The Stupid Lowered Questions Thread

[sewlow]

This a DJM shock extender that's been modded, by welding it in, & a bunch of grinding.

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Finished, with the modded sway bar mount.

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You can see the different lower spring in the spring pack. Removed the over-load & had another made to fit the proper curve of the originals. The overload wouldn't work just flipped over. I think that I'm going to add one more shorter one, just to add a bit more progession to the spring rate. It's a bit soft, right now.

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Then we moved the shock towers on each side closer to the rear axle cnter-line. You can see the original holes just ahead of the crossmember, behind where the rear bolt of the tower is. 2 of the four holes wre already in the frame, so we used those & only had to drill two holes for each side. We did this because, when the rear is lowered this much, the shocks don't absorb, and work more as a lever.. The shocks were not moved equaly, as the factory positions are not an equal distance from the center line of the rear housing. We moved the towers so that the shock mounts were equal distances, front & rear, from the center of the housing.

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[ShanMan]

What Al said. But I hate shock extenders. I always run shorter shocks-and when I can, I relocate them to a more straight up and down orientation. On the bed Xmember, youre gonna want to remove about 8" of it over the diff.-all the way to the bottom of the bed. And that may or may not be enough depending on which c-notch you have. Also relocate the brake hose so it doesnt get squished. Oh, another thing. If you think youre ever going to bag it, you might as well do a bigger notch now-save you having to redo stuff later. Also, the front is gong to be higher than the back-unless you cut a half coil or so. Check your front shocks too for travel-you dont want them bottoming out or you will be buy A-arms too.

I did plan on cutting about a half coil on the front springs to get it at the height I like or getting some 3" drop springs. I will most likely be cuttin. I don't think I will be bagging this one. I also thought that I wouldn't want to go any lower than a 2/4. I also thought I liked the look of 15's. 20's are on the horizon now. Just like the two 10's behind the seat were OK for a while now, I have Kicker L3 12's. Hmm So a bigger c-notch may be better for me. Too bad I already have the DJM notch that came with the flip kit. I do like the idea of relocating the shocks to a more upright position. Thanks everybody for all the info. If anyone has more help please keep em coming. I'm not starting till Monday. I see cold beer in my future.

 

[sewlow]

4/6 on 15's

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[Prowler]

Hey guys. I'm new to the platform here. I've recently picked up a 91 regular cab. I'm looking for the best handling 4/6 drop. I've gone through the forums a bit and this isn't exactly talked about much, but I guess it' may all depend on personal preference. I think I may be looking at 2" spindle and and 2" spring w shocks up front and a flip in the rear. Is this going to give me the best performing suspension? What about drop leafs, what are their advantages? My main concern with using the stock leafs is the wear, being a 91. Is this usually an issue?

I've pretty much been around S10's for the most part. This is my first full size. It seems just like the S10 scene though, lots of people go the cheap and low route, but there are those who do it right and know what they're talking about. Fortunately, it seems to be the latter here. I look forward to digging into the truck and having some fun with it.

 

[sewlow]

I would use the DJM kit. Their spindles do not push the front wheels out like the Belltech kit. Check out 'NorcalSS'. He's a suspension dealer & a forum member.
Lowered (DE-arched) leaf springs are to too soft for any kind of spirited performance driving. If your concerned about the age of your springs, these 2whldr. trucks mostly use the same ones up until '98. I'd check the wrecker for some lower mileage ones. Or if your feeling spendy, have some made up by a spring vendor.
A urethane body mount & suspension kit will firm things up nicely. Use lots & lots (then some more!) of the supplied lube for the urethane.
A performance shock is better than the ones that come with a kit. They're just a shorter shock with a stockish valving.
Add a rear sway bar. Ones off of Suburban's can be made to work. Trucks that came with just a front sway bar, have a larger one than the trucks that came with both front & rear. Or you could go aftermarket, but that's a science unto itself. Hollow, solid, size choice & what combo of such, front & rear, works best, for what you want to do with the truck.

 

[ccreddell]

Pretty much what the old guy above said, If you get the black graphite body bushings they tend to squeak less. Remember that wheels and tires make a difference. One thing I have found through the years (and a few GMT400s) is that with just the drop and good shocks (I prefer KYB Gas-A-Just) your truck will handle most likely better than you can drive it. As far as tires go, go as wide as possible in the back and dont expect to get real good handling on anything less than 17" rims. I personally dont like rear sway bars on an ass light vehicle like a pickup as they tend to get tail happy (may just be the way I drive) and have found that the wider tire in the rear (with all the rest we've talked about) handles fairly neutral up to the limit and then slowly starts to scrub the front. Unless you have a few sessions at Bondurant, this will be the safest and most comfortable set-up for most spirited driving. Engine choice factors in here too. A big block will plow sooner and pretty much go through front tires rapidly, where a 4.3 will be fairly neutral. An LSX would be even better.

 

[johnny1]

Happy Friday 13 GMT, I have droped my chevy 2" frm the front n have 2" shackels in the rear ok here's my? How many leaf springs do I take out to give me a 2" drop in the rear to level it out? N witch ones I dnt wana bottom out every time I hit bumps... lol only reason im asking is bcus im short on cash n dnt wana ride ass up till I get the hangers...
Thanks GMT

 

[DRAGGIN95]

I would get a flip kit and not take any leaves out, they ride like crap with leaves removed!

 

[ccreddell]

+1 Not a good idea to subtract leaves. Makes it kinda useless for anything besides being parked. And youre not going to be happy with just 4". Do the flip, and drop it 2" more in front.

 

[smurfcivic]

I removed a few leaves and it wasn't enough so I got rid of the pine straw to!!