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Old 02-10-2009, 11:02 PM   #1
maxreps
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Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

Can you tell list your drop coil amount and also how close your oem bumpstop is to the upper arm surface? Like "Got 3" drop coils and 1.5" clearance between bumpstop"... Thanks in advance if you guys can give this info.
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Old 02-11-2009, 12:26 AM   #2
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

Have 3 in. coils . you are about right 1.5 - 2 in gap between bump stop & control arm . Some cut the bump stop for a little more spring travel , but I JUST LEFT MINE > pretty stiff but is ok with me , no problems .

By the way , one of my sons lives in Greensboro . Go there to visit occasionaly . He is southside I85 off Groomstown Rd.
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Old 02-11-2009, 07:28 AM   #3
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

Quote:
Originally Posted by slugish View Post
Have 3 in. coils . you are about right 1.5 - 2 in gap between bump stop & control arm . Some cut the bump stop for a little more spring travel , but I JUST LEFT MINE > pretty stiff but is ok with me , no problems .

By the way , one of my sons lives in Greensboro . Go there to visit occasionaly . He is southside I85 off Groomstown Rd.
Groometown Rd is only about 25 minutes from where I live, next time you plan to come down let me know. I'm always up for meeting fellow owners!

So you left your rubber bumpstops on and have 1.5-2" travel between them and the control arm right?
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Old 02-11-2009, 07:34 AM   #4
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

Uh oh.. now I am confused. Square84 you used 3" drop coils too but yours was sitting on the bumpstops but his was about 1.5 above them? What the heck?! Do you think the truck has drop spindles on it or could it be a model year difference thing??

Thanks again for help guys, I'm asking this stuff because mine was lowered when I bought it but it was sitting on the bump stops and I want to bring it up just a bit but have no easy way of telling what drop to get since I can't go to the local dealer and measure one sitting on the lot. BTW, the prev owner lowered it by heating the coils in the front and using a flip kit/removing leaves in the rear... hack job IMO. So I need to do it right.
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Old 02-11-2009, 02:17 AM   #5
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

i have 3 inch coils. when i let the truck off the jack it was sitting higher in the front and when i looked it was sitting on the bump stops. i got rid of the bumpstops and cut the bumpstop perch off of the lower control arm.
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Old 02-11-2009, 09:47 AM   #6
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

Get drop spindles and some fresh stock coils. That will eliminate the guess work.
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Old 02-11-2009, 10:05 AM   #7
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

I have 3 in. Springs with 1/2 a turn cut off and i had to get rid of the bump stop perch too.
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Old 02-11-2009, 11:21 AM   #8
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

Thanks J, I'm still confused about Slugish' difference from you guys.

Thought about spindles but decided to just go with coils only, for now anyway. Who knows what the future holds though.
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Old 02-11-2009, 11:39 AM   #9
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

If you do springs only, I wouldn't go anymore than 2" drop springs to keep the geometry somewhat in tact. Anymore than that and you could always add the drop spindles later.
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Old 02-11-2009, 01:03 PM   #10
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

shorter springs change your susp. geometry and significantly hinder ride quality.you will need to re-align the front end because of the negative camber you create w/lowering springs. you will also need shorter shocks because the stock length is now bottomed out or well neer bottomed out and this can dammage the delicale upper shock mounts.My suggestion is to scrap the crap,go w/drop spindles and keep your stock geometry, alignment and skocks.this will also give you shorter stopping distanceand way better ride.
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Old 02-11-2009, 01:10 PM   #11
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

another note about alignment,you may have a problem getting your camber near 0 deg. and may need to use an offset upper control arm shaft assy. to get camber right.seems like a lot of hassle to go cheeper and wrong!you can get spindles w/2-3" drop and if you want more drop use a stiffer 1" drop spring in addition to your spindles to get 3-4" of drop. good luck
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Old 02-11-2009, 01:18 PM   #12
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

Thanks for all the info guys, every single truck I looked at in this state that was already lowered had heated springs, geez! I have cut 1-1.5 coils off stock springs before but never heated them since I believe it can change their spring rate. Overall I love the truck but it's kinda sad to see folks do half-arsed jobs like that.
I hope to get it back on the road by april, started tearing it down the 2nd day after I bought it recently. Partly as an exploratory thing and then when I found a few issues I figured what the heck, do it now.
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Old 02-11-2009, 05:26 PM   #13
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

I took 2007 truck spring and cut 1 and 1/4 coil off and it lowerd my burb about 5in
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Old 02-11-2009, 06:21 PM   #14
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

my 84 is a heavy half with 3/4 ton springs, when i put in the drop springs it actually lowered the truck 4 inches. my springs are western chassis smooth riders(3 inch drop springs)they have been in the truck for 4 years now and it aligns fine and still rides better than stock. i did get shorter shocks which also help with the ride. my buddy put 3 inch drop spindles on his 85 1/2ton and he had to cut the lca which in my opinion is dangerous, and it still rubs when he turns sharply. and he even agrees that mine rides nicer than his. the factory truck springs are much stiffer which gives a harsher ride. And with my bumpstops out it had about 1 1/2 inches till it hit the perch so i cut the perch off. also i should add that we are both running 15x8 rally wheels if your wheels are larger than you can run spindles without any cutting of the lca.
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Last edited by Square84; 02-11-2009 at 06:24 PM. Reason: forgot something
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Old 02-11-2009, 09:43 PM   #15
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Re: Help needed if you've lowered your front with coils, not drop spindles.

yea getting a little confusing , this is what I GOT

* 3 IN Springs

* 2.5 in drop spindles

* 17 in rimss with 5.5 backspace >front & rear <

* does rub lower control arm when turned sharpely

* bump stops have not been removed or cut off

*The springs are Eibach brand

* on the inside lip of my rims are definitely signs of where it has rubbed the lca > I just live with it . probably should grind off a little lca , but havent yet . Any feedback on those who have grinded their lca,s to prevent rubbing

* Idont understand why I still have the whole bumpstops & another post said after the 3 in spring install they set on the bumpstop & would not allow the drop to be complete /??
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