FEW ???'s for the Air Bag Guru's
 

I have I 72 gmc Sub that I am going to start bagging here in the next few weeks, and had a few questions. First I am going to start with the rear, and was wondering if I go with 2" lowering blocks, and a 10" step notch (I have tall tires on my 20"s) can I use the factory location of the spring, with a firestone 2600 bag and get the rear bumper close to the ground? Or will I have to include the upper mount in the notch aswell and raise it too?

Second, for the front I am probably going to do it in stages, so first, with the kit from ***************** and a 2500 bag how low will I go, second will a 2600 bag fit in there with that kit?

Third, and final (for now :hm: ) I"ve been reading all the crossmember drop threads etc, and there is one thing I haven't seen done? What about on the lower arm, drilling a hole in the crossmember and reinforcing it, then mounting your control arm cross shaft through the crossmenber and flipping those lower u-bolts, raise your upper arm, etc. Has anybody done this, or thought about it? Or did that even make sense? It's to early :crazy: :confused:

Thanks Alot

Robert

well, i think youve got a good idea, 2" blocks and a 10" notch. Ive got a 65 panel(same frame i believe) and ive got it setup for 2" blocks, and a 10" notch. So you have to cut out a monsterous hole in your floor. Then, if you wanna lay body/frame, with the stock trailing arms, you need to extend the notch forward enough to clear the trailing arms. i mounted my bags 8" ahead of the original spring location, so i can run with less air pressure, for a better ride with enough ground clearance. with my setup, i lay body front to back, and bumper. ill get some pics up soon. any more q's just ask.

Thanks for the response, I just ordered the 10" notch from *****************,
before I read this, so hopefully it is long enough to clear the trailing arms, if not, I guess I'll get a little funky. I am not to concerned with the back, I will be able to get that dialed in, but my main concern lies with the front, has any body tried this to the arm mount location?, or thought about it?

what do ya think?

Robert,
Most of the Bill Turner crossmembers relocated the lower control arm mount up into the crossmember. You can see pictures in the Big crossmmember thread. It was done different than you describe. Bill used tubluar lower control arms that had a bend in them so they were raised at the crossmember end of the arm. They mounted to a gusseted threaded mount. that was bolted or welded into the area where the orginal control arms mounted. The area between the two bolt holes (the ubolt goes through)was notched out to accept. Hope this makes since.

Yeah I looked through that entire thread, and have seen his job, but I'm thinking it can be moved alot more. Is he doning anything to raise the upper arm also? Or is it not a drastic enough change on his? If you could move the lower one up and in then you could flip the cross shat on the upper arm the the inside to pull that wheel in an inch. What do ya think? I may just have to try it and let you know how it works :hmm: .

What your considering doesn't sound like it will work. If I read this correctly you are talking up moving the lower A-arm location up. If you do that you will have to move the upper A-arm too or the steering geometry will be all wrong.

The whole idea is to move everything up as a unit to prevent steering geometry issues. If you move it up any more than 1.5" you will have to convert to rack & pinion steering. Even with the 1.5" you will need to address to steering shaft hittitng the A-arms.... :cool:

Here's a good thread to read too. No where near as long-Look inside

The Bill Turner arms work.... but you will not be able to get them from him. What this does when you run these is what GMCGRANDS wrote. But you get to cut off about 1.5" off the bottom of your crossmember. With this mod you can lay out on a small 20" 255-35-20. I just did it to our shop truck. Steering is fine too.
If you are using the trailing arm setup in the rear that 10 inch notch will not work. You will/should make one out of 2x4 square tube to clear you trailing arms!

oh ya for the rear I just bought f9000 to try in my stock location. I will post pics in a few weeks when i get to it. 2600 wont get you enough lift in stock location.

Yeah, I was planning on raising the upper arm as well, and moving it in. I am just trying to think outside the box = low budget :) . About the notch with the trailing arms CRAPPP!! I just ordered the notch yesterday, I guess I will call and see if they have shipped it yet and maybe try to cancel it. O'well any more input?