47-59 Rear leaf spring swap issue

[leegreen]

probably most of those lifted 4x4 wear out ujoints with excessive operating angle more than spring wrap.
For 2wd trucks that are lowered with softer ride and higher horses than stock, the main problem spring wrap will cause is wheel hop. Traction bars or caltracs are probably the easiest fix if that is a problem. Cheaper if it fits your spring length and arc is bolting on the 'overload' spring from a late 99 and up siearra half ton which is really more of a traction device than overload spring.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by dsraven

like the post 19 pics showing the driveline angle. I would also add that spring wrap will cause the axle end to change as the axle housing turns under load. that is the reason a lot of lifted 4x4 trucks wear out the rear u joint and also why the fix for them is to add a link between the axle and the frame, ahead of the axle. doing this keeps the axle from rotatingwhen the springs start to wind up under heavy acceleration (usually). some guys use the single link that bolts on at the center of the axle and connects up near the trans output, it came standard on some older camaros even. some call them torque arms or rods or links. just google it for a better explanation.

For most of my 4x4 friends with lifted rigs, that is just one of the hazards of driving a lifted rig, you replace U joints on a more than regular basis because they are working at more of an angle than they are intended to. I know a couple of guy who carry U joint swap "kits" in their rigs with everything that they need to swap out a U joint on the side of the road or side of the trail.

The same works for a lowered rig with lowering blocks, though, if you don't correct the angles you can end up wearing them out faster.

The ricky racer we gotta point the pinion down so it will correct it's self on hard acceleration is total nonsense that has been around for the 60 years that I have been into hot rods. Those are usually the guys who puke a U joint on the starting line at the drags. They build a bindup in the system into the system but the unwashed and uninformed still push that.