static drop question

[CMH77]

I'm in process of redoing my '69 lwb stepper. I am not doing a total resto, or any insane mods. Little stuff here and there to personalize, fixing and patching where it's needed. Ultimately, she's still going to do some work, but want to cruise with a little style as well.

My question is about lowering. I have an original trailing arm set up (coil springs at all four corners). For now I'm just going to run the 15's that are on it, but want to look at some slightly bigger steelies or rally style wheels eventually, probably no bigger than 18's.

How low can I go without having to C-notch the frame or making other major suspension/steering geometry modifications? I don't want to do much more than change out the springs and shocks. I was looking at maybe a 3/5 or a 4/6.

The second question, and reason for the long wind up to the first one, is how much am I going to 'undo' the lowering by throwing 18's under there eventually? I don't think it's worth the expense right now to do any less than the 3/5, especially if the later addition of the larger wheels negates most of the drop.

Advice/guidance is most appreciated. Thanks gents.

[Tx Firefighter]

You can go 4/6 and not notch the frame.

Don't get wrapped up on wheel size. Down the road when you go bigger, just buy correspondingly lower profile tires to keep the overall tire height equal to your 15 inch setup so you have guaranteed fitment.

[CMH77]

I figured tire profile was the way to balance it out, but wanted to be sure I could lose enough in tire height to accommodate not 'losing' drop without losing working capability at the same time. Guess like everything else it's a game of inches, literally.

4/6? Great news! Thanks Tx!

Any advice on a good reasonably priced kit out there?

[sir_talk_alot]

i would say dont go 4/6 on your truck. yes you dont have to notch, but you have very low travel on the back. if your still gonna work with it( hauling and what not occasionally), then i would recommend a 3/4, 3/3 drop. reason why is that of rake. if you do a 3/5, your back end will be level with the front. so whatever you haul will make your truck sit nose high. if you do a 3/3, then your truck will sit with the nose a little lower, making it still look lower, have the old school butt in the air look slightly, and the ability to haul stuff. i have old springs in the rear, which have settled about an inch, and i took the cheap route for now and cut the front coils 1 1/4 coils off to give it a 3 in front drop which gives it a nice stance. it does stiffen up the front end a bit, but im doing a sport truck and will have a rear sway bar also to tighten up handling. ill get another 1- 1.5 in drop when the bbc goes in. and cpp, they have good priced kits. your a 6lug drum truck like me, so remember that you can only do drop springs on drum trucks without converting to disc. and anything more than a 3in drop on the front and your risking the coils falling out up front on a big bump and you would also need shorter shocks or relocation brackets etc. i cut my coils and i like it. ill do a kit later to drop it. and ive just picked up 18" nissan titan steelies for my truck that im gonna do a wheel spacer on with the drop and give it a classic but new look.

[RenoKeene]

You can go 5" drop springs with an adj track bar and shock relocator with out a notch, thats about it.
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[low&slow]

I think DJM is a great place for lowering springs and in my opinion, they're not real expensive either. Stuff I can actually afford lol.

[Tx Firefighter]

Here are some quick pictures of trucks I've built in the last few years with 6 inch rear drops. None of them are notched. The ratty stepside hauled dozens of motorcycles, including Honda Goldwings set up just like you see. All Early Classic stuff under all of these trucks.

[Andy4639]

U can also do the helper air bags if u want to haul something big as I did.
U will need to get the shock relocator also for the rear. I hadn't installed it yet when I took the pictures.

[brad_man_72]

I have a 4-6" drop on my 67. Does it hit the bump stops when hauling and towing, yes. Is it the end of the world, no. It sucks on roads that are horrible, but I don't hesitate taking my truck and boat on 300 mile trips.
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[sir_talk_alot]

brad............that boat is bad a

[brad_man_72]

Originally Posted by sir_talk_alot

brad............that boat is bad a

Thanks, search youtube "66 stevens" and you can see it in action I have a few videos of it on there, username braman72. Their might even be a video of me doing a burnout pulling the boat, blindfolded, with a boat full of people....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnXW...e_gdata_player
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[Stickman]

That boat is way cool
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[CMH77]

Thanks for the discussion, gents. And for the pics to help me envision it a bit.

Tx Firefighter, the one you described as a 'ratty' stepside was one of my favorites that you posted. Says something about me I guess.

I think I'm going to with a 3/5. Hedge my bets.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by CMH77

Thanks for the discussion, gents. And for the pics to help me envision it a bit.

Tx Firefighter, the one you described as a 'ratty' stepside was one of my favorites that you posted. Says something about me I guess.

I think I'm going to with a 3/5. Hedge my bets.

I'm glad you liked the stepside. I literally built it from junk. Free engine and trans. 1 ton truck. A lot of work. And, I drove it 100k miles and only had to put a radiator in it as repairs that whole time.

I got hurt pretty bad at work and had to have pins and rods and stuff installed into my leg, so while I was off work, I built it on crutches under my carport with crap I had laying around. Climbing up and down into that big loader with one leg was a chore.

[lolife99]

TxFirefighter,... I like all of your trucks,...but the big block green stepside was my favorite.
What happened to that truck?

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by Andy4639

U can also do the helper air bags if u want to haul something big as I did.
U will need to get the shock relocator also for the rear. I hadn't installed it yet when I took the pictures.

Andy, where did you get those/cost, etc? Are they the kind you pump up and leave 'em be or do you have a compressor hooked up to them?

I'm contemplating some changes to my truck and have been wondering about drivability of the 3.5/5 drop myself. I'm pretty rough on my truck. I took some measurements and the back will be fine, but up front with the 3.5 it appears there will be .5-.75" of space above my front tires to the top of the fender, looking straight on. I think that should be fine, but I take corners and bumps pretty hard sometimes and I don't want any rubbing.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by lolife99

TxFirefighter,... I like all of your trucks,...but the big block green stepside was my favorite.
What happened to that truck?

I sold it to another member on here. He took it all apart and did it up nice. Seems like it was purple or something. If your search kung-fu is strong he did a thread on here about it. Not my cup o tea.

[brad_man_72]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Andy, where did you get those/cost, etc? Are they the kind you pump up and leave 'em be or do you have a compressor hooked up to them?

I'm contemplating some changes to my truck and have been wondering about drivability of the 3.5/5 drop myself. I'm pretty rough on my truck. I took some measurements and the back will be fine, but up front with the 3.5 it appears there will be .5-.75" of space above my front tires to the top of the fender, looking straight on. I think that should be fine, but I take corners and bumps pretty hard sometimes and I don't want any rubbing.

Did you take how much your factory springs are sagging after 40 years into account?
Your springs could have been cut or heated also, if you bought your truck used.
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[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by lolife99

TxFirefighter,... I like all of your trucks,...but the big block green stepside was my favorite.
What happened to that truck?

Keith, I finally found the thread where the guy painted my old green truck. No offense to the guy, but I very much preferred it with the worn original paint.

[lolife99]

Thanks.
I like the "before" look also.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by brad_man_72

Did you take how much your factory springs are sagging after 40 years into account?
Your springs could have been cut or heated also, if you bought your truck used.

I had thought about that. I've owned the truck since 1996, I'm positive they're not heated or cut. I could see them having sagged a half inch or more? Everytime I think about dropping it, I like it's stock height...