im interested to, if they could save me money by helping me assemble a set of my own id for sure end up spending the 100$ elsewhere with a sponsor here, after u guys got me started modifying my pickup farther than i already had it became an addiciton, now i wana build a race truck
Homemade Mini-Spring Pack Leveling Kit
Hey guys. Had this idea after hearing so many people bad-mouth the use of the mini-spring packs on ebay. But there's not much to these, and if some of them aren't even made of spring steel (if someone could explain the difference to me, I'd really appreciate it), what's stopping me from throwing some plates together drilling a hole through them, and slapping them under my spring? So I'm looking for reasons and answers to the following questions.
Is there any support added to the existing leafs by going with some official DR pack as opposed to an ebay spring pack? Do the ebay types (plate steel from what I've heard) have any arch to them at all? If not, and I could fab some up on my own, what thickness steel do they utilize? Thanks in advance. And to please all the professionals out there, the $100 saved from building them myself would be put towards an adjustable track bar. Looking forward to the info in the professionally done VS. home made spring pack debate that is to come.
Is there any support added to the existing leafs by going with some official DR pack as opposed to an ebay spring pack? Do the ebay types (plate steel from what I've heard) have any arch to them at all? If not, and I could fab some up on my own, what thickness steel do they utilize? Thanks in advance. And to please all the professionals out there, the $100 saved from building them myself would be put towards an adjustable track bar. Looking forward to the info in the professionally done VS. home made spring pack debate that is to come.
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In utah it is illegal to put a block in the front butt stacking metal to look like a taller leaf peal is legal it would be the same as putting a bock in the rear.i built my own just using flat steel anit worked great, all you need is steel new center bolt and u bolts.
I don't see why you couldn't.
so you its not necessary to use spring steel? cuz i have some junk spring packs i could cut up, but if i can just use flat steel ill go that route, we have a machine shop next door
i measured the gap between the top of the tire and the fender directly above, on my truck there was a 3" gap so i built a stack of cold steel that was the same width as the spring and cut them 1.5 inches longer than the one below it, depending on the thickness of steel you can get and the amount of sag in the front is how many peices you need. i drilled a hole through the center of them for the centering pin using a drill press, trust me drill press is the only way to go dont try drilling using a hand drill you will be there for hours! Then all you need is new center bolts and U-bolts. the nice thing about all of this is that the shock is mounted above the leaf springs and the distance between the that and the shock mount will not change, so you will not need to buy new shocks. lifting your truck this way will not change the ride of your truck becuase the spring rate will stay the same, using an add-a-leaf will arch your springs more and cause it to ride a little stiffer, how much? i dont know. but i did not have to get a longer track bar but i would recommend getting an adjustable one so that the truck tracks straight down the road. not having one will pull your axle more toward the passenger side of the truck and will make it dog track but its not noticeable. i was in the whole project minus the track bar less than 100 dollars little cheaper than buying but more fun to build!
The key difference between a block and a mini spring pack is the way they are mounted. A mini pack is bolted to the main leaf pack before the whole assembly is bolted together with u-bolts. A block is only held in place the locating pins and the u-bolts.
i have a 2.5 in leveling kit on my truck i just added a solid steel 1 1/2 in. steel block to get a total of 4inchs of lift the block is welded to the axle
Hey guys - thanks for the response so far. I posted this thread on a couple other forums, and apparently they're a little more "by the book" then guys around here. I honestly haven't seen too much pointing out there would be anything wrong with this, so I'm willing to consider it a little more.
dadozer - what size plate steel did you use? How long was the smallest leaf that you cut? Just wondering what caused the price to be that much... you said close to $100 - that's about what the maxx-lift ones are on ebay?
dadozer - what size plate steel did you use? How long was the smallest leaf that you cut? Just wondering what caused the price to be that much... you said close to $100 - that's about what the maxx-lift ones are on ebay?
you got any pictures of your diy level kit?
On my last truck....
add-a-leaf I stole off of some extra leaf springs we had laying around and a 1" thk block. I ran new centering bolts through everything so there wouldn't be a chance of anything sliding out. Flame all you want on using a block, but i ran it for 50k miles, and its still on the truck working great. I know its cheap, but I was a freshman in college @ the time...:doh:
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add-a-leaf I stole off of some extra leaf springs we had laying around and a 1" thk block. I ran new centering bolts through everything so there wouldn't be a chance of anything sliding out. Flame all you want on using a block, but i ran it for 50k miles, and its still on the truck working great. I know its cheap, but I was a freshman in college @ the time...:doh:
farm boy
You may want to put a sleeve on that bolt the strap is connected to so the threads don't wear though the nylon.
You may want to put a sleeve on that bolt the strap is connected to so the threads don't wear though the nylon.
ive thought about doing a steel block and welding it in place so it wouldnt come out, did you ahve to get a new track bar with your set up farm boy
I did cut one the next day. That picture was when I mocked up the front end straps.farm boy
You may want to put a sleeve on that bolt the strap is connected to so the threads don't wear though the nylon.
Did I? No.ive thought about doing a steel block and welding it in place so it wouldnt come out, did you ahve to get a new track bar with your set up farm boy
Should I had? Probably.
I did cut one the next day. That picture was when I mocked up the front end straps.
what exactly are the straps for?
Well I used 5/8 thick steel and it was a little more money 100 includes u bolts and center pins, the bottom leaf is two inches longer than the mount on than the axle i also made my kit a little more than three inches tall and I probably should of shopped better for the steel
Well I used 5/8 thick steel and it was a little more money 100 includes u bolts and center pins, the bottom leaf is two inches longer than the mount on than the axle i also made my kit a little more than three inches tall and I probably should of shopped better for the steel
dadozer - could we get any pictures?
"For closed course racing applications only....." j/kI did cut one the next day. That picture was when I mocked up the front end straps.
what exactly are the straps for?
in drag racing, many guys strap the front end down to prevent some of the weight transfer. On that particular truck, the front end popped up bad when I would launch in 4x4. So I made those things to strap the front end down.
How are yall strapping down the front end? - Powerstroke Nation
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