1970 s/s draggin' frame

[GenIIIShorty]

ok guys, i wanna bag a 70 short/step, low enough to drag the frame if i want to. it's a coil rear truck. what all parts am i looking for? used to be in the 4wd game, so this lowering trucks thing kinda goes against the grain.....should i keep my tank in the cab? or should i put it under the bed? don't wanna put a fuel cell in the bed, cuz i wanna have a real nice oak bed. how hard is it gonna be to get the exhaust out the back?

[Liftedassdodge]

well basically, and im not expert, but youll have to raise the floor of the bed or cut out someof it to lay out frame. Youll have to do some suspension modification, such as dropped crossmember and tubular arms to actually lay FRAME in the front and not just a arms

but like i said im not expert

[orange72]

yea in order to lay frame you either need to do a crossmember drop or a z. the crossmembers in these trucks are to low to actually sit on the ground but it gets pretty close. your also gonna need a good size notch in the back prabably around a 7 or 8inch. if your keeping the trailing arms your gonna need at least 3 inch blocks to raise the axle up high enough. the problem is your arms hit the frame when aired out. for exhaust i would just dump it. of course i dont like rear exit exhaust on a truck anyways but thats me

[XXL]

Originally Posted by GenIIIShorty

ok guys, i wanna bag a 70 short/step, low enough to drag the frame if i want to. it's a coil rear truck. what all parts am i looking for? used to be in the 4wd game, so this lowering trucks thing kinda goes against the grain.....should i keep my tank in the cab? or should i put it under the bed? don't wanna put a fuel cell in the bed, cuz i wanna have a real nice oak bed. how hard is it gonna be to get the exhaust out the back?

You're not likely to get the frame on the ground on a stepside. There's not enough room for the tires in the rear. Here's an old, much posted pic of mine. It will be lower in the back in a few months... but still a LONG way from any frame dragging.

[wannabeburbowner]

Originally Posted by XXL

You're not likely to get the frame on the ground on a stepside. There's not enough room for the tires in the rear. Here's an old, much posted pic of mine. It will be lower in the back in a few months... but still a LONG way from any frame dragging.

That is about as low as I want my truck to be. What all did you do to get it that low?? My truck is a 71 c10 lwb fleetside.

[Liftedassdodge]

it also depends on the size of rim

[GenIIIShorty]

xxl: that's the look i'm going for right there. didn't think i could get it low enough to drag frame, but i was hoping.....oh well. what all is done to your truck? it has the exact stance i want. any pics would be greatly appreciated.

[GenIIIShorty]

also, where can i get a frame-z kit?

[Liftedassdodge]

zing the frame seems like it would take an ass load of the strength out of the whole project

[GenIIIShorty]

maybe so, but with a coil sprung truck, the only back of the axle is the bumper, no spring mounts, and it's not gonna haul anythin with it slung that low. and done right z-ing the fram doesn't weaken it much as long as you box the frame and build in new corssmembers.

[XXL]

Originally Posted by GenIIIShorty

xxl: that's the look i'm going for right there. didn't think i could get it low enough to drag frame, but i was hoping.....oh well. what all is done to your truck? it has the exact stance i want. any pics would be greatly appreciated.

and

Originally Posted by GenIIIShorty

also, where can i get a frame-z kit?

Z-ing kit is going to look a lot like this...



Re my truck, click the links in my sig. Tires are 255/50-17 all the way around (27.1" tall IIRC). Rear is bagged, 2" block, and bolt-in notch. Front was bags and spindles, but now has ART arms and 1.5" xmember sammich (see separate thread in Suspension for pics/info). I also just noticed that pic above has a pshopped chop top... so take that into consideration (actual truck will have a chopped top if I ever get time to swap cabs).

[GenIIIShorty]

so you didn't actually z the frame? just a bolt in notch? is it a coil or leaf truck? mine's a coil truck, but i might convert it over to the corvette irs of mine, that might make it a little easier to slam......but it'll take a lot of work to get that rear in there. also, do camaro spindle bolt onto our trucks? if not, i'm sure drop spindles can be gotten with car 5-lug spindles....don't have an extra cab, so mine will probably stay full height right now, and if i do chop it, i'm gonna section the roof rather than lay the pillars back. also, do you have any pics of the raised bed floor? i'd rather have an entire wood bed than a tub across the bed.

[XXL]

Originally Posted by GenIIIShorty

so you didn't actually z the frame? just a bolt in notch? is it a coil or leaf truck? mine's a coil truck, but i might convert it over to the corvette irs of mine, that might make it a little easier to slam......but it'll take a lot of work to get that rear in there. also, do camaro spindle bolt onto our trucks? if not, i'm sure drop spindles can be gotten with car 5-lug spindles....don't have an extra cab, so mine will probably stay full height right now, and if i do chop it, i'm gonna section the roof rather than lay the pillars back. also, do you have any pics of the raised bed floor? i'd rather have an entire wood bed than a tub across the bed.

Your coil setup is the best simple solution for dropping the back of the truck. The Corvette rear would not give you any advantage wrt lowering the truck. As for spindles, they are available for 63-72 (and beyond) trucks, so it's a simple spindle-for-spindle swap. You will have to go to disc brakes, however.

Bed floor pics... click links below my sig.

[GenIIIShorty]

i was planning on going to disc, thanks for the info on the coil setup, i'll keep that and sell the 'vette irs, then. probably convert my 12-bolt to disc eventually, too. how low can i get it before the arms bottom out? obviously it won't drive like that, just wondering how low i can set it before they bottom out.