Mix & match drop kit..

[Driveway Dreams]

Here are a couple shots of my flip & notch. Like I said, it was all done in about 7 hours in the garage one day. We did the front drop, an axle swap, & the rear drop. Hope this gives you some ideas about how it all ends up. It is not the prettiest flip & notch job ever, but...it was not supposed to be. It is functional, sturdy, and it is all straight. That was the goal.

In the 1st picture you can see the $15 spring perches. In the 2nd, you can see the notch made out of scrap metal from my buddies Suzuki Samurai build. In the 3rd you can see the overall setup. Oh, I should mention, that exhaust is going away soon, right now it is lower than my notch.

[Rollinsqrbdy]

Nice thanks for the pics.

[Primer70]

Looks good Driveway Dreams. That's one of the cheapest & I think the best way to flip the axle on a 73 - 87. Did you have to drill an offset center pin hole in the new spring perch to center the wheels in the wheel wells? Also if you don't mind them being there you don't have to remove the original spring perches, they don't interfere with the u-bolts.

[Driveway Dreams]

I did drill it to move it some. Really should have taken it a little further, but...oh well. The guy I bought the rear end from had at somepoint, tried to cut off and reuse the stock perches for a flip.

So I had to cut off and grind down his mess to make it all right. There is a few areas that could have been cleaner, but again, I was going for function here.

[74 C-30]

Originally Posted by Driveway Dreams

I did drill it to move it some. Really should have taken it a little further, but...oh well. The guy I bought the rear end from had at somepoint, tried to cut off and reuse the stock perches for a flip.

So I had to cut off and grind down his mess to make it all right. There is a few areas that could have been cleaner, but again, I was going for function here.

how hard was it to get the perches lined up correctly?

[lolife99]

Don't forget about the pinion angle.

Flip kits do the calculating for you. If you do it yourself,... you have to weld the new perches on with the correct pinion angle.

[Driveway Dreams]

It was not bad at all. Take some time to measure it to make sure they centered right. The pinion angle is really pretty easy on something like this. My buddy has done a bunch of crazy rock crawler setups and had this one lined up real quick with no issues. Just get a pinion angle tool to get it exact.

We put it all in and loosely bolted it together, then got it all lined up and tacked the perches in place. Then pulled it out and welded it up solid. Keep in mind that after you weld on axle tubes, change the fluid. It can boil in there and break down.

[fiddy9apache]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Doesn't a 4" control arm put you right at the scrub line with a 15" wheel? I understand your issue with spindles, but I don't feel a control arm with minimal lack of ground clearence is a good choice either.

both have there pro's and con's. i wouldnt suggest goin that low if its your first lowered truck since the spring perches do hang extremely low.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by fiddy9apache

both have there pro's and con's. i wouldn't suggest going that low if its your first lowered truck since the spring perches do hang extremely low.

Ok, now you are covering my concerns in more detail. Keep in mind, a vague response often times leaves the inexperienced members to assume things. Those assumptions don't always end with good results.

While I am the opposite of you in that I don't care for low hanging spring pockets. Since I don't own anything that has 15" wheels it's rarely a safety issue. For those that are running 15" wheels, it should be given some consideration.

[N2TRUX]

Driveway Dreams- Nice low buck approach. I like that you radiused the corners on your notch to prevent potential stress cracks that sharp corners could cause.

Did you box or gusset the back side of the notch?

[Driveway Dreams]

Boxed it all in. The thing is real solid. I should have taken progress pics all day but I had to get it all back together so my wife could have her side of the garage. Oh well. Next time...

[sevysev]

hey guys, thanks for all the info. i finally decided with western chassis 5/7 kit with summit sport truck shocks. they are in my budget and my buddy is going to do the rear for dirt cheap (fifty bucks or so he has his own shop). thanks to everyone here, im confident in my decision. But... I still have two questions:

1.Does anyone have anything to say about summit shocks, good or bad?

2.Does the thickness of my rotors factor in when ordering the wc kit(spindles)

Oh yeah by the way, i just mounted BFG Radial T/A's on the chrome smoothies and they're lookin pretty sweet. Too bad it is still sittin pretty high, I'll fix that soon enough. thanks again everybody.

[nlped]

Originally Posted by sevysev

2.Does the thickness of my rotors factor in when ordering the wc kit(spindles)

Yeah, it matters. You have to tell them whether or not you have 1" or 1.25" thick rotors. You can upgrade to the 1.25" rotor if you have the smaller, but you will have to get loaded calipers, hoses, rotors, bearing & seals too...kinda pricey, but a bit better braking.

Good luck

[Driveway Dreams]

As far as I know the Summit shocks will be another brands shock just re labeled(like most of their stuff). And, I think shocks are one of those things that you get what you pay for to a point. The more you spend, the better the internal structure will be. But they should be fine and last you unless you plan on beating the truck down rough roads all the time.

[yellowGT]

So I have a question or two. What exactly is the angle that im looking for? I thought I could just weld the 15 dollar perches directly opposite of the ones already there.

[Driveway Dreams]

You generally want your pinion angle to be around 3* or so, if I remember right. You just want to be sure that everything is as straight as possible from tranny, to driveshaft, to pinion. That will keep from having too much stress on the u joints, which will make them last longer and they will turn smoother.

[love my 72]

Any one running a flip kit out back ever towed a car trailer or hauled anything heavy? Seams like all the weight of the truck with the flip kit would get transferred to the 8 nuts on the U bolts.

[knightowl73]

i just cut the front springs from a 454 dually if im not mistaken on my blazer back in the day. cut off the bump stop mounts and used some cheap traction bar bump stops and doubled up on the cheap vw dropped shocks up front, with the dually sway bar on the front and it rode fine. i tore up the first set of lower a-arms but on the second pair i welded a plate under the bushings to keep them from caving in there, and changed to the "squshy " bumstops. think i got those from fbi in the truckin books. this rode just fine for me, at a very low altitude i might add. your gonna scrape regardless if you go that low, just make sure you cant tear anythng up. my biggest problem id have to say , was getting it aligned, i had to change the a-arm studs to longer grade 8 or 10 bolts and make some spacers to bring them out a bit, but i rode fine and didnt waer out tires anymore, and didnt use drop spindles.

did my own flip in the back too. cut the mounts from the top and welded them back on bottom after i drilled the hole further back, used the factory stuff to put it back together, vw shocks again in back. had to cut down a 2-piece driveshaft too. the one piece hit the bottom brace of the body, but dont think you will have this driveshaft problem since its not a blazer.

[nlped]

I've pulled my 4000+ lb boat and a car trailer with a LWB '78 on it without any issues.