will cupping the upper bag mounts allow lca to lay flat against the crossmember

[67cheby]

I have cpp 2.5 drop spindles and strong arms and bags with air ride tech upper bag plates... its seems to me that the air bag is the only keeping the front from going down about anothe 1.5 inches, so if i cupped the upper bag plate woul it lay the lca against the crossmember or is something else holding it there that i am not seeing ??

[mindhive]

My 70 is doing the same thing. I figured it was the upper ball joint binding. I was thinking I might make a pie cut to my uca a couple inches inboard of the ball joint and weld it at a better angle. Edit: I am running stock arms so we may not be in the same situation.

Tim

[Spray-Bomb]

Yes, the BJs bind at that height, but not enough to keep it from laying out

Most people cut the spacer cups that sit in the LCA down a lil to get the to lay lower, but your idea should work too

[N2TRUX]

Are you still going to section a crossmember?

[67cheby]

im thinking of cupping the upper plate instead ok sectioning and messing with my steering geom.. im just looking for about another 1.5 inches of drop

[smashingchuck]

So basically you are trying to lay frame? What size tires are you running? You can get another .5 inches of drop just by switching spindles, I know it sounds like a pain but when things start getting this close to the ground the last few inches are the hardest to get.

[67cheby]

i cant switch spindles i am running the new cpp spindles that narrow the front track , i am going to switch tires my front ones are 255-45-20 which are 29.1 tall, i am thinking of swithcing to a 245-35-20 just scared that they are going to be rubberbands i would really like to keep a little sidewall, but i might have to sacrafice that, i am not trying to lay frame maybe just my front crossmember it is still an inch or more off of the ground

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by 67cheby

i cant switch spindles i am running the new cpp spindles that narrow the front track , i am going to switch tires my front ones are 255-45-20 which are 29.1 tall, i am thinking of swithcing to a 245-35-20 just scared that they are going to be rubberbands i would really like to keep a little sidewall, but i might have to sacrafice that, i am not trying to lay frame maybe just my front crossmember it is still an inch or more off of the ground

255-40-20's are 28" tall (a good compromise between the rubber band & 29" choice).

[bedsled71]

i use the cups top and bottom.. it was laying crossmember before i Z'ed the frame but i also have drop spindles... but it gave me about another 1 - 2 inches than using the flat plate on the top.. doing so you cant go bigger than a 7 inch diameter bag and you will have to trim the bottom of the upper spring pocket

[67cheby]

i was hoping someone else had done this , i am just going to do the top , my lower control arms are strong arms , i dont want to cut them up... Thanks for the info, so you just z it to lay the frame right

[bedsled71]

like this

[67cheby]

Thanks for the pics, thats the kind of info i have been looking for , i love this website !!

[bedsled71]

dont go bigger than a 7 inch diameter bag or you will have rubbing issues.. mine barley touches but hasnt rubbed through

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by bedsled71

dont go bigger than a 7 inch diameter bag or you will have rubbing issues.. mine barley touches but hasnt rubbed through

Could it be trimmed any more (kind of hard to tell in that pic)?

[bedsled71]

no its trimmed to the edge

[VA72C10]

So do you run cups on the top of the bag to space it down?

[Hottrucks]

if you have a sway bar that will be the next thing to pinch between the LCA and X memeber most everyone just cuts a bit of the ends of it off.. sorry I dont remember exactly how much....I have crs..lol

now with a 29.5" tire you should lay X without drop spindles ( ok my X is about 1/2" off) any more than that and your tires will contact the inner fender support ( assuming your wheel wells are outside on the ground next to Mine) my lca stops when it hits the X and my tires are abot 1/4" from the inner support with NO DROP SPINDLES...my LCA is cupped 2 3/4" so that is about what you need to gain on top and no bag pinch

[bedsled71]

no it gives the bag a mounting point. then you tackweld the cup in so it doesnt move around

[VA72C10]

Originally Posted by bedsled71

no it gives the bag a mounting point. then you tackweld the cup in so it doesnt move around

THat's what I was saying....you don't just run the bag mounted in there...you use cups on top of the bag and you secure them to the crossmember.

So I assume you pre-cut the bags with a way for the air lines to come though .... what I don't understand is how you get the fitting in and attached....do you do it ahead and then somehow get your cup tacked in?

[Primer70]

You can actually weld ( I would not try to bolt the upper cups in with the tight space there, they can shift & cause the bag to chafe ) the cup to the crossmember & drill or cut an access hole to get to the upper bag bolts. Then you will have to pull the bag out to take the air line off. I was thinking about doing this, but I've got Slam HE8s to go up front & there is no way they will fit in the crossmember. So I'm either gonna cup the lower stock control arms or I'm gonna cut the ends of the crossmember off & make a bag plate with upper control arm mounts.

[bedsled71]

if you look at my picture you will notice a hole drilled in the top of the crossmember for the airline to go through

[N2TRUX]

Are you sure it's your bags that are preventing you from laying crossmember? Are your tires hitting now? Do you still have the bump stops?

I question this because with what you have now, you should be able to lay crossmember.

[VA72C10]

This picture is from Tdave's build....this is what he did with his upper plate...believe he has RE-7's Any reason this wouldn't work? I know he has already put things back together but hasn't driven it yet...

[N2TRUX]

I have two concerns here. Why is it necessary, and will it rub. Are the 67-72 bodies that much higher on the frame than a 73-87? In the pic below, my crossmember is laying hard with only 3" spindles and stock ART cups. I have the inner fenders and a/c evap cover removed, but it is hard on the ground.

If it rubs, chafes, or slightly touches, then it's a "no go" in my books.

[jrods70]

I have plates on my 70 but I also cut the lca and made my own mounts out of 8inch pipe and 3/16 sheet. that solved my problem frome laying out. I also have 2inch Z 1inch crossmember drop and 3inch drop spindles with re 7