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57 chevy leaf spring relocation?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by oneratfink57, Nov 6, 2008.

  1. hrlykngt
    Joined: Mar 31, 2015
    Posts: 2

    hrlykngt

    oneratfink57,

    Did you ever get the springs relocated? I am in the process of doing what you did and I am going to attempt to make my own front boxes and drill a hole thru the rear frame and weld in a bushing instead of the over the frame and longer shackle approach. Were you able to use stock 55 shackles? I just bought a new set and hope I can use them. also do you have any pics of finished. Thanks.
     
  2. I think that what makes the most sense is determined by your skill set. if you can fab yourown stuff and don't mind doing it then that is the way to go if you are not a fabricator then the kit is your other option. I would probably go the swapping the mounts from side to side like the Panneton Bros car, they are pretty sharp on that shit and if they did it and told you about it then it is good advice.
     
  3. 1934coupe
    Joined: Feb 22, 2007
    Posts: 5,051

    1934coupe
    Member

    I believe swapping the springs side to side might interfere with he stock gas tank, I'm not positive I looked into it when I did mine but then got out of control and back halved the car and pieced the floor together to get rid of spare tire and keep stock gas tank although moved over to the center of frame rails.

    Pat
     

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  4. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Hrlykngt,

    I ended up fabbing the kit myself. I'll post pics in a little while. I used 3/16" thick rectangle tube for front boxes. In the rear I took round tube and welded it through the frame for the shackle bolt to pass through. The factory shackles worked but I wasn't able to cleanly remove the rear spring hangers so I left them which rotated the upper shackle bolt forward. This caused the leaf spring eye to contact the frame so I installed taller shackles to fix the geometry.
     
  5. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Pardon the overspray on the under car pictures. Been doing bodywork lately. Needless to say there's been a lot of primer flying around!

    I left the front leaf spring eye in the factory location when I drilled out the rectangle tube. If you do this method, be cautious when you cut the chassis profile out of the square tube, the internal stresses of the tube will cause the longer walls to spring outward.

    All three pictures of the car (in black and cream high build primer) were taken after the swap to give you an idea of ride height.

    For some reason I think the 57 shackles are tapered out on one end which allows it to wrap around the frame. I thought the 55 shackles were parallel with no taper, which means they may be narrow. It's been a while since the swap though so just make sure to measure!

    Doing the pocketing technique as opposed to swapping the springs to the inside of the frame rails provides more stability also, as it keeps the suspension farther apart


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  6. hrlykngt
    Joined: Mar 31, 2015
    Posts: 2

    hrlykngt

    Thanks for the reply and pics, this is the way I am going also. You are right about the 55 shackles being parallel, they are also narrow, I will have to make a set anyways, just want to clarify why yours are curved. You put the curve in the shackle to move it back to the original spot? what is the bolt in middle for? To space it out? (This may all make sense when I get it laid out and start cutting and welding, just trying to cover all bases.)
     
  7. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    So you can quite get the rear leaf spring eye to the original spot without removing the rear spring hanger. The rear spring hanger was riveted in from the factory and you can't access the top rivets without taking the chassis off the frame. So I had a set of front Jeep Wrangler lift shackles that repositioned the spring eye to the near factory location.
     
  8. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    I didn't want to trash the original mounts so I left them in place until I take the body off the frame. Which may or may not ever happen lol
     

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