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To the O.P. your Truck looks great & IMO, u were very patient with IHC. They should've helped u more, considering their Brackets SUCK, even if u didn't torque the U-Bolts enough, those brackets were still a very poor design! FWIW, my 2013's U-Bolt torque spec is 26,52,74,98 ft-lbs, in a X-Pattern.
With that being said, after lowering mine w/a Belltech 3/5 kit, I too had a vibration during acceleration, from appx 10-50 mph. I can't recall initially how far out my pinion angle was, but I was informed it should be within 2 degrees either way. Long story short.... Belltech's shims are a joke, they do NOT work with a "flipped" axle due to our dual alignment pin design, they stick way out one side, leaving a gap on the other side. Belltech told me it would be fine, LMAO
I ended up welding Belltech's axle bracket directly to me axle tube, after zero'ing my pinion angle. I've had no issues since, but later heard, I should've placed the pinion angle at a 1 deg. offset, not zero, too compensate for squat under hard acceleration & more importantly, when the bed is loaded. However, if that is correct (does sound good) I've never had an issue after setting at zero, but I never load the bed down either...lol
IMO, whenever u modify at a certain extent, every truck can be a little different & may need a tweaking... A good friend told me "we Modify to Modify"
To the O.P. your Truck looks great & IMO, u were very patient with IHC. They should've helped u more, considering their Brackets SUCK, even if u didn't torque the U-Bolts enough, those brackets were still a very poor design! FWIW, my 2013's U-Bolt torque spec is 26,52,74,98 ft-lbs, in a X-Pattern.
With that being said, after lowering mine w/a Belltech 3/5 kit, I too had a vibration during acceleration, from appx 10-50 mph. I can't recall initially how far out my pinion angle was, but I was informed it should be within 2 degrees either way. Long story short.... Belltech's shims are a joke, they do NOT work with a "flipped" axle due to our dual alignment pin design, they stick way out one side, leaving a gap on the other side. Belltech told me it would be fine, LMAO
I ended up welding Belltech's axle bracket directly to me axle tube, after zero'ing my pinion angle. I've had no issues since, but later heard, I should've placed the pinion angle at a 1 deg. offset, not zero, too compensate for squat under hard acceleration & more importantly, when the bed is loaded. However, if that is correct (does sound good) I've never had an issue after setting at zero, but I never load the bed down either...lol
IMO, whenever u modify at a certain extent, every truck can be a little different & may need a tweaking... A good friend told me "we Modify to Modify"
First off, beautiful truck! Color combo rocks and you don’t see it too often. And yes, I bought some belltech shims and looked to see if they would work when I last had everything apart... doesn’t appear that the pin heads would still stick high enough to grab the blocks so I opted to not install them. The vibrations are so minimal and I often switch between 3 sets of wheels and mess with the rear bag pressure, but I still might weld the blocks to the axle as you said.
Were you more concerned with keeping the trans flange and diff flanges at the same parallel, or with aligning the rear shaft degree with that of the rear diff flange?
First off, beautiful truck! Color combo rocks and you don’t see it too often. And yes, I bought some belltech shims and looked to see if they would work when I last had everything apart... doesn’t appear that the pin heads would still stick high enough to grab the blocks so I opted to not install them. The vibrations are so minimal and I often switch between 3 sets of wheels and mess with the rear bag pressure, but I still might weld the blocks to the axle as you said.
Were you more concerned with keeping the trans flange and diff flanges at the same parallel, or with aligning the rear shaft degree with that of the rear diff flange?
THANKS.... Not 100% exactly what you're asking, but I wanted the driveshaft parallel with the axle to prevent shimmy & possible damage.
My exact reason for not using their shim's are the fact that when placed in to properly realign my axle, the shim's stick out of the block/spring-pack (see Pic's)!
& Belltech said this would be safe Their on crack, IMO, which is why I welded their axle-block to my axle-tube
THANKS.... Not 100% exactly what you're asking, but I wanted the driveshaft parallel with the axle to prevent shimmy & possible damage.
My exact reason for not using their shim's are the fact that when placed in to properly realign my axle, the shim's stick out of the block/spring-pack (see Pic's)!
& Belltech said this would be safe Their on crack, IMO, which is why I welded their axle-block to my axle-tube
oh wow, yeah I did see that when I was considering using them. That’s crazy, doesn’t seem like it would hold up! And I think what you are saying is you wanted the axle to be dead nuts perpendicular to the diff flange. I do think that’s the goal, asked because I’ve seen some other drawings where people are focused on keeping the trans and diff flanges at the same degree, but I don’t think that should be the focus with a 2 piece driveshaft- but I’m no expert!!
THANKS.... Not 100% exactly what you're asking, but I wanted the driveshaft parallel with the axle to prevent shimmy & possible damage.
My exact reason for not using their shim's are the fact that when placed in to properly realign my axle, the shim's stick out of the block/spring-pack (see Pic's)!
& Belltech said this would be safe Their on crack, IMO, which is why I welded their axle-block to my axle-tube
That is absurd. I've seen a few people post about this but those pics show how flawed (and unsafe) it is.
That is absurd. I've seen a few people post about this but those pics show how flawed (and unsafe) it is.
Exactly.... The problem results from our dual alignment pins & the fact the axle was flipped. The shim can only go in one-way & sit fully under the block. If it was in its OE position, there would not be an issue. IMO, a company that produces a Flip-Kit should design the Shims to work with the Kit, but I guess thats crazy talk...LOL
The fact that Belltech advised me it would be safe, took a lot of my confidence in them away! Theres 2 things that make it very unsafe, IMO
First, merely inserting a Shim makes it so the alignment pins are barely holding onto something. Second & most obvious, if theres a gap in my spring-pack, how much effort will it take to be able to loosen the bolts, given the fact theres nothing stopping the rotation, except the tightned u-bolts. The same u-bolts that u need to re-torque after x-amount of miles because the manufacturer says they stretch a little. Just like the need to re-torque aluminum wheels... Hmmm, guess I overthink it, LOL
Last edited by FXtreme5.0; 02-19-2020 at 01:51 PM.
Just remove the 2nd pin...leave the one in the center. I did that over 3 years ago when the 2nd one was in my way.
Hmm, I didn't think of that & Belltech didn't suggest it.
However, I assume it would be okay, as most manufactures only use a single alignment pin.
Did you grind it off or was it able to un-bolted, for lack of a better term?
I can't recall how they were designed & of course I won't be taking it apart again to look...lol
02-16-2020, 09:53 AM
Their on crack, IMO, which is why I welded their axle-block to my axle-tube 
