Front Suspension Drop Choices???

[chevy_mike]

Originally Posted by blk81shrt

I have 3" belltech spindles on my 81, and my stock rallys rub on my control arms. they ride great though with bigger wheels. Im looking into putting on 16" or 17" rallys, i think that would look killer

That's exactly the info I needed. At this point I am not going bigger in wheel size, as well as I just picked up a set of 15x8 rallys cheap.

It sounds like ECE is the way to go but I will contact them to verify wheel clearance. I have become one who does feel the need to modify something new, just to get it to work. I'll use old parts and keep things cheap if I have to that.

Thanks to everyone else for ideas and opinions.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by 70~BigBlock~Project

... 3" drop springs and a set of a-arms with the correct geometry for the lowered ride height is the way to go. It reduces the suspension travel which in turn improves handling characteristics by lessening the amount of natural sway.

You make some valid points, and they all sound good in theory. Unfortunately they don't hold true in the real world. A 3" drop spring is a LOT of drop out of a spring. Yes, it does reduce the amount of sway, but it also reduces the amount of available spring travel to a point that it will allow the suspension to bottom out. When any suspension system bottoms out, it becomes ineffective and roll control is reduced dramatically and bump steer becomes a dangerous factor.

I have had both systems in the past, and I can assure you it is much better to lower a vehicle with spindles and still maintain suspension travel. The proper way to control body roll is a combination of a larger sway bars, and multi-valve shocks.

[randomhero472]

not to break up the bickering... but if i'm running 20's, is there any harm in running a 3" spindle as opposed to 2.5" spindle? I dont want any rubbing.. thanks

[chevy_mike]

Originally Posted by see ten

My truck handles much better than stock. I hope you enjoy the money that you saved by not buying springs by buying yourself something nice! A 3" drop spring will fall out of the spring pocket when you jack a vehicle up by the frame..........That can't be good. I guarantee you'll find more people on this board that have went from drop springs to spindles than have went from spindles to drop springs.

A body lift, lifts the body of a vehicle.

A spring lift, lifts the entire frame, engine, trans and the body.

Spindles lower the frame engine and the body. Which in turn lowers the center of gravity and will cause it to handle better.

I don't just drive my truck in a straight line I drive it hard! We go everywhere with it and have even made several passes through Deals Gap with it. I also run an ECE quick ratio steering box and a sway bar from a ton truck.





Sometimes I even run it hard enough to keep up with the slower bikes up there.



I can say this.....You were right when you said that you were one of the few people who thought running a 3" drop coil is better than a drop spindle.

A spindle moves up and down and turns left and right and my rotor and wheel bolts to it. Without it I have no suspension.....So , Yeah I believe that it's part of my suspension.

I've got about a case of beer in the shop fridge plus some bottled water and cokes if you don't like beer. You're more than welcome to come down and talk trucks and drink til the fridge is empty but we're still probably not going to agree on this one bro!

see ten, that is a sweet looking truck!!!! What's the specs on the drop and wheel/tire combo? I'm hoping mine will come out as nice!

[see ten]

Hey!! We're not bickering are we!!??

I would think you wouldn't have a problem with 20s and a 3" drop spindle.

Here's the tire/wheel/drop specs.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=143835&page=6

[chevy_mike]

Thanks and again, sweet truck!

[HotRodYJ]

I ran a dropped spindle and a 3" spring on the front of my 71. Spindles are by far the best way to go, but I wanted even more drop so I added the 3" spring to the mix as well. The 3" springs are very very stiff, which adds to handling but also takes away from ride quality. Personnally I would rather have a softer spring for ride quality and much larger sway bar to handle to curves. The 3" spring did not fall out of the pockets when suspension was at full droop and the suspension never bottomed out that I could notice due mostly to the very high spring rate. It only had about an inch to travel anyway and the springs were so stiff I never could feel it if it did hit the bumpstop. By the way, I also ran 15x8 ralley's with 255/60's all around. The dropped spindles were from Airbagit.com (I know I know) and I'm not sure how much drop they were. I never had any issues at all with the spindles, they fit well and never gave me any issues except that they seemed to increase my track width slightly. I did have to remove inner fneders and trim the fender lip for clearance but it fit. In a straiught line, the tires would clear completely, but when turning they would scrub the fender lip sometimes if I hit any bump at all. I think a higher quality spindle, one that didn't increase tack width, and it all would have fit much better, but it still worked with minor modifications for clearance. The 3" dropped springs came from LMC. I had no problems at all getting a good alignment with proper camber by adding shims.

[chevy_mike]

Okay, thanks for all the info. I talked to ECE yesterday about what I wanted to do and what I have. Their recommendation was the 3.5"/5" setup but did say that I may have some slight rubbing issues with 275/60-15 tires in the front. It mainly comes down to offset of the wheels and with the 15x8 rallys, they may. He recommended either a 245 or 255 on the front.

He did also say that disc brakes does widen the track slightly in the front.

Sounds like I have my plan to go with ECE stuff.

[70~BigBlock~Project]

Originally Posted by see ten

My truck handles much better than stock. I hope you enjoy the money that you saved by not buying springs by buying yourself something nice! A 3" drop spring will fall out of the spring pocket when you jack a vehicle up by the frame..........That can't be good. I guarantee you'll find more people on this board that have went from drop springs to spindles than have went from spindles to drop springs.

A body lift, lifts the body of a vehicle.

A spring lift, lifts the entire frame, engine, trans and the body.

Spindles lower the frame engine and the body. Which in turn lowers the center of gravity and will cause it to handle better.

I don't just drive my truck in a straight line I drive it hard! We go everywhere with it and have even made several passes through Deals Gap with it. I also run an ECE quick ratio steering box and a sway bar from a ton truck.





Sometimes I even run it hard enough to keep up with the slower bikes up there.



I can say this.....You were right when you said that you were one of the few people who thought running a 3" drop coil is better than a drop spindle.

A spindle moves up and down and turns left and right and my rotor and wheel bolts to it. Without it I have no suspension.....So , Yeah I believe that it's part of my suspension.

I've got about a case of beer in the shop fridge plus some bottled water and cokes if you don't like beer. You're more than welcome to come down and talk trucks and drink til the fridge is empty but we're still probably not going to agree on this one bro!

I might have to take you up on that offer, how far from Atlanta are you? I have friends in the area I haven't seen in a while...

Anyhow, we will just have to continue to disagree. I'm not advocating throwing 3" lowering springs in the front of one of these pickups stock, but when done properly the reduction in sway is advantageous, whether that be in combination with aftermarket a-arms designed for lowered geometry or altering the stock setup to make it ideal. I haven't gotten that far on my project yet (got a lot of body work to take care of first) but when I get there I plan on investigating re-engineering the stock arms for correct camber at a lower height.

As far as categorizing the spindles, they are axles. They make the wheels go 'round. Just like the rear-end, the suspension is just what suspends the axle from the frame and makes life a little more comfortable.

[70~BigBlock~Project]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

You make some valid points, and they all sound good in theory. Unfortunately they don't hold true in the real world. A 3" drop spring is a LOT of drop out of a spring. Yes, it does reduce the amount of sway, but it also reduces the amount of available spring travel to a point that it will allow the suspension to bottom out. When any suspension system bottoms out, it becomes ineffective and roll control is reduced dramatically and bump steer becomes a dangerous factor.

I have had both systems in the past, and I can assure you it is much better to lower a vehicle with spindles and still maintain suspension travel. The proper way to control body roll is a combination of a larger sway bars, and multi-valve shocks.

Real world conditions are subjectable. This truck will never see a load or a gravel road. 3" may seem like a lot but in comparison 6" is taken out of the rear on a regular basis. Add a sway bar and you're talking about a very tight ride.

[see ten]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

Okay, thanks for all the info. I talked to ECE yesterday about what I wanted to do and what I have. Their recommendation was the 3.5"/5" setup but did say that I may have some slight rubbing issues with 275/60-15 tires in the front. It mainly comes down to offset of the wheels and with the 15x8 rallys, they may. He recommended either a 245 or 255 on the front.

He did also say that disc brakes does widen the track slightly in the front.

Sounds like I have my plan to go with ECE stuff.

Here ya go bro! 275/60 on a 15x8 wheel with a 3.5" and 6" drop.







They'll work but it's going to be tight! You'll probably also be happier if you clearance the lower control arms like Ken said that he did his. I knew I was going to upsize wheels so I just dealt with the scrubbing. If you have your front wheels rebalanced with the stick on mag wheel weights that go up higher and not on the bead you may not have to clearance your arms. This is what Chuckles did with his and it seems to be working out for him so far. His front tire is also smaller but I'm not sure of the size. You can PM him or search his posts. His ID is 72Bluz, There may or may not be a space between "72" and "Bluz". His drop is the same as mine.







I'm about 2.5-3 hours north of Atlanta. Just give us a holler before you head this way!