My new 76 with 4/6 drop and question

[mk3barti]

Hi All
I joined the board last year when I had my 67 but I have since sold it and replaced it with this 76. The first order of business was to get it closer to the ground. I went with Belltech 4/6 and am happy with it. The ride of the kit is good although I need to remove the factory bump stop mounts and put the ones from the kit in because there isn't enough clearance right now (I didn't C notch it). The rear flip kit needed some grinding to get the axle to seat properly but other than that it was pretty easy to install. The instructions said for the bracket "eye" to point towards the front, but doing that threw my pinion angle out. I reversed it and it is fine. I have read some others having issues on this as well. I basically ditched the instructions for the rear because they weren't as good as the front and the pictures were so dark I couldn't see them.

My question: Has anyone had to modify the front springs or the upper spring cradle to get them to fully seat? Truck is about .75 of an inch higher in the front and it looks like the springs didn't wrap around the cradle like the factory ones did. Or my leafs could be sagged causing the back to be lower?

[daddyjeep]

I can't help with your question, but need to say that it is amazing what stance and tires can do for an old truck. Looks good.

[tinydb84]

The front springs will likely settle a bit. You can turn the spring a bit to get it to clock better in the spring cup.

[Shugalou]

Love the drop, I was going back and forth on a 3/4 kit but have decided on the same 4/6 kit as you have there...once I get all the essential items addressed.

Question
Do you like how it handles? Do you have the Nitro drop shocks with it? Did you need to grind the LCA's?

Thanks

[mk3barti]

Originally Posted by Shugalou

Love the drop, I was going back and forth on a 3/4 kit but have decided on the same 4/6 kit as you have there...once I get all the essential items addressed.

Question
Do you like how it handles? Do you have the Nitro drop shocks with it? Did you need to grind the LCA's?

Thanks

Thanks guys, I am really happy with the look of it. It handles much better now although there is no front sway bar and I know from my 67 that will make a huge difference in addition to this. I did the Nitro shocks and yes I had to grind a bit on the LCA....it is a very minor touch up and really easy.

[Shugalou]

Thanks for the feedback!

I wish I could help with some suggestions but I haven't had the chance to go down this path yet...Glad to hear that the LCA's weren't too bad

[mk3barti]

You're welcome. I would rate this kit as fairly easy to install. The only real challenge I had was breaking the tie rod end loose on the driver side front. I ended up just replacing it.

[Shugalou]

OK thanks for the heads up on that. I'll be rebuilding the upper and lowers while I'm in there so I'm sure I'll break something along the way also.

[Tom]

Springs will settle a little. The rear always looks too low IMO when "leveling" a truck, hence why I always leave at least a 1" rake. I've never used belltech springs so I don't know how they fit in the pockets.

[mk3barti]

So I checked and the front springs are seated properly. I started measuring again and realized that the truck is actually sitting level. It just looks raked because the front wheel wells are deeper than the back. I put a level on it and it's pretty much right on. I also re torqued everything and found a shock and u bolt really loose. Re torque is really important!

[Red Beard]

Love your truck man! I saw some pictures of it on one of the Facebook groups. Can't wait to drop mine. Maybe a month or two out. I've been trying to decide between a Belltech kit and Western Chassis. I had a Belltech kit on my old 1983 Malibu wagon and their stuff seems like it's pretty good quality.

[mk3barti]

Thank you! I am happy with the quality of the bell tech kit. The decision to use them was weighted on supporting a local vendor. I read alot of good things about Western too. Good luck.

[RootBeerFXS]

my u bolts needed a few re-visits with the torque wrench. 100 mi and again at 500 mi and again at 1000 mi on my last truck.

[oldpurple]

Looks really good. Had to do a double take when I saw the building it was sitting infront of. Where did you get your kit locally?

[mk3barti]

Thank you, I got it from California Creations. Those pictures are ones they took of it. I wanted to order from a local shop instead of from Summit, etc. Took a bit longer than it was supposed to but they knocked a bit off the price. I like that shop, they are good guys.

[oldpurple]

I kinda pieced that one together last night after I asked... haha.

Always nice to see a clean one driving around here!

Did you have chrome rims on it a while ago? Any other plans for it?

[mk3barti]

Haha fair enough, thanks for the compliments. These are the only rims that I have had on it. I am looking to switch out rear ends at some point to get lower gearing and install a front sway bar. What are you driving??

[oldpurple]

Originally Posted by mk3barti

Haha fair enough, thanks for the compliments. These are the only rims that I have had on it. I am looking to switch out rear ends at some point to get lower gearing and install a front sway bar. What are you driving??

Oh ok. I think I saw a similar colour one a while ago but it had big chrome rims.

I have a '79 gmc. I just picked it up in December so I haven't done much yet. Rally's with whitewalls, and took the running boards off is about all I've done so far. It has a bit of rust I'm going to patch up but otherwise I want to keep it looking just like it does. Future plans are a 5.3/6.0L swap

Here's a pic in case you see me around

[mk3barti]

Nice truck! I would leave it the way it is too. I bought this one with plans of an LS swap but the motor is pretty good so that won't be anytime soon. See you around town.

[oldpurple]

I'm in the same situation. It's possible mine only has 100k on it. The interior says yes but the body kinda disagrees. I fully intended to not touch the drivetrain but now I have parts piling up and a warmed up 350 from a previous project that I'm probably going to put in for the hell of it.

I hope to see yours around some time. Wouldn't mind checking out the drop kit

[mk3barti]

You bet let me know if you want to see the drop in person.