lowering questions

[zerotoredline]

let me first of say hi guys im new to the forum.. just sold my 92 dodge stealth twin turbo all wheel drive and am buying a 68 gmc long bed... i have been doing some research on lowering the truck and this may sound odd but what is the cheapest way to lower the truck 4 or 5 inches?

i looked and found a kit for 600 i belive was a 4 or 6 inch drop but then i looked at air bag setups... i believe (correct me if i am wrong) i found one for 1300? but how much room does the setup take from the bed area?...

so in a nutshell...
1. whats the cheapest way to get lowered?
2. how much room does the air bag setup take in the bed?

Thanks in advance
Josh

[Dingfodgy]

A spring swap is the cheapest route, but isn't adjustable and you can only go about 6" down in the rear (with a bolt-in notch) without interfering with the bed floor.

You can still use bags for the adjustability and as long as you don't go lower than 6" you can still maintain your stock bed. The compressors, tanks and valves can be mounted underneath the bed floor.

Anything more that 6" drop will require some careful frame mods, and much more expensive components such as drop-members, lowered control arms, lowered spindles, watts links, etc, etc. It will also mean either cutting a big ole hole in your bed floor for a bridge-notch, removing the floor altogether, or raising the bed floor to clear the added-on bracketry.

It's not the method of lowering that forces us to sacrifice our bed floors...it's how much we lower that dictates this.

[zerotoredline]

yea i deff do not want to touch the bed or frame.. so i could bolt a basic air bag kit on and bolt everything under the bed and raise the truck and lower it?

where could i find such a kit?

[Dingfodgy]

I say check with www.airbagit.com and check out their options. But essentially you can use airbags in place of the coil springs. When they are deflated the truck will drop until the frame sits on the bump stops. When it's time to drive- pump up the bags to raise the truck. Depending on how much air you pump in determines how high the truck rides (within the bags limits)and how stiff the suspension is. The bags are the cheap part- its the compressors, valves and controller that crank up the price.

Good luck to ya' and post up some pics when you get a chance- we're all whores for photographs!

[Tx Firefighter]

First thing you need to do is to determine if your new GMC has coil spring or leaf springs in the rear. They were available with either.

[SCOTI]

Here's some sites to give you an idea on stuff that works for these trucks......
Dropmember.com
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RideTech.com
Early Classic Enterprises
Classic Performance Products
McGauhys
DJM

No cutting of the frame means no need for bags all around (unless you just have to have a bagged ride). You can do a static front drop w/some rear bags to still use it as a truck while getting a nice ride (like factory but better).

[zerotoredline]

thanks for the help thus far guys! i am going to pick her up tomorrow and will be sure to check on what suspension is under the rear...

as for not doing bags all the way around and just in the rear...i would still have to have a compressor and all that jazz to control them.. the main reason i want bags is to keep a good ride while i am lowered..

but if you are saying i can get a good ride without bags then i am all ears