Help me spend some money.....

[allthrtl]

I'm sure these questions have been asked many times before, but i haven't found the answers I'm looking for yet...

Santa came early this year, in the form of a $6k Christmas bonus, dam glad my wife didn't quit that job.... Anyway, she has given me the go ahead to make some much needed upgrades to the old truck, unfortunately I don't get the whole amount, but I'm not complaining... Here's exactly were I'm at....



Has new motor, 1000 miles ago....350 4 bolt, flat tops,xe268h cam, Eddy manifold and carb, stock ignition, stock heads with z28 springs-new heads down the road, headers with 2 1/2" pips, hooker aero chambers dumping at the axle.

700R4-have a 95 S10 torque converter waiting for me to put in-couldn't afford it when I did the motor, so now it's waiting for me to feel like dropping the tranny....

Currently the right rear axle is leaking oil into the brake drum, so the first thing I need to do is get that fixed. While I'm at it, I want to ditch the 2.73's for something like 3.73's....Anyone see a problem with this set up?? Don't care too much about mileage, just want to make sure that with a 3.06 first gear in the tranny that the 3.73 wouldn't be overkill or a big PTA in wet weather????
Any idea what labor would run to have this done??? Or a good DIY website???

After that, the next upgrade will be wheels and tires. At some point someone installed 215/75/15's and as you can tell, look a little small. I would love to go with 17's or 18's, but I'm trying to keep the wheel and tire budget under $1k, so I'm thinking I'll probably have to stick with 15's.... I'd like to go with 50's on the back and 60's or 70's on the front. What would be a good suggestion for BS and widths????? (wife is really partial to Outlaw II's like I had on my 82-I'd really like to go a different way, any suggestions?? gotta keep her happy )

Next need is front end work, which will most likely go before or at the same time as wheels and tires.... Suggestions on good kits, like Performance Suspension kits???? This also brings me to lowering the truck. It seems that the previous owner was a very large fellow, seat springs are history and it seems that the left front coil spring is somewhat collapsed, front left corner lower than the rest....So I will need to replace the springs..... I want to lower it enough to close the gap between the top of the tire and the fender....would a 3/5 drop do the trick??? And, since I have to buy springs anyway, what would be the suggested path for getting it there???? Also, spindles, springs, ball joints, CA bushings are all things that I have no desire to replace myself, any clues to what labor would run??? I'll price it all locally, just wanting a ball park to compare to...

This is probably all I'll be able to swing for now...I'd really like to try my hand at Mike's guage install, but I've been waiting to see if someone comes up with something easier that looks even close to as good....

Lemme know what you all think....

[87 Shortwide]

I dont see you?

[allthrtl]

Sorry, clicked the wrong button while trying to insert the pic....Now the rest is there....

[LOHRTBT]

Easy enough....send it to me!! DONE!! haha

[Slonaker]

Your truck looks a lot like mine...

You can look at the trucks of some of the guys here on the board to get an idea what the drop you mentioned will look like. I would go with drop spindles first, then use springs to go however much lower you want it.

When looking at other people's trucks, keep in mind that if you replace the front springs with new stock ones and add 3 inch drop spindles, your drop may not look as low as that of someone with worn out stock springs and drop spindles. New stock length springs raised my truck nearly two inches over the worn out ones they replaced.

In the pic below, I believe gchemist has old stock springs and 2.5 inch spindles. My truck has new springs, and he is a lot more than 2.5 inches lower than me in the front!



Slonaker

[Jonboy]

I would check the junkyards for an older 12 blot with 3.73's. You could probably pick it up for next to nothing, and replace the brakes, seals, and fluids for under $100.

I would also look at rebuilding the frontend and lowering it for sure. A 3/5 or 4/6 drop would probably work fine for what you are wanting to do. As far as the wheels, I like the Centerline Telstar's. You should be able to get them and a set of tires for under $1000, and I guarantee that you will like them a lot better than the Outlaw II's.

[allthrtl]

Yep, I'm definately going to try to find a good used rear end with 3.73's. Looking like $300 to have it done, or find some do-it-yourself information. I'm by no means mechanically challenged, just never messed with rear-end and this is my daily driver....

I like the Telstar's, also like the pro-stars and knock-off type wheels. Haven't decided yet though....

Slonaker....That's exactly what I was afraid of...What about 2.5" drop spindles and 1" springs??? I figure it'll still won't drop it 3.5" at first, but once it settles might be alright.?.?.


Thanks

[swervin ervin]

If I were you, I would go with some Western Chassis 2.5 spindles and 1.5 springs. Out back go with a 5" flip kit with a c-notch, and shackles in the bottom hole for 6". This will end all the torment, such as Timspeed is going through. If you try to keep your stock coils, or even buy new ones, you will end up with a drop of whatever. I went through a bunch of different crap before ending up with this combo. Do it once and save yourself a bunch of money and headaches. If you don't go to at least 4/6 now, you will never be happy.

I buy all my drop stuff from http://www.performancesuspension.com/

These guys are simply the best at what they sell. Buy the front end rebuild kit they sell too. You will need to buy some drop shocks. I like the Doetsch Tech shocks. Get some shock extenders for the rear shocks to put the shock back to the proper angle.

So here's a list of what I would get.

2.5" spindles
1.5" coils
5" flip kit
Shackles
C-notch
4 Doetsch Tech shocks
Shock extenders
Front end rebuild kit

Your looking at between $900.00 and a $1000.00 bucks.

[swervin ervin]

Oh, and you will not find a dash bezel with aftermarket gauges that looks any better than mine. :p

[87 Shortwide]

Until you see mine. hehehehe :p

[Slonaker]

If I recall correctly, what swervin is recomending is what he has on his truck. Since the parts are all relatively new, you can expect to get a drop that looks just about like his if you both have the same new parts.

I can't claim any experience with dropping a truck. Mine should be done in the next couple of months, though, since I am gathering the parts now. I was just making the point that, since you said you HAD to replace your springs, you couldn't depend on yours to look like someone else's if they were running 20 year old springs. Gchemist's is a good example of how this can happen because his looks great with only 2.5 inch spindles and old stock springs, but you would never get the same look with new stock springs and the same spindles.

If you use swervin's truck for comparison, the only thing that can vary much is the rear drop. You would both be using rear springs that are used, so they might not provide an identical drop using identical kits. Also, if one of you has more rear leaves the flip kit would raise the axle slightly higher resulting in more drop. This could probably be compensated for using different holes in the hangers, though.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, or unclear, in any of this...

Slonaker