Quote:
Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC
Did you measure between the front eye to the centering pin on both the multi leaf and the single leaf spring ? That measurement should be the same on both springs . It’s what determines where the axle center line is . Providing the front mount is still riveted to the stock location .
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It appears that both leaf spring mount points are factory original given the Chevy rivets used to hold them in place.
The issue I have is that it does appear that the axle may not be in its original position, given that it is not the original axle. The current measurement from the center of the front mounting point to the center of the axle is 27 inches. It appears from my measurement of the new spring when it is not under any load is 24-25 inches depending on if I measure on a straight line or follow the curve of the spring.
The tail piece of the drive shaft that is in the transmission appears to have been pulled out about 2 inches, which could be part of the adjustment that the prior owner did to fit the non-original axle.
At the moment I have all weight off the mono springs, the frame is supported both in front and behind the two spring mount points on both sides. I have a bottle jack under the diff and have the wheels just slightly off the ground. I realized that the u-bolts that I have are not long enough to handle the increased width of the multi-leaf spring, so I've had to order longer ones and they won't be here until Wednesday.
My plan is to remove the mono-springs, mounts the multi-leaf, get them as close to in position as I can until the longer u-bolts show up and see if between compressing the springs to get them closer to the underside of the axle and attempting the front to back location of the axle itself if I can things lined up.
If all of this wasn't enough of a challenge, as the song "99 problems" goes, I realized today that the new rear tires/wheels that I mounted on the rear axle after installing a rear disk brake kit do not rotate. It seems that the backspace/offset of the wheels isn't enough to avoid pinching solidly against the caliper. Apparently, I will have brand new 15 inch chrome wheels and 1/2 moon hub caps, as well as brand new Firestone tires for sale, since it seems that I will need to move to 16 inch wheels....more to come.