lowering 68 gmc

[jott_06]

I have a 68 Gmc 1500 i am redoing into sort of a rat rod truck and i was wanting to lower it a little bit but i dont want it slammed. I was wandering if anyone knows of a easy cheap way to lower the front an inch or so and i wandered if i took a leaf out of the back if it would do anything because my truck has a ton of leaves in the rear end. But at the least i want to lower the front a hair to give it a little bit of a hot rod rake. Thanks

[bad6772]

you can cut a coil or two out of the front coils, but i have heard that you get alot of bump steer with this? and you can take a leaf or two out. but i did this on and old truck and your towing capicity goes way down. you can get drop coils or spindles pretty cheap, the coils should run you about 100 bucks and the drop spindles should be around 200 250 . and for the rear i would do a flip kit not shure about price. i would check with one of the site venders.

[jott_06]

yeah but i heard that a rear flip kit lowers it about 3-4 inches in the rear and i dont really want to go that much lower than stock i just want to close up the gap between the tire and the wheel well a little. but the front coil kit should work for what i want . do you know of a company that sells the coils?

[JameslovesJammie]

Cutting 1 coil in the front will get you 2-3 inches drop, and flipping the leafs in rear will get you more like 5 inches of drop in the rear.

[jott_06]

Is it very difficult to remove the coils. because i might just try to cut them and if i dont like it i can always buy the lowering coils. I might also try removing one of my leaves in the rear. I figure the only thing i'll be spending for that is for a new set of u bolts.

[DennyB]

Moved to Suspension, You should get more info here.

And welcome to the fourms!

[67Fleet]

It's not that hard to remove the front coils. As mentioned, cutting 1 full coil off will net you about 2-3 inches. You need to remove them to cut them down, so buying new ones and installing them is no easier/harder. Out back if you do a flip kit, that's probably going to be more drop than you want. I'm not sure if anyone makes a drop shackle for those trucks, but if they do, I would do that. It will give you 2 inches.

[surf200010345287]

I used lowering shackles to bring down my rear end but it only brought it down 3/4 of in inch cause the shackles hit the bed. I had a wood bed so maybe its different with a metal bed and has more clearence. I can't remember who i got them through because its been so long but i think they were about $60. Anyway good luck....

[JameslovesJammie]

Originally Posted by surf200010345287

I used lowering shackles to bring down my rear end but it only brought it down 3/4 of in inch cause the shackles hit the bed. I had a wood bed so maybe its different with a metal bed and has more clearence. I can't remember who i got them through because its been so long but i think they were about $60.

You must have gotten them from Early Classic Enterprises. They still sell the shackles for the rear, but only offer the 1 1/2 inch ones. They used to offer a 2" one, but if you installed it in a wood bed...it would hit just like you said. The 1 1/2" one works on both. This isn't first hand experience, but I recall it being posted a couple of years ago. I am going to flip mine when I get a chance to do spindles up front.

[jott_06]

thanks for all of the info. I'm probably gonna try to find some 2 or 3 inch lowering coils for the front and a set of those 1 1/2 inch shackles for the rear. Can anyone give me a quick description of what all I will have to do to remove the front coils. I did it on my old s-10 and it was a piece of cake but i didnt know if these trucks were any different or not.
Thanks



1968 GMC. HOT ROD Hauler project. 350 engine TH400 tranny, summit full length headers with 2 1/2 inch mid pipes with force chambered mufflers..
1986 camaro. my show car. built 355, TCI TH350,tranny Mickey thompson et streets on rear, 3 inch harwood cowl hood..
1977 K10. Daily driver. Stock 350 engine, 4 speed tranny, 35inch buckshots...

[dave2953]

Originally Posted by jott_06

Can anyone give me a quick description of what all I will have to do to remove the front coils. I did it on my old s-10 and it was a piece of cake but i didnt know if these trucks were any different or not.
Thanks

Put the front of the truck's frame on jack stands. Take the shock loose from the control arm. Place your jack under the lower control arm, applying slight pressure to the spring. Loosen the lower ball joint nut way off (but not completely) and hit the spindle with a BFH near where the ball joint passes through. Once the ball joint is free, you can take the nut off and slowly lower your jack, dropping the lower control arm. The spring should fall out. Someone please add on if I've left anything out.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by dave2953

Put the front of the truck's frame on jack stands. Take the shock loose from the control arm. Place your jack under the lower control arm, applying slight pressure to the spring. Loosen the lower ball joint nut way off (but not completely) and hit the spindle with a BFH near where the ball joint passes through. Once the ball joint is free, you can take the nut off and slowly lower your jack, dropping the lower control arm. The spring should fall out. Someone please add on if I've left anything out.

Only thing I would add is to secure the spring w/a strap to limit movement in a worst case scenario.

Shorter drop coils will definitely fall right out, but many stock length springs still have 'stored' energy even after the lower a-arm is dropped all the way down. Grab anything handy (a length of wire, rope, chain, strap) & loop it around 1 of the coils before you drop the spring (the lower on the spring the better). If the coil doesn't fall right out, you can use the 'strap' to help the spring pop out.... & when it does, you have it on a leash.

Check the lower BJ's for 'play' once you have everything apart. If the BJ is real easy to move around, it's time for some new ones.

[chevydog66]

I purchased my 2" drop shackles from stylin concepts a few years ago. $40 I think, for my 72 GMC. I also removed 2 leafs, but didn't like the ride so I put 1 leaf back in.