Flipping leaf spring hanger/just trying to lower truck!!

[Andre69f250]

I'm a newbie to lowering trucks. As much as I would love to put airbags on my 69 f250, I realized that it's just not in the budget right now...

I read about flipping the axle, I'm not 100% sure exactly what that is because I'm seeing flipping kits, so Im a little confused as to what actually is being done. Must there always be a flipping kit involved when flipping an axle?

I also came across a thread where someone reversed the spring shackle on the front of the leaf springs. Here's the link

http://m.f150forum.com/showthread.php?t ... styleid=20

It stated something about pinion angle being changed and shims and all, truth is I don't know where to get these shims, I don't know if I will have to cut a hole in the bed for the shackle to clear, and I would like to lower it without having to worry about pinion angle change and stuff...

What's my goal? To lower my truck as low as it will go without needing a c-notch, and the most budget friendly option.

Thanks!!

---- on the link to the thread, be sure to scroll about half way down the page to get to the rear lowering part.

[HIO Silver]

Lemme explain...

Spring hanger flip... the front mount of the rear spring hangers are removed and turned upside down. There's a "full flip" which nets about 5 inches of drop and a "half flip" which is about 2.5 inches of drop. The former results in gnarly pinion-up angle (about 10°) whereas the half-flip can usually corrected with a 4° pinion angle shim. Shims are available through Summit Racing, Jeg's, and many others. A full flip requires a C-notch but a half-flip will usually not BUT the load carrying capacity is reduced. Switch to a short bumpstop for an extra inch of rear suspension travel with the latter to regain some capacity.

Axle Flip.. this modification relocates the axle from under the springs to the top of the springs... A C-notch is required.

I believe your rig is equipped with Flexo-matic rear springs (FOM). A FOM system incorporates a bracket which shortens the working length of the spring when loaded. The shackle part of kits will not work on FOMs unless you switch to standard leaf springs.

READ THROUGH THESE LINKS:
DJM Suspension - Lowering I-beams & Components
FTE: AIM/DJM Lowering Thread
Airbagit.com Axle Flip Kit
Fordification Thread: Spring Hanger Flip Pics
Fordification: Spring Hanger Flip - Pictorial
Fordification Thread: Spring Hanger Flip Shimming
Fordification Bumpside Thread: Details on Long Bed Pinion Angles After Full Spring Hanger Flip

[Andre69f250]

Okay cool! So it would maybe be best to flip the spring hanger in the rear? Or up front?

[HIO Silver]

Okay cool! So it would maybe be best to flip the spring hanger in the rear? Or up front?

Front hanger is flipped. Ya can't flip the rear hangers on a Flexomatic spring system.

C'mon Andre..... read through those threads. They contain pictures which are visually self explanatory.

[DCrusher]

Let me ask this little question. I did a half flip hanger so rather than do a pinion shim could I do a rear shackle extension to correct the pinion angle.

Okay cool! So it would maybe be best to flip the spring hanger in the rear? Or up front?

Front hanger is flipped. Ya can't flip the rear hangers on a Flexomatic spring system.

C'mon Andre..... read through those threads. They contain pictures which are visually self explanatory.

[HIO Silver]

Let me ask this little question. I did a half flip hanger so rather than do a pinion shim could I do a rear shackle extension to correct the pinion angle.

I believe you can on a non-FOM system ... the eye of the rear leaf spring would need to be moved up the same distance as the front eye moved up from its stock position. Meaning in the end all the leaf springs would do is move up vertically relative to the frame.

[DCrusher]

K let me look at that and see what that's going to take, I think I looked at that before and kinda got side tracked off on to doing body work and slide the bed back up on the rails to put rear tires back on. I just don't think a half flip is going to be low enough to even come close to leveling the truck.

Let me ask this little question. I did a half flip hanger so rather than do a pinion shim could I do a rear shackle extension to correct the pinion angle.

I believe you can on a non-FOM system ... the eye of the rear leaf spring would need to be moved up the same distance as the front eye moved up from its stock position. Meaning in the end all the leaf springs would do is move up vertically relative to the frame.

[guhfluh]

I'm not sure if you've found out yet if a longer rear shackle will correct your pinion angle from your hanger flip, but I'm pretty sure it won't correct it enough for you.

I just finished a half flip on my front hanger, AFTER installing rear drop shackles, and it was way too low for me, with a bad enough pinion angle to vibrate on takeoff. I made the mistake of trimming the hangers before checking out if it was going to work, so now I can't go back to stock without getting new hangers. So, I flipped the hanger back over in the stock direction and just moved it up the frame so I could bolt it on. It's much better pinion angle and height for me. The hanger is about 3" higher than stock, but roughly 3" lower than the half flip.

I have a unique setup though. It's a two piece driveshaft and a crew cab. I have removed 5 leaves from the original 9 leaves it had on it as well, so that also changed my ride height and won't be the same as others' setups.