The Stupid Lowered Questions Thread

[someotherguy]

Hey fellas
Getting ready to do a drop kit. Curious if anyone has heard of maxtrac suspension. Found a 3/5 kit. Was wondering what you all thought of the brand

Never heard of them. Best to stick to known brands. I prefer Belltech, some don't like their spindles as they feel they push the wheels out a little bit. If you think that's going to be an issue then I'd suggest DJM spindles, but I wouldn't buy anything else from pretty much any other brand. Belltech springs, spindles, notches, flip kits, shackles, hangers, and shocks are all good quality.

When I look at flip kits for this truck, none of them come with the U bolts. Can I reuse the factory U bolts or do I need longer ones? I'd expect the factory ones to be long enough but I would hate to have my trucks rear end apart just to find out I have to order them from somewhere.

What flip kit are you looking at that doesn't come with u-bolts? Is it some universal application or something? You can't reuse the factory ones anyway as they're square to fit the factory saddles, so you need a kit with bolts. And personally I would say F that DJM flip kit; go Belltech. The DJM is cheesy.

Richard

 

[BigandTall]

What flip kit are you looking at that doesn't come with u-bolts? Is it some universal application or something? You can't reuse the factory ones anyway as they're square to fit the factory saddles, so you need a kit with bolts. And personally I would say F that DJM flip kit; go Belltech. The DJM is cheesy.

Richard

The flip kit I was looking at was on ebay (I guess that should've been my first clue.) I did look around and find several others that also didn't include the u bolts.

The mini notch is a nice addition that not all flip kits come with.

I looked at the DJM kit and compared it to the belltech kit. I don't see why you would think the DJM is cheesy or lower quality than the belltech kit. They appear to have the same components to me. They certainly don't appear to have $150 worth of difference in them to me.

 

[drewcrew]

The flip kit I was looking at was on ebay (I guess that should've been my first clue.) I did look around and find several others that also didn't include the u bolts.

The mini notch is a nice addition that not all flip kits come with.

I looked at the DJM kit and compared it to the belltech kit. I don't see why you would think the DJM is cheesy or lower quality than the belltech kit. They appear to have the same components to me. They certainly don't appear to have $150 worth of difference in them to me.

I used a DJM flip-kit on mine and I like it. Came with everything but band-aids.

 

[someotherguy]

Unless they've changed their design, that "adjustable pinion angle" thing is BS. You end up with hardware that won't keep your pinion angle in place. More than one person has had trouble with this, and they weren't newbs to lowering. My buddy got one for his project and hated it, I got to see it up close, it was just cheesy as crap.

But you came here asking for advice, it's yours to take it or leave it.

Richard

 

[BigandTall]

Very true. I couldn't see the pinion angle adjustment problem from the photo, though

 

[Glock19]

Alright. I just bought my first OBS Chevy back in the beginning of March. It's a 1998 ECSB 2WD, Black. I have my mind set on lowering it. I'd like to go as low as possible using bolt on parts. This sort of leads me to my first question: exactly how low can I go using only bolt on modifications? A friend of mine with several OBS's says to use shackles in the rear. From what I've seen, just shopping around on the web, it looks like I could only go as low as 2-4" in the rear. Sound right? Also, I'd really like to keep the ride quality the same as, or better than what it is now.

I would really like some input from anyone who knows a thing or two about lowered suspensions.

 

[ccreddell]

Nope, you can go 8" in the back with bolt-ons. A flip kit and a shackle. You wont like it, but you can do it. From a LOT of experience, I would recommend a flip kit in the back-6", and a spindle (NOT Beltech) and spring in front-4".

 

[df2x4]

Nope, you can go 8" in the back with bolt-ons. A flip kit and a shackle. You wont like it, but you can do it. From a LOT of experience, I would recommend a flip kit in the back-6", and a spindle (NOT Beltech) and spring in front-4".

Doesn't this require cutting on the frame in the rear, though? Not sure that would fall into most people's definition of bolt-ons...

 

[sewlow]

It's a minor cut, actually. Relatively painless! The notch bolts in. Notch the box crossmember above the pumpkin.

 

[Justin S]

I've got a question, I'm doing a Belltech flip kit on my RCSB C1500, and I noticed that the bracket that holds the axle has an offset hole to move the axle back so the driveshaft fits better. My question is, does this make the wheels look off center to the bed, or does it look slightly off center? I am going to be making a custom driveshaft for my project, so if it would be better to drill a hole in the center, or leave it where it's at?