Originally I was going with the McGaughy rear Hangers and Shackles and Caltracs.
Now I'm thinking of going with the Belltech leaf springs. At least I will know for sure that Caltracs will work with them.
I will then not have to remove my factory hangers.
Does anyone have any knowledge of using the leaf springs to lower rear of the truck?
Anything I need to be aware of?
Give me your opinions on this? Will I still need shims and a carrier bearing relocation bracket?
Give me your opinions on this please.

Jim

 

Anyone using these??

Jim

 

its just a bolt and go deal... swap the springs and put the shims in and roll with it... its WAY easier than doing hangers and shackles.

 

If you need to tow or haul heavy loads it would be a good idea to make sure that you will not be losing any load capacity. I would also make sure it does not cause any increase in wheel hop or axle wrap and that the Caltracs will have enough adjustability to work with the lowering springs.

 

not to steal your thread or anything, but will caltracs work with shackles and hangers? or would lakewood traction bars work with the shackles/hangers?

 

I had the Bell Tech rear springs with the cal tracs.......Rough and noisy ride.

 

I have heard the belltech springs ride like crap. Of course everyones opinion is going to be different. I would think you still need the shims and carrier bearing kit, but don't know for sure.

 

we put the rear leafs on a buddies ecsb and the springs sagged and bent backwards overnight......long story short, we took em back off, shipped them back to belltech and waited several days for another set. i personally dont like the ride, and they are a little noisy. much easier than hangers, though...... just my$02

 

I have the belltech leafs. Mine look like stock leafs that have been hacked up. I really can't comment on the ride because I'm a truckdriver so pretty much anything feels softer than my shitty freightliner.

 

I wasn't really looking at an easy way out over hangers.
The problem seems to be with the Caltracs and hangers being used together.
One guy here said that the Caltracs bar actually hits his overload spring causing it to unload the suspension, which causes the tires to break loose.
The other issue is with the Caltracs not clearing the hangers, then causing the suspension to bind.
I really can't figure out why the Caltracs bar would hit the overload spring on the stock leafs. The guys using factory hangers and factory leafs don't have problems. The angle from the lower portion of the axle to the front eye of the leaf spring isn't changing with different hangers. So that would mean that all Caltrac owners would have this problem. IMO
I would have thought the Belltech leafs would have had great feed back, but it looks like they are getting bad feed back.

I don't know what to do...........