drop member vs cupped lca

[wannagettachevy]

first off, i love this site. long time lurker here, first time poster.

and just so you know ive been doing alot of searching and just cant seem to find an answer. whats the advantage of having a DM vs cupping the lca (with a drop spindle too of course)? it seems that everyone loves their DM's but theyre just so dang expensive and ALOT of work to install (engine and trans removal + frame notch for rack). and from what i can see the cupped lca are cheap and yield tons of drop. and i do have the fab skills reqd for cupping my own lca.

[Ghostwhite]

Originally Posted by wannagettachevy

first off, i love this site. long time lurker here, first time poster.

and just so you know ive been doing alot of searching and just cant seem to find an answer. whats the advantage of having a DM vs cupping the lca (with a drop spindle too of course)? it seems that everyone loves their DM's but theyre just so dang expensive and ALOT of work to install (engine and trans removal + frame notch for rack). and from what i can see the cupped lca are cheap and yield tons of drop. and i do have the fab skills reqd for cupping my own lca.

Cupping will only get you so far, even with cupping you will lay on your crossmember or lower arms hard. Only reasonable way to lay frame is to Dropmember, Section stock, or Z the frame.

If you don't wanna lay out, you don't need a DM or the other mods.

Also, it is not absolutely necessary to remove the motor tranny to install a member, just raise it and support it. Its been done that way by a few people.

[DKN]

Cupped arms will have less ground clearance. You have to take the bottom of the arm and relocate it even lower. Drop springs do the same thing with more ground clearance. CPP tubular lower arms will get you more ground clearance so that the lowest point becomes the crossmember. The drop members do several different things, one of them is to raise the crossmember for even more ground clearance. The more ground clearance you get the lower you can run the truck.

Danny Nix
CPP

[Ghostwhite]

Originally Posted by DKN

Cupped arms will have less ground clearance. You have to take the bottom of the arm and relocate it even lower. Drop springs do the same thing with more ground clearance. CPP tubular lower arms will get you more ground clearance so that the lowest point becomes the crossmember. The drop members do several different things, one of them is to raise the crossmember for even more ground clearance. The more ground clearance you get the lower you can run the truck.

Danny Nix
CPP

All good points I missed

[wannagettachevy]

wow, well i appreciate the quick and helpful response. so a dm will make the frame the lowest point on the truck? whereas a bags, cupped lca, and drop spindles will make it lay the crossmember?

[Ghostwhite]

What year is the truck? Give us a little bit more info and we will get you a sure answer.

[wannagettachevy]

Originally Posted by Ghostwhite

What year is the truck? Give us a little bit more info and we will get you a sure answer.

i dont own a chevy yet but ill have one very soon, ive been saving since i found this site 2 years ago. im looking at buying my buddys 69 lwb.

[Ghostwhite]

60-62 has an X frame chassis and is just messy for laying out(ask me how I know). The 63-72 has a conventional ladder style frame and is a lot easier to deal with. With a Dropmember, the lowest point would be the frame.

Without a DM, sectioned stock cross member or Z'd frame the cross member and/or A arms will be the lowest point.

[wannagettachevy]

Originally Posted by Ghostwhite

60-62 has an X frame chassis and is just messy for laying out(ask me how I know). The 63-72 has a conventional ladder style frame and is a lot easier to deal with. With a Dropmember, the lowest point would be the frame.

Without a DM, sectioned stock cross member or Z'd frame the cross member and/or A arms will be the lowest point.

ok, another question for you Ghost. a sectioned xmember is a where its made thinner so it can be moved up in the frame rails towards the motor and therefore farther from the ground? its looking more like a Z is going to be my method for laying frame.

[Ghostwhite]

Here are some discussions on the issues with sectioned crossmembers.
Problems with Crossmember

I am trying to find the how to on this, I will keep looking

[Ghostwhite]

here is some pics

[Ghostwhite]

And finally, here is a write-up

Captkaos's Chopped Crossmember

[DKN]

Great pics. You can see where the arm around the bushings is the lowest point. The CPP Tubular arms use a different bushing so the cross member will be the lowest poit.

Cupped arms will make the portion of the arm near the spring be even lower than the area at the bushing.

These pics show the advantages to tubular arms. We have done several installs where the original arms have been damadged around the spring and bushing areas because they hit the ground when driving a lowered truck.

Danny Nix
CPP

[54Caddy]

Pictures off these arms you keep mentioning would be a plus, Need to see them installed or it never happened.

[panhandler62]

Something not mentioned above ---

If you use the DM you will be installing a new front suspension that is desined to run at those heights instead of making changes to the stock suspension to colapse it to those heights so you will run into a lot less problems getting the geometry right.

[texastrendz]

i had the lower control arms on my truck cupped, it looked good parked. do not drive it low. i hung mine on a man hole cover and bent the frame. totalled now. had to start from scratch again. now i have the world famous drop member. spend the money, if you are wanting to drive it low. broke my heart with all the time and money i had into it. the two grand for the complete drop member would of saved me ten grand.

[dv8customs]

Usually when you cup the factory arms the cup does not sit lower than the bottom of the control arm.

[nastyc10]

dropmember also narrows track width for tire clearance when running low. The added space is nice when turning.

[dv8customs]

Originally Posted by nastyc10

dropmember also narrows track width for tire clearance when running low. The added space is nice when turning.

This alone is a good reason to go with an aftermarket unit.

[Ghostwhite]

Yeah, after a year or so of thinking about it and months of serious consideration I decided to go the Dropmember route. With all the benefits of proper clearances and geometry, it is a major upgrade as far as lowering is concerned. There are quite a few threads on this that we can dig up if you are more interested.

Not trying to jam it down you're throat either haha just sayin.

[Hottrucks]

ok heres the best and cheapest way to get the low down

cup your stock LCA then add a 3" drop spindle....

ok heres why....the cup will get your X memeber 1.5 " off the ground and put your stock 29" tire against the inner fender support.....A 3" drop spindle will lay out the X with 1.5" to spare whick means that at ride height your A arms And bags will be in there working range along with keeping your steering inline...the downs side is that your tires have no place to go without a hood hinge, heater box and inner fender mod

If you want to get lower your going to have to do the X member done or buy one

[wannagettachevy]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

ok heres the best and cheapest way to get the low down

cup your stock LCA then add a 3" drop spindle....

ok heres why....the cup will get your X memeber 1.5 " off the ground and put your stock 29" tire against the inner fender support.....A 3" drop spindle will lay out the X with 1.5" to spare whick means that at ride height your A arms And bags will be in there working range along with keeping your steering inline...the downs side is that your tires have no place to go without a hood hinge, heater box and inner fender mod

If you want to get lower your going to have to do the X member done or buy one

thats exactly what i wanted to hear.

[wannagettachevy]

Originally Posted by texastrendz

i had the lower control arms on my truck cupped, it looked good parked. do not drive it low. i hung mine on a man hole cover and bent the frame. totalled now. had to start from scratch again. now i have the world famous drop member. spend the money, if you are wanting to drive it low. broke my heart with all the time and money i had into it. the two grand for the complete drop member would of saved me ten grand.

wow, scary. not good.

[wannagettachevy]

Originally Posted by Ghostwhite

Yeah, after a year or so of thinking about it and months of serious consideration I decided to go the Dropmember route. With all the benefits of proper clearances and geometry, it is a major upgrade as far as lowering is concerned. There are quite a few threads on this that we can dig up if you are more interested.

Not trying to jam it down you're throat either haha just sayin.

ok so lets say i am going to put in a DM. will my factory suspension components w/ bags bolt on to it? end of story? and im sure theres a thread here somewhere that will tell me what i need with a dm, but i figured ide just ask. im sure someone has a quick easy answer.

[Hottrucks]

a drop memeber is just that...if you want cupped lowers or bag arms plan on spending some more $$$$ you would at least need bag cups ( which can be had cheap.. I have a set laying around) but to spend $$ for a drop and not do the rest is a waste..you might as well just buy spndles and save yourself a ton of work and $$..I mean all your going to get is about 2" of drop and have to notch the frame for steering and .........