How much will lowering the rear cost me?

[LeatherMan69]

Title says it all. Im working on the rear end of my truck IE: bed, frame, gas tank install, all that good stuff. Wanting to lower it while im at it... Thought it was gonna be cheap but got my bubble busted. (thanks CURSED GEARS) anyone got good cheap but safe ideas or great places to go?

[lolife99]

Uh,... what are you working on?

67-72,... I assume?
Coil spring?
Leaf spring?
1/2 ton?
3/4 ton?

[LockDoc]

-
Well, it really depends on how low you want to go. If you have coils & only want to go down a couple of inches get some 2" x 2" 1/4" wall square tubing, cut off two 6" pieces and drill holes in them for the "U" bolts, buy new 2" longer "U" bolts (about 30 bucks) and bolt it together... If you want more you will have to go to new drop springs, about 90 bucks I think.

LockDoc

[cdowns]

go real ccheap could cost you a truck or a life

theres 40year old worn bushings in trailing arms and panhard bars they good fer you? a 40 year old brake hose that good fer ya?? 40year old shocks they fill yer bill? i'm sure those 40year old brake parts r jjust tiptop for your application

doing a job is worth doing it correctly some people believe

[scooterskoolkustoms]

Originally Posted by cdowns

go real ccheap could cost you a truck or a life

theres 40year old worn bushings in trailing arms and panhard bars they good fer you? a 40 year old brake hose that good fer ya?? 40year old shocks they fill yer bill? i'm sure those 40year old brake parts r jjust tiptop for your application

doing a job is worth doing it correctly some people believe

A little hard on him, he asked cheap and safe because he is working on the rear.maybe he spent all his money and fixed this stuff and just wants to know a "SAFE" way to lower his truck.chill out bro

[LeatherMan69]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Uh,... what are you working on?

67-72,... I assume?
Coil spring?
Leaf spring?
1/2 ton?
3/4 ton?

Im working on a 69 LWB. 1/2 ton. Its coil spring. I'm going back and forth whether i want to go 4 inch or 6 in the back. My good friend CURSED GEARS has a 4-6 drop and looks amazing but i dont know if the side pipes im gonna put on are gonna drag. So my origional thought was 2-4drop, and the pipes add the illusion of a lower truck. He didnt seem to think i'd be totally happy with it.

So im opening my mind a bit and trying to workout the design scheme.

[LeatherMan69]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

-
Well, it really depends on how low you want to go. If you have coils & only want to go down a couple of inches get some 2" x 2" 1/4" wall square tubing, cut off two 6" pieces and drill holes in them for the "U" bolts, buy new 2" longer "U" bolts (about 30 bucks) and bolt it together... If you want more you will have to go to new drop springs, about 90 bucks I think.

LockDoc

I was wanting to go lower than that. maybe a 4-6 drop or a 2-4

[LeatherMan69]

Originally Posted by cdowns

go real ccheap could cost you a truck or a life

theres 40year old worn bushings in trailing arms and panhard bars they good fer you? a 40 year old brake hose that good fer ya?? 40year old shocks they fill yer bill? i'm sure those 40year old brake parts r jjust tiptop for your application

doing a job is worth doing it correctly some people believe

Good thing im too shallow to get offended easily...lol, I know what your saying, and i'd never cut corners for the reason that i bought this truck cause those were the days that things were built right, to last, tough and easy for a blue collar guy to work on. These trucks are for the do-it-yourselfers. Trust me, i'll spend money where i have to. Im not irresponsible. Just a low buck guy trying to build a bad mama jama.

[LeatherMan69]

Originally Posted by scooterskoolkustoms

A little hard on him, he asked cheap and safe because he is working on the rear.maybe he spent all his money and fixed this stuff and just wants to know a "SAFE" way to lower his truck.chill out bro

spending all my money is my middle name!! thanks scooter!!

[lolife99]

4/6 is a good street driving drop.
Use 6" drop rear springs, rear shock relocators and good quality drop shocks.
You will also need an adjustable panhard bar to re-center the rearend after the drop.

Remember the springs are 6" lower than "new" springs,... not your 40 year old sagging springs. So just throwing a tape up next to your truck and saying "4 inches lower will be perfect", may not be an accurate statement.

Go for the 4/6 drop!

[scooterskoolkustoms]

Originally Posted by LeatherMan69

spending all my money is my middle name!! thanks scooter!!

we cool like that I got your back.LOL

[LeatherMan69]

You guys got some good resonabley priced vendors in mind? 4-6 drop it is my friends... if im gonna do mind as well have it matter eh?!

[smn69]

Originally Posted by lolife99

4/6 is a good street driving drop.
Use 6" drop rear springs, rear shock relocators and good quality drop shocks.
You will also need an adjustable panhard bar to re-center the rearend after the drop.

Remember the springs are 6" lower than "new" springs,... not your 40 year old sagging springs. So just throwing a tape up next to your truck and saying "4 inches lower will be perfect", may not be an accurate statement.

Go for the 4/6 drop!

x2. If you are changing over to disc brakes in the front, you can get drop spindles and a 1 or 2 inch drop spring and still use stock shocks and not mess to much with your alignment.

[ChevLoRay]

When I did my truck.....okay my cousin did the wrench-pulling.....I spent almost $2K. He gave me a real bargain for his labor. It would have been an easy 2 to 3 times the price I paid him at the shop he works at (he charged me $300 for his labor and took all week). Anyway, the front end was completely redone....upper/lower control arms and bushings; upper/lower ball joints; tie rod ends...inner and outer; pitman arm; idler arm; ECE drum to disc conversion and all 4 springs; stock height springs up front and 4-inch shorter ones out west; Adjustable track bar (panhard rod), and rear shock mount relocators. All parts were MOOG or Delco.

When all was said and done, a trip to the alignment dude and it all went back to factory OEM specs.

[CURSED GEARS]

Hey guys, I used a kit from Brothers. I guess it was a little more spendy then leatherman wants to go. Ive read on here about people using Jeep springs to lower their trucks. I'm not familiar with that. Can someone chip in about that? Amount of drop, price, etc? Thanks.
And don't worry, Leatherman will do it safely. Whats the point of looking cool if your dead a short time later? Lowbuck done right can be just as safe as emptying your account.

[LeatherMan69]

Jeep springs eh? never heard that. And yes dead in a bada$$ truck isnt in style, and not a trend i plan on setting

[lolife99]

ECE (www.EarlyClassic.com)
They are the only company I use for 67-72 suspension stuff.
www.PerformanceOnLine.com also has great prices and service

[Classic Heartbeat]

4-6 drop parts list. (assuming your ball joints, tie rod ends, and control arm bushings are in good condition)
Front
2 1/2" front disk brake conversion kit
2" front lowering coils
2" front lowering shocks
Rear
4" rear lowering coils
2" rear lowering blocks
"C" notch kit
super panhard bar kit
shock relocator kit
4" rear lowering shocks (because I haven't found 6")

2-4 drop parts list depends on if you want to go front disk brakes or not.
if front disk brakes then all you need for the front is a disk brake conversion kit with 2 1/2" lowering spindles.
if not changing to disk, then what you need is 2" front lowering coils and 2" front lowering shocks.
Rear
4" rear lowering coils
4" rear lowering shocks
you may get away with just an adjustible panhard bar and not need the shock relocator kit or super panhard bar kit.
I would lower it and look at it to make that judgement.
WES