A short while ago I headed down to the garage to get started on a project when something caught my attention. Next to the garage, where I normally work, my workspace was covered with branches drooping over from the good ol' weeping willow tree, and that's just unacceptable. So I did what any man would do, I got out the chainsaw and hacked and hacked until I knew there was enough room, and then some. After I was finished I stepped back and took a good look, and at that moment I realized something. By getting rid of all that excess crap, I've got more room to work with, and therefore, I can do a lot more cool things.
Somewhere down the line the folks at Total Cost Involved Engineering (TCI). looked underneath a '55-57 Chevy and noticed the same thing. Those of you familiar with the rear suspension setup on a Tri-Five know that the stock leaf springs mount on the outside of the framerail. Now that might be okay if it was still 1957, but now that everything is bigger and better, Tri-Five enthusiast need more room, plain and simple. TCI figured, why not do away with all the baggage and free up some room?
R&D Technician at TCI, Ed Balser, began the install by drilling out the spot welds on the
TCI has done all its homework in developing their new '55-57 Chevy rear leaf spring relocating kit. They are now producing a compendium of components that allows you to do away with the excess baggage and get down to business. By removing the outside spring shackles, and relocating them inside and on top of the frame rails a whole heap of room has been freed up.
With TCI's new kit buyers now have more options to choose from while building their beast. For instance, with the space saved in the rear you now have the option to run the bigger tires and wider rims. And since you've got more rubber back there, might as well go ahead and add a few more horses under the hood. The list goes on.
The TCI kit comes with everything to get the job done except skill. And for those with basic cutting and welding knowledge this project should be no problem. But for others, the install could cause some problems due to the fair amount of welding and cutting involved. Other than that, take a look at the install and decide for yourself.
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Then the mounts were cut off.
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The area was then ground down smooth.
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Using a straight edge a reference line was drawn down the middle of the frame rail right t
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The line should go through the middle of the TCI spring pockets eye as well. Once it is ma
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Cut out the area that needs to be removed from the frame in order for the pocket to sit in
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The finished product should look something like this.
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The pocket is put in place and double-checked to make sure the new TCI spring pocket holes
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The end of the pocket on some may be too long, therefore, trim to fit.
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The pocket should now look like this.
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Next the OEM shackle hangers were removed.
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By using the holes on the frame as reference points it's easy to draw up the area that nee
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Here you can see that by tracing the TCI shackle notch plate it will go through two of the
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Ed then cut out the area to make way for the TCI notch plate.
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By measuring 4 inches from the rear of the notch plate, the location of where the TCI shac
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The mark should be right in the middle of the shackle hangers eye. Next measure from the h
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The shackle hanger is then welded in. Spacers are needed on some hangers to insure a solid
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Next install the leaf springs, starting from the pocket to the rear shackle.
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By measuring 18 3/8 inches back from the front leaf spring eye, then transferring the mark
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Using the TCI five hole plates, U-bolts, and spring seat the rear end was put in place.
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Where the shock pokes through the floorboard, some excess room was cut away.
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All through-check please!
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Total Cost Involved Engineering Inc.
1416 W. Brooks St.
Ontario
CA
91762
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