51AD/s10 rear lowering options

[Mgicm]

Have this rigged up 51 AD on S10 and not liking how shallow the bed is. The rear seems to sit very high. What are my options to get a deeper bed or what options are there for the rear of a s10 ? Not too familiar with how it should look or could look as Ive seen some with deep beds and many with shallow ones.

thansk
kevin

[av8tr33337]

Does it currently have lowering blocks on the back??? Also some guys go ahead and raise the bed a couple of inches and lower the rear fenders to compensate. You would then need to fabricate a filler piece to fill in between the running boards plash aprons and the front/sides of the bed. Sounds kinda hokey but Chip Foose even did it on a 53 GMC he did on Overhauling, but he fabricated a whole new splash apron that fills the cap without needing a filler piece. Here is a link to the pics of that truck most people cant tell that the bed is raised 2 inches.
https://www.google.com/search?q=over...ed%3B420%3B420



I assume the previous owner did the S10 swap and that the cab mounts are welded so unless you are willing to redo these mounts to raise the cab up as well as the bed you don't have a lot of options. A lot of guys here located their cabs about 3 1/2 inches off the frame. Mine will be a little over 4 1/2 and I think I will still loose about 2 inches of depth out of the bed which in my mind is not a bad compromise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdgYy5YtW8k

I would suggest measuring how far your cab floor is from the top of your frame and post it here along with a few pictures and then we will have a better idea of what your working with. Here is a video of the cab mounts on my truck.

[av8tr33337]

oops that's splash aprons not plash aprons

[tlorber]

I just installed 3" lowering blocks on the rear (just in mockup stage for now). I bought a kit from Summit for about $28.00 for the Camaro rear that I got for the truck. VERY easy installation.


However, the bottom of the ubolts are only about 5" off the ground with the 15 inch wheels that are currently on there. I plan to get 17 inch wheels (but with lower profile tires) so I may gain 1/2 inch or so. Note that the ubolts need to be sized for the O.D of the axle. I believe the stock S10 is 2.75" and the Camaro one is 3".

[Thadious]

Being a guy that hates lowering blocks and such things... I did a little research and remember the fact that the leaf springs on a F**d Exploder/Ranger sat pretty dang flat, I made my own spring pack with the first leaf (if memory serves) from the S-10 with the remaining leafs from the Ranger.

The end result was a 2" or so lowering in the rear suspension, no blocks and a pretty good spring... and wise to replace the nylon "slippers" on the ends while you're at it... they're real cheap.

[mr48chev]

Without photos it is hard to tell where they set the bed on the frame. That said one of the minus points on an S-10 swap if you do it right is that you loose several inches of depth in the bed when you raise the floor to clear the frame and the 47/53 boxes aren't that deep anyhow. That is just a fact of life with that setup and most guys who do that swap don't give much of a rip about bed capacity as long as it will haul a couple of lawn chairs and a cooler.

Show us some photos of have going and we will try to come up with a viable answer even though it may not be what you want to hoar.

[tlorber]

I agree with not wanting to lose bed depth. Especially since my '54 bed sides are embossed and it would look strange to move the bed bottom up the sides. Consequently, all of my lowering will be via drop spindles and blocks. I do plan on occasionally using the truck for hauling stuff.

[FLATROCKER]

Heres a picture of my 54 GMC on s10 frame. Bed is 1951 chevy. Cab is mounted approx. 3 1/2 inches off the frame, bed cross rails were moved down 1 1/2 inch raising bed up that amount, rear fenders then lowered 1 1/2 inches .Has about 10-11 inch depth in bed. Also has 2 inch drop coil springs in front and 3 inch lowering blocks in rear. I also moved bed ahead 1 1/2 inch and moved fenders back same amount too tighten up gap between the cab. Had to make filler piece for running board splash shield (white metal strip in picture ) . Also had to make trans tunnel but not under seat and drive shaft clears.

[Clay54]

Sorry, but I am really having trouble seeing that picture! Clay