4/6" drop on a 71 C10 SWB need a C-notch?

[SketchsInk]

Hey everyone. new to the forum so any help wold be greatly appreciated.

I'm in the process of purchasing an all original 71 C10 SWB. No pictures uploaded yet but will upload soon.

I want to go as low as possible without cutting the frame. eventually I may want to do a full restoration and don't want to devalue the vehicle by cutting a perfect condition frame.

The truck will stay patina for a long time and will be running the stock wheel and tire set up. (using it as a shop truck)

My question is..

Are you able to drop the truck 4/6 without bottoming out?
was thinking of running 4/6 drop springs for now. thoughts?

What does everyone recommend, and pics would be a great help!

Thanks in advance.

[Tx Firefighter]

Some will say you need a notch, some will say you don't.

I've personally owned maybe six different 67-72 trucks with 4-6 drop and I have never notched any of them or felt the need to. And, I drive them plenty. Worst case, you hit a railroad crossing at 40 miles per hour and you might hear it thump against the bump stops.

[68Stepbed]

I ran 6" springs with a 3/4" drop block(6.75" total) on my truck for years and never even came close to hitting the frame. The panhard bar would hit the exhaust, but the rearend never hit the frame.

[raggedjim]

I have a 6" drop in back (4" springs, 2" blocks) with no c-notch.

Good luck, Rg

[zach_carver]

No C notch neccessary. Unless you haul heavy stuff in the bed or tow a lot. Weve lowered 4 or 5 C10s with no notch and 6" drops. I would recommend relocating the shocks in the rear though.

[SketchsInk]

Originally Posted by zach_carver

No C notch neccessary. Unless you haul heavy stuff in the bed or tow a lot. Weve lowered 4 or 5 C10s with no notch and 6" drops. I would recommend relocating the shocks in the rear though.

What do you mean re-locate? do you have pictures at all to reference? and what are the benefits?

[bsampson]

When lowering the vehicle, the rear shocks are put at a sharper angle than they were designed for. Only a small part of the stroke is used, and this reduces their effectiveness.

There are 2 types of relocations kits (that I know about).

1) Standard - Most common type offered by CPP, Early Classic Engineering (ECE), Performance Online (POL), etc. Makes the shock more vertical, and more effective. Requires shorter shocks.
2) No-Limit Engineering Style - moves the shock behind the axle to lengthen the stroke more. I believe these use stock length shocks.

[71cheyennesuperlongb]

Look up Make It Handle by Rob at NO LIMIT . This is full of info every truck owner should read .He says that if you bottom out the rear against the frame you only have about 3/4 to 1 inch clearance between the top of the rear end and the bed floor depending on wood or steel floor. If you c-notch the frame more than 1 inch you will need to cut your floor fore any more drop.

[71cheyennesuperlongb]

Look up NO LIMIT .NETon the Interweb and look at their relocation kits.My truck has bags in place of coils for a 6in drop I cut my snubbers in half and empty it takes a LOT to bottom out The best thing I did was use their panhard bar and shock kit.Drives like a completey different truck.Best bang for the buck IMHO!

[hewittca]

I agree with everyone on the rear, but no one has addressed the front yet. I have 4" springs in front and you are definitely going to need to make some cuts if you go that route. At 4" spring drop, you are just sitting on the bump stops. I had to completely cut out the bump stop mount and put in a smaller bump stop to get any decent travel up front. Also, your shock is going to be bottomed out bad at a 4" spring drop. I custom made and welded in a new top shock mount to give me adequate travel. There are aftermarket top shock mounts that will work, but I wanted to make my own. If you don't want to go through all this trouble, I recommend installing some 2.5" drop spindles and either a 1" or 2" drop spring. That will get you where you want to be and you wont have to cut anything.

[SketchsInk]

Basically I want to go as low as possible without cutting the frame or do any modifications to the frame.
Because of the VIN number and the desirability of the truck in the future
I don't want to do aything to the frame since it is a virgin frame, and all matching numbers.

If anyone hows how to accomplish this or knows of ways to get as low as possible without bastardizing the frame please let me know.

Also keep in mind this will be my daily driver.

Thanks everyone for the help already.

[raggedjim]

Well, even a c-notch could be repaired. I have an original 2wd jimmy that will get c-notched, doesn't bother me at all.

That said, the 6" drop would be as low as you could safely go without a notch.

Good luck, Rg

[oldman3]

This info may be of no use, but I thought I would post what I did to a 67 to get the shock in a better angle.

Pic 1 The shock mounting position with 5" drop springs. I felt this didn't move it forward enough to correct angle.

Pic 2 Old mount next to the new one I built, can't remember how much this was moved, but about 3" or 4".

Pic 3 Showing angle of shock, here is about 73 degress.

Pic 4 another view showing angle.

Hope this helps...Jim

[raggedjim]

Jim, great work on that. I had been thinking about a shock mount that would get bolted on by the bottom spring bolt. It would be in about the same position.

Great job, Rg

[71cheyennesuperlongb]

Old man3. Good looking truck! Your shock works look real good but in your photos there only seems to bee about 2 1/2 in travel. Does it bottom out on shock travel?

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Jim, great work on that. I had been thinking about a shock mount that would get bolted on by the bottom spring bolt. It would be in about the same position.

Great job, Rg

Thank you...Jim

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by 71cheyennesuperlongb

Old man3. Good looking truck! Your shock works look real good but in your photos there only seems to bee about 2 1/2 in travel. Does it bottom out on shock travel?

71, Thank you. The truck belongs to a friend, that I did the work on. Can't remember if it's a 20 or 25 gal. tank in the rear, but it has never bottomed out. It rides very nice...Jim