Lowered sas

[Jaredpear]

I have a 1999 ccsb 2500 4x4 454 that I plan on building up and i want to solid axle swap it but I don't want to lift it, I actually want it to sit lower than stock so I can run some 295/45r18 and not make it look funny. The reason for the solid axle swap is because I want to build the motor up and eventually add a turbo and I wanna be able to race it in 4wd without breaking tie rods? Anybody have any info on this type of thing? The axle is a toss up between a dodge d60 from a a 2nd gen or a superduty d60

 

[dave_erald]

There are tie rod upgrade options if that's all you're concerned about, 4wd or AWD racing usually means grabbing a autotrac transfer case in gm applications, but I guess more to the point is having a goal set out first.

Dirt racing, drag racing, pavement racing, is it going to be LS or Cummins or factory 454 or some other variant, yada yada yada

Are you going to turbo the 454 or a LS motor?

Is it staying 3/4 ton suspension everywhere else or swap out to a 4 link or ladder bar rear?

Stuff like that

Then people can chime in, drag racing a AWD turbo big block it may be simpler and lighter (ie faster as IFS) because it's straight line getting upgraded half shafts and tie rods might be quicker and cheaper

Of course others will jump and say I'm dumb.

Blah piss on them.


Got pics of the truck? Sounds like it's going to be a cool build!

 

[Jaredpear]

The goal is the keep the 454 and build it to run e-85 and then single turbo it with all the supporting mods (forged internals, better heads, cam, etc...) it'll mainly be a street/drag type racing. Right now I'm just in the planning stages but I wanted the solid front axle for strength reasons (even though I won't be using to off-road) I've had this truck for less than a year I've already gone through a set of balljoints and nearly every steering part. As for the transfer case opinion, I have the manual t-case and would like to keep that. I've done some research on upgraded ifs parts but it seems even then it wouldn't hold up to boosted launches the way a solid axle could. If you have links to the upgraded parts I'd be very happy to have a look at those.

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[dave_erald]

Solid axle would be your best bet now that I looked at the price of a set of RCV performance halfshafts (2'500 American, yuck)I mean they offer a no questions asked warranty and they make some bitchin parts but man...pricey

For tie rods guys just typically throw in rod ends and a thick wall Dom tube when looking for the most strength. There are the one ton tie rod versions used in hummers but your steering knuckles would still need to be reamed out for the larger taper I believe.

And I'm not sure which axle would be better, a Dodge 60 or the superduty 60 for racing.

Though you are not doing diesel, the Diesel Power Challenge is a good place to look at how boosted trucks are built to grab some inspiration. A lot of them are largely stock axle trucks and almost all of them are running 3.73 gears. Even the duramax guys are on factory ifs stuff. Probably bigger tie rods and ****, traction bars and that's all.

The superduty 60's I think have bigger inner C's, larger ujoints and hefty steering from factory. Or maybe grab whatever you can get with matching bolt patterns for your truck, in that case it would be a Dodge axle I think

 

[Jaredpear]

Got any info on the actual suspension part and how low I can get it? Cause that's the point of the axle choices, because the coil sprung axles can be made to sit lower Than leaf spring swaps

 

[Biggershaft96]

The problem with a low sas is the clearance between the frame and axle. The lowest sas ive ever seen still lifts the front end 2" and there is very little room between the axle and frame. The 9.25 ifs can take ALOT of abuse. Just throw a set of tie rod sleeves on it and itll hold all the power you wanna throw at it.

 

[dave_erald]

I was gonna say, I'll grab a picture of my low (considered low) axle swapped truck to give you an idea of the kind of room between the axle and frame, and between the axle pumpkin and the oil pan.

I attached a pic of a "low lift" leaf sprung truck which is still 2" over stock height I think. Yes bars and coils could get lower, but you start running into clearance issues with oil pans and **** potentially.

Again, I'm not trying to ruin your day or be an ass, but you could be in for a lot of work and possibly not even be able to do it if you were looking to go lower than this

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[Project400]

Without a doubt for a drag race application the IFS will be better

 

[Jaredpear]

Does anyone have any info or links on upgrading 8600 gvrw ifs for high horsepower/torque applications? I'm definitely in the ballpark to fab if needed. I've also been looking at the western chassis lowering torsion keys and these upgraded tie rods they make for lowered trucks.

 

[dave_erald]

Atomic Fab and Performance makes a torsion bar to coilover conversion kit that I've wondered how much hackery would be required to make it fit a 88-98

In drag racing this would be a huge advantage to you if you stayed IFS