Lay Cross member with stock control arms????

[Bagd72Chevy]

Alright guys, I read every post here, and followed them for a while now, and i have a question.

Is it possible to lay the front crossmember(well actually the lower a-arms cause they're lower) with stock upper and lower control arms. I've seen most people use different control arms.

I have art's kit, which is plate on top, cup on bottom. I also have mcgaughy's 2 inch dropped spindles and baer brakes. I'm about 1.25 inches from laying crossmember, but can i go lower with stock arms, at least the lower ones?

By the way I'm riding on 20's, about 27-28 inches tall.

Thanks guys!

[Captkaos]

Not sure what year you are talking about, but all should be applicable.
This was a truck I had my bag setup in with no spindles and about 28" tall tires, having the front sheetmetal and engine would have it dragging the ground.

[Izzy]

I was rolling a 235/60/15 with 3" DJM spindles and an ART cool ride kit and the bag still had about 30 psi when the LCA's were laid out.

[Bagd72Chevy]

yeah, my truck is a 72. Did you do anything special to get yours so low? I only need like another inch or so. Are art's cups bigger or something?

[phantom dually]

If you are using the plate which mounts to the member you will not sit as low. The cup style actually sits in the member a inch or so.

[Bagd72Chevy]

So, if I pull the plate out, and put cups in the top it should sit on the ground correct?

[Captkaos]

Originally Posted by Bagd72Chevy

yeah, my truck is a 72. Did you do anything special to get yours so low? I only need like another inch or so. Are art's cups bigger or something?

Not sure who you were asking, but Izzy has the same basic bag brackets I have. This is what I had in the above pic.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by phantom dually

If you are using the plate which mounts to the member you will not sit as low. The cup style actually sits in the member a inch or so.

I'm not sure what set up your talking about here. My Blazer would lay the A-arms with 245/55/20's with an ART top plate and cup bottom. I think what your missing is the extra drop offered by a 3" spindle....

[Sublvr72]

I am laying crossmember

I dont have any pictures of it all the way down, but here is a pic from when I first bagged it before I redid the brackets. its a few inches above ride hieght and I am running 2.5" dropped spindles on 285/30/20's

[Sublvr72]

Originally Posted by Captkaos

Not sure what year you are talking about, but all should be applicable.
This was a truck I had my bag setup in with no spindles and about 28" tall tires, having the front sheetmetal and engine would have it dragging the ground.

I see Impala SS wheels, let me know if you ever want to sell those. I could use a spare set for my car.

[Captkaos]

Originally Posted by Sublvr72

I see Impala SS wheels, let me know if you ever want to sell those. I could use a spare set for my car.

Did you chrome them? I wanted Chrome, but I purchased the set of 4 from GM for less that $700 brand new with caps, lugs, covers and valve stems. They should still have them for that price.

[Bagd72Chevy]

Maybe I'm not as low because I only have 2 inch dropped spindles. I have 245/40/R20 tires on the front. I have Art's kit on the front, and the crossmember is an inch up. It just seemed like everyone else was lower than me, and I was seeing if anyone else was layin lower with 2 inch spindles and stock control arms.

Any recomendations as to what I can do. Baer's brake system came with the 2 inch spindles because they had to modify them or something.

If I can go from a plate to a cup in the top and get another inch that would be cool. But I'm not sure if a cup will give you an extra inch.

[Captkaos]

Not sure why you aren't since the one I posted has stock spindles on it.
I do know that my lower cup is just tall enough to keep the bag from touching the LCA. IF you did go with a cup on top, you can get it lower, but you will have to investigate how much lower.

Baer had to modify the spindle for the new rotor shaft from what I remember. The stock one won't go on there anymore since it has a new shaft.

I can notch your crossmember and give you up to 1.5" of drop.

Originally Posted by Bagd72Chevy

Maybe I'm not as low because I only have 2 inch dropped spindles. I have 245/40/R20 tires on the front. I have Art's kit on the front, and the crossmember is an inch up. It just seemed like everyone else was lower than me, and I was seeing if anyone else was layin lower with 2 inch spindles and stock control arms.

Any recomendations as to what I can do. Baer's brake system came with the 2 inch spindles because they had to modify them or something.

If I can go from a plate to a cup in the top and get another inch that would be cool. But I'm not sure if a cup will give you an extra inch.

[Bagd72Chevy]

yeah. I want to get the crossmember down, then I'll notch the crossmember your way, and bridge the rear for the final drop.

[Sublvr72]

Originally Posted by Captkaos

Did you chrome them? I wanted Chrome, but I purchased the set of 4 from GM for less that $700 brand new with caps, lugs, covers and valve stems. They should still have them for that price.

yep, they are chrome. Thats my second set of chrome wheels, the first set started to peel and the previous owner got some nasty curb rash on them too.

[Bagd72Chevy]

Alright Guys,

I looked over my truck again today. I'm like 1 inch from the control arms hitting the ground, since they are lower than the crossmember. I can't figure out why my truck is sitting an inch higher than everyone else on here. I have Air RIde Technologies kit with an upper plate bolted to the crossmember flange, and the cup in the control-arm. I'm going to try to put it on the lift tomorrow, and take a better look at the cups, but they're sitting in there pretty far. I looked, and nothing is binding up, so I'm dumbfounded.

Any Ideas???

[Bagd72Chevy]

I was just thinking, I wonder if it is my shocks holding the truck up??? Who knows, but I'm going to check it tomorrow.

[Sublvr72]

ART kits are designed to not let the crossmember hit the ground. They don't want to be responsible for people railing then comming back to them for a new crossmember or control arms. Chances are it the shocks or the bag brakets.

[ghetocrewzer]

I dropped my crossmember 1.5" usin Capt's method, running 2" dropped spindles, and the bags with no lower cups and mine lays frame from front to rear. Had to rebuild tranny and swing bearing crossmembers and notch the hell out of the back to get it this low though. On the front on these trucks the crossmember is shallow and smooth so you can run the bag sittin in the crossmember without a cup for couple extra inches.

[Sublvr72]

yo ghetocrewzer, did you drop the crossmember yourself? how labor intensive was it? I am thinking about doing my friends 71.

[pbmcauliffe]

Originally Posted by ghetocrewzer

.......... and notch the hell out of the back to get it this low though. .........

Did you have to to come up into the bed for center section clearance?
Bags alone, or did you have to block it as well?
Thanks

[loweredd]

I had to use a 10" notch for my old 305/50/20's. I'm about 2" from the top of it now.

[ghetocrewzer]

yeah i did all the work myself and built a 9" notch. Sublvr the crossmember just takes about a good 4-5 hours of fab time and you have to be sure and get it aligned right before welding. My ride is a Suburban so i just took the whole wood floor out and am buildin new rear floor for it out of tubing and thin steel

[XXL]

Originally Posted by pbmcauliffe

Did you have to to come up into the bed for center section clearance?
Bags alone, or did you have to block it as well?
Thanks

On the 67-72 you'll be all over the bed floor long before you get the truck to the ground. I can't speak to the 73+ setup.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by Bagd72Chevy

I was just thinking, I wonder if it is my shocks holding the truck up??? Who knows, but I'm going to check it tomorrow.

Unbolt the shocks at the bottom and let them hang. That will tell you if they are the problem. Are your tires clearing the fender liners? You could be resting on the tires too....