Drop springs is 3-5 ok without c notch?

[AH619]

Thinking about lowering my first truck. It a 68 swb that we are building for my 15 year old. Had seen the drop springs and noticed they come 1/3 or 3/5. We are using 15 inch aluminum wheels with 60s front and 50s rear. I cant go to the expense of drop spindles and c notches. Whats my best bet?

[Tx Firefighter]

You can run 6 inch rear springs without a notch. I've done it many times.

[67_C-30]

I lot of people on the board are running 2 1/2" spindles and 1" lowering springs and 6" drop springs in the rear without a C notch. I have my beater truck dropped 3/5" with just springs and it does fine, but they are little harder to align than the drop springs. I have heard of a few people saying that some of the 3" drop springs pop out of the spring pocket when you jack them up.

[LuckyHenriksen]

Yep my 3 inch front drops would almost fall out if there wasnt any pressure holding them down

[AH619]

Originally Posted by 67_c-30

i lot of people on the board are running 2 1/2" spindles and 1" lowering springs and 6" drop springs in the rear without a c notch. I have my beater truck dropped 3/5" with just springs and it does fine, but they are little harder to align than the drop springs. I have heard of a few people saying that some of the 3" drop springs pop out of the spring pocket when you jack them up.

did you mean harder to alighn than with drop spindles?

[Shane]

You won't need a notch, but an adjustable trac bar (panhard bar) is a good idea. It helps to re-center the axle.

[AH619]

So 3/5 springs would be ok by themselfs? And not be too much of a pain? Would it set about level?

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by AH619

So 3/5 springs would be ok by themselfs? And not be too much of a pain? Would it set about level?

Yes, it is a little more involved when aligning it due to changing front a geometry, but it is doable. The 3/5 drop sits pretty level and looks good.

Here's my beater dropped 3/5".

[AH619]

Originally Posted by 67_c-30

yes, it is a little more involved when aligning it due to changing front a geometry, but it is doable. The 3/5 drop sits pretty level and looks good.

Here's my beater dropped 3/5".

thanx

[Puropedo]

Dont need a notch for a 5-6" rear drop (like everybody is telling u) Here's my
72 cheyenne with a 5" rear (there's still about 3.5 inches of travel between the differential and frame.

[primered_junk]

Heres my old 71 GMC, 3/5, 235/70/15 and the rears were the equivalent to a 31/10.50. The 66 parked behind it had the same drop with custom made torque thrusts, 17x6 front, and 17x12 rears.

[MellowYellow70]

My 70 is dropped 5" in the front with springs and modified a-arms. The rear is dropped 6.5" with springs and blocks on the trailing arms. Rode great and never had a problem with 275/60/15 all around. Going with 17's and a 5.3 swap currently.

[nicolas72gmc]

Originally Posted by primered_junk

Heres my old 71 GMC, 3/5, 235/70/15 and the rears were the equivalent to a 31/10.50. The 66 parked behind it had the same drop with custom made torque thrusts, 17x6 front, and 17x12 rears.

Do you have any more pics of the 71 with that drop? Thanks man.

[68 C-10 KID]

Originally Posted by Puropedo

Dont need a notch for a 5-6" rear drop (like everybody is telling u) Here's my
72 cheyenne with a 5" rear (there's still about 3.5 inches of travel between the differential and frame.

What brand of rear springs are those? I bought a set of mcgaughy 5" rear spring and it lowered it like 6" to much for me. My 4" springs are just not enough. Looking for a true 5" spring. Also what are you doing for drive line angle?

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by 68 C-10 KID

What brand of rear springs are those? I bought a set of mcgaughy 5" rear spring and it lowered it like 6" to much for me. My 4" springs are just not enough. Looking for a true 5" spring. Also what are you doing for drive line angle?

If you wanna do it right the first time, get Early Classic stuff.

I've seen too many bad reviews of Mcgaughy and CPP stuff.

[72BlckButy]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

If you wanna do it right the first time, get Early Classic stuff.

x2

Early Classic Enterprises offers some of the best products and service I've seen, and I've never heard a complaint about their way of doing business or products.

[69halfton]

you guys are saying 3/5 drop with only coils? im looking at the early classic website, they only offer up to a 2 inch drop with coils in the front.

[chevy_mike]

Originally Posted by 69halfton

you guys are saying 3/5 drop with only coils? im looking at the early classic website, they only offer up to a 2 inch drop with coils in the front.

That's because I think ECE doesn't recommend 3" drop coils in the front. It's hit and miss if you can get the alignment set correctly and since ECE is wanting to give the very best, they recommend dropped spindles and coils for 3"+ drops.

As they say, just because you can... doesn't mean you should. YMMV.

[Puropedo]

Originally Posted by 68 C-10 KID

What brand of rear springs are those? I bought a set of mcgaughy 5" rear spring and it lowered it like 6" to much for me. My 4" springs are just not enough. Looking for a true 5" spring. Also what are you doing for drive line angle?

Early classic springs, I like some of their stuff , I once bought the front hood molding for my 68 from them and it was a piece of $hit!

[kcjones]

I can't agree on the 6" drop with no cnotch. I agree that you can run a 6" drop spring and still drive the truck, but you'll have like 1/2" clearance between the frame and axle tube.

I have 5" drop springs and 1" blocks, and if I didn't have the notch, I'd have the frame on the axle every single bump I hit. I know it's doable, but you can't really ever expect to haul anything (not even your old springs) anywhere without hearing and feeling that obnoxious bump in the back.

This is only my experience, I have heard of lots of people running 6" drops without issue, it just hasn't been my experience.

5" drop in the back shouldn't be a problem even with a light load in the bed. ECE is great, PerfOnline is good (in my experience again), and CPP is not-so-good, mostly because of communication and customer service.

Oh, yeah, one more comment: definitely run drop spindles, don't do the 3" drop spring in front. Crappy ride, weird alignment, and weird characteristics around corners - you know the thing where even right after a good alignment, so still get squel around corners, only to the right? Yeah, weird stuff man, get the drop spindles.

[AH619]

O k thanx guys. I knew yall would steer me straight. Thanx again

[68 C-10 KID]

Early classic stuff is my best bet then. Thank you guys very much.

[LuckyHenriksen]

Can you run a 6 inch spring AND a set of 2 inch blocks?

[kcjones]

Originally Posted by LuckyHenriksen

Can you run a 6 inch spring AND a set of 2 inch blocks?

You sure can, but you'll definitely need the notch, then. Here's a quick cell pic of why a 6" drop spring probably should have a notch:




Also, in the pic below, with this stuff in the bed, I was drooping below the frame/axle clearance height, so with a 6" drop spring and any load, you'd be hitting frame:

[LuckyHenriksen]

Alright thanks