HELP! Does this drop look right?

[Trip59]

Springs sold to me as 2/4 drop... I just got done, and it doesn't look quite right to me...

The rear springs, unsprung, looked about 4" or so shorter than the stock, the front looked about 2" shorter, but I didn't measure them.

Measuring from the ground to the wheel well, 28" on the rear, 30" on the front. Same size tires all the way around.



Trip

[Crispyr1]

How old r the springs? were they used?

[Trip59]

Hi Crispyr1

They're brand new, they were bolted to a frame, but not driven or completed.

By no means saying someone sold me wrong intentionally, I just wonder if I did something wrong or if maybe they were sold to them wrong...

Front looks too high, and/or back looks too low (relative to the front, I actually like where the back sits).

Trip

[OARNGESI]

Looks lower to me get some drop spindles upfront and youll be in good shape

[Trip59]

for what should be a 2/4 does the front or rear look right? Granted, the tires are small, they're 205/70/15's all around...

Trip

[OARNGESI]

The front looks right the back looks low

[71tahoe]

The front may settle over time. Having the same measurement of the wheel arch to ground in front and back means the back is higher. The wheel arch is lower over the back axle.

[Trip59]

Originally Posted by 71tahoe

The front may settle over time. Having the same measurement of the wheel arch to ground in front and back means the back is higher. The wheel arch is lower over the back axle.

THAT I did not know...

So if the arch is 28 1/4" in the back and 30" even in the front, then it's level?

I was going by this, and I realize that there's a 1/2" difference in the front, but this looks more visible. Maybe because of the dinky tires I have... http://www.earlyclassic.com/tech.aspx?category=Stance Photos-4

Trip

[71tahoe]

I just measured the front and back arch to the top trim and the back is 1.25" lower.

With those measurements, your back seems to be sitting about 1/2" lower than the front. The front springs could still settle that much.

[Trip59]

wow, ok... so it really is sitting how it should be then. I guess I may need to consider spindles to bring it down a bit more. It just looks off to me...

Trip

[mr48chev]

It might look better when you put the right tires on it. And is everything that belongs in the engine compartment there? I think I would drive it a couple hundred miles before doing anything else with the suspension though and make sure that it is settled out right in the front.

Ride height can be a bit of a local thing as Guys in states like Texas where the highways are usually pretty well kept tend to run their trucks a bit lower than guys in some of the northern states where you might find a pothole big enough to put a Honda in.

[LONGHAIR]

Did any of you notice the '58Chevy across the street?

Yes, the wheel wells are higher on the front, so you can't use that to measure from. Probably the best way is to park the truck on a level surface and check off of the top of the bed. "Level" is not necessarily what you are looking for though. It has to "look right" to you, or it will bug you forever.
Bigger tires will help the over-all look and taller in the rear may raise it enough?

[Trip59]

The driveway is 1" sloped backwards over the length of the truck, so the top back corner of the truck is 1" lower than level. I went back out and looked again, it still bugs me, but less so than last night. I have some other wheels that I can use all the way around now (I had another set that only two would fit due to back spacing) and I'm just going 235/75/15 until next year when I buy the permanant rims. I still think the front should be lower or the back higher, but I don't have money to buy new springs... I know it's not the right way, but with coils, is there any like, 1" lift block or anything to sit under the spring?

That's my buddy, I bought the truck off him. '58 Biscayne, after we get mine running and driving again (wrapping up now, have to put the column back in after a return to manual trans) we're building a bumper for the maroon truck, then probably starting on the 58. He's got some 283's for sale, and I think he's selling his Valiant too...

Trip

[LONGHAIR]

THe simplest way to fix it is to drop the front some more. It is as easy as taking the springs back out and cutting 1/2 of a coil off and reinstalling them. This will drop you an inch and a half or so, costing nothing but the time.

[Trip59]

We were talking about doing that. I wonder though, would I want to cut the drop springs, or the stock springs and save/sell the drop springs...

I was thinking of raising the rear because travel is significantly reduced, but I suppose I could shave the rubber bumper a bit ~Trip

[allthrottle,nobottle]

kind of a stupid question but just making sure.... you do have your engine and transmission in the front dont you?

[Trip59]

Yup, 307/Saginaw 4

Not a stupid question at all, makes perfect sense, but yeah, the motor/trans is in place.

Trip

[BarryB]

You could drop in a big block, that'll squat the frontend done some. So you put 4 in drop springs in the rear, and 2" drop srpings in the front?? I believe I would get the drop spindles like mentioned so it would look right, with a rake instead of a reverse rake. Unless you want to look like an Ole' Gasser style dragster.

[clos69]

It looks to me like you installed 6in drop springs on the rear....I'm guessing by the other pic that is stock height. You say the rear measures 28 in from the wheel arch? Stock height from the wheel ark is 34in on the rear and 32 in the front. My truck has 6in rear springs and 3in on the front...take a look for comparison...you can see that the rear is lower...hope this helps.

[Trip59]

Clos69, did you do anything to run the 6 in the rear, clearance wise? I'm really trying to figure out what to do here, because I'm not happy with the way it's sitting. I don't know if I want to make the rear match the front, or the front match the rear. Is your front spring only?

Trip

[67ChevyRedneck]

This is where "before" measurements would have helped, to at least verify your drop

When I did 2" front springs on my S-10 they only dropped the truck a little over an inch. It took driving it around for a couple days before I got the full 2" drop. For the rear springs, "it is, what it is." They have no way to "settle." The front springs can still settle into the perches more. Also, when you installed the springs, did you "turn them" so that the end of the spring was against the notch in the control arm?

[Trip59]

The problem is, the springs on the truck were already crushed, either from 40 years of life on the farm, or from a torch by a PO...

They're twisted into the perches, maybe there is some settle there.

DAMNIT, I just realized something as I was typing... Clos69 gave the 34/32 measurement as stock, but I'm not on stock tires, my tires are 2.5" shorter than stock so my numbers at start should be an inch and a quarter lower than that. Ok, so the front may settle another half inch-inch, but the rear fender should still be the same height, if 34-4=32-2 and my rears are 2" lower than the front...

This is giving me a headache, I'm almost ready to just put the old springs back in.

Trip

[clos69]

Originally Posted by Trip59

Clos69, did you do anything to run the 6 in the rear, clearance wise? Is your front spring only?

Trip

Nothing on the rear..just the drop springs....no c-notch, or shock relocators...and the front were cut to drop it 3ins by the PO.

[CSGAS]

This may sound like a stupid idea, too, but did you rock the truck after installing the springs (especially if you have a sway bar installed)?

Because of the geometry and the rates for the springs, the fronts can be held up even by gas-filled shocks...which could add to your headaches if you want. Are you using the same type or family of shocks front and rear?

If you just want to remove some headaches and exercise some muscles, just rock up and down on the front bumper, then see where the front sits. Often we hear a big "klang" as the front gives to where it wants to settle.

Also our longbed trucks will have a different visual look than shortbed trucks with the same drop (and a couple extra pounds on the back, but those springs would have to be awfully soft for that to account for more than a half inch). My longbed has 40-years-of-farmwork rear springs that collapsed almost two coils from sitting while overloaded and my rear shocks are abused but not blown, which may be a closer ballpark to what you started with. I'll stand a T-square up to the wheelwells tomorrow, but I think it looks level (at the frame/bedrail/bodylines) this way.

Most everything else I'd have to offer, would be a repeat of what's already been said--

[70c10]

Those definitely look like 6" rear springs to me!