Well, I got some pics back yesterday so I thought its time to update you all on how my puller is cooming along. This update has to do with the rear suspension. The heavy 1-ton springs were cracked and rusted very bad off of the 76 so I decieded just to go and order new 56" springs from a local shop in town. The Springs consist of 12-7/16's leaves and arched to give me 2" of lift over stock height. The 2nd leaf under the top one is special in the way that it is "wrapped" meaning that on both ends in stead of ending just in front of the spring eye where the top leaf goes around like most other leaf springs, it wraps over the top leaf preventing flex and making the whole pack double the spring rate.

After getting the leaf springs and knowing I only had 2" of lift out of them I decieded to fabricate up new spring hangers to get more lift and also to beef it up a little because the stock hangers are great for stock but I was doubtfull how they would hold up dragging 45,000 pounds!!! So what I did was make the hanger out of 5/16" steel and made them so they gave me an extra 2" of lift at stock height over the factory hangers. Then what I did was make a back place out of 3/8" steel that bolts to the frame and is 14"x11". I then made the hangers adjustable on this back plate. So in the end when they were finished I had 6" of adjustment out of the hangers them selves, then 2" of lift out of the hangers because they are 2" lower than the stock ones and then there is also 2" of lift out of the new springs so thats a grand total of 10" of lift in the rear suspension. Now what I am going to do is where the back plate mounts to the frame there is about 7" that stick down below the frame so I am going to atatch a cross member from one side of the frame to the other and am going use that for the front part of my hitch that has to be a 1/3rd the length of the wheel base of the truck and has to be from the centre of the rear axle back. It is also going to be adjustable so I can tune it into the sled and there for get the best angle for pulling.

Anyway, here are some of the pics and I will explain which each one is.

Ok, this is the front hanger and has ALOT more beef to it than the stock hanger and is made of 5/16" steel and is super stong and it alone gives me 2" of lift.


This is the rear hanger and it looks different than the stock hanger in the way that there is actually a CUP sort to speak, that the rear shackle sits in and through out full susp travel the shackle doesn't make contact with the CUP so it adds more strength to the hanger as well as it also gives me 2" of lift.


This picture is the hanger atatched to the back plate which is bolted to the frame. At the height this pic is taken its at the 1" lift height which is aprox 5" of total lift counting the 2" I get from the hangers them selves and the 2" from the springs. You can also see all the holes below the bolts in the hanger and the back plate. All the hardware is grade8 bolts and using dimpled lock nuts and once I get the suspension "tuned" I will use the special lock washers I have that take 2 times the force to loosen as it did to tighted them.



This picture is the same hanger only at full drop which is giving me a total of 10" of lift out of the whole suspension. I doubt that I am ever going to need 10" but I decieded to put it there just for saftey sake[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif[/img]


This next picture is of the leaf spring atatched to the hangers and everything setup and is ready to bolt on the 14bolt FF.



This picture is of the spring and you can see how thick the pack is. Its is just over 5" thick and should give me as close to No-Flex as it can.


This last picture is a little blury(actually they all were!!!) but anyway, it is of the spring end and you can clearly see how the 2nd leaf is wrapped up around the top leaf. What this does is restrict the movement of the whole leaf pack and more than doubles the spring rate for the whole pack.


I got a great deal on those leaf springs for them being custom made. I paid $500CDN or about $350US and they are 56" springs and the guy at the shop were I got them from said that without the 2nd leaf wrap on them they would be rated at about 1.5tons+ and because of the wrap on the 2nd leaf that pretty well doubles the spring rate making it about 3tons give or take abit. I unfortunalty have the pic's of the axle atatched to the suspension still in the camera and will post them as soon as I can. But when I stand up on the frame I can jump up and down (I weight 225Lbs) and the suspension only moves aprox 1/4" and thats just the movment that it takes for the wrap on the 2nd leaf to touch the top leaf.

Well, thats pretty well it for this part of my up-date. I do have some pics of the 14bolt rear when I was rebuilding it and swaping the 4:56 gears for the 4:10's and also what it looks like now with out the heavy brake drums on it. I will try to scan them tonight and post them on here.

Oh yeah, if anyone wants dimensions of the hangers or anything feel free to ask me. It cost me $80CDN in steel to make them and paid my buddy $50 to weld them all up for me and do the machining.


Ryan

93 GMC Yukon
Chevy SuperStock 4x4 Truck Puller
Great Lakes Truck & Tractor Pulling Association
http://www.greatlakespull.com

Looks sweet! [img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

Shawn
87 K5
few mods

hey ryan looks like a cool ride!! but do you still have youre stock 14ff 4:10 gears my nephew bought a truck recently with very sloppy gears he has no money and is saving for new gears but if he could buy youre stock gears for less than new it would be one less thing for him to worry about let me know
thanks
mike
[email protected]

I have a set of 4:56's that came out of the 14bolt but I'm keeping them for a rainy day when I decied to build a mud truck or a truck that will turn 38" tires.

As for the 4:10 gears...I had the 4:56's in an axle that was in great condition but I needed 4:10's so I shopped around for gears. Best price I could find was $650 because I need a carrier too. I said no way am I spending that much money so I went out and found a 14bolt with 4:10's for $100. They are a dim a dozen all over the place and are really plentifull.

Good luck....Ryan

93 GMC Yukon
Chevy SuperStock 4x4 Truck Puller
Great Lakes Truck & Tractor Pulling Association
http://www.greatlakespull.com

COOL!! I dought you 'll ever breake those hangers! They look REALLY beefy! The springs look cool too! I have a question though, You said the spring packs have almost no flex in them, How does this benifit you?

[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]Yodas Day Off[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

WOW....I wish I had the time, space, and money!
Just wait, one day ol' Whitey will be lookin somethin like that.
I wouldnt want to hook a chain that setup...even without an engine, tranny, or axles LOL dont know if the little 1/2 ton could take the load.

Good Guys Wear Bow-Ties
[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Well, in pulling you want as solid of a rear suspension as possible for two reasons. First is that seeing you are talking about dragging 30,000LBS PLUS that is an heck of alot of weight pulling down on the frame which will as hard as this may seem...not give you as much traction as if there suspension was solid. And the other main reason is that you want it as close to solid so that you don't get any axle wrap because every now and then the truck starts to bounce ALOT and when they bounce things break!!! If the suspension is almost solid the axle can't twist up and spit out the U-joint. I am going to be in the Super Stock class which has to have a "movable suspension" but in the Modified 4x4's (the big boys) they have to have a solid rear suspension and that is where the frame is welded right to the rear axle.

I am doing a few things different than everyone else that pulls up here. The main thing is that I am going with Coil-Over springs instead of leaf springs or large coil springs like the Dodges have in there front ends. I am also going with a true 4-link system. By doing this what I am wanting to have happen is that when all that weight pulls down on the hitch in the rear its going to lift the front of the truck, and because I will have a front end that gives me 15" or more of movement the Dana60 axle is going to still be able to plant it self and get traction on the track.

Anymore questions, feel free to ask...Ryan

93 GMC Yukon
Chevy SuperStock 4x4 Truck Puller
Great Lakes Truck & Tractor Pulling Association
http://www.greatlakespull.com

You might want to consider boxing or reinforcing the frame while everything is still accessible. Those spring plates you built will likely never break (assuming the welds are high quality), but that then makes the frame the weakest link. Normally the suspension will absorb the torque and vibrations, but now with the GREATLY increased spring rate, the frame will now have to absorb more torque and vibration (being transmitted through the springs from the axle). Think of the steering box problem GM's have. The rear of the frame is similar gauge (if not identical) to the front (all one piece) and WILL fatique. Your drivetrain will last longer thanks to getting rid of the wheel hop and supsension bounce, but those forces will now be absorbed by the frame. Remember replacing a u-joint is a hell of alot easier than welding and plating the frame due to stress cracks. Take the time now while it's easier. Also by reinforcing the frame you are adding more weight (which for pulling/traction you want), by being on the frame you keep the center of gravity low. Granted you want the weight more in front (to plant the front axle), but you can also box portions of the front frame and fill them with lead-shot/sand. This will give you more strenth and weight. Just make sure you have a way to fill and drain it (pipe plugs work well) so that you can adjust the weight if needed.

If you didn't built it yourself, how can you call it yours.......

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Thanks Chevy for the long relpy. I decieded not to box in the rear part of the frame because I want to put that 50-100LBS or how ever it would weigh up front. So instead what I am going to do is make a cross member that goes across from one hanger to the other(on the front set) then what I am going to do is use this cross member for my hitch that will them be about 7' in lenght which I figure will be a good length. Then I am going to make another cross member at the rear hangers and then make drop hangers off of them going to my hitch there for making it adjustable with a heavy link bar.

Now at the front of the frame I am going to only box from the very front to the centre of the axle and this will only be to house the piece of 1x3" piece of steel that will be going out to the huge height bar out front. What I am doing for a weight bar is making up a mold that looks very similar to the front bumper and then filling it up weith lead. I don't want to have to add or adjust weight at or durring a pull(one less thing to worry about) so what I am doing is making it adjustable so the further I put it ahead of the truck the more weight on the tires and the closer will do the oposite.

If you look at this truck you will see the weight bar and it is exactly like how I am going to build mine only the guy that owns it now also adds some tractor weights to it but that is because he cut a lot of steel out of the rear of the truck and now needs extra weight in the front.



Now the reason I don't want to box the frame is because I want it to flex and twist as much as it wants. I couldn't care less if it twists up or isn't "true" because it will still do its jobs. Its going to twist no mater what and by boxing everything up I am only asking for BIG problems in the future. I can live and still pull with a twisted frame but once it's cracked thats it!!!

Feel free to ask more questions[img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Ryan

93 GMC Yukon
Chevy SuperStock 4x4 Truck Puller
Great Lakes Truck & Tractor Pulling Association
http://www.greatlakespull.com

Looks great! Thats the Por- stuff? Looking forward to front 4 link pics when you start on it. Good luck.


"Bubba Tub" 1977 K-10 350,Th350,Np203 D60/14ff 4.56's Detroit Rear. 7" lift, 39.5/16.5 Swamper TSL's.