Looking for input on lowering an 84 LWB

[mckpaul]

Well, this is something I never thought I'd even consider, but I'm looking for input about lowering my truck (Did I just say that??) Kind of long, but instead of just saying 'Hey tell me what to do' I looked into a little and now need some input to make sure what I'm thinking is correct.

I have an 84 LWB with a 305. It's a second vehicle, it's purpose is to be a truck and haul stuff when needed around the house, you know, lumber from Home Depot, maybe haul the motorcycle somewhere if needed, don't plan on loading it to the hilt, and most of the time it won't be hauling anything, but don't want to mess up it's ability to be a truck. Just want to bring it down a little and maybe level it out some, and have a couple of questions.

As far as I know, everything on the truck is stock, no suspension modifications have ever been made. Per the LMC catalog, the factory stance on the truck should be 32" to the edge of the fender in the front and 34" to the edge of the fender in the back. Currently, mine is about 31" in the front and about 32-1/2" in the back (see pic below). Not sure if this is because it's just a tired suspension, or maybe the tires have a slightly lower profile than the stock tires, it currently has 255/70's all the way around. I'm thinking 2" lower in the front would be plenty, and 3" to 4" in the back as long as it doesn't make the back lower than the front.

FOR THE FRONT - Don't really want to get into replacing control arms. Also don't want to get into cutting the old tired springs ending up with unpredictable results. I've seen new 2" lowering springs available out there for the front for $100-$150 for the pair. I'm planning on replacing ball joints and control arm bushings anyway, so while I'm doing that, would be easy to throw new springs in. And, not wanting to cut my old springs or replace the control arms, looks like for the money, 2" lowering springs is the way to go in the front for a mild effect, right?

Q.) Do you think I'll see a full 2" drop from where I am, or do you think my 20 year old springs are already sagging a little from age, so the end result of new springs may be just an inch or so lower than where I am?

FOR THE BACK - My leaf springs are stock, I have four 'leafs' in the pack and one more on the bottom of the stack that's shorter and fatter than the rest, the ends aren't up against the stack. Looks like a helper type layer that only comes into play with a load in the bed. As I mentioned, don't really want to modify the leaf packs by taking out any leafs. Looks like there are two options for the back, longer shackles on the back of the leaf springs and/or new hangers for the front of the leaf springs.

Q.) Longer Shackles on the back of the leaf springs - How much drop will only longer shackles provide? Also, about 1/2" above my stock shackles there is a cross member type bed support piece, so it looks like putting longer shackles would require that I cut notches in that cross member to make room for the taller shackles. Yes? No? Maybe?

Q.) New Hanges on the front of the leaf springs - I've read about this mod, I know it involves removing the factory rivets and factory hangers etc. I realize it's a lot more work, and I'm up to doing the work, but how much drop will only new hangers provide?

Q.) Is it OK to do only one or the other of the above, or do you have to do both if you do one? If you can do just one, which one would be best for my application? The back is currently only 1-1/2" higher than the front. I'm afraid if I go 2" lower in the front with new springs and I do both shackles and hangers in the back, I'll end up with the back sitting lower than the front, so I'm thinking I should only do one or the other. Opinions?

IN GENERAL -

Q.) With a mild drop (I'm guessing 2/4 is as mild as it gets?) what about other stuff, like shocks, alignment, drive shaft, any of that have to be considered?

Sorry this is a long post with a bunch of questions, and hopefully the questions aren't so far off base that I look like too much of an idiot, but this is a new area for me, so be gentle... hehe.

[bigblock73]

Paul, first of let me say...NICE TRUCK.

Here is my personal opinion. I would lower it 3" in front and 4" out back. This should give you a fairly level stance (the back might be slightly higher) and shouldn't affect your load carrying capibilities or ride quality one bit.

3" spindles in front (you can get 2.5" spindles too), and a shackle/hanger kit for out back...that'll give you 4" of drop.

If you ever need to, you can install helper bags in back between the spring and frame...that way you can inflate them to allow you to carry more weight in back w/o having to worry about bottoming out or anything like that.

I lowered my truck this way and could tell no difference in handling (it actually got better) or load carrying.

[mckpaul]

Hey Jeff, thanks for the response. And thanks for the compliment. You know they say a picture doesn't do something justice, in my case, the pic looks much nicer than the actual truck. I even thought 'Man that looks nice' when I saw it on the computer screen. But the door has a dent and is all rough on the fender edge from saggy hinges, and the finish on the truck as a whole is rough. In the long run though, all that will be fixed.

Took a look at your truck on the 73-87 site. Man I forgot all about that site. Went there a long time ago when Swervin was running it. That answered some of my questions about longer shackles and notching the bed support too. I need to look around there and see what all is new, been over a year since I was there. The height on yours is as low as I'd ever want to go.

So it sounds like you would go spindles in the front instead of springs?

[bigblock73]

Originally Posted by mckpaul

So it sounds like you would go spindles in the front instead of springs?

Yes, with spindles ride quality is not affected, with springs it is. Granted, it may not be much (and it all depends on what the driver likes), but IMO spindles are the way to go.

In the pics of my truck, it had a 4/4 drop. It will be more like 4/5 or 4/6 when I am finished with this resto. It sits high in the back because I have HD leafs, not the standard 4 leaf setup.

Thanks for the compliments on the site, it has been a fun adding to an already great site.

[loweredd]

Holy crap! I wish mine looked that good. Nice looking truck!

[swervin ervin]

A 2/4 drop levels the truck out since our trucks have a 2" rake stock. I would go with 2.5" spindles and a 4" shackle/hanger kit, if, and that's a big IF, you are not ever planning on going any lower out back. If you do decide later on you want it lower, the stock hangers will have to go back on and then use a flip kit. A flip kit will give you 5", and with shackles you could go 6 or 7.

Reason I say go with 2.5" spindles is a lot of folks have trouble with the wheel hitting the lower control arm sometimes with 3" spindles and 15" wheels.

Anyway, good luck with it and it is a very nice looking ride you have there.

[LONGHAIR]

The easiest way is PhotoShop............LOL

[BaggedC10]

My vote is for a 3/5" drop.

Front:

Belltech or DJM 3" spindles. If the lower control arm makes contact w/ the inside of the wheel, simply remove the "gutter" from around the balljoint. This procedure does not affect the strength of the control arm. Plus, spindles maintain the factory suspension geometry.

Rear:

Western Chassis or DJM 5" flip kit. If you use a hanger/shackle kit, you will have to fabricate a custom helper bag' setup. Not a big deal but if you install a flip kit, you'll be able to simply bolt-on an Air Lift kit.

A 3/5" would be level and technically, not require a C-notch. I would recommend the removal of the factory bumpstop/bracket w/ even a 4" drop for added suspension travel. Let us know what you decide.

[mckpaul]

I wish doing the work was as easy as modifying the pic. Thats cool! Thanks Longhair. A little lower than I would want to go in reality, but definitely helps to get an idea of what it would look like. I just want to bring the fender edges down to somewhere between the tops of the tires and an inch above the tops of the tires. If you still have the pic in PhotoShop, can you raise it up to there if you get a chance?

Don't know guys, guess it's just the old guy coming out in me, but I don't want to do anything that requires bags. I saw a shackle/hanger kit somewhere that was adjustable for 3 or 4 inches. I'm thinking if I did that, I'd probably set it at 3". And really only want to go 2" in the front, but springs are all I've seen that offer 2", and sounds like spindles are the better way to go as far as alignment and ride, and they seem to start at 2-1/2".

Thanks for all your input, very much appreciated! I'll post a pic or two when I figure it out and do it.

[LONGHAIR]

Higher and lower.............of course

[loweredd]

My version.

[mckpaul]

Hey Longhair, thanks! That's just the height I'm looking for. The lower shot with different wheels really gives it a different look, and it doesn't look like a modified pic.

Hey loweredd, saw your pic and thought for a minute 'Hey I didn't send that shot!'
Also checked out your webpage. So yours really is as low as the way Longhair made mine look. Looks like you put a lot of work in that truck.

The pic of mine is kind of the good side to the truck. The door hinges wore out on the previous owner and he let the door get into the fender, the edge of the door is really krinkled, and it's hard to see, but there was a dent almost the size of a football in the side of the door from him pushing there to slam it. I popped it back out, but it's still messed up. Looks like the guy that had it wanted it all black. He pulled all the chrome molding and fender emblems (and threw them away) and went down the passenger side and across the tailgate on the gray part with some kind of paint thinner or something. So on the rest of the truck that doesn't show in the pic, the gray is rough like primer and all blotched looking. I'd eventually like to get it painted either all a dark smoke gray, or have even been playing with the idea of flat black on the whole thing. I'm undecided on whether or not I want to find some Silverado fender emblems and put them back on. I probably will, I like keeping things kind of original.