Saturday pics (4-11) Drop FAQs...(AKA making it WORTHLESS!)

[67ChevyRedneck]

GREAT write up! Bookmarked for my drop.

I'm stuck on 2.5/5 or 3.5/6. I really don't want to notch my frame...

Anyway... sucks about the u bolts. Any chance a pinch in a vice would close 'em up enough to work?

[see ten]

The truck has 275/60 -15 tires on the rear...no idea what's on the front. It seems like we had it figured that a 255/60 is about right for the front.

I generally advise/suggest to people that don't want to notch their frames and plan on hauling anything heavier then a couple hundred pounds to not go any lower then 5" in the back. A 2.5" drop spindle combined with a stock height spring goes well with it I think.

The only reason that I haven't pulled the bed to notch my C10 is that I don't want to mess up the spray-in bedliner.

The "Get on it Doggone it!"....Well, I was just mocking some drunk guys from a car show....They were shouting that at every car as it pulled out.

Zero, Alcoholic beverages were consumed while this drop was being performed!

[OARNGESI]

Looks really good nice write up

[Hottrucks]

Originally Posted by see ten

Zero, Alcoholic beverages were consumed while this drop was being performed!

I'm diving into mine thhis week but I find this hard to beleive but I was looking...also where there any bouta with terets???

thanx for the time to post all this

Jeff

[chrislehr]

where's the end time pic?

You made it easy removing the bed - try doing it lying under the bed all day!

[PanelDeland]

Great write up Asa.If you send that to "Trucks" we will be watching you do stuff every Sat.
Question,How long did the notch take? I know it will depend on skill level and equipment but some who are not notching may want to have an idea how much time the experts take.

[A.P.]

You guys did a great job on the write up and pics.

[chrislehr]

Originally Posted by chrislehr

where's the end time pic?

You made it easy removing the bed - try doing it lying under the bed all day!

Nevermind - I didnt watch the video - 7 hours aint bad considering the C noth and bed removal.

I think I did a CPP 3/5 in about 6 hours without a lift or bed removal (and also no notch) and I did my ECE 4/6 in about 8 hours (stupid rivets)

[bigguy69]

very entertaining!! bookwarked for sure!

[kamikazekyle05]

Awesome info!

[tvblazer78]

Originally Posted by see ten

No idea who that joker was!





Doggone it!!!

You should have held a beer up and say the Doggone it, This Buds for you! You get some money for that one..

[see ten]

Thanks guys!

All the other jobs like this that we have done was with the bed still on. The only reason that the bed was removed was so the notch could be installed. This is only the second notch that we've built (the first was on Brian's bagged yellow pickup) so our experience with it is still pretty low. I wouldn't risk skinning a paint job on a nice truck removing the bed just so I could burn out a couple rivets. However, I couldn't see notching a frame with the bed still on.

I didn't break the process down as far as section by section except for front vs back. The front was done in just over an hour with no hiccups. The back is kinda hard to break down... The guide for the portaband blade came off (10 min fix) the welding hood kept giving us fits (finally changed out batteries...still wasn't working like we wanted (easily lost another 10 min here)). The trip to town and back for lunch and then eating when we got back cost us 30-40 min. I'd have to guess that a solid hour could have been shaved off the time if our tools had held up and we had either packed a lunch or had something delivered. But hey! Tools fail in the real world and people get hungry! We're not expert mechanics and I have no doubt that someone that does this everyday could have pulled this off without a glitch and with less effort. A prefabbed notch might have saved us some time...but not money....we have more time then money and the square tubing was donated, so we built it ourselves. We took our time laying out the notch, after all this is a frame. We wanted it to be right the first time around. If I had to guess, I'd say between laying it out, cutting the frame, modifying the tubing, tacking it in, trimming the excess, final welding, fabbing of the boxing plates and welding them in....2-2.5 hrs??? I'm sure one of the others that were there will jump in here and put in there 2 cents concerning the hr count.

Either way, things went well overall, and the time passed quickly! I feel lucky knowing that I've got friends and family thats willing to share this truck madness with me!

We've got another one of these jobs coming up in the next couple months that should be near identical. If there's something specific that you'd like to see that I missed this time, I'll do my best to document it next time and add it in here for ya!!

[Boog]

That's a doggone fine doc Asa. I know you guys enjoyed doing it.

[jbristo67]

Originally Posted by see ten

Wow! You're right, after all of that I never mentioned the drop! We dropped it the same as mine which is 3.5"/6". The front used a 2.5" drop spindle combined with a 1" drop coil. ECE also sells a 4/6 but they just look a bit to unlevel for my personal taste.

Also, Just for future reference. If you are already running a 3" drop front coil, you'll have to resort to other methods for seperating the balljoints from the spindles.

Man that makes me nervous. I have planned on my truck sitting level at 5/7. I guess if worse comes to worse I could pull my 5 inch rear springs out and go with 6. I dont like the raked look

[see ten]

I have NO personal experience with a 5/7 drop. It seems like member TCB-1 has a drop that's similar. We've done some 2.5"/5" and some 3.5"/6" drops and have been pleased with them. A 5/7 is going to be pretty low for a daily. There are times when I'm afraid that mine is going to scrub and it's not that low.

[chas350]

You guys made it look sooo easy!
Nice work thanks for the writeup.

[Longhorn Man]

man.... it takes me 7 hrs just to get one up on jackstands!

[see ten]

Andy, I've got more confidence in you then that!

I missed the question earlier about the u bolts (sorry)! A vice wouldn't work due to them being too narrow. Again, This is the ONLY issue that I've ever had with ECE. I'm sure if I had taken the time to call them that they would have taken care of it.

[COACHMEASON]

So if your 5" in the back, do you suggest just getting by with the 2.5" spindle in the front and leaving the springs alone?

[see ten]

If you're happy with how your front end rides, and you think you'll be happy with 5" out back. Sure, by all means reuse the front stockers. If you think they're to stiff or to sloppy go with some new stock height coils.

This truck has the original coils combined with a drop spindle and 5" drop coils out back.



This truck has new stock height coils drop spindles and 5" drop coils in the back.



Same truck...



This truck has 2.5" drop spindles and 1" drop coils in the front. Out back are 6" drop coils. The drop on this truck is the same as the one I documented in this thread (minus the c notch).

[72BlckButy]

see ten... this is an awesome thread that will definitely end up in the FAQ. Thanks for documenting this "get on it doggoneit" project.

[72BLUZ]

Originally Posted by see ten

The truck has 275/60 -15 tires on the rear...no idea what's on the front. It seems like we had it figured that a 255/60 is about right for the front.

I generally advise/suggest to people that don't want to notch their frames and plan on hauling anything heavier then a couple hundred pounds to not go any lower then 5" in the back. A 2.5" drop spindle combined with a stock height spring goes well with it I think.

The only reason that I haven't pulled the bed to notch my C10 is that I don't want to mess up the spray-in bedliner.

The "Get on it Doggone it!"....Well, I was just mocking some drunk guys from a car show....They were shouting that at every car as it pulled out.

Zero, Alcoholic beverages were consumed while this drop was being performed!

no alcohol consumption because i was not there to advise!!!!

[see ten]

Chuckles, I didn't add any pics of yours in here cause I couldn't recall how much drop yours had. I knew we've "adjusted" it a couple times to get it where you wanted it.

[Skirkpat]

Yah, you think your all cool with your fancy tools, and fancy truck, and having fun making it nice on a nice day with your friends......Me too!! Nice job give yourself a pat on the back, and thanks for the info...nice to see people looking out for others.

[thelonerife]

great job. I'm still undecided on my rear spring and this thread gives me some more to think about. Thanks Asa.