just bought a 08 crewcab 2wd and i'm dropping it. any sugestions?

[rustic]

Now mind you i have had many bagged rides in the past but this will be static dropped and be pulling a open car trailer a few times a year. I would like to be as low as possible and still drive on my rough Pennsylvania roads so i am thinking 4-6 drop what do you guys think? who is making quality drop kits? what do they consist of? how much of a pain in the ass is it? i am new to this body style thats why a ask.

[piecesparts]

I am running the 2011 truck with a McGaughy's 4/6 drop and it works well. I had to do a little modification to my front fender liners to get a little more clearance, but with the 20" rims there is still clearance. I did upgrade the suspension by using a set of Belltech struts in the fron, vice using the factory strut tubes. This gave me a better adjsutment and control of the front setting. I also purchased an alignment kit from Belltech to get the front wheels adjusted to the right degree angle.

[rustic]

what size tire? thanks for the response.

[lolife99]

Talk to member leevon.
He's dropped a couple of these.

[Pro Performance]

Congrats on the new ride... these trucks look good dropped. Take a look at McGaughys, as they have nice stuff and their drop spindle keeps the factory suspension geometry. There are a lot of good kits out there whichever you choose. Make sure to post some pictures up when you get it lowered.

Of course, let me know if you need a price as well.

[LEEVON]

Howdy! Thanks for the referral Keith. McGaughy's is the only way to go on the new trucks and I tried it all and combinations thereof. I recommend a combination of their 2" drop spindles and coil relocators for the best ride. The drop springs don't ride well in my opinion, and are known to sag. Belltech's struts aren't my favorite either for the same reasons, although it sounds like piecesparts is happy with them so they're not out of the question. The coil relocators literally just move the spring down 2" on the factory strut, retaining the stock ride, and are adjustable in small increments. That is important because you may need that adjustment either from side to side or just overall and you don't want anything that will sag, wear or compromise your alignment in the future. I haven't needed any special alignment cams or anything with the spindle/relocator combo, they come back to spec fine. Steer clear of the DJM control arms.

For the rear, McGaughy's flip kit is the way to go, better if combined with shock relocators to correct the angle and give you some more travel. Even better with their helper bag kit (pricey, not absolutely necessary but worth it if you haul or want to adjust your ride).

I've used every big name drop shock and they all suck. People seem to like Belltech's Street Performance shocks, I haven't tried the newest ones. The old ones were not good. I used Monroe's shock charts to cross reference a stock style shock from a light truck that fit. Picked up a set at the parts store for a good price and the ride was perfect. If you want the p/n's I'll have to dig them up just let me know.

If you have install questions just post 'em up!

[piecesparts]

Originally Posted by rustic

what size tire? thanks for the response.

I am running 265/50/20 Nitto NT850 tires on my truck. The Mcguaghy's rear shocks did not last long. One shock had the end come off of it, so I am looking at Bilstein shocks for the rear.

[LEEVON]

I copied my own post from another forum;

So I checked out the specs on them and ordered Monroe p/n 911258:

http://catalog.monroe.com/catalogPar...layPartDetails

These are a light suv shock with the right eye mounts, the only problem is that the bushing sleeves are 1/2" I.D. and the stock bolts are 14mm. I used my impact to run a spare 14mm bolt through each sleeve to make sure they would go (they're rolled from flat stock so there is a split in the sleeve allowing the expansion). It took a little force and once the threads grabbed, the stock bolts went through no problem. I wouldn't attempt this without an impact though!

So the ride is incredibly close to stock. No doubt the lower shock relocators help too but I give them 90% of the credit. I am so happy that I found these, I was starting to regret lowering this truck in a bad way. If you're at 4/6 or 4/7 on NNBS, with the addition of the relocators these are a great fit and awesome ride.

[rustic]

Thanks for all the info guys, this has helped me alot on my quest for a low driver. On a side note is anyone making a quality fiberglass roll pan for the newest bodystyle?

[piecesparts]

Fiberglass pans for this model of truck is hard to find, especially a quality pan. I did some searching and ended up with a urethane pan from Street Scene. I also purchased their hidden hitch. Both of these items have not been installed by me, yet, due to the amount of time that I have had this year to get anything done.

The new body style has indentions on both sides of the bed where the bumper wraps around the sides. The urethane pan is made to attach into these indentions to make it more smoth.

Truckin magazine did a story on a roll pan install, such as this and they made it look easy.

http://www.truckinweb.com/tech/1203t...oth_rear_view/

[Dustytrix]

I bought a 09 GMC scswb it has the MaGaughy's 3/5 flip kit it looks great but it rides like a iorn wheel wagon. It maybe not installed right but there has to be a way to make a smoother ride. The part # 34025.

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by Dustytrix

I bought a 09 GMC scswb it has the MaGaughy's 3/5 flip kit it looks great but it rides like a iorn wheel wagon. It maybe not installed right but there has to be a way to make a smoother ride. The part # 34025.

What parts do you have? There are a couple of combinations for McGaughy's kits. Drop springs in the front can sag and ride rough. Rear shocks and shock angle have an effect. One often overlooked problem is over-torquing the rear leaf spring eye bolts. This can put the bushing in a bind and make it ride VERY rough (I made this mistake). They need to be properly torqued with the weight of the vehicle on the springs. Another problem is not enough caster when the rear is lower than the front...if they align you to the allowable max you can get soggy steering. When I had helper bags with an on board compressor, I could drive at full dump and the rear was rough and steering soggy. Full air and there was too much positive caster and the front steering was twitchy. Right in the middle was perfect. All that by raising and lowering the rear between 2-3".

[maxh]

DJM 4/7 with added struts and shackles. Sits at 5/8 with a touch of air in the helpers.

[piecesparts]

Originally Posted by Dustytrix

I bought a 09 GMC scswb it has the MaGaughy's 3/5 flip kit it looks great but it rides like a iorn wheel wagon. It maybe not installed right but there has to be a way to make a smoother ride. The part # 34025.

When we first put the McGaughys kit on my 2011, the ride was harsh in the front end. We found that the bumps on the A arms were hitting on heavy street bumps. We did further trimming and then we installed the Belltech adjustable struts to get a better shock and more control over ride and height. I also put on the degree kit that Bell tech sells so that the front wheels were easy to align. The truck rides lke it did when I bought it, which was a firm ride in the first place, but the truck can take pretty good bumps and dips, now. I have the 4/6 kit and have put around 50,000 miles on the truck with it installed.

[Dustytrix]

Thanks for the info guys, all I know is he used the kit 34025. I am new to this drop kit stuff but I will do some research on the advice you have given. Maybe I can get it to ride better. I have noticed that some days going 70mph that the front end will start shaking when I slow down to 60 it stops. What gets me is that its the same road I travel everyday, somedays shake some dont.

[piecesparts]

I have yet to experience any shaking from my truck. It rides pretty well, considering it is basically at the bottom end of the suspension travel. The extra items that I added to the basic kit has done nothing but improve over what McGaughys has already done. I just added a set of Bilstein shocks to the back to replace the shocks that McGaughys sent with their kit. The Bilsteins have more dampening in them and they are a lot smoother riding than the ones that we put on first. I drive my truck on Kansas highways and back country roads without any real issue. With the work that i have done on the tune, I now am able to go past the factory fuel cut off and the truck handles well at speeds well over the triple digit entry level.

[Dustytrix]

I found out that my front end was bad out of line ( toe in ) I got it lined back up and now it rides like a champ, no more shaking I never thought misalignment would cause it to act like that.

[Chvy2NV]

what's up LEEVON.. im ordering my MCG 4/6 kit tomorrow for my 08 NNBS Crew Cab, 2WD but now that im reading this, im not sure if im getting the right stuff.. here is what was suggested to me. the coil relocators were not mentioned.. but now that im looking at the invoice, neither were the drop coils..

5/7 Drop
spindles with extra caster
drop struts
flip kit w/ shock extenders
lift hangers and bump stops

Originally Posted by LEEVON

Howdy! Thanks for the referral Keith. McGaughy's is the only way to go on the new trucks and I tried it all and combinations thereof. I recommend a combination of their 2" drop spindles and coil relocators for the best ride. The drop springs don't ride well in my opinion, and are known to sag. Belltech's struts aren't my favorite either for the same reasons, although it sounds like piecesparts is happy with them so they're not out of the question. The coil relocators literally just move the spring down 2" on the factory strut, retaining the stock ride, and are adjustable in small increments. That is important because you may need that adjustment either from side to side or just overall and you don't want anything that will sag, wear or compromise your alignment in the future. I haven't needed any special alignment cams or anything with the spindle/relocator combo, they come back to spec fine. Steer clear of the DJM control arms.

For the rear, McGaughy's flip kit is the way to go, better if combined with shock relocators to correct the angle and give you some more travel. Even better with their helper bag kit (pricey, not absolutely necessary but worth it if you haul or want to adjust your ride).

I've used every big name drop shock and they all suck. People seem to like Belltech's Street Performance shocks, I haven't tried the newest ones. The old ones were not good. I used Monroe's shock charts to cross reference a stock style shock from a light truck that fit. Picked up a set at the parts store for a good price and the ride was perfect. If you want the p/n's I'll have to dig them up just let me know.

If you have install questions just post 'em up!

[lowridergmc]

Originally Posted by maxh

DJM 4/7 with added struts and shackles. Sits at 5/8 with a touch of air in the helpers.

i see this truck around town every now and again.very nice truck

[LEEVON]

I think you'll be good, the new MCG drop struts are supposed to be pretty nice, I have no experience with them though.

[mcmlxix]

I want to do th McG 3/5 - 4/6 drop... the website list miltiple kits with different variations of components and is somewhat confusing...

Right now my RCSB 2wd looks like a 4wd... There is a 1 inch block in the rear... I was going to remove that block and add a 2" drop shackle... thats about all I can afford to do now to level the truck...

Good info in this thread....

[red02chevy]

Originally Posted by Chvy2NV

what's up LEEVON.. im ordering my MCG 4/6 kit tomorrow for my 08 NNBS Crew Cab, 2WD but now that im reading this, im not sure if im getting the right stuff.. here is what was suggested to me. the coil relocators were not mentioned.. but now that im looking at the invoice, neither were the drop coils..

5/7 Drop
spindles with extra caster
drop struts
flip kit w/ shock extenders
lift hangers and bump stops

With my experience I recommend that you don't install the rear shock reloctors. The ride will be a little on the stiff side with them. If you go with the 7" rear drop get some Energy suspension 3/8" tall bump stops and drill/tap the frame, part number 9.9132G. It will give you a little extra clearance. The new struts ride great compared to factory struts/coil relocators.

[Chvy2NV]

Thanks guys. What rear shocks do you recommend. I've read good things about the new MCG's.

Originally Posted by red02chevy

With my experience I recommend that you don't install the rear shock reloctors. The ride will be a little on the stiff side with them. If you go with the 7" rear drop get some Energy suspension 3/8" tall bump stops and drill/tap the frame, part number 9.9132G. It will give you a little extra clearance. The new struts ride great compared to factory struts/coil relocators.

[red02chevy]

Originally Posted by Chvy2NV

Thanks guys. What rear shocks do you recommend. I've read good things about the new MCG's.

The new McGaughys ride great without the relocators.

[Chvy2NV]

Mcg's site is a bit confusing with all the different options. What's the PN to the new rear shocks.