My Pontiac might be too low????

So I put 3" lowering blocks on my 52 Cheiftain, and now, the lower shock mounts are about 1 1/2 inches below the bottom of my 15" rims...gonna make a hell of a mess out of the rear if I have a blow out! Anyway, my thought is to swap the lower mounts from side to side and flip them so the mount is facing up...what are some potential problems that I might run into? Will I possibly need shorter shocks? Thanx

 

You definitely need to mount them higher out of the way. When you take the shock out, compress it completely and if it is longer than the distance between the new mount locations then you need new shocks. If it's shorter, you still might need new shocks because you need to take into acct. spring compression. Is there room to move the upper mount higher as well?

 

As far as I know, the top mount is just a hole drilled through the floor, so it should be able to move...By the way, in case you guys didn't realize, it's a torque tube setup...Thanx again.

 

Canadian Pontiac (aka Chevy) eh? One thing you may want to check out is the torque tube angle with 4" blocks. I have heard of, not personally experienced, that with serious lowering blocks the torque tube is aimed downhill, toward the front, and rear axle lube migrates from the rear end toward the torque ball and, generally, out on the ground. The leak itself might not be so bad, but the lube starvation in the differential isn't so great. Worth looking into.......IMHO.

Ray

 

i have a book that tells bolth colapts lengths and exrended lengths if that will help pm me

 

When I lowered mine (only 2" though), I was worried about the scrub line too, so I made up new sadddles for the u-bolts and maintained the original location of the shock mount (see photos in my album). Everything is still above the bottom of the leaf springs, including the bottom of the bolts.

2 more cents !!!

 

Thanx guys...Turdmagnet....you have pretty much the exact setup that I would need...Question though...did your Poncho come with the square "U" bolts, or the rounded ones like in your photo's? Couldn't notice, but are you still runnin the Torque Tube? and if so, do you have a problem with the fluid runnin up to the front(like mentioned before)? What part of Ontario are you from? Thanx again guys.

 

Never mind about the Torque Tube question TurdMagnet...just looked at the rest of your pics....Beautiful ride by the way...

 

no such thing as to low, I hope everything else works out!

 

i agree with dubcee.....

 

Too low!

 

If you can walk on top of the hood, thats too low.

 

Just took a look at her again, and I only have about 1 " between the axle and the bump stop...should be ok as long as I keep the heavy weights out...also noticed that the "u" bolt nuts stick below the bottom of the rim...if I put shorter nuts on them, I should sit about flush....kinda a pain in the ***, but well worth it...still toying with TurdMagnets idea...