I know this subject has been discussed at length. I've searched and read but was hoping someone could jump in with a quick answer. I swapped in s10 springs and overland shackles on the rear on the lowest hole. The axle is too far forward. We all know this.. where I'm struggling a little is that I've read on here that you can just reverse the hangers. I did that but it moved the axle way too far backwards. My choices seem to be keep it where it is (reversed front to back) and trim the rear of the fender or drill a new hole in the hanger to try to center it a little better. Does that sound about right to everyone?
Also, I've read on here that if you swap the passenger hanger to the driverside, it will move the axle back.. what? Is that true because I don't see why it would. The holes all seem pretty consistent. I didn't measure how offset the hangers are to the side however. If you reverse the hangers (front to back), do you also have to swap them side to side to keep some sort of alignment? Now that makes me want to pull them back off and check..
Im fairly certain the hanger can just be reversed and does not need to be swapped side to side. You will be much better off drilling a new hole. Make it slightly lower too to help combat pinion angle. Remember the wheel swings back under spring compression so if you have to choose a side where its closer choose forward .
You've likely got nearly a half an inch of adjustability fore and aft at each leaf to axle connection. Loosen up the U bolts, clams, whatever you have on yours, and you might be able to move the wheel and that side of the axle rearward a bit.
That's also how you align the rear wheels. Measure from each rear wheel/brake to an alignment point near the front of the van. Adjust each wheel till the measurement is equivalent for right and left wheels.
I don't have a pic of the install. I had a bunch of pics but then broke my phone. Haha. Oh well.. anyway, here's the van - nothing special. Just a $200 95 Astro that I put a GMC front end on and am converting the interior to a camper
As for what's been done: swapped the fiber springs for s10 steel. Reversed the hangers (now). Overland rear shackles. 2 inch pucks in front. New torsion bars. 1 new poly spring bushing in rear (3 more to go - installed last night in the parking lot)
Other than that, just replaced axle seals and rear diff pinion seal, flushed all the fluids and fixed the crap that was broken. Still have plenty to go. Van has 350k miles on it so have been kicking around the idea of a v8 swap. Maybe just a rebuild on the v6. Idk yet.
A couple mods that I've finished up in the last couple months: replaced the exhaust with a short run to open up the space previously occupied by the huge stock exhaust. Replaced the half doors in the rear with barn doors. Cut the spare tire well out and fabricated/installed a large "basement"
Here's some ugly pics of basement #1. Currently, everything is basically tack welded in with a couple of long beads for strength. Also, nothing has been sandblasted and treated yet. I was in a rush to get it in before my move to SoCal. Figured I'd finish up the detail work down here.
About 3x2x2 pretty decent storage. Definitely needs cleaned up and finish work done. Need to install sound deadening and some basic indoor/outdoor carpet
This was my basic hanging system if you decide not to put a hole in the floor and weld in a pan. All-thread rod screwed into threaded washers that I fished into the crossmember beams:
drill a hole for a helping hand if needed:
You can even bend the rod for the curved sections of the crossmembers.
yada yada yada who cares. That little channel your filling by putting the exhaust upright is very useful spot to install pumps etc. You may consider getting a round muffler or making that one horizontal.
Nice - looks good. Are those water tanks? I was considering putting a water tank in the space instead of another basement. As it sits, I don't really go through that much water so I don't know yet..
Yes, those are 6gal each and are primarily for showering and washing clothes etc. I fit 3 of them above the exhaust on the side and another 6gal and 4gal above the rear axle. I have a basement in back as well but different dimensions than what you have. It holds 4 T-105 deep cycle batts.
The "basement" idea is great but I think it's really only practical for stuff that requires minimal access.
That's clean. Looks sharp. I use it mostly like one would use a garage - tools, tire chains, camp chairs etc. I'd planned on putting the house batteries around the rear wheel wells.
The water above the rear axle is one I've been thinking of as well. Seems like a whole lot of wasted space that would be perfect for a couple of water tanks.
Followed your guy's advice and redrilled the sprint mount holes in the hangers. Left them reversed and drilled a new hole exactly 1" forward pulling the axle forward and centering the wheel. Thanks guys!
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