does your deuce lean???

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

has anyone notice their truck leaning to the left side?? a friend of mine who has gotten onthe kick of selling bobbers at his junkyard brought this to my attention. he has been chopping them and lifting them around 4 inches or so with blocks on the rears. anyway he has been building them with the blocks 1/2" taller on the passenger side front and back. he has done about 5 of them and he said all the trucks lean a half inch over. stock or chopped he said it doesnt make a difference. the half inch larger block made the truck sit right when we measured it on his shop floor the other day. can anyone think of why this happens to appearently all the trucks??

 

[BKubu]

I've seen several M35A2s that had a slight lean. I attributed it to spring fatigue.

 

[Angus1]

anyway he has been building them with the blocks 1/2" taller on the passenger side front and back.

Your friend is putting lift blocks on the steering axles? Thats a BIG no no

 

[MilitaryRestoration]

spring fatigue or cracked...

 

[Mike_Pop]

Would it have anything to do with the crown in the roads causing spring fatigue?

 

[rizzo]

Michigan Law. sorta interesting.

Lift blocks

(2) A person shall not operate a motor vehicle of a type defined in subsection ( that exceeds either of the following limits:

Vehicle Type Frame Height Bumper Height
Passenger vehicle............. 12 inches 22 inches
Other motor vehicle:
Less than 4,501 pounds GVWR... 24 inches 26 inches
4,501 to 7,500 pounds GVWR.... 24 inches 28 inches
7,501 to 10,000 pounds GVWR... 26 inches 30 inches

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (2), a person shall not operate a motor vehicle having lift blocks between the front axle and springs, or with lift blocks that exceed 4 inches in height between the rear axle and springs in addition to those provided by the original manufacturer. Any body lift block shall be of single piece construction and shall not use more than a 3-inch spacer. Any suspension lift block shall use an alignment pin between the axle and the spring, and shall be of single piece construction. Spring shackle replacements shall not exceed the original equipment manufacture length by more than 2 inches, and coil spring spacers are prohibited. All steering components shall be geometrically arranged to function as original equipment manufacture. Welded pitman arms, drag links, and tie rods are prohibited. All parts used to modify the original suspension or height of a motor vehicle shall be factory manufactured and shall meet or exceed the original manufacturer's specifications.

(7) This section does not apply to a vehicle having a manufacturer's design which intrinsically precludes conformance with this section, a vehicle with a GVWR of 10,001 pounds or more

so it looks like it is illegal for a truck that weighs under 10k, but not over 10k in MI if they are Factory made parts??

 

[rizzo]

hey mudlord. did you measure the distance between the spring and the frame?

sorta weird its the left side all the time. Fat drivers? lol

 

[Angus1]

Riz thats kinda disturbing.

 

[Barrman]

I noticed mine leans a little to the passenger side. I haven't taken a tape to it to see if it is the frame or just the bumper though.

 

[ida34]

Stealing my thunder on quoting MI law I see.

 

[Stretch44875]

Oilcan's leans a little.

 

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

anyway he has been building them with the blocks 1/2" taller on the passenger side front and back.

Your friend is putting lift blocks on the steering axles? Thats a BIG no no

ya, its illegal to have blocks up front here in jersey, but he is selling them to people telling them they are offroad trucks only. im guessing people are getting away with it due to historical registrations and not having to go through inspection. i dont understand the block law anyway. not saying i would run blocks in front of my truks on the road, but there is a box truck at my job, its maybe 2 years old. its a cab over but im not sure of the brand. it has what look to be about 3 inch tall lift blocks on the front axle. i dont understand how that would be legal and pass heavy truck inspection with lift block laws.

 

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

hey mudlord. did you measure the distance between the spring and the frame?

sorta weird its the left side all the time. Fat drivers? lol

na, i didnt measure that. his ideas on it were maybe having the fuel tank and batteries on the same side but i cant the maybe 500lbs of them doing that to the truck

 

[zak]

Didn't the M37 have a lift block on the drivers side when the side mounted spare tire was used?

 

[rizzo]

Stealing my thunder on quoting MI law I see.

lol

 

[steelandcanvas]

Would engine torque constantly compress the left side?

 

[bigmike]

I noticed mine leans about 1-1 1/2" to the left from ground to fender. I also attribute it to spring fatigue as the distance between the leafs and the frame equates to the same 1-1 1/2". I inspected the springs and none are broken. I may re-arch or replace a few to improve the leaning in the front.

 

[roger-wilco-66]

That reminds me on the hotchkiss / willys jeep of a friend of mine. It is always leaning to the drivers side, as many old Jeeps do. When one gets out of it first thing to do i to grab the handle on the Jeeps body and pull it upwards, then it's straight again . I guess this is because of the friction in the leaf springs and maybe the uneven wear of driving alone in it often. But I can't imagine that this is much of an issue in the deuce.

 

[m-35tom]

swap the springs side to side and see what happens

 

[Barrman]

I measured my Gasser last night.

Front bumper is down almost 2" on the passenger side compared to the drivers side.

Front fender frame mount is almost 1" lower on the passenger side.

Running board is about 3/4" lower on the passenger side/

Rear bumperette is 3/8" lower on the passenger side.

I think mine just has a weak passenger side front spring.