Looking for input on lowering an 84 LWB

[mckpaul]

Well, this is something I never thought I'd even consider, but I'm looking for input about lowering my truck (Did I just say that??) Kind of long, but instead of just saying 'Hey tell me what to do' I looked into a little and now need some input to make sure what I'm thinking is correct.

I have an 84 LWB with a 305. It's a second vehicle, it's purpose is to be a truck and haul stuff when needed around the house, you know, lumber from Home Depot, maybe haul the motorcycle somewhere if needed, don't plan on loading it to the hilt, and most of the time it won't be hauling anything, but don't want to mess up it's ability to be a truck. Just want to bring it down a little and maybe level it out some, and have a couple of questions.

As far as I know, everything on the truck is stock, no suspension modifications have ever been made. Per the LMC catalog, the factory stance on the truck should be 32" to the edge of the fender in the front and 34" to the edge of the fender in the back. Currently, mine is about 31" in the front and about 32-1/2" in the back (see pic below). Not sure if this is because it's just a tired suspension, or maybe the tires have a slightly lower profile than the stock tires, it currently has 255/70's all the way around. I'm thinking 2" lower in the front would be plenty, and 3" to 4" in the back as long as it doesn't make the back lower than the front.

FOR THE FRONT - Don't really want to get into replacing control arms. Also don't want to get into cutting the old tired springs ending up with unpredictable results. I've seen new 2" lowering springs available out there for the front for $100-$150 for the pair. I'm planning on replacing ball joints and control arm bushings anyway, so while I'm doing that, would be easy to throw new springs in. And, not wanting to cut my old springs or replace the control arms, looks like for the money, 2" lowering springs is the way to go in the front for a mild effect, right?

Q.) Do you think I'll see a full 2" drop from where I am, or do you think my 20 year old springs are already sagging a little from age, so the end result of new springs may be just an inch or so lower than where I am?

FOR THE BACK - My leaf springs are stock, I have four 'leafs' in the pack and one more on the bottom of the stack that's shorter and fatter than the rest, the ends aren't up against the stack. Looks like a helper type layer that only comes into play with a load in the bed. As I mentioned, don't really want to modify the leaf packs by taking out any leafs. Looks like there are two options for the back, longer shackles on the back of the leaf springs and/or new hangers for the front of the leaf springs.

Q.) Longer Shackles on the back of the leaf springs - How much drop will only longer shackles provide? Also, about 1/2" above my stock shackles there is a cross member type bed support piece, so it looks like putting longer shackles would require that I cut notches in that cross member to make room for the taller shackles. Yes? No? Maybe?

Q.) New Hanges on the front of the leaf springs - I've read about this mod, I know it involves removing the factory rivets and factory hangers etc. I realize it's a lot more work, and I'm up to doing the work, but how much drop will only new hangers provide?

Q.) Is it OK to do only one or the other of the above, or do you have to do both if you do one? If you can do just one, which one would be best for my application? The back is currently only 1-1/2" higher than the front. I'm afraid if I go 2" lower in the front with new springs and I do both shackles and hangers in the back, I'll end up with the back sitting lower than the front, so I'm thinking I should only do one or the other. Opinions?

IN GENERAL -

Q.) With a mild drop (I'm guessing 2/4 is as mild as it gets?) what about other stuff, like shocks, alignment, drive shaft, any of that have to be considered?

Sorry this is a long post with a bunch of questions, and hopefully the questions aren't so far off base that I look like too much of an idiot, but this is a new area for me, so be gentle... hehe.