Beefin the Rear packs

Ricky B

Ricky B

Wiiide Open
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
LKN - Tha Dirty Mo (Mooresville, NC)
I'm takin my truck down to about 3.5 to 4" of suspension lift to make it better at towing. I'm gonna take off the shackle flip in the rear and go back to having the shackle point up cause that seems to work better for towing. Now my rear springs are pretty much shot. If i put anything in the back, like for instance a single axle they start to almost arch the wrong way and if i load anything else there goes my springs in the wrong direction. Now I tow my trailer which is a dual axle flatbed a good bit and last time i did it with a vehicle on it i was seriously afraid my springs were gonna kink downwards. I really don't care how rough my ride is I just want the rear pack to never bother me again even If I have the bed full of parts and am towing the trailer with a truck on it. What I was thinkin about doing was getting another pair of chevy packs and literally doubling up my existing pack then taking a pair of s10 blazer packs I have and putting them in as well to make darn sure its not gonna be an issue anymore.

Don't have the $$ for air bags and I don't wanna do overload springs i'd rather just have a stiff pack already

Does that just sound like stupid too many leafs or am i goin down the right track?



Thanks.
 
It'll look like my J-10. Jacked up in the rear, (picture the 60's and 70's) and level when loaded.
 
nah see thats what im counting on thou, cause im taking the rear shackle flip and blocks out and setting the front down to 3.5 to 4" and then the rear springs oughta sit the level bout right if not i can adjust to make it. Will putting in a bunch of springs get me what I want to achieve thou? Or is there something wrong that im overlooking?
 
More springs won't change the fact that it is all still supported by four bolts through the spring eyes. It'll only be stiffer, and not sag as much with tongue weight. You can't increase your towing capacity. But, lowering it you are heading in the right direction.
 
What determines overall towing capacity? I allways assumed it was the rear suspension, rear axle, frame, and engine size that were the factors. But then you see like 2500's or other greater than 1/2 ton trucks with the smaller engines in them. Does that mean there towing capacity is less or that the engine isnt as much as a factor as other things?

Cause I just finished repairing my frame from being rearended earlier and i'd like to think my frame back in the rear is pretty dang stout now, almost like to say more stout then a 3500 would be cause I boxed the rear frame to bout where the axle is with 1/4" angled steel putting the extra lip in the underside to support where the hitch bolts up. Then I made a new crossmember system out of 2x2 1/4" tube that is built directly to the hitch.

So assumeing that engine size isnt neccesarily a huge factor and my frame is up to the task and me making my rear packs stiffer the only other main factor would be the rear axle correct?
 
Heavier frame and or frame construction in a lot of cases, not just in the rear, but the entire frame. Heavier suspension, front and rear. This would include springs, bolts, mounts, shocks. Heavier axles and with that heavier brakes. Trans coolers for the auto's. Heavier built trans and T cases in some cases in some but not all, some auto makers really fell short here. In some cases engines with more power (cubic inches) and torque(grunt)
 
On your Chevy - as long as the spring bolts are in good condition, I would say they will handle reasonable tongue weight. For the 73-87 GM trucks, in my experience the 1/2- 3/4- and 1-ton all use the same rear spring eye bolt size. But the 3/4- and 1-tons have stiffer packs, and their packs are also longer with rear hangers moved back. Double-check (ask on ColoradoK5) if this is the case for bolt size in the 88-newer trucks.

I beefed up the rear packs in my 90 Suburban 1/2-ton by adding two leaves and an extra overload (thick bottom leaf) from another 1/2-ton pack. That worked out good - I towed a 6500 pound trailer that way. Could have been a little stiffer, but I was trying to balance unloaded ride with loaded height. (That's where airbags are sweet). I planned to add a weight distributing hitch to the mix, but then I bought my CTD K30, so I don't have to tow much with the Burb anymore.

Check to see if the rear spring length is the same on 88-newer 1/2- 3/4- and 1-ton trucks. If it is, you could get a junkyard rear pack from a 1-ton and put it in your truck.

That (or airbags) should get you where you want to be with the rear springs, but like everyone else said - axle capacity and brake size are also a factor.

Engine does not matter in your case - you have plenty of engine and gear for any weight your truck should be towing. You might go slower up hills if you have a smaller engine, but it has nothing to do with your ability to stop and steer with a trailer hooked up, so it is the last of your concerns.
 
The thing about factory rated towing capacity is its what the manufacturer says the truck will safely do. If your towing over that and and get stopped you can get a ticket for it. If you are in a bad wreck and folks get hurt bad or die your SOL. The insurance folks + cops will investigate find out your towing over weight. Cops will file charges , insurance man will cut you loose , folks who got hurt or family of folks who got killed will file suit. It wont be good. I'm not trying to be an a$$ just putting this out there for thought. All that being said I'll admit I have towed over weight with a 2in lift and a set of 33x12.50 M/Ts on my Suburban and I dang near lost it. It took two lanes and the grass for me to Finlay get the trailer settled back down. When I got home from that trip I sold my beloved CJ so I could buy my gas hog dually. If you gonna tow with what you have make sure the trailer brakes are right ( they have saved my bacon more that one time ) and remember the big flexy lugs of an m/t are not good for towing.
 
Thanks for all the info guys,

as far as swapping my packs for 1 ton ones somebody on here told me a little bit ago that they won't bolt up because the 1/2 tons have the super long 63" packs.

When I drop the lift I will be towing with 35's probably because I have some already, they are BFG at's though off a dude's superduty so they are ok for towing right? Is it just the MT's not having as much tread making it bad for towing?

As far as braking capacity, swapping in the 1 ton master cylinder is pretty easy, would that help my truck or would that just up the pressure and overheat my existing brakes too fast? If thats the case would getting slotted and drilled roters for the front be the solution? Or is it possible to swap the brakes from a 1 ton truck onto my front end?

Also would putting brakes on the front axle of the trailer be a good idea? (rear already has brakes) I read somewhere that the front axle on a trailer cant do much when stopping if you put brakes on it because of the way the suspension moves when braking??

Thanks
 
The ton master cyl. wont help unless you swap the ton brakes to go with it. It has a larger bore ( moves more fluid ) because the ton wheel cly. and calipers are larger.
 
was kinda having the larger breaks assumed under the larger rear axle catergory, is there anything else?
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rear brakes provide a decided minority of the braking power. focus on helping out the front...
 
1 ton is going to be 8 lug Ricky. I'm not sure if its swappable or not, but its gonna be a lot of work.
 
Might be easier and more cost effective to sell your truck and buy a 3/4 or ton.
 
cumminsdzl said:
1 ton is going to be 8 lug Ricky. I'm not sure if its swappable or not, but its gonna be a lot of work.
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duh, thats right, forgot bout that. I might just put another set of brakes on the front axle of the trailer to have both axles breaking instead of one to compensate a little bit for my trucks lack of stoppage power, lol.

Would going to drilled and slotted rotors and some of the high dollar pads really give any advantage?

Might be easier and more cost effective to sell your truck and buy a 3/4 or ton.
Click to expand...

Oh I know it'd be easier, but my truck isnt worth anything anymore, i'm pretty sure id have a really hard time trying to sell it, wouldn't have enough to buy a decent deisel rig afterwards anyway. Like I said first thing when i get outta college will prob be a ctd but until then gotta make do best I can.

Anybody know anything about putting discs on a rear 10 bolt? maybe i could buy the brakets somewhere and kinda peice one together like you can with the 14 bolt disc brake setups, would that be worth the effort in gained stopping power?
 
Just a thought, don't the new chebbys come with discs in the rear? I assume they still use the ten bolt since the only thing they ever change is the body. Might look into getting either a newer rear axle or the brakes off a newer one.
 
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