??? for you guys sitting low.

[Wildman65]

Hi! I'm new here. Picked up a 1965 Shorted fleet side back in December and have been working on it off and on since. I've converted it to 5-lug, disc brakes up front, all new ball joints, tierods, Idler arm, pitman arm, lowering springs & shocks, drop spindles, etc. Put some 18" Ridler wheels on it. Has a 454/TH400 combo & 3.73 posi rearend. Going to be a fun truck!

To my question. I lowered the front with 3" drop springs and 2.5" drop spindles. So 5.5" up front and I went 4" in rear. I really like the stance but I'm a bit concerned about the ground clearence of the lower a-arms and center cross member. Just wandering if anyone else is like this and if they have any troubles with anything. Thought about going a little taller on the front tires and maybe going to a 2" drop spring to gain a little more. Any thoughts.

[lolife99]

The stance is perfect up front.
I would actually lower the rear a little more.
The a-arm issue is the main problem with these trucks.
No way around it if you like it this low,... unless you add air bags up front.
But then you will be driving at a taller ride height.

This is where the Porterbuilt Dropmembers fix this problem.
They raise the a-arms up in the frame for more ground clearance.

Short of a sectioned crossmember or a "Z'd" frame,... you are stuck raising it back up with taller tires or taller front springs.

[Narxoleptic Customs]

My truck lower arms are 4" from the ground. I've put over 1500 miles with no issues. I do not recommend any lower that that for sanity sake...
18" rims w 245/55 tires

[Wildman65]

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. I may have 3". I'm putting power steering on it now and was thinking of going ahead and pulling the 3" drop springs and put the 2" drop ones in and go to a bigger tire dia.. I know the springs won't really change the outer portion of the a-arms but will pull the center up an inch.

[timmytimm3]

You could always section the crossmember to bring everything up but that takes a lot of work.

A sectioned crossmember with Porterbuilt forward arms is a nice setup.

Nice truck!

[forestb]

I have a 4.5-5 inch drop in front and my lower control arms scrape of I go to fast over speed bumps. I think you will scrape with a 5.5 drop. You must have one heck of a rake with that set up.

[Wildman65]

probably my best bet would to just put non-drop spindles back on it.

[shortbed70]

What are the specs on the wheels? Backspacing and width... Love the look
PM me easier cause I don't check in here often..

[grs]

How close to the ground are the lower control arms? Let the air out of the front tires and see if any thing touches the ground. And if you hit a 4 inch pot hole in the street what will happen? Low looks good, but I like safety first.

[Wildman65]

Originally Posted by grs

How close to the ground are the lower control arms? Let the air out of the front tires and see if any thing touches the ground. And if you hit a 4 inch pot hole in the street what will happen? Low looks good, but I like safety first.

Technically, to low! I'm not sacraficing safety and I'm sure not going to tolerate scraping and worrying about everywhere I go. So I think I'm just going to look into stock height spindles.

[grs]

Originally Posted by Wildman65

Technically, to low! I'm not sacraficing safety and I'm sure not going to tolerate scraping and worrying about everywhere I go. So I think I'm just going to look into stock height spindles.

How about stock springs? Then the front would not be so low.

[donthekawguy]

Keep the spindles and if you have to get shorter springs. 1 the spindles cost more 2 its better to have it lowered with spindles. Try driving it around like it is and see if you scrape on anything. Go into some steep parking lot entries and go over some speedbumps. You might be suprised at what it takes to scrape on anything. Back in the mini truck days we got pretty good at pulling in and out of parking lots without scraping anything.

[Wildman65]

I think I've made my decision. I found some 1.5" drop springs from Western Chassis. I'm going to order them and hopefully get them by next weekend. I just put power steering on it yesterday and need to fab up some lines and switch springs and it's ready to take in for an alignment and drive it!

[familyfast64]

Just drive it and see. I have 2.5 " spindles and either 2 or 3 in drop springs. My lower arms are about 4 inches from the ground and I've put over 7xxx miles on her without any issues other than the occasional rear end bang against the frame. I have 3 inches of clearance between the rear end housing and both the bed and frame rails. It only hits on a large bump but I definitely need a c notch. Other than that I believe I need to remove some of the metal area of the front bump stop as well. Even tho it has hardly ever touched, it would if I was going crazy. Other than that, if you had the money I suppose porterbuilt would be the best bet but Damn! All that money cannot be justified to me at least unless of course you were to bag it. I just bought some stiffer lowered front shocks and that made a big difference surprisingly. My old shocks were junk. I also have air shocks in back and without them I'd be in trouble. .. what really surprised me is the lack of body roll. I have no anti sway bars and hardly any roll in corner. Altho I plan on purchasing them, just lowering the center of gravity helps so much. These trucks are nice and wide too which I'm sure helps. I'm falling more and more in love.

[theastronaut]

My daily driver ('64 VW Bug) is 2.75" off the ground and it hardly ever scrapes. Try it before you pull it apart.

[Slow Build]

What size tires are you running? You might need to get taller tires. I like a tire around 28" tall.

[Wildman65]

I think I forgot to mention that I'm running a 454 big block. That might a bit to do with it. I figure if I put 1.5" drop springs on, it will be realistically more. Might even go with a 1" drop spring. right now the lower control arm towards the middle cross member and including the cross member is roughly 2" maybe a little more. It won't be a problem putting the new springs in because everything is new and should come right back apart.

[gimmy 64]

I agree with everyone else drive it! I have 21/2 dropped spindles and 2 in. lower springs. it does look pretty scary with the control arms ,but you need to look at the scrub line that is where the problems can come. mine is above the scrub line and I have no problem going over speed bumps in parking lots or anything. I am running 235-60-15 tires and I was running 245's with no problem

[ChrisDollins]

Another here for just drive it. Bring the back down a little and cruise it. Good looking truck!

Chris

[Wildman65]

Well, when I first lowered and dropped it down on the tires for the first time, I couldn't get my floor jack out! So I took care of the problem. I pulled out my 3" drop springs and swapped them out for some 1.5" drop springs. Now I feel satisfied and I can get my jack out. Of coarse I was so focused on the springs that I totally forgot about the drop shocks! LOL! New shocks on the way! And I might swap the tires out for a little taller ones. The fronts are just too low profile for the little more gap I have in the fender wells. Can't wait to get this thing on the road! I added power steering last weekend. Just need to swap the shocks, get the tires, then it's ready for alignment so I can drive it to a friends shop to put a nice exhaust setup on it.

[Slow Build]

What size tire are you running now and what tires are you thinking about mounting?

[familyfast64]

Sweet bro, it's coming.

[Wildman65]

Originally Posted by Slow Build

What size tire are you running now and what tires are you thinking about mounting?

235/40-18 up front and I may go with 235/50-18 along with going 285/40-18 in the rear in place of the 285/35-18. If it won't cost me to much more. If it's more than I want to spend right now, I'll just go with 245/45-18 up front. Hope that all made sense.

[64chevmn]

I'm in the same position; 2.5 drop spindles and 3-inch drop springs. I'll get the cab back on the frame along with everything else and see where it sits after all the weight is back on the suspension. I may be doing the same thing you are if it bottoms out driving out of my garage! Post a few more pictures with the new drop springs in place.