1952 truck BBC with S10 front suspension

[orren]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum, so I apologize in advance if this question has been repeated,

I was hopping to tap into the endless knowledge on this site and hopefully save me some guess work.

I have a 52 3100 with S10 front suspension in place, still using existing truck frame, stock upper and lower control arm. Will be using S10 drop spindles. My engine is a BBC.

My question is this, I am wanting the truck to sit fairly low, wondering what coils and shocks would work best considering the extra weight of the BBC.

Thank you.

[MARTINSR]

I know nothing about this frame clip as it goes against everything I find true and real in the world () but I am thinking you should have the truck on it's wheels with the weight it will have on it so you can see where you are at. That frame clip could have been welded on there with a variance of MANY inches in height.

Brian

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

I know nothing about this frame clip as it goes against everything I find true and real in the world () but I am thinking you should have the truck on it's wheels with the weight it will have on it so you can see where you are at. That frame clip could have been welded on there with a variance of MANY inches in height.

Brian

I agree 100% with Brian. don't worry too much about springs right now.

On the two rigs I subframed for myself I figured out the distance that the bottom of the subframes crossmember would set from the floor on the donor vehicle sat from the shop floor and set the frame of the vehicle that was receiving the transplant up at the static height that I wanted to run it at. We lined both of those up, squared them up, tacked them in place and backed off and measured everything and then welded it all up. end product, a vehicle that rode like the donor rig with stock height suspension and was lowered right down where I wanted it.

It may or may not be a pain in the butt but I'd put it all together, drive it a few miles and back off and look at it and decide if it was right on or needed to be lowered or raised before doing anything with the springs. Worst case is you are working under the fender swapping the spring or installing dropped spindles instead of not worrying about banging your head on the fender.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

I agree 100% with Brian. don't worry too much about springs right now.

On the two rigs I subframed for myself I figured out the distance that the bottom of the subframes crossmember would set from the floor on the donor vehicle sat from the shop floor and set the frame of the vehicle that was receiving the transplant up at the static height that I wanted to run it at. We lined both of those up, squared them up, tacked them in place and backed off and measured everything and then welded it all up. end product, a vehicle that rode like the donor rig with stock height suspension and was lowered right down where I wanted it.

It may or may not be a pain in the butt but I'd put it all together, drive it a few miles and back off and look at it and decide if it was right on or needed to be lowered or raised before doing anything with the springs. Worst case is you are working under the fender swapping the spring or installing dropped spindles instead of not worrying about banging your head on the fender.

Yep, understand, I have done one before, it is a way to go. I have just turned against them because I did mine for the same reason a lot of people do, they think it's easy and they think they MUST have it. I was wrong and I like to let everyone know so they don't make the same mistake. It isn't always a bad thing by any means, they just aren't for me, I bought another frame and am going a different route now.

But yes, when I set that one up I put all thread to replace the shocks on the front end and tightened up nuts on it to draw the suspension down to the ride height of the donor vehicle and put that on my frame with the frame set up at the height I wanted the truck. The frame sitting on jack stands, with the clip rolled up to the frame I KNEW exactly where it would be, no dropped spindles needed, just welded the clip to the frame where I wanted it. This came after trail fitting the front sheetmetal so I knew the wheels were where I wanted them in the fender openings, done deal.

So now, if this is where you are at you can look at your options on how much to lower it and all that. But if you aren't with the body and engine weight in it you don't know where you are unless the guy who did the clip explained this all to you. And you know what you need.

Brian

[orren]

thank you guys, will take your advise and see where she sits.

[dwcsr]

But to answer the question start with Moog 5658 springs, spring rate is 579
if they are to low or soft try the 5660 spring rate 639

you can get into F body springs with 5662 rate of 706 and 5664 rate of 767

all have the same diameter and installed height and load height.