The Dropmember is a nice piece (like everyone says).
Thanks for showcasing it here.
I've followed your thread (
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=201898) in the Suspension forum as well as some of the other's Dropmember threads. Most of the information provided centers around the 67-72 crowd. If I may, would you field a few questions about the Dropmember in the 73-87 trucks?
1) I understand that the Dropmember is designed with the use of the Strong Arms LCA, although it will also work with the stock LCA with no modifications necessary. Is it correct to assume that the air bag mounting plates are parallel to each other at ride height? Is this also the case if one uses the stock LCA with, say, a plate (or cup) for the lower air mount? What would the distance between the two parallel mounting surfaces be? I'm wondering if a 224C (instead of a RE7) would maintain the parallel mounting surfaces of the bag's ride height at ~5 1/4".
The air bag mounting plates are parallel at ride height. Stock arms work great,and I also can supply a bolt-on plate to be used for the lower bag mount. An ART lower arm will allow the truck to set approx. 1 inch lower than the factory lower arm and PB plate combo (when using a Slam bag). The Firestone bag will bolt-up and work just fine... and allows the truck to rest approx. .5" lower when deflated.
2) Although the Dropmember relocates the engine a ‘couple of inches’ forward and upward, no modifications are needed to the firewall and tunnel for clearance. Would this be accurate for a SBC as well as a Gen III?
This is accurate with a SBC and as for the GenIII... I have not installedone in the square body, but Hill's Hot Rods' has and did not mention any firewall clearance issues... they're even running the coil-pack covers on the motor (it's in Jason's Hard-top Blazer).
3) Is it possible to retain the geometry of the R&P steering, if the stock outer tie rod ends are shortened and re-threaded? You mentioned in your thread, that both the outer tie rod ends and the R&P, had to be shortened. I'm wondering for these trucks, if only the outer tie rod ends can be shortened without shortening the R&P.
The outer tie-rod end of the rack needs to be shortened... the actual outer tie-rod end used on the kit is a chromoly heim joint with associated hardware. Factory C-10 outer tie-rod end will not work.
BTW, you mentioned that the tracking of the Dropmember setup is narrower where the rotor face to rotor face width on the regular Dropmember is 60". From my measurements, the stock width is ~ 61 5/8” from outer surface of the rotors.
Well... one issue I have found when measuring trac-width is that different numbers can be derived by measuring at different spots, and different height of the suspension travel...these trucks do have some scrub built into the factory design that can skew measurements if not taken from the same place at the same height etc. What I have since done to correct this and give an accurate measurement of trac-width difference is to measure the distance between the inner pivot centers of the lower control arm (bushings) and then compare. The Dropmember is narrower by approx. 3"give or take.
Finally, one last request:
At ride height, do you know how high the front fender lip is from the ground on the 84? What is the size of the front wheels, drop spindles and front bags?
The front wheel is a 20x8.5 and has a 5.25" backspacing.The tire is a 255 35 20... I willhave to measure the wheel lip height when the front end gets reassembled... everything is at the powdercoaters.
Any information you may provide is appreciated.
Thank you.