73-87 drop/brake question

[rockinred]

Working on lining out my suspension and I am up against the wall. Was wondering if the gurus can chime in with what they experienced. This is going to be my first major project.

Anyhow, I was looking to go with the Mcgaughys 4.5/6 drop kit. On my front I was going to redo the brakes and started looking at the baer brake rotors and calipers and they said that it will not work with the mcgaughys front spindle. I am also going to redo the front end and I know that all these part with the lower control arm all play a factor when tying in with the other components.

Same with the rear. I am going to convert to disc brakes and wanted to get the 6 inch drop kit which probably doesn't affect it as much as the front end, but the emergency brake plays a role.

Can someone help me out with the breakdown. I also am considering the DJM 5 drop on the front since it has the lower control arm in the kit already. Then keep the mcgaughy 6 on the rear since the DJM only makes a 5 drop on the rear.

What size and brand rotors and brake conversions go with the kits? Anyone already do the homework on this. If I do the DJM front, I need their front sway bar because of the lower control is not the factory.

I need to get this pieced together so that I can get ready for ordering the whole rebuild. I started thinking about the porterbuilt, but it is a little pricey and also, I don't like the sound and wait for air compressor on air bags. Maybe I have only seen the older styles?

[N2TRUX]

There are a lot of options out there for upgrading your brakes. If you want an economical option, Wilwood offers an upgraded version of the stock D52 calipers. These will bolt right on the front. For the rear you can get a bracket kit and use the same Wilwood caliper to convert to disc. Captfab sells these brackets and can be found in our Vendor Marketplace.

The best bang for the buck on 13" brakes is McGaughys set up. It allows you to go to a larger 13" rotor and big GM caliper front and rear. Several of our Forum Vendors are dealers for McGaughy's suspension products.

Another option if you want to go big up front is the Corvette system that way2lo2 sells. He can mod your spindles, or sell you a set that have been modded. Once again, check the Vendor Marketplace.

While it is true that most compressors are noisy, system speed is not an issue. With a properly set up system, rise time from fully laid out to ride height is 2 seconds or less.

[SCOTI]

To add to what N2TRUX has informed you, the difference between the 5" or 6" flip kits is advertising. The final drop amount is dependant on the quantity of leafs the truck has. Trucks w/fewer leaf springs (5-6) won't get as much drop as trucks w/more leaf springs (HD/8 leafs).

[rockinred]

Thanks brothers!!! This helped me out.