Reindexing and shocks questions

[SickDrift]

]2eDeYe,

 

I dont know if I can provide accurate numbers regarding how much moving one spline actually lowers a vehicle. I have taken serveral measurements, and tomorrow I will record more, but I'm not sure definative numbers will come of it as I had to replace the bolts.....

[SickDrift]

Which year pinto shocks should be used for the dropped front end of a 620?

[]2eDeYe]

As far as the bolt being loose with the truck jacked up...all of the weight of that front corner is applied to that bolt when the truck is on the ground. That 'slop' will go a way completely. The looser it is the lower the truck will go.

 

Not sure on the pinto shocks.

[xtrmemtnmn]

I like PCD's method the best. It should make it quick and easy to do.

[SickDrift]

Redeye, I feel pretty confident that the difference bewteen one spline and two, adjusted only with the slop taken out is 7/8".

[]2eDeYe]

I'll add it to the FAQ. Thanks :D

[SickDrift]

Thought I would share some of why my experience indexing the torsion bars has been so difficult.

 

The first problem I ran into was that the torsion brackets were rusted solid into the crossmember. Then it took me 2 hours to remove the bolt holding the torsion bracket on the right side of the truck. This is why:

 

 

As you can see the bolts threads were destroyed while removing the first nut. I almost welded the second nut to the bolt trying to remove it. The insides of the nuts are almost smooth now, but for some reason it didnt make it any easier.

 

Obviously new bolts were necessary, so I took a trip to Budget Bolt, the local bolt store. I gave the guy my bolt and told him to match it up best he could and asked for two new nuts as well. When I got home everything looked kosher, so I started to reassemble everything when I found that the new bolt would not fit into the bearing at the top on the crossmember. So I had to take a small rattail file and remove a small amount of metal until the new bolt would fit:

 

 

It did finally all go together, but by the time I was done with that side I had run out of sunlight. The first thing I did the next morning was buy an air ratchet.

[fisch]

^^Woah! That is some serious stripping! I am sure you did, but did you soak those bastards with PD blaster or something? Man I can feel your frustration! Getting that off while under a truck must've been pure hell!

 

I look forward to seeing your drop when all is said and done though!

 

I've been putting this off as well. I've had my 3" drop blocks for over a year sitting in a box cause after I put them in the rear, I am fearful of tackling the front . I have a pretty rust free 521, but the bolts are a whole other story, and my torsions are caked with crap too!

[]2eDeYe]

Good thing for you the 521 is easier than the 620 :D

[SickDrift]

^^Woah! That is some serious stripping! I am sure you did, but did you soak those bastards with PD blaster or something? Man I can feel your frustration! Getting that off while under a truck must've been pure hell!

 

I look forward to seeing your drop when all is said and done though!

 

I've been putting this off as well. I've had my 3" drop blocks for over a year sitting in a box cause after I put them in the rear, I am fearful of tackling the front . I have a pretty rust free 521, but the bolts are a whole other story, and my torsions are caked with crap too!

 

I purchased mine from the coast and knew I would run into rust related issues; I just didnt know exactly how it would affect me. I'm not familiar with with the 521, but if it's similar to the 620 at all then these are my suggestions, [1] clean alllllll the points you expect movement at, [2] grease/soak all these same points, [3] if you can, get ahold of an air ratchet, and if not, atleast a ratcheting box end, [4] mark for yourself very clearly where the bracket where moves out of the cross member and be ready for the shaft to possibly slip out of the lower control arm instead, [5] be prepared for it to possibly take more than one day.

 

It's not the hardest thing in the world, but from the previous writeups I was under the impression this would be a whole lot easier, so it has been frustrating. Plus I havent had the right tools either, so that would have helped a lot.

[yello620]

I've been putting this off as well. I've had my 3" drop blocks for over a year sitting in a box cause after I put them in the rear, I am fearful of tackling the front . I have a pretty rust free 521, but the bolts are a whole other story, and my torsions are caked with crap too!

 

Consider spending a few minutes under the truck and attempting to move your torsion bolts. If they move freely then start getting the splined areas soaking in PB blaster as well. If they dont move freely, then consider getting a spare set of bolts purchased and shipped from somebody's parts truck. Then you are ready for the day that you want to install the rear blocks, and you know that all the front stuff will be easy.

 

Jason

[dat521gatherer]

i'm feelin your pain bro. i too like fisch have been putting this off. i think someone said on one thread this was a 20 minute job. no offense to those of you that have done this and are trying to help but i find the write ups on this to be poor. finally thanks to this thread i now know which end of the shaft needs indexing. i think i will take a but load of pics and label everything with arrows or maybe do a video or series of videos as it's sounding like. sure glad i have a tacoma screw down the street. sounds easy looks easy to some but i like to start out a how to with step 1 insert jack under the truck and then step 2 put jack stands under the car. i'm not trying to sound like a dick or stupid but the organization on this site lately has been pissing me off.

 

sickdrift good going and great effort. thanks for starting this thread where i can say how i feel. cause by the time i do mine and post and ask a question i'll be pointed to the search button and to the frequently asked questions sticky which wont help me at all. this reminds me of the 5 speed conversion or alt upgrade threads that are supposed to be out there to explain everything.:mad: i'll save that rant for another thread. good luck bro, cant wait for your success.:)

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Dat i understand what your sayin. If you can wait a bit i can do a really specific writeup on how i did my 521 torsions.

[]2eDeYe]

It's a 20 minute job if you've done it before :lol:

[justelectric]

Ok, so once these mods have been made, does anyone know if it will effect the chamber and toe in/out of the front end? (Sorry if the terminology is wrong.)

[SickDrift]

2eDeYe;87191'']It's a 20 minute job if you've done it before :lol:

 

 

This is actually true, if also the vehicle itself has been reindexed before as well. If not just dealing with seized 35+ year old parts will add hours.

 

Now that mine is done (pics are comming) I could do it again in 20 or 30 mins.

[SickDrift]

i'm feelin your pain bro. i too like fisch have been putting this off. i think someone said on one thread this was a 20 minute job. no offense to those of you that have done this and are trying to help but i find the write ups on this to be poor. finally thanks to this thread i now know which end of the shaft needs indexing. i think i will take a but load of pics and label everything with arrows or maybe do a video or series of videos as it's sounding like. sure glad i have a tacoma screw down the street. sounds easy looks easy to some but i like to start out a how to with step 1 insert jack under the truck and then step 2 put jack stands under the car. i'm not trying to sound like a dick or stupid but the organization on this site lately has been pissing me off.

 

sickdrift good going and great effort. thanks for starting this thread where i can say how i feel. cause by the time i do mine and post and ask a question i'll be pointed to the search button and to the frequently asked questions sticky which wont help me at all. this reminds me of the 5 speed conversion or alt upgrade threads that are supposed to be out there to explain everything.:mad: i'll save that rant for another thread. good luck bro, cant wait for your success.:)

 

I'm happy to be of some help, especially since so many people here have been so much help for me. The walk throughs provided for this process are very close to complete. I think with a few more pictures and details they would be great.

 

I will try to add some details I thought were important tomorrow as well.

[yello620]

Ok, so once these mods have been made, does anyone know if it will effect the chamber and toe in/out of the front end? (Sorry if the terminology is wrong.)

 

Yes, you will still need to go get a front end alignment when you are done. And depending on how far you lower it, the shop will only be able to get the camber close, just not enough adjustment for them to work with. Negative camber is just part of having a lowered truck.

 

Jason

[]2eDeYe]

You can get most of your camber back by removing the spacers between the a-arm and the a-arm mounts, they about 1/8" to 1/4" thick. Jack up the truck unbolt the a-arm remove spacer and bolt the arms back up.

[SickDrift]

My trucks suspension stats:

 

Front: reindexed one spline adjusted till both sides were equal, ford pinto shocks

 

Rear: 4" aluminum blocks by DJM, purchased from Summit Racing (they came with longer U-bolts), datsun 620 toxic shocks

 

Details: I may adjust the front down more when my new wheels and tires get installed later in the month, but for now I like the stance. The front shocks are softer than I would prefer, although an average around town driver would probably love these, but a bit slightly stiffer KYB would be perfect. The pinto shocks, p/n:32118, come on all pinto models, 71-80 according to the monroe catalog.

 

 

As you can see, the bushing sleeve at the bottom of the shock is very wide, and must replaced (more difficult) or cut (much easier) to fit in the 620's bottom shock mount. I cut mine to be flush with the rubber bushing, and still had to spread the mounting area on the lower control arm to accept the shock. It took a bit of labor, but work it apart enough and it will accept the bottom of the shock. You will also have to raise the lower control arm (I used a jack beneath the drum) so that the top shock mount will reach far enough to begin threading the top nut on.

 

One nice thing about these shocks is that they include a bump stop on the shaft, which I like as I had completely removed the factory bump stop from my truck.

 

These are the starting and ending points, measuring from the ground to the highest point of the front wheel arch showing how much I took it down:

 

 

I consider lowering the rear much easier, and very straight forward. Jack up the rear end, put some jack stands under the rear on the frame, remove the wheels, remove the shock, unbolt the u-bolts jack up the axle, install block, rebolt the u-bolts, install shocks, install wheel, move to the other side for more of the same. It still took me four hours as I didnt have air tools, but It's an easy concept even for someone who has never done this before (disclaimer: I have done this before).

 

The toxic shocks were over kill for this truck. They are very stiff, and for a truck that has very stiff springs to start with, maybe a bit over kill. I would also do a midgrade KYB for this if I had to do it over

 

Newest pictures:

 

 

[]2eDeYe]

Looks good :cool:

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Looks sharp. TY for the measurement & parts pix. BTW im running stock front shocks on my 620 but....i raised the shock towers 3 inches ;)

[rat tail dragger]

ive lowered a butt load of these trucks chopped the front snubbers down to 1/4 inch usually use 6 inch aluminium blocks in the rear taking out thick short leaf and the next 2 leafs then in the front i just drop the bolts all the way loose and set the truck on the ground then look under neath and see the bolts loose so i put my one arm under truck and tighten the bolts so they arent rattlin but arent tight either just snugged up dropps front this gives the rear 8 1/2 inch drop and a 6 inch drop in front rollin 14 inch tires if you remmber my primered rat ride it had 12 inch drop rear 6 front using stock shocks

[SickDrift]

ive lowered a butt load of these trucks chopped the front snubbers down to 1/4 inch usually use 6 inch aluminium blocks in the rear taking out thick short leaf and the next 2 leafs then in the front i just drop the bolts all the way loose and set the truck on the ground then look under neath and see the bolts loose so i put my one arm under truck and tighten the bolts so they arent rattlin but arent tight either just snugged up dropps front this gives the rear 8 1/2 inch drop and a 6 inch drop in front rollin 14 inch tires if you remmber my primered rat ride it had 12 inch drop rear 6 front using stock shocks

 

Yeah, thats pretty low for a truck w/o adjustable suspension. I still have to retain some height as my wife will be driving this to work and I will be using this as a truck, hauling all the shit from my house as we remodel.

[SickDrift]

2eDeYe;87514'']Looks good :cool:

 

Looks sharp. TY for the measurement & parts pix. BTW im running stock front shocks on my 620 but....i raised the shock towers 3 inches ;)

 

Thanks guys! I hadnt seen these posts until now.

 

 

PacDat- That would have been the way I would have done it if I had the tools and talent, but I dont.:(