A little help before I start cutting and buyin' stuff

[a squarecan]

Hey guys,

I have looked thought about 15 pages of info before I posted this to cut down a lot of the questions I would have. I have a 65 1/2 long bed and I am going to buy a 64 short wide I plan to way rockers up front, My plan is to Z the frame 2 inches, get some 2.5 inch drop spindles and bags of course. I think I am going to run 18's up front and have not decided if I want to run 18's or 20's in back yet, but the back is the easy part. I have read that I can remove the stock cab "bushing" and install shorter ones to lower the body over the frame enough to hit rockers before frame, is this true? Also if this is the case am I going to run into issues with the cab floor when I do put shorter bushings on it and do a 2" Z? I would like to do this with out cutting the floor up, but if I have to then I have to.

Also am I going to run into any steering or suspension issues after I Z the frame? I know I will need to get some joints for the steering colum, but are there any other obsticles I am over looking?

I know I have more, but I will wait til I get my initial questions out of the way.

Thanks guys!
Keith

[SCOTI]

I had a 65 years ago & from what I remember the rockers are about the same as 67-72's relative to the frame. That being said, IIRC the trans tunnel would require some clearancing w/a frame 'Z'.

If you didn't want to do any sheetmetal fabbing, you might consider doing the front crossmember notch/drop method. You can get about 1.5" or .5" difference from your 2" 'Z' goals. Either way will require the u-joint style steering connections so there's not much difference other than the sheetmetal fab.

You could then drop the cab mounts to get your other .5" (and prob more since you're going through the trouble of moving stuff) but too much & you'll run into that pesky trans tunnel issue again.

[DM310]

where are you located?

[a squarecan]

Thanks for the advice guys!

DM I am located in Portland Oregon ( I had all that stuff set-up in my profile, but I dunno what happend to it all lol)

I think I made a little bit too big a deal about it before, I really dont mind cutting the floor up to make room. I was just thinking if there was any way I could do what I had in mind with out cutting it up I Would be a step ahead.


Keith

[DM310]

well sofar on my truck I did a 2" z and did not have to chop the trans tunnel. I also sectioned my crossmember 1.5"

[a squarecan]

Thanks Dm,

What kind of clearance do you have between the cab and the trans though? I am not worried about it either way, the only thing is if I have to cut the cab up I will more then likely take another inch to my Z and Z the frame 3 inches

Keith

[DM310]

well w/ the 3 speed i had about 2" but now I am about to install a th350 so I am not sure on that trans. Yeah if you do end up cuting up the cab I would at least do 3-3.5" z. The reason i did 2" is b/c I did the crossmember first and wanted it lower.

[a squarecan]

I have a TH350, One reason I didnt want to cut the floor up is because I didnt want to deal with a mess when I went to put carpet in there. I am not too worried about it though like I said before I will figure it out one way or another. I am thinking a 3 inch Z, 2.5 inch drop spindles and bags on 18's should put my rockers on the ground with shorter cab "bushings".

Keith

[camaro__thunder]

I have a 3" Z and 2.5" drop spindles up front and a 12" notch in the rear with 3" drop blocks and I am having to redo the trailing arm Xmember.. cut out the trans tunnel and 5" into the rear of my cab to have room for my driveshaft aired out.. I have a Turbo-350 watts link etc... Will post some pics tomorrow after I finish it tonight.

[a squarecan]

Thanks Camaro Thunder,

I would love to see pix...That is what I was waiting to hear! I plan on flipping the exiting trailing arm cross member upside down (more clearance) and moving it back about 12 inches or so and mounting a 4 link in the back. I plan on running a 2 piece drive shaft, are you running a 1 piece? I have a feeling that if you cut out 5 inches you much be. I am not sure how I plan to mount my bags yet, over the axel or on the link arms... That will be another discussion when I get closer to getting to it, but I have decided either way I go I will be able to get more travel out of a 2 piece drive shaft. We will see how many times I break it with my 500HP strocker before I change my mind though lol.

Thanks again
Keith