Re: question about lowering the front
 

I didn't remove front bump stops as they probably help me from hitting the inner tubs hard. Just minor rubbing on front inner tubs. Rear axle is hitting pancake bump stops on frame rails. Factory frame bump stops and brackets I removed. There's only about 2" of travel there, and my truck is a big 10 so I have what should be a stiffer 8 pack leaf springs... Doesn't change the drop as the rear end sits on top of the leafs. I still got 6.5" of drop out of it if I remember correct.
And side note I only have one 16 gal tank, and spare tire removed so not much weight on my rear suspension. Not scaring anyone from this drop but don't plan to put anything in the bed. Or get a air shock like a helper bag maybe.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...psbkppbgau.jpg

Re: question about lowering the front
 

I agree. I've lowered over a dozen 63-87 C10's & used the cut coils/drop spindle combo. But, I will not cut more than 1-coil as the amount of drop exceeds the coils spring rate which def affects ride quality. If you need to cut more than 1-coil, you need a diff spring w/a higher rate to start with.


The more leafs in the spring pack, the greater the drop is dimensionally when flipping the axle from under the springs to on top of them.

For example.... Say five leafs = 3.5" & the axle tube OD = 3.0". 3.5 + 1.5 = 5".
Moving the axle tubes on top of the spring pack (flip kits) drops the truck the height of the spring pack + 1/2 the diameter of the axle tube. If you have a Big 10, you have a larger quantity of springs & therefore yield more drop. This is why some trucks only get 5" of drop while others can get 6" or more w/a flip kit.... It depends on how many leafs there are (my dually would have been 8" of drop w/a flip).

I also will not swap to shorter shocks unless that is the only option. Decreasing the shock stroke can also kill ride quality. Shock bracket relocation kits work better when/where possible (provided they maintain the OE geometry).

Re: question about lowering the front
 

3" spindles + 1-coil removed from the factory sbc/auto spec'd coils. Rear flip kit w/a HD towing package rated spring pack (pre-curser to the Heavy 10's) AND 2" shackles. Stock length shocks front & rear. Frame c-notched w/a home built AOL/Schrader set-up & ~30psi if loaded.

27" front tire OD; 29" rear tire OD (steelies).
No bed floor mods & it buzzed the OE front wells on big dips. Was much worse w/the 28" tall 20's when I put them on for a night @ Kellers...

Re: question about lowering the front
 

Yes your Early Classic 2.5" spindles clear a stock rally wheel. ALL 2.5" spindles will clear a rally wheel. The Western Chassis is the only 3" spindle that will clear 15x8 rally wheels. Not correct at all. As mentioned above many of us have cut many sets of stock springs and enjoyed a much sportier ride than the stock mushy springs. Do not cut more than one coil and never get them to hot. Another option is the C20 spring. I'm told by an experienced mechanic that they ride even better than the cut C10 coil.

Re: question about lowering the front
 

SCOTI your number of leafs to flip math is correct. What I meant to say is because my HD leafs are probably stiffer vs. a c10 four pack of leafs, I assume with stiffer leafs there is less squat or spring with dips. Where as a c10 may not amount to as much measurable drop with less leafs, but if the top leaf has the same radius as my top leaf that still puts your axle as close or closer to the frame as mine as they both sit on that top leaf, and the c10 leaf pack may have more squat or spring in dips, thus more reason to c notch...??? Just a theory I have not seen a c10 flip clearances vs my big 10.

All in all you cant say that a big 10 will sit lower than a c10 when done, as their leaf spring radius may be different as to how far that top leaf is from the frame on both trucks. More measureable drop yes, but the HD big 10 may have sat higher to begin with. The flips are designed to give you 6" of drop on a c10. Belltech told me not to put it on a big 10 nor would they take it back because they had no R&D to reference how much it would drop. But I was lucky it worked and only gave me a 6.25"-6.5" measurable drop.

All theory, and just putting it out there my drop involves a HD 8 pack leafs

Re: question about lowering the front
 

SCOTI, my belltech 2-4" drop shocks up front and 4-6" rear shocks seem soft and springy on the truck. Or maybe its more rebound than normal?
With only 2" of actual coil spring drop, you think its better to leave on the stock shocks, and possibly stock shocks on the rear with shock extenders with 6.5" flip?

Re: question about lowering the front
 

CPP spindles on my 77 C10 installed with no modification to the control arms with 15 inch rallyes. The issue I ran into was with the brake line, i had to modify the spindle to rotate them so they cleared

Re: question about lowering the front
 

I keep them as long as possible so I measure each combo & go from there. My 68 trucks front end was done similarly for the drop & I used spec'd replacement shocks w/o issue. On my 74, the travel length was a little less so I relocated the upper mount location higher up on the frame (I gained 1.5" IIRC) & used spec'd replacement shocks w/o issue.

I use the rear lower shock extension brackets on leaf set-ups.

Re: question about lowering the front
 

I get what your saying. With the trucks I've done, the standard I go by was the lighter duty trucks w/fewer leafs typically yielded slightly less drop vs the 8+ leaf pack equipped trucks.