Advice/thoughts needed on lowering 1996 gmc 2500

[Erik the Awful]

I think the stock half-ton ride height is perfect for doing truck things, and my one-ton is higher than I like. If you do a serious drop nobody can steal your catalytic converter.

 

[wiscomick]

I would remove the body lift ,drive it for awhile and go from there. You can always continue with lowering it later if you want.

This is good advice. If you're anything like me, your plans and intentions with it will change like the weather. Plan it out, do it right, and do it once - whatever you decide.

 

[sewlow]

Lowered = better mileage & better handling due to the lower C of G.
You won't have any probs using the truck as a truck with a 2/4.
I used my '97 1/2T RCSB @ 2/4 to do truck stuff & never had any concerns with it not being able to handle the job.
But...it was a 1/2T short box. They aren't known for being able to carry a real load in the first place.
They're a car with a big-ish trunk
My last square body was an '86 2 wheel drive 3/4 with an 8600 gvrw. A REAL truck!
I couldn't overload that thing. In 13 years, I tried! I really did! Firewood stacked a foot higher than the cab. Moving from one residence to another & I had stuff 3' higher than the cab. 1930's Antique his/hers armchairs, a matching loveseat & 4-seater couch.
It took 4 of us to pick up that tank of a couch!
Plus, every manner of household goods stuffed in, on, around & on top of the furniture.
Then, for effect, a Boston Rocker on top of all that. An homage to The Beverly Hillbillies. Just because.

First time I tried packing a real load with my 'new' RCSB, it was like..."Really? Is that it? WTF? This is going to take 2.5 trips to do the same job the Square could do in one!" It wasn't overloaded. It was 'just' a 1/2 ton. ...with a short box.
Once I had it's limitations figured, it was just a fact of the truck being what it was & working around it's limitations. The lowering never became a question of whether or not it would do the job it was intended for.
I've had as much as 2 complete '50's GM interiors packed into it. Just the front bench seat of '55 Buick weighs in around 200 lbs! The 2 interiors were about it's limit. Lowered or not.
The point is, if I could do the kinda-sorta truck stuff that a stock height 1/2 ton RCSB is naturally limited to, and not worry about the capacity after it was lowered 2/4, well then a 3/4 ton with it's stiffer springs & increased load capacity on a mild drop of only 2/4 is certainly not going to be a deterrent against it's ability to do real truck stuff. 3/4 ton truck stuff.

 

[Orpedcrow]

Lowered = better mileage & better handling due to the lower C of G.
You won't have any probs using the truck as a truck with a 2/4.
I used my '97 1/2T RCSB @ 2/4 to do truck stuff & never had any concerns with it not being able to handle the job.
But...it was a 1/2T short box. They aren't known for being able to carry a real load in the first place.

I have the same experience With my 3/4 drop.
You shouldn’t have any problems hauling a couple enduros around.