To drop the axle or not?

[Denee007]

Hi! A newer member here, XYZsniper has a 3" dropped axle for sale. It came with his truck, but was the incorrect straight axle for his truck so he has to part with it. I had my straight axle overhauled by Sid@dropped axles(king pins, and other things). I didn't mess with the King pins as I wanted it done correctly. So, if I chose to go with this axle, which I'm contemplating just leave it alone for now, or torture myself with a little more work.

I posed the question, the dropped axle will place a steeper angle on the drag link going from my Saginaw gear which may mess with bump steer(or not?).

I just need some help making a decision here whether or not to go with this option of lowering the front a little more(or a lot). Or, should I just leave well enough alone? I didn't get a price from xyzsniper yet.
dne'

photo of the axle for sale:
http://www.cornbread.com/~ratta/dropaxle2.jpg

My truck in the front has the 2 leaf posies, but a stock straight axle.

[Dan in Pasadena]

I'd definitely lower it. But if I do mine with a dropped axle I will be getting my advice and parts from Sid. He can explain EXACTLY what you need and provide the parts to minimize/eliminate bump steer.
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[dubie]

Well I dropped mine using a 3 " dropped axle paired up with mono leafs to drop the truck 6" from stock, and it includes a bit of work. You'll need to heat up your steering arm until cherry red and bend it into place to bring the drag link back into parallel to avoid the bump steer. Plus, all your king pins, shims, bearing, brake hardware and wheel bearings will all have to come off again. It's a lot of work considering you just finished putting it all together but it'll give your truck one hell of an attitude adjustment. It also improves the handling on these older trucks when you lower the center of gravity.

In my opinion, it's a win win situation. You get a finished product that not only looks better, but it also rides better. The great thing is, you have all the parts you need on your truck right now so it's a matter of stripping the old axle out and putting all the parts on the new axle. The only hang up you will have is the fitment of your king pins and bushings. You'll have to install new bushings in the dropped axle and then have them honed to the diameter of your king pin. Other than that, you can do this swap in a weekend and be cruising by Sunday.

If you have any questions, fire away, I just went through with this entire process on mine

[meter swinger]

I think your truck would look great with the nose a smidge lower. Check your front tire clearance before hand if you do the axle, you want to know if the tires are going to rub.
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[arturo7]

I'd leave it as is.

[NEWFISHER]

It all depends on your personal preference. If you are on the fence and think the axle is a good deal and you might install it later, grab it now and sell it later if you don't use it. You will have to tear down your axle and install all of the rebuilt parts onto this one, same if you had sid drop a stock one that was " for sure" built for your truck and may only be a couple hundred more. Sid will also have the correct answers to all of your steering geometry questions using his axle and not an aftermarket one. I think the aftermarket ones are great for those just starting out, have a tight budget, rebuild the king pins etc on thier own and may not care about bump steer, but for your build I would recomend Sid and his entire package including all upgraded tie rods, steer arms etc. At that point you could order one whenever you are ready. Drive yours for awhile and the posies may relax putting the stance where you like it vs doing a 4 inch drop on top of posies and being to low for your taste. Heck, stay on this site and you will be bagging it and laying frame at the next truck show

[Denee007]

Great answers/repsonses! I just sent Sid an email asking his professional opinion. He usually gets back to me pretty quickly. If Sid were to say send me my axle, I'd probably just let him do it to my axle. I"m not messing with king pins, that's too important.

In the beginning~ I thought sure the 2 leaf posie's were going to lower it more than it did. Granted, it's going to lower more, hopefully not too much as the rubber bumpers aren't too far from the leafs! I may have to remove the rubber bumpers and plot my course around Houston for the least bumpy roads!

ps: going to get exhaust system in the morning!!!

[Coach529]

After dealing with Sid and getting awesome service and a great product I would not even think about buying a manufactured drop axle from anybody.

[Denee007]

Yes, I totally agree! I can hear him now, quoting me a price, and I say, OK! lol I just hate shipping my axle back to him again! But, this isn't something I have to hurry on, it would be just another project down the line.

Originally Posted by Coach529

After dealing with Sid and getting awesome service and a great product I would not even think about buying a manufactured drop axle from anybody.

[Scottshotrods]

Lower it for sure.Just make sure you install new king pins and bushings in there.The truck looks good

Justin

[NEWFISHER]

Shameless bump for Scottshotrods...... If you decide to go IFS, Scotts looks like the way to go in my opinion. Back to your normally broadcasted straight axle drop

[OrrieG]

You can always get Sid to modify the dropped one, provide the right steering arm, then its just a quick swap and you have a complete axle to sell. Probably will need different shocks.

With all the work you have done, I would get the dropped axle, then drive yours for a while. You might decide that IFS is what you really want. My experience has been solid front axle trucks always ride like solid axle front trucks no matter the drop or raise. I was surprised how similar my 4wd axle really felt compared to the original I beam.

[G&R's57GMC]

Another option to lower the front just a bit is replace the front tires (I know, I know they're new) with a smaller diameter tire like a 50 series in the same section width.

Or just a smaller tire. Say one had a 235/70R15 on the rear and put a 215/70R15 on the front this would give a 1" drop in the front.

Or a 225/60R15 would result in a 2" drop.

Go to http://www.tirerack.com
click on search by tires and enter your tire size,

then click on your tire brand or other brand. This will bring up a list of tires for you,

now click on "specs" for the tire, this will bring up a chart with the size you selected that shows a bunch of info including the tire diameter .

Now scroll down and look at the specs for other sizes of that tire to see what combination would work for you.

Have fun with it. BTW the truck looks great but could be lower in the front.

[_Ogre]

drive it