What is needed after 4" drop?

[Kracin]

ok, so ive been searching but i keep coming up with maybes, yes and nos, and youll need this and that, and some saying that you dont. but if i were to go with a 4/6 drop, what all am i going to need to install? from what i saw, with drum brakes on the truck, id need a c notch in the rear, and new drop shocks for the front and rear... but i also dont know what size the shocks have to be to fit a drop like that. any help would be appreciated

[Classic Heartbeat]

There are many ways to drop your truck. At the verry least on the front to get 4" you need a disk brake conversion kit with 2 1/2" drop spindles. They do not make 4" front drop coils, and in order to get 2 1/2" drop spindles you will have to convert to disk brakes. Then you need 2" front lowering shocks.
The rear you will need 4" drop coils, 2" lowering blocks, super panhard bar kit, shock relocation kit, "C" notch kit, and lowering shocks. The reason I think that you get conflicting info, is a lot of guys will skip the "C" notch, but if you are going to drive it much, I wouldn't. That gives your rear end more space for up and down movement. (All of this assumes that you have a coil spring rear end.) WES

[Kracin]

ah yeah, i have a coil spring rear end already, just wanting to get the lowest i can get without having to do more than just mess with the coils, which looks like it may be like 2 inch drop in front and 4 inch in the rear to keep from having to mess with everything else except for coils, am i wrong in this?

[67_C-30]

I've dropped my '69 beater truck on the cheap with just springs. Its a 3/5 drop, which about as low as you can go with drums on the front. Tire sizes can be used to manipulate it a little also. I'm going to put some shorter front tires on mine (since they are actually about a 1/2" taller than the rears now), and probably drop it about another inch in the rear to level it out once the smaller tires are on.

[Classic Heartbeat]

Even at 4" in the rear you should get an adjustible panhard bar to recenter the rear end. WES

[Kracin]

Originally Posted by Classic Heartbeat

Even at 4" in the rear you should get an adjustible panhard bar to recenter the rear end. WES

ok, that 3/5 looks good, and yes i hear you, i planned on getting a different tire offset to achieve the look i wanted, was going to have slightly smaller tires in front and larger tires in rear to avoid having to mess with too much of the front assembly.

but having a 6" drop coil (bought) in the rear is going to require shocks and c notch correct? but having a 3" drop in the front wont require any special work except cutting the front coil correct?

[dieselarmy13]

If you are going 6 in the rear, you need a notch. some will say you don't, but smacking your axle on the frame aint cool, trust me. As for the front, getting 3'' out of a cut coil seems a bit extreme, but it might work. Personally, I would, go with drop spindles.

[Kracin]

Originally Posted by dieselarmy13

If you are going 6 in the rear, you need a notch. some will say you don't, but smacking your axle on the frame aint cool, trust me. As for the front, getting 3'' out of a cut coil seems a bit extreme, but it might work. Personally, I would, go with drop spindles.

ive heard from a bit of reliable people that 3 inches in front is achievable with only cutting 1 coil from the front coil, and many have cut a whole coil off the front with no problems, but sometimes people tend to leave out things like "well i cut 1 coil and dropped the truck 3 inches!! *OMIT - and i changed the shocks for drop shocks, new drop spindles, and put in disc brakes in order for it to work!! - /OMIT*, and it looks awesome now!" lol, know what i mean?

but worse comes to worse and i end up putting the truck out of comission for a couple weeks until new parts arrive if it doesnt ride right after cutting the front and putting in the rears with a c - notch

[dieselarmy13]

13

[HoupPhotography]

Take the time and save the money to do your drop correctly. I have drums on the front of mine and it's really low, it took some headaches to get it there, now that it's there the headaches keep comin'

If you do a conversion, spindles, C-notch etc., wipe your hands, it's done and done right, knowing you don't need to go back and fix something later is a nice...

Here is a photo of mine on drums....




This is a bad photochop of what it will look like when its done, but about 2" lower...

[cdowns]

if you take the front end apart weather to chop coils or install spindles it's quite foolish to not replace old ball joints tierod ends etc if they're the original pieces JMO

[ChevLoRay]

Originally Posted by cdowns

if you take the front end apart weather to chop coils or install spindles it's quite foolish to not replace old ball joints tierod ends etc if they're the original pieces JMO

When I dropped mine, the ball joints, upper/lower control arm bushings and shafts were also replaced. An alignment showed that the pitman arm and the idler arm were worn too much to reuse. Tie rod ends were replaced, too.

Simply replacing the spindles, as I did, lowered mine 2.5 inches in front. That didn't change the geometry as it relates to shocks. Shorter coils will give less room for the shock to travel, so shocks are a given.

In the rear, a 4+ drop needs the adjustable panhard rod to enable re-centering the rear end under the chassis. Shorter springs mean you need shorter shocks, too. In order for the shocks to work correctly, you need to re-position the mounting of the shocks, to restore the angles at which they operate.

In short, yeah, you can cut the coils and lower the truck. But, the result could very well be that you have a truck that looks good sitting still and can't be operated safely in all conditions, due to the bastardized geometry of the suspension.

[72BLUZ]

mine is 4/6. i have no notches in it. just had to go smaller in tire ht.

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by 72BLUZ

mine is 4/6. i have no notches in it. just had to go smaller in tire ht.

See ten is running a 4/6 without a notch too isn't he?

[Kracin]

Originally Posted by ChevLoRay

When I dropped mine, the ball joints, upper/lower control arm bushings and shafts were also replaced. An alignment showed that the pitman arm and the idler arm were worn too much to reuse. Tie rod ends were replaced, too.

Simply replacing the spindles, as I did, lowered mine 2.5 inches in front. That didn't change the geometry as it relates to shocks. Shorter coils will give less room for the shock to travel, so shocks are a given.

In the rear, a 4+ drop needs the adjustable panhard rod to enable re-centering the rear end under the chassis. Shorter springs mean you need shorter shocks, too. In order for the shocks to work correctly, you need to re-position the mounting of the shocks, to restore the angles at which they operate.

In short, yeah, you can cut the coils and lower the truck. But, the result could very well be that you have a truck that looks good sitting still and can't be operated safely in all conditions, due to the bastardized geometry of the suspension.

sounds like a plan, and i know that the bushings and tie rods arent expensive either, but that damn panhard rod i think was a little pricey, but needed of course if its gonna drive right.

thanks for all the replies guys, this give some good isight into whats gonna be needed for this.

[scrapmetalart]

I just did my 67.

3" springs & 5" springs. In the rear I relocated the upper shock mounts & added the adj. panhard bar. new Stock gas shocks from the auto parts store at first...no problems. I later added regular length air shocks to the rear. my 5" rear springs are WAY soft. not good for hauling, but ok now that I have the air shocks.

I am going to drop the spring pocket on the lower control arms for another 1" or 2 & add blocks & notch to the rear soon.

after 3" springs in the front, cutting the lower control arm is the only way to go lower & keep the drum brakes...

[72BLUZ]

Originally Posted by 67_C-30

See ten is running a 4/6 without a notch too isn't he?

you are right he is!

[Mondo]

I'm not against doing it on the cheap, especially if it's labor.... but they make those drop kits for a reason... everything works together and has been tested out. And it's usually cheaper than buying separately.

Just changing springs will get you so far but the look most want involves more than just springs. If you have to replace worn suspension parts you might as well get the kit as the labor shouldn't be any more.

[CG]

You can get low in front with modified a arms and get approximately a 2.5 inch drop . You can also cut one coil off the front spring for another couple of inches, or just buy spring that are already shorter. You can keep your six lugs and drum brakes this way if you dont want to spend all the bux on disk brakes and drop spindle upgrade. The arms are pretty close to what dropped spindles cost.

I got a set from the Drop Shop in Portland Oregon. I believe it used to be called Charlie's. I know a bunch of board people have used him and they do quality work there.