap are 4runners or have a big tube/cage deck on the rear, everyone said they are super soft but I dont know what to believe. I also noticed everyones running blocks with them to get more lift.. so I decided against it, I dont want to deal with making another set of custom shims/blocks to get the lift I want, and I doubt il have enough weight to make them flex to full potential.. plus, since I want a bobbed bed/frame, it would limit me on that too since they are so long.

Rears up front: Seemed like a good idea too, Cheap way to get a ton of flex up front right? Well not really, You need hi-steer first of all, by the time you get an IFS steering box, the hi steer kit and since your 79 doesn't have power steering you'll need the pump, reservoir, and belt thats at least $500 there. You need a longer drive shaft, no way around that either.. most people are running square shafts, Just need an 86+ IFS front shaft for the CV style joints, some tube.. oh wait theres another $50+ dollars and you now have an un balanced drive shaft. You need longer shocks.. anywhere from $20-$200, longer brake lines.. another $40-$50 unless you move the hard line mount and use the stock lines. At this point you've almost spent as much as it would cost to order a trail gear front kit( which comes with absolutely every last thing you need besides the steering box, pump and reservoir.


Looking back I should have just went with the Trail gear kit, it comes with Front Spring Hanger w/bolts & bushings, Front Leaf Springs w/bushings, Greasable Shackles,2 Bilstein Shocks, 2 Shock Hoops w/Gussets,U Bolt Flip Kit
,2 Extended Front Brake Lines,High Steer Crossover Steering,Steering Stabilizer Kit,Heavy Duty IFS box Mount Kit, Small Diff Armor, Upper Axle Gusset,Knuckle Rebuild Kit,2 Wheel Bearing Kits,2 Bumpstops,Spring Pad and the Instructions.. 20" of front wheel travel, you can choose between 3", 4" or 5" and they are all the same price.. $1,105.00 Canadian.. Now that I look back, that is a screaming deal rather than piecing together a bunch of crap thats just going to cost me more, I would have gone with the 4" kit which would work fine with the stock front drive shaft. Im considering selling the procomp springs/shocks/drag link I bought and going with the trail gear kit, save me on buying all the other stuff separate and from what ive seen the trail gear springs are some of the best out there, only thing is the rear procomp springs work really well, its the front that im not happy with.

 

not going with 63's in the rear, i'll be goin with 57" fords, since i dont have alot of frame to relocate the rear hanger

in the front i'm going with stock waggy's, and my truck has factory power steering (so did my old 82, seems like alot of people's 1st gens are all non-power) so thats free, shocks i have (rancho RS5000s from when i bought the truck lifted) so those are free, brake lines will be Napa 300ZX lines, so thats about the most $$ there $40ish, i have a front d-shaft from a 87 4runner, doesnt need to be balanced, it wont bother me, and the springs are only $10 a peice so this will work until i get the real deal

 

good job with truck man. i went through exactly the same thing, except i rolled mine. howd you get the cab off and on? i used a tag along and a tree. yours is lookin great.

 

Your going to need high steer though im 100% sure on that since the axle will sit farther forward and farther down the draglink wont work, the torque arm wont work either which isnt needed with high steer anyway. My truck has factory power too! I just thought 79's never came with it, Thats good to know!.

Let me know how the 57" Fords work out, I might end up with something like that.

 

thanks and the old cab came off with me and 3 other guys, the 80 cab came from the junkyard with me and 2 other buddies throwing it in the back of my dad's dodge ram, and the cab went on the truck with me and my 2 buddies, they are sooo light!


the drag link will work, i've seen them work with forward moved axles, tourque arm aint a problem b/c thats already gone

 

That's funny, when I add up all my front end mods, I saved $300+ over the any kit I could find and I used rears up front. All the stuff you complained about like the driveshaft and power steering stuff IS NOT in the TG kit and even the TG kit requires a longer drive shaft than a stock IFS shaft, so that complaint is invalid also. I used TG parts and Sky Man. parts plus Rancho shocks, Ford shock towers, sq tube driveshaft that doesn't rattle or vibrate up to 45 (fastest the truck has gone in 4wd, haha) and rears up front. I love the flex, the ride is way better than stock, and I love the savings. Had I made my own hangers I could have gotten the price down even more. I have been wheeling the truck hard for over a year now and I have no complaints and nothing that I "cheaped out" on has broken.

Note, ANY lift springs will require longer shocks. You can get an adjustable drag link if you really want to and use a shock for the torque rod. That will allow some travel so you don't bind up so bad with flex but still acts like a torque rod to some extent. Also, you COULD build custom packs with your main front leaf and make the rest rears. That would keep stock steering geometry, but allow you to have more flex. You might consider flipping the J-arm for good measure.

Also, the SFA trucks had the CV on the front shaft that had more travel, not the '86+.

 

I meant he needed the Power steering stuff since his is a 79, but then I learned the 79's came with power steering stock, didnt know that.

The stock 79-83 driveshaft should be fine with the Trail gear 4" springs, works fine with my Procomp 4" springs unless the TG's move the axle forward more than my procomps do, still cant see it being a problem, I dont like the procomps though. What I was talking about with the IFS shaft is I meant you can use the CV style yokes since they can operate under a steeper angle than U joint style for the amount of lift/travel to make a square shaft, wasnt talking about the slip travel. Square shaft isnt practical for me, might be for other people but when the logging roads/roads get snowy out here I dont mind having it in 4hi, speeds as high as 60mph(100km/h).

For me the TG kit is good because you get almost everything, $1100
and your set, not normally a fan of kits myself.. I usually would be all about the "budget".

 

I put a TG 4" kit on a buddies truck, his '85 shaft is not long enough. Just FTR.
The CV yokes from the SFA trucks can function at a higher angle than the IFS CV's.
You can get a shaft retubed at a reasonable price.

 

picked up an IFS rear out of one of my dream trucks in the junkyard...87 Turbo 4runner, black, auto, sunroof, digital dash, the whole 9 yards...boo, and of course no 3rd...booo! i ran the #s on pirate...came up as 4.88s...even more booo! (mini-rant over) so i got a the rear minus the 3rd for 30 bucks, i'll, have some pics tomorrow

here's my question...(i posted a new thread in the wrong spot today so i'll try here to) does anyone know a part # and/or where i can get stock replacement differental mounting studs? a couple of the mounting studs are snapped, i already read up on converting to bolts, but i'd really like to stick with stock replacement

 

so today i got bored, and i decided to pull the rear in the truck
i'll be putting the 4.38 third in my new IFS rear for now until i can get my hands on a different set
but now its on to the pics, thats y you guys look at these threads right?


-insert words of wisdom here-


mAjor seal leak...(opened the drain plug and about a dixie cup's worth of fluid came out, i did fill the diff about3 months ago, and the truck hasnt been driven )

rotted brake line

IFS rear all cleaned up

only salvageable studs

some of the bad ones

untarpped the beast, awaiting santa to bring me the Trail Gear IFS eliminator kit

 

SAS kits on sale now. But I am tight with Santa too!

 

put my IFS rear under my truck today..sorta, the ubolt plates from the original axle do not fit the IFS rear...IFS rear tubes are larger than stock tubes...so i just got the ubolts on an angle to hold the rear there to roll it back to my fence (about 10 feet)..kinda bummed, all my research and everywhere said it is a direct bolt in...liars! lol, no biggie though, the u-bolt flip kit will elliminate that

i'm done with the truck until next spring/summer no more parts lol, i'll be going to look at a 90 pickup pretty soon, just waitin on an email back from the guy, i figure on drivin that through the winter and then next spring swap almost everything btw the 2, its a 22RE/5sp so i'll be swapping that, allllll the wiring, steering, everything but the body/frame and front end lol, and puttin all my 79 stuff into that truck to make a little beater nothing special, just sumthing i can beat and not care what brakes and scrap whats left

i'll prolly do some little things to my 79 thorugh the colder months and keep u guys up-to-date but again..nothing major until spring

 

Thanks for the heads up on the IFS rear end having bigger tubes, you are the second guy to confirm that. I have heard of Trail Gears rear kit not being big enough to work with the 1st gen Rears..

Buying a second truck and having it to do the conversion is the way to go. I found a wrecked 88, truck still ran but he wanted $1500, just couldn't swing that much. Looking forward to the update next year