Lowered my 68 the quick way

[55chevy]

I'm planning a suspension swap some year with a 72 parts truck I have, so a buddy torched my springs and lowered my driver 68, does ride a little bouncy but not too bad, he says shave my bump stops to take some of that away. One before pic, the rest after

[YRU351]

lowered nicely... since your dropping the old school way, couldn't you also cut some coils?

[[ol'Blue]]

yep cutting coils works, but be carefull not to cut too much off....

[68GMC454]

looks good..you chevy guys got it so easy when it comes to dropping...this why im gonna get a rear end set up out of a chevy..

[N2TRUX]

I hope they don't cause a fatal accident when they collapse.

[Longhorn Man]

you can't really cut coils out of the rear, they are pigtailed.
I've lowered more cars/trucks than I can remember, all with fire, and never had a single one shatter, crack, split,etc. And these were all for teenagers that drove like crazy.
Can it happen? I'm sure it has once or twice.
Does he have anything to worryabout? Naaaaaa.

[72armyswbtruck]

Your buddy does nice torch work

[1969C/10]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

I've lowered more cars/trucks than I can remember, all with fire, and never had a single one shatter, crack, split,etc. And these were all for teenagers that drove like crazy.

So when can I bring my truck over?

[68GMC454]

ok when i went to bed last night i was thining about lowering my truck,,and rembered a old toyota ipickup i slamed,,by putting the rear axle on top of the leaf springs, plus 4 or 4 in blocks...wouldnt that work with my gmc to,,then i could just heat or cut the front ones...but since i have never used heat,,im not sure how to do it,,or is it netter to cut it..

[55chevy]

Originally Posted by 68GMC454

ok when i went to bed last night i was thining about lowering my truck,,and rembered a old toyota ipickup i slamed,,by putting the rear axle on top of the leaf springs, plus 4 or 4 in blocks...wouldnt that work with my gmc to,,then i could just heat or cut the front ones...but since i have never used heat,,im not sure how to do it,,or is it netter to cut it..

Lowering blocks should work, altho I've never used them on leaf springs. Cutting coil is preferable over torching, just more labor involved. Took buddy a while, he says 6 cylinders don't come down as quick as an eight, I had to sit on the truck to add some fata$$.

[68GMC454]

the only springs i have cut,,i was installing on a mark 7 i used to own,, converted it to coils when the factory air ride went out...after spending all day fighting them to get the front ones in,,a friend came over and asked why i didnt just cut them..well after feeeling stupid i ran them up and cut them,,darned if they didnt go right in and gave me a good stance to boot.. how many should i cut out for say a 3 inch drop on the front,,maybe even 4...

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by 68GMC454

looks good..you chevy guys got it so easy when it comes to dropping...this why im gonna get a rear end set up out of a chevy..

Not all GMC are leaf spring….
s/t

[shifty]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

I've lowered more cars/trucks than I can remember, all with fire, and never had a single one shatter, crack, split,etc. And these were all for teenagers that drove like crazy.
Can it happen? I'm sure it has once or twice.

Or three times. Here is one from the Mercedes a friend here in town drives - you take a risk any time you improperly lower a vehicle - I think it shows a gross disrespect for other people on the road to hack your suspension to save $90 on a set of lowering springs, especially when stuff like this can happen. Only thing that saved him was the spring got lodged in itself, lest shock would have bottomed out/exploded and who knows what would have happened:

[FarmTruk]

Originally Posted by shifty

Or three times. Here is one from the Mercedes a friend here in town drives - you take a risk any time you improperly lower a vehicle - I think it shows a gross disrespect for other people on the road to hack your suspension to save $90 on a set of lowering springs, especially when stuff like this can happen. Only thing that saved him was the spring got lodged in itself, lest shock would have bottomed out/exploded and who knows what would have happened:

Torching springs will get it lowered, but you are...
1...taking a big risk to save a few $
2...risk lowering it unequally all sides, resulting in a silly lookin' truck, which can only be fixed by...new springs.

55chevy...I'm not trying to slam you or your truck. I'm just offering MY opinion on this topic since it was brought up in prior post.

The heat will cause the spring to become brittle. Spring coil stock has different properties than other types of steel on the truck. Tempering springs by heating them is NOT a good idea.

Even if the springs are cut with a cut-off wheel, it is recommended that the spring is kept wet to minimize the tempering.

Just my $ 0.02.

[corn]

I did that on a 69 el camino I had a long time ago. It worked fine but I dont think Id do it again...

[LUV2XCLR8]

I have had 2 rigs lowered this way, never again, but that's due to the ride
quality. The Black one was driven for almost 8 years as a DD and sold after
10 years of hard driving, the Gray one was used only 3 years, never had a
issue on either of them w/ the coils, however Ball joints are another story