Help me spend money on my 1996 tahoe 2-door 2wd!

[maroon88iroc]

Hey guys I am brand new here but I am active on GMfullsize.com Just picked up this 96 2wd 2 door tahoe to mess around with, I sold my 08 sierra a couple weeks ago. I have a Z06 now so I rarely drive my truck and decided to sell it in favor of an older cheaper option. Decided to look at 2 door tahoes and quickly realized it is almost impossible to find a 2wd 2 door tahoe. Its white with blue interior & has the 350 vortec. The wheels are hideous and will be removed as soon as I can find replacements.

I am planning to go with a 5/7 or 4/6 drop. Anyone have recommendations on which componets to use? I will be using this truck to tow my wakeboard boat so I will still need towing capability. I lowered my NNBS with a 4/7 DJM kit myself but I have never lowered an OBS and have not thoroughly researched it yet. Maybe some of you guys can help me out and save me some time.

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[dagen_1]

use the DJM 4/6 kit and you should retain towing ability. nice 2-door by the way. i guess you know from experience that those wheels aren't gonna work with a drop.

OR... you could just bag it

 

[kdhs10]

OR... you could just bag it

This!!

 

[maroon88iroc]

I've never been into bags. I will probably do a 3/5 or 3/6 for right now but anyone know if I can go 5/7 and still tow if I notch the frame?

I am thinking about going with some 15x8 wheels but I can only find them in 3.75" backspacing, will that wheel sit inside the fender or do I need more backspacing?

 

[sewlow]

You can tow with a 5/7. With some helper air-bags.
Do the drop you want to the first time around. Why do the job twice? If you go 3/5 or 3/6, you WILL want to go lower! (It's a disease! Welcome to the club!)
Like Dagen said. DJM is the stuff to use. Their spindles don't push the wheels out 1/2" like the Belltech spindles do.

 

[maroon88iroc]

You can tow with a 5/7. With some helper air-bags.
Do the drop you want to the first time around. Why do the job twice? If you go 3/5 or 3/6, you WILL want to go lower! (It's a disease! Welcome to the club!)
Like Dagen said. DJM is the stuff to use. Their spindles don't push the wheels out 1/2" like the Belltech spindles do.

I was thinking about doing the 3/6 with 3" drop springs.. see how I like it, If I want to go lower I can add spindles. It wouldnt really be rework.

How to I get a 5" drop out of a flip kit in the rear?

 

[maroon88iroc]

what do yall recommend for the front? I know you said DJM but they make control arms and spindles.

I was thinking about the DJM 3" control arm and 2" spring

or

3" spring and DJM 2" spindle.

 

[sewlow]

5" rear drop is a hard one to do on a gmt400 truck. I'd love to do one to my '97! But it's a bit of a mind-f*ck.
3" lowering springs with a 2" dropped shackle or hanger seems to be the easiest.
There are other ways I've been considering, though. I've read here on the forum about Tahoe hangers are different in some way & they've been used along with the 4" drop kits to get the 5". Or, they're used with the 6" drop kit, & the hangers from the Tahoe raise it all back up an inch?
Had it all figured out at one time. Memory ain't what it used to be!
IIRC the frame back there is different on a Tahoe, & the hanger hangs the springs in different position than the trucks. kdhs10 would know better than me.
But, 5" does require a notch of some sort. Either the ones in the kits, or a mini-notch, as you wouldn't require all the extra space that those kit ones provide. I've seen notches as simple as a 1/2 round of 6" pipe over the axle fabbed into the frame. Kinda like what the bag guys make for their tie rod clearances in the front.
Probably should use some shock extenders with a 5" drop.
5" shouldn't require any crossmember cutting, if Yukon's even have any above the rear-end pumpkin.
Gotta remember, I'm more familiar with the truck lowering thing!
I think this sorta maybe helped! Lol!

 

[sewlow]

Don't use the dropped control arms! Nope, nope, nope!
There are members here that have 'em. I guess they like them, but you'll be much happier with 2" spindles, & the 2" springs, with 1/2 a coil (or so) cut out to drop the extra inch for a 5" drop.
There's a thread here on what others have experienced with cutting coils & the drops that they achieved with whatever amount they cut out.

 

[maroon88iroc]

Thanks for the help man! I have been researching and browsing stuff for sale. I found a flip kit on ebay that comes with the flip kit, notch, and 1" lift shackles to give me a 5" drop and that kit is $230 shipped or summit has the DJM flip with notch for 6" drop for $170 + shipping. The only thing with the DJM flip kit is I have used them on NBS and NNBS trucks and I dont like how it is adjustable, Id rather get a flip kit that has the pinion angle built in, no room for error/vibrations. I also found a set of spindles from Chasis tech for $170 shipped, which is about $70 cheaper than the DJM ones so I may go with these, have you heard anything about the Chasis tech spindles?

I spent about 3 hours cleaning the interior last night, the carpet and floor mats cleaned up nice but they are stained really bad. I may end up putting a new carpet set in sometime, Id like to find a set of weather tech or similar floor mat set for passenger & cargo area but I havent found any in blue.. I also put in new NGK plugs and new plug wires, runs way better but I still have a misfire, I ordered a cheap cap/rotor kit from ebay and I am going to give those a try. Also tracked down the turn signal issue, there was a short causing the fuse to blow repeatedly. I'd like to pressure wash the underside of the truck next, and give it a good exterior clean up and maybe a buff.

I'm really debating going ahead and ordering the GMC front end, I cant decide on the chrome grill surround or painted.. I will be adding a billet grill also.

-Gibson