I have a 53 dodge pickup with a i beam axle up front if i flip the axle on top of the leaves i will have about 1" of clearance between the oil pan and the axle. Is this enought clearance? If not does anyone now where i can find a drop axle for my dodge. i want about 4-5" drop if possible? thanks
1" between axle and oil pan is not enough, you'll crush the pan and possibly block off the oil pick-up tube thus starving your engine for oil. Not good. There's a few guys on here who drop axles. ElPolacko and loudpedal are two I know of. You can find them in the Members index or in the Hamb-O-Dex; search for "drop axle" They should be able drop your stock axle. This is probably the best route to go unless you're changing out to an IFS set up.
Sure, you can keep it. If the mounts are to the frame you may not have to remove them but if they're on the crossmember you may have to fab up some mounts. You can put anything you want in there with a little effort. That's the great thing about rodding, you can make it your own with some thought, sweat, and ingenuity. ElPolacko may have a Dakota IFS kit too.
No sweat, it's what we're here for. Hey, post some pictures of your truck - we all love pictures around here.
You might look into Posie mono leaf springs. I put them on my '51 Ford and it lower it about 5 inches. I think they cost about the same a drop axle, but you can bolt em on in 20 minutes. Cory
i get some pic soon, i thought about a s-10 subframe because we have a chassic laying around but i dont ahave time to put a subframe in. also i wanna still use the stock steering wheel. could i shorten the steering shaft and spline it to accept a u-joint so i could use a manual rack and pinion?
Yes. Remember, anything can be done that you can think of. Some of it's harder than others and takes more time and planning, but it can be done.
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