lowering....

[papsoldblue72]

Has anyone on here cut coils to lower there truck??? Why is my truck lower in the rear than it is in the front??? Is that common on these trucks?? I have coils on the front and leafs on the rear.... I don't have the money for buying a big fancy four link air ride set up on the rear right now so I'm just gonna heat the springs on the back and cut the coils on the front or heat them also....

[joey8383]

Most folks will tell you do NOT heat the rear springs. You will regret it!
Cut half a coil or 1 entire coil off the front and put a block under the rear trailing arms. $75 for the block and U-bolts. You can get 2 or 3" lower with that. Don't heat the rear coils..

[joey8383]

I just realized you said leafs on the rear. do not heat them!
And the reason it's lower is just sag from the years of hauling and working I'm sure.
Save some pennies and do it right. You don't have to throw a $5000 suspension under the truck. But get the right stuff and spend a couple hundred dollars so you don't die.

[tjc]

You could take a leaf or two out and use a lowering block

[specialtyretail]

Originally Posted by joey8383

I just realized you said leafs on the rear. do not heat them!
And the reason it's lower is just sag from the years of hauling and working I'm sure.
Save some pennies and do it right. You don't have to throw a $5000 suspension under the truck. But get the right stuff and spend a couple hundred dollars so you don't die.

Excellent advice.

[68shortwide]

I fully back up eveything said here, Do Not heat your springs. And you could always do an axle flip. Spend around 500 or less and keep it safe.

[adzz]

pull a spring

[Rod Run]

Do NOT heat your springs! Heat will make the metal lose it's temper and it's ability to work as it should.

[papsoldblue72]

Thanks for all the input .... I'm on a really tight budget and I'm getting a lot of different feed back about the whole rear flip kit how much will it lower it ??? I hear 5-7 inches that's 2 inches of difference.... Also if I cut the coils on the front some people say it makes it ride stiffer also if I cut the coils on the front how much do I cut to get the front end down 3 or 4 inches max???

[thepenguin99]

If you just want to go a little lower cut a coil from the front springs and remove the overload spring in the rear. Looking at your measurements that would even up the truck and probably put you ~31" front and rear.

If you don't mind spending a little money you could do spindles, cut coils, and a rear flip. Not sure if you would need a c-notch on these trucks or not.

[Rod Run]

Cut coils will give you a bit more of a harsh ride than coils that were wound for the proper height, but it's a truck and they're not supposed to drive like a Caddy anyway

[Rod Run]

Originally Posted by papsoldblue72

Also if I cut the coils on the front some people say it makes it ride stiffer also if I cut the coils on the front how much do I cut to get the front end down 3 or 4 inches max???

I didn't notice this when I first read your post. You can't get a truck down that much by cutting coils. You really only want to cut one coil at most, which will give you nowhere near that drop.

You said you're on a tight budget, but it sounds like you really need to wait until to have the money to do it properly, before you try dropping your truck. In the long run you'll end up safer, with putting in a lot less work and less money by the time you're done.

I know that's not the answer you were looking for, but sometimes that's just the way life goes.

[papsoldblue72]

Originally Posted by Rod Run

I didn't notice this when I first read your post. You can't get a truck down that much by cutting coils. You really only want to cut one coil at most, which will give you nowhere near that drop.

You said you're on a tight budget, but it sounds like you really need to wait until to have the money to do it properly, before you try dropping your truck. In the long run you'll end up safer, with putting in a lot less work and less money by the time you're done.

I know that's not the answer you were looking for, but sometimes that's just the way life goes.

Thanks that's the plan to do it right later on but I just want to get it as low as I can with out looking lower in the back than the front or just messing it up completely ....

[kaycee]

I cut 1 ring off the front and got 2' of drop and used jeep springs in the back I'm on coils. Don't forget that if you drop more than 2" you should/need to change shocks and mounts. I never did this on my 2/4 drop and it rode OK ,I finally got around to making some mounts and new shocks and she rides like a caddy now

[Blakeman350]

I cut one coil from the front and took 3 leafs out of the rear for a 2/4 drop. Removing the leafs was really simple to do just and to buy some $20 u bolts. Cutting the coils was even easier and no cost. My 67 has a nice raked stance now and still rides pretty good.

[Blakeman350]

This is what it looked liked before I lowered it. Different angle but you you can see the difference.

[tcrist]

If all you are looking to do right now is get the front lower or even with the rear, just cut one coil off of the front.

Really no cost in that until you notice that you might need new ball joints or at least new ball joint boots.

If you have progressive coils you could end up with the same ride or softer/stiffer ride on spring compression depending on which end that you cut your springs from.