Spacers removal for lowering rear end

[GerryDrake]

Investigating whether to remove the spacers under the rear springs on my 03 dually 4x4. I NEED to lower it for towing !



It appears that when you do, the removal of the upper bolt that the brake caliper slides on will be impeded, making brake work a lot harder.



I'm curious if any of you have removed the spacers and done any work on the brakes. It appears you should be able to remove the whole caliper assembly to do R & R on the brakes, but has anybody actually done it ?...



This first pic show the "upper caliber bolt" that would be blocked when the springs are dropped, and the "caliper removal bolt" ( one of two) that appears would allow removal of the entire caliper.



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Next shows the springs raised with the spacers ready to be removed. (from Matt400's pix)



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And... the spacers removed and the bolts through the spring sets, ready to be set back down on the axle.



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Thanks to Ken Lenger for posting the pix, and Matt for his pix.



Anybody experienced this ? Gerry

 

[daytripper63]

If you are just looking to lower rear of truck for 5th wheel.

What I did with mine is had 2" leveling kit installed in front and since pivot point is rear axle it lowered the rear bed height be 1-3/4" and truck looks alot nicer and still has slight rake front to back and with 5er on it levels out nice and I no longer punch holes in bottom of 5er with p. u. bed



I considered removing blocks to lower but did not want to lower p. u.

Robert

 

[GerryDrake]

lower the rear or raise the front

Thanks. For me, it is a matter of lowering the rear if I can.



Raising the front would end up with the truck being higher than lowering the rear, and what I need in addition to a slight lowering of the trailer nose for a level trailer, is a bit more vertical clearance between the bed rails and the underside of the 5'er.



Got about 4 -1/2" clearance now, and 6" would be nice... . I won't flip the axles on the trailer... . the resultant high center of gravity and overall height would just be too much.

 

[klenger]

Matt's truck is cleaner.

 

[Matt400]

Originally posted by klenger

Matt's truck is cleaner.

Yes but it only had a few hundred miles on it then.



When I get a chance I will pull a wheel and see about that bolt but when I did remove those blocks my thoughts were that if you removed the lower caliper bolt and then unscrewed the top bolt but not remove it you should be able to pull the caliper with the top bolt still part way in the caliper.

 

[GerryDrake]

Ouch !!

Originally posted by klenger

Matt's truck is cleaner.

:{ But I drive my truck :{



Matt, if you find out it will work, I'll be lowering mine in the next few days.



Then, maybe I'll take on the task of getting the undercarraige of my truck a little cleaner... No toothbrushes involved, though. . the wife says they taste funny afterward

 

[n7gxz]

No toothbrushes involved, though. . the wife says they taste funny afterward [/B]

Just tell the wife that it is the new pumas powered toothpaste you found.



Kevin

 

[jasons060]

If any of you guys want to sell your spacers let me know. I put a leveling kit on mine and now the front sets higher than the rear. Just email me at: -- email address removed --.

 

[Matt400]

Re: Ouch !!

Originally posted by GerryDrake

if you find out it will work, I'll be lowering mine in the next few days.

I did confirm this morning by pulling the RR caliper with no trouble. I was right in my thinking that the top bolt won't come all the way out but does unscrew from the caliper mounting.



I took some pics-with more dirt but can't post at work so will be later tonight PST.

 

[GerryDrake]

other thread on Mag-Hytec

Reading another thread on here, it appears there is a possibility that the Mag-Hytec diff cover I have on the dining room table might interfere with the spare tire on suspension travel. Taking out the spacers would appear to make it even more likely... . Oh boy... . time to climb under and measure, estimate, swing the tire over, pray, cuss, etc.



Maybe I'll just do both an toss the spare in the back of the truck !

 

[Don-T]

GerryDrake

Am I correct in my guess that you knocked the centering pin out of the spacer block and moved it to the overload spring? I need to do my truck too. Did the original u-bolts fit?

 

[GerryDrake]

pin

Matt is the one who HAS done it, and to my understanding, the pin just pulls out and is replaced into the bottom spring. The two bolts on each side need to be replaced. I believe Matt said the U-bolts were reused. If not, I would think a washer or two would suffice.



Between the weather, the possible interference fit of my spare tire with the Mag Hytec I have ready to install, and other projects, I am still in a holding pattern.....



Gerry

 

[klenger]

I had a Mag Hytec in my 01. 5, and it really look cool on a Dana 80, but since the AA has a reusable o-ring seal anyway, I decided not to get the Mag Hytec on this one. If I had to choose between lowering the truck and the Mag Hytec, I'd take the lowered truck. YMMV. I might tackle the project this weekend. Some step-by-step instructions to go with Matt's pics would look really nice on my website.

 

[Bob Fennema]

Bolt removal

I attempted to do this and found that the bolt kept turnig and the head was smooth. Is a pipe wrench the right tool for this? Never used a pipe wrench on my truck before. Wish I had three arms.

 

[Tony T.]

Rear Spacer Removal

Had planned on doing this removal Sat 5/8/04, friend called this afternoon an said he is snowed under with work an does not have a spare bay for us to do it. Looks like maybe one day next week or next weekend. I agree with Ken I would rather have it lowered an pics would be nice too, Ken, keep us posted if you decide to tackle it.

 

[Matt400]

Ok…I figured a rear brake reline would go like this but wanted to confirm for those worried that the rear calipers may not be able to come off with the 2 lift spacers removed.



As you can see in the first pic the upper bolt does hit the spring pack and won’t come out, however it is unscrewed from the caliper mounting.

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In this second pic you will see that the caliper comes off with the bolt still in the caliper.

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This last pic is just an FYI of the amount of rear pad remaining at 16,000 miles towing 6000 lbs regularly from 4000 to 1000 feet in elevation (20 minute trip) with an auto and no Exh. Brake.

I think these new brakes are awesome IMO.

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Don-T,

Yes the centering pin which is actually a plastic button is just relocated from the lower plate to the lower spring leaf

 

[GerryDrake]

Great info Matt... Thanks for all the work in taking yours apart and the pix for the rest of us. Definitely above and beyond the call...



Dontcha love digital cameras and the ability to post such great pix so quickly?...



Thanks again..... Gerry

 

[Matt400]

Originally posted by GerryDrake

Great info Matt... Thanks for all the work

It was no big deal, took about 20 minutes to pop the wheel off and then just the two caliper bolts, snap some picks and button it all up.



I just didn't want to say for sure that it wouldn't be a problem and then a couple years later when everyone are doing their rear brake send me hate mail



Still learning on the camera.

 

[klenger]

Thanks Matt. I agree, way above the call for you to do that. No hate mail from here, that's for sure. I figure for as long as it takes me to wear out the rear brakes, I can de-mod the axle if I have to when the time comes.

 

[klenger]

I did it this morning. It took me about 3 hours with no help and minimal tools. I did have to go out and buy a couple of C-clamps. I already had a 6-ton bottle jack, and the rest of the tools were just wrenches and stuff. I moved the spacers to the top of the axle and reused the bolts, nuts, and u-clamp hardware. I had one bolt that would turn when I tied to loosen the nut, so I put a pair of vice grips on the round head to keep it from turning and was able to get it apart w/o any trouble. It went on hard also, so I think the threads were damaged in production. Using new bolts through the spacers like matt did would work, but this saved me a trip to the HW store. When I'm not so tired, I'll add a page to my website with pics and instructions. Thanks to all for the input on how to do this.



Working out the math for the drop based on removing 1-1/4" of spacers at the rear axle yields the following drops for my truck (LWB).



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Here's the left side before mod.



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Here the left side after mod.



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