Frustrated! Regretting decision to HACK up and lower my truck

[thomps92]

Hello, I'd like to start by saying hello and introduce myself. I am a huge fan of chevy trucks and cars and have been into hot rodding my whole life and am 36 years old. I'd like to use this post to discuss some things that I have encountered by lowering my truck and installing airbags in the front.....things that vendors and others tend to leave out of the discussions...I've found anyways. Let's start with the background: 1983 chevy c10 with a 305. Body is in good condition and it's a daily driver, or at least that was my goal with the build. I live in Upstate NY so the driving season is short. If we are lucky it's April to October. So last summer 2013 my buddy told me I should lower my truck. After some significant research I decided to go ahead and do it. The airbag suspension has always intrigued me since I could run my truck low and then air it up for hauling, or getting over curbs, if needed. What also intrigued me was that I could build the system with the money I had saved up and add to it in the future. I was totally fine with just having shrader valves to control the air until I could afford a tank and compressor. My first experience was installing what was advertised as 4 inch lowering leaf springs in the rear from a well know distributor out in California. I called em and posed the question, "I will get a 4 inch drop with your product right?" "Yup, Yup, Yup" the guy says. Ok, so I dropped $450 on those babies just to have them installed and it only yielded a 2 inch drop. The company and I go back and forth...I submit pictures....they agree.....their product was misadvertised and doesn't really give anyone an actual 4 inch drop. So in exchange they give me a free flip kit. Ok good enough....I'm happy and get it installed. So the back end sits reasonably where I want it and it's time to tackle the front. I've called and talked with several vendors about their bag, plate and cup packages for c10's. I said, "this product will give me this amount of drop that I am looking for right?" "Yup, Yup, Yup" they say. Additionally, I already had 2.5 inch drop spindles already installed. Well lo and behold I get the plate, bag and cup brackets installed and interestingly enough my truck sits at the ride height I already had with the dropped spindles and stock springs. "Hmmmm", I say. Now what? Nobody seemed to mention that I would also have to purchase control arms if I really wanted this to function like I wanted. Well, I wasn't really budgeting $1,000 on control arms, but for safety's sake I decide to spend the money and buy a set of Strong Arms. I ask the vendor if I can run shortened shocks in the stock mounts on the truck frame. "Yup, Yup, Yup" they say. Ok. I get the control arms installed and find a set of monroe shocks that will give me the amount of travel I need.....I am almost home free I think. Oh wait, How do I get the wheels to tuck way up into the front fenders? Oh I've gotta rip out my front inner fenders. Ok. No big deal I say....I don't care if my engine compartment is filthy all the time. Oh wait.....Now I've gotta cut the webbing on my fenders to allow the tires to tuck way up in there. Ok. No biggie....it's all in the name of being cool and getting the ride and stance I want. Sweet I am almost done with my project. I've got the stance I want and I've got a measurement of 24 inches from my front fender lip to the ground and 26 inches from my back fender lip to the ground. The other requirement of this project was that I could run 15 inch wheels all the way around. Personally, I am old school and don't really like bigger rims on a project like this ( to each there own right? ) so 17's-20's are outta the question, for me anyways. I drive it like this for the rest of the summer. It rides fantastic and I love it!!!! The front crosmember will sit on the ground if I want it to. I can air it out (in the front)at a show and I get tons of thumbs ups and compliments. Sweet this is exactly what I wanted!!!! I can air it back up with my pancake compressor and I haven't broken my budget to badly. So, I invest in new tires all the way around for my 15 inch rims.


Alright fast forward to summer of 2014. I've encountered a little problem.....My monroe shocks that I have installed don't really like the angle they are mounted at and I end up breaking one on the driver's side. Ok no biggie I exchange it for a new one and call the vendor of my control arms to inquire if I can use the stock mounting holes on my frame. "Yup. Sure can" they say. Ok. so I think it must be a fluke that this shock broke so I will install another one and do so. SO HERE IS WHERE MY FRUSTRATION BEGINS I travel a few hundred miles on a camping trip and things are going great. My truck is running like a dream and is super smooth. I couldn't be happier.....until for some unexplained reason I decided to pull my front driver's side tire off just on a fluke after I returned home from camping. What did I find? My shock broke again and almost punctured my bag!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY COW! I could have died if I lost my bag. So I call around to several vendors and get differing opinions about things with the funny thing being that the people that sold me the control arms don't have a solution for the problem. Nobody there will acknowledge the need to relocate the front shocks. Only after several weeks and talking with several people of the same company does anyone acknowledge that they actually do make a shock relocating bracket and that they will actually sell it to me. The bracket isn't listed in their catalog, or their website and their technicians (that I spoke with at a trade show) didn't even know the part existed.


So after this incident I decide that I really need to make sure this vehicle is safe for me and others travelling on the roads. What happens if I lose a bag? What happens if I lose a tire? I call a couple vendors I did business with and pose those questions to them. They say, "Ah don't worry about it. Nothing's gonna happen. We've only had a couple problems over the years. It's mostly installation error." So I decide to take the dreaded "scrub line" discussions seriously and take an honest look at my set up. I guess that most of these guys laying frame don't seem to care about these things at least from my research anyways. Nobody really seems to talk about it when I engage them in a discussion. So I have snapped a few shots of my set up for you to analyze. What frustrates me right now is that my truck ISN'T GOING TO BE SAFE UNLESS I THROW SEVERAL THOUSAND MORE DOLLARS AT IT. I don't have the money and this project was supposed to be done last year and it's only just beginning, it appears. From looking at my scrub line I will absolutely have to go with 18-20 inch rims to avoid a blowout catastrophe since my lower control arms sit below the lip of my wheel. Nobody really seems to talk about that do they? This project was for 15 inch rims...NOT 18-20. I don't see anyway around it....if it's gonna be safe I have to go with bigger rims.....so there's another $2-3000 I never anticipated spending on rim designs I don't even like (no offense to you guys running big rims). Additionally, I seriously need to consider bump stops to keep by front end from crashing into the pavement should a line go. Bump stops aren't a big deal to do, but lately I am disgusted whenever I look at my truck. I am broke, disappointed and searching for a solution to my problems. It's either take the truck back stock (don't really want to do that), ditch the air bags and keep my 15 inch rims for a static drop with 3 inch lowering springs and my 2.5 dropped spindles, or spend thousands more and finish the job with 18-20 inch rims, a tank and compressor, a 4 link and get myself way in over my head in expenses and time. Anyone else have a similar experience or want to provide some advice? I am at my wits end and just want to park the project for a long time. Thanks for your imput


PS I will give a shout out to AIR LIFT who offered to send me, free of charge, a new Dominator 2600 airbag after I submitted a picture for them to assess the condition of my airbag, for safety after the shock incident. Thanks AIRLIFT!!!!!