How wrong would stacking rear 2" blocks be?

[912504x4]

I am having a hell of a time finding a pair of factory 4" F350 blocks for my truck. I have found all kinds of junk aluminum blocks but I want them to be steel.
I actually have 2" blocks from the factory and I have a set of 2-1/4" blocks in the shed and I cant help wonder if stacking the 2 together would be OK since I dont take it off-road much if any.

Anyhow I wonder if any of you have blocks stacked on your trucks now or if you have in the past and regret it ever since. If I can get away with what I have it would be nice to not need to pay shipping and buy a set off Ebay.
Or I guess I could stack a bunch of extra leaves on the leaf pack until I get a bit higher from that :Sly

Thanks, eric

 

[argve]

Trust me it's bad... What will happen is you will get some movement from the two blocks which will act as levers on the u-bolts, which will in turn stretch the u-bolts causing one of them to fail. When this happens the axle will shift and slam forward on one side causing the truck to drive down the road ****-eyed. Trust me on this one... I've had it happen to me when I was lifting a truck and thought I could take a short cut by doing what your wanting to do.... I was lucky in that mine happend when I was pulling away from a stop light so it was at low speed had it happened at higher speeds I probably would be sucking my lunch from a straw.

What your gonna want to do is get the the spring pack re-arched or get a taller SINGLE block. I would not want to go higher than 4" block because then you can get into the same situation because with anything higher than 4" it will put one heck of a strain on the u-bolts - again don't ask...

You could add in some traction devices (ladder bars or traction bars) to the suspension to help hold the rear axle in place.

Probably the best move would be to add more springs to the leaf along with re-arching them.

 

[Agnem]

You could weld two blocks together to make one block, but like Travis said, you defintely don't want a seem in there. What's wrong with alluminum? The less unsprung weight the better usually.

 

[wanderer]

If you are not going to do any heavy wheelin', welding the 2 blocks together should be sufficient. Not the best alternative, but it will work if welded correctly. I weld for a living, and I would just make a block if I needed to.

 

[IDIeselman]

For once I am going against the team here, I have never had a problem stacking these blocks if you retorque the ubolts after 100 miles or so,I even had 4" blocks on top of the factory blocks in my 97 f350 stroker with the banks powerpack. the only time I had any springwrap was pulling the weight sled, but like mentioned I added a set of L&L ladder bars and that took care of it. I am pretty sure I have a set of 4" blocks in the garage but I will double check and let you know. they are yours for the shipping if I find them. Tim

 

[912504x4]

I figured it was a bad idea

I never thought about having them welded together.
My next door neighbor works as a welder so I bet he could take them to work and slap them together for me.

I had a set of aluminum blocks on a Jeep and they were so junky they rotted and the pin broke out of the center of them within 4 months time. They were the kind of blocks you see at autozone/o'reilleys/advanced/pepboys. Dont ever put those under your ride.

I did find a few sets of 4" steel blocks but they were all 2-1/2 inches wide and too narrow for my 3" leaf springs. I guess it would work just fine but it didnt look right so I left them laying at the salvage yard.

I had planned to add a leaf or two anyway but I will end up needing a little taller block also.

 

[sle2115]

I would think welding would be better than just leaving them stacked. A good welder can probably put them together as strong as one unit.

That said, I would prefer less block more spring myself, but then I pull and most of the time it is a heavy load, so I am certain I would experience problems. I am using the springs from the 85 on my truck now, they are only 2 1/2 inches wide, but have 11 springs plus an overload. The raised my truck considerably and adding springs is probably the best option. I did that on my 2 wd trucks with great luck as well.

 

[82fordtruck]

Bevel each one with a grinder, then weld. If you are still concerned, put a hole in one and plug weld it. Your weld will be as strong as one by itself.