Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

I'm swapping in a mid 80's Dana-44 front axle in place of my drum brake axle. The newer axle has a 3" tube versus the 2.75" tube on my original axle. Because of this I needed different U-bolt spring plates to accommodate 3" U-bolts. The spring plates I have are OEM versions that have the threaded holes for a sway bar.

I'm trying to determine the orientation of the driver side plate. The passenger side is pretty much self-explanatory due to the larger diameter U-bolt on that side. What I need to know is on the driver side, does the threaded hole for the sway bar face the outside or inside? I would think it would face the outside (picture #2) to match the passenger side. If that's the case, it orients the raised blocks on top of the plates in different positions. Thanks for your help.

Do the leaf spring plates go like this?
Attachment 2076039


Or do they go like this?
Attachment 2076040

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

This is a late 80’s K30. You can see the driver side sway bar bolt faces the engine and the passenger side sway bar bolt faces the passenger tire.

My 57 is on a late 80’s blazer frame and it’s the same orientation.

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

Interesting. Thanks for chiming in. I'll see if anyone else comments. Thanks again.

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

Yep no problem. I went out and snapped one of my 57 too.

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

same way on my truck.

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

91 burb is the same also...I assume its on the inside on drivers side to clear the steering/pitman arm

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

bingo!

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

Thanks guys. Greatly appreciated.

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

So next question is can I install a sway bar on my 70 K10? Originally I was not planning on it, but the leaf spring plates are set up for one. If so, what else would I need to do so? What year sway bar do I look for?

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

I believe In order to run the GM bar you’ve got to swap to a square body engine crossmember setup for the sway bar.

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

Ah, OK. Well that's not going to happen. I swapped my front cross member to the Tilden Motorsports LS one for my swap.

Re: Need help with front leaf spring plate orientation
 

I'm sure with a little ingenuity something can be fabricated to work. I'd lay a square body bar in there loosely bolted to the plates and hold it up to the frame with a bungee cord and see what can be done