1947-54 Chevy 3100 1/2-Ton Pickup Rear Suspension Kit, 4-in Drop

• Designed to fit popular 3-inch diameter axle tubes, like the Ford 9-inch
• Kit uses Speedway Motors’ Super Glide® reverse eye leaf springs
• AFCO Street Rod monotube gas-charged shocks provide a stable, controlled ride
• Shock mounting crossmember ties frame rails together for additional strength
• Kit relocates shocks to a more vertical position for better handling
• Leaf spring perch requires welding, all other components are bolt-on
• Relocates axle housing from under spring pack to over spring pack
• Axle relocation and springs provide approximately four inches of rear ride height drop
• Fits stock 1947-1954 Chevy truck 1/2-ton 3100 series pickup truck frames
• Complete rear suspension replacement solution offers better ride and handling
• Includes all mounting hardware, U-bolts, and brackets for installation

Improve Your ’49-’54 Chevy 3100’s Ride Quality and Handling

Pickup trucks are used as daily driven transportation for the whole family today. Their rides are more car like and feature vastly improved ride quality and handling that people have come to expect in modern vehicles. For those building on the 1949-1954 Chevy 1/2-ton 3100 series pickups, AKA the Thriftmaster or Loadmaster, the original Advance-Design chassis leaves a lot on the table in the way of ride and handling. Back in this time period trucks were built for specific jobs and to be work vehicles. Ride quality was secondary to load capacity and simplicity. If a truck broke down, it usually meant a business wasn’t making money. Today, however, these Advance-Design trucks are being snapped up as projects and people want a better ride, improved handling, and of course that perfect stance. The only way to achieve all three is with a major Chevy truck suspension upgrade. 

Ditch Your Truck’s Leaf Springs for Our Super Glide® Leaf Springs with AFCO Shocks

We know there are a lot of options when it comes to rear suspension systems for the ’49-’54 Chevy pickups. Various four-link setups, air springs, coilover conversions, and more. Most tout the fact that they ride better than a leaf spring setup. That may be true when compared to the factory Chevy leaf springs and ancient Chevy truck shocks (early trucks used lever action shocks and the later models used traditional shocks mounted at an angle, making them less effective in dampening the spring’s movements), but our Super Glide® springs offer much improved ride quality over the factory Chevy leaf springs without reinventing the wheel. These springs feature four leaves with a reverse spring eye for the shackle end. Pairing these springs with AFCO’s Street Rod monotube gas-charged shocks provides an excellent ride and handling improvement without spending thousands of dollars on complicated rear suspension conversions.

Designed For 3-Inch Axle Tubes to Support Popular 9-inch Axle Swaps

Many builders opt for Ford’s venerable 9-inch axle housing for its strength and vast aftermarket support of gear ratio, differential, and brake options. Knowing this, we provide compatible leaf spring mounts designed for the Ford 9-inch axle tube diameter of 3-inch OD. These pieces do require welding to your axle housing; however, the remaining leaf spring hanger/shackle brackets are bolt-in upgrades once you drill out the factory rivets and remove the original leaf spring mounts. These brackets are all made from 7-gauge steel (3/16-inch thick), while the leaf spring mounts are 10-gauge (1/8-inch thick) pieces. Also included are our zinc plated universal lower leaf spring mounting plates and zinc plated U-bolts to assemble the leaf springs to your axle housing. These 3/8-inch thick plates also pull double duty as the lower shock mounts, minimizing the welding required on your axle housing and providing maximum clearance for your exhaust system.

Vertical Shock Mounting Crossmember Ties Your Chevy Truck Frame Rails Together

You may have noticed that the Advance-Design series Chevy truck frame is a rather minimalist piece that uses two frame rails, a front crossmember, and a couple of small cross body braces. The original lever action and later tube style Chevy truck shocks were all mounted outboard of the Chevy truck frame and the tube shocks from the factory laid at roughly a 30 degree or so angle. The more a shock is angled the less effective it is in dampening the spring’s oscillation. To that end, we designed a near vertical shock mounting solution that moves the Chevy truck shocks inboard for more wheel and tire clearance and provides for additional frame bracing and strengthening by tying the left and right frame rails together just aft of the axle housing. This boxed steel brace features U-shaped steel end plates that position inside the open frame rail channel, providing the strength of a boxed frame section. Add our 1947-1954 Chevy truck front frame boxing plates for even more strength.

Drops Your 1947-1954 Chevy Truck Four Inches in The Rear with This Kit

Stance is critical to a vehicle’s appearance, and nothing is worse than having a sweet looking ride that looks like it’s on stilts! With our nearly 100 percent bolt-in rear suspension kit for your ’47-’54 Chevy 3100 you can expect to see four inches of drop in the rear. This is attributed to relocating the axle housing to the top of the spring pack (factory has the axle under the spring pack) and our Super Glide® leaf spring’s reverse spring eye setup. To provide the total handling package and additional lowering for the front of your Chevy 1/2-ton pair this kit with our true bolt-in Mustang II IFS kit. That’s right, a total bolt in Mustang II front crossmember conversion that includes tubular control arms, coilover shocks and more. Using these two Chevy truck suspension upgrades on your 1947-1954 Chevy truck will have it handling like a slot car and looking lean and mean in the stance department!