Shackle Reversal Kit on 1988 F350

[joe f350]

yea i know the feeling my truck as dana 44 under it right know thanks to the po but i have a dana 60 just weight to go under it

 

[Agnem]

its a shame that nobody here posts pictures of projects as they are being done. at least im guessing that nobody does because your all expecting every picture to be a completed project.

That's not a fair statement. A lot of guys here have done excellent write ups with pictures. Just check our tech articles. Some of the project build ups in the regular threads are well documented as well.

 

[88IDITurbo]

That's not a fair statement. A lot of guys here have done excellent write ups with pictures. Just check our tech articles. Some of the project build ups in the regular threads are well documented as well.

I know I haven't posted any build pics yet but my goal here is to document this install well and post the pictures for all to see and use for future reference. That has been my intention with posting the 3D models I've created for the brackets as well as the web links and names of the manufactures from were I buying my parts.

Hoping to take some of the guess work out for people, if anyone has any questions about the build please don't hesitate to ask, I'll do my best to answer questions.

 

[joe f350]

nice plan that will help a lot of people

 

[88IDITurbo]

ive got a parts 97 cc 4x4 psd in my back yard. also got someone heading down later this year from portland. if he makes it down here before you get a pair, you can have these and just pick them up from him when he gets back home.

You didn't happen to send those shock towers up to Portland did you? If not no big deal, I was planned on going to the wrecking yard this weekend. I need the upper towers and lower spring plates/ shock mounts.

 

[88IDITurbo]

Here come the pics, from start to were I am now.

What it was when I got it, on jack stands getting a full front and rear brake rebuild

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The SWEEET shock mounts

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And then there was the custom shackles

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Original springs vs. new Super Lift 4" springs

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Factory panhard bar upper mount, to be replaced with Sky Manufacturing drop bracket

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Factory front/rear shackle and body mount locations

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Factory sway bar links, to be replaced with longer quick disconnect sway bar links

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[88IDITurbo]

In order to install the Sky Manufacturing shackle reversal kit on a pre-92 truck the frame has to be boxed in and the front shackle hangers must be removed. To remove these it requires removing the (6) rivets on each frame rail as shown in this picture. The (3) on the left pass through the frame rail and into the shackle hanger while the (3) on the right pass through the body mount, the frame rail, and then into the shackle hanger on the opposite side.

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View of shackle hanger and rivets from opposite side

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In order to remove the rivets the body mounts had to be removed so to do so without removing the core support I made spacers from angle iron and tack welded them in place between the frame rails and core support. After everything is complete the body mounts will be able to be re-used and bolted in the original locations.

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I used a grinder, chisel, punch and hammer to remove the rivets from the frame. The chisel was primarly used on the rivets that held the body mount to minize the damage and grinding marks. When that was complete I uses a tape measure, level, and angle finder to locate and tack weld the front spring hangers in place.

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The hanger/mount assembly minus the frame rail

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Front hanger being located on frame rail, measured 52in from factory rear shackle hanger eye to the new front shackle hanger eye. Then I located the hanger lever on the frame rail.

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Test fit of new springs and shackles, at full droop. Eye to eye on shock mounts is 28.25" with 12" from spring to bump stop!

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Please note that the only reason I tack welded the hanger in place was to make the measurements I needed to design the pieces that will be used to box in the frame rails. When I get these back from the water jet I will removed the hanger, box in the frame and remount/ drill the holes required to properly mount the hangers. I also needed to do this so I could figure out what size shocks I needed and get them on order.

 

[88IDITurbo]

Random picture I liked.

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The pictures currently bring thr project up to date, I am currently waiting to get my brackets back and then I can continue with boxing in the frame rails and mounting the spring hangers. After that things should speed up niceley, with the steering components coming in by the end of next week and shocks in 2.5 weeks!

 

[joe f350]

nice work very nice i plan to do the same when i get the cash when ever that is but yea that is a scary set up it looks like the duel shock bar on top isnt even leave

 

[88IDITurbo]

Yea, the upper tubes and the shocks towers were far from level and all 4 shocks were pretty well blown out.

 

[joe f350]

so u going to redo it like that or use one shock

 

[88IDITurbo]

so u going to redo it like that or use one shock

I will be replacing the upper and lower shock towers/mounts with the factory parts and use one FOA shock on each side. The shock I'll be running are shown on page 4 of this tread or at the link below.

http://f-o-a.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_33&products_id=13

 

[joe f350]

oh thouse are nice

 

[alienturtle]

Yea, the upper tubes and the shocks towers were far from level and all 4 shocks were pretty well blown out.

I did the same thing with my shocks as well. When did you do yours....I didnt think anyone else ever came up with the idea..

http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=44264

 

[88IDITurbo]

I did the same thing with my shocks as well. When did you do yours....I didn't think anyone else ever came up with the idea..

http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=44264

I'm actually replacing the dual mount with the factory single shock mount. I'm not a big fan of mounting suspension components in a single shear loading condition.

Nonetheless from looking at your thread you did yours in a much cleaner fashion. The previous owner modified the shock mounts and it was not done well by any means. The horizontal tubes must have been welded with the shocks mounted because the welds penetrated through the tubing and into the bolt which was the reason I couldn't unbolt the shocks.