stance of my 58

[hogfarm]

Pulled the 58 out of the shop today,I'm thinking I need to lower the back a little,or rise the front

[mongocanfly]

Def needs some adj....

[Rickysnickers]

Well, if you are going to go with the more 80's look then it's ok. If not, then it needs a little lowering in the back. I only mention the 80's because you have the Cragar appearing wheels on it.

[mikebte]

Opposite here, I would lift the front or leave it be. That being due to me always wanting to drive ever car I have off the road. "Farmers markets and other events" If its all pavement, leave it, Looks cool.

Quote Riskysnickers, What wheels are you going to run?

[MiraclePieCo]

Hmm, you have almost the same amount of sidewall showing on the front and back tires, so that's good. Do you have the bed floor installed, or rear gas tank filled? Those will naturally drop the rear about an inch, which could be just right. If the tank is behind the rear axle it will actually raise the front slightly. A lot of guys like an aggressive rake, but yes, the current trend is a bit more level.

[MiraclePieCo]

And for God's sake don't post it on the Stovebolt forum; those purists sent me angry PMs for a week after I posted a thread titled "Stance Check" with a photo of my lowered truck!

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by MiraclePieCo

And for God's sake don't post it on the Stovebolt forum; those purists sent me angry PMs for a week after I posted a thread titled "Stance Check" with a photo of my lowered truck!

That is the funniest but most truthful thing I have read all day LOL. I belong to it but very seldom even open the page to see what is going on. It might drive them over the edge when I finish my truck if I post photos there.

The truck does have that 80's vibe going and that isn't all bad. I don't think I would worry about it until after the bed was all painted and done though as that may be making the height difference stand out a bit.

As Miricalepieco said the exact same amount of sidewall is showing front and back and that to me means that you have it pretty close.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by mikebte

Opposite here, I would lift the front or leave it be. That being due to me always wanting to drive ever car I have off the road. "Farmers markets and other events" If its all pavement, leave it, Looks cool.

Quote Riskysnickers, What wheels are you going to run?

I can guarantee that if you went up where he lives you would think you need a 4 wheel drive as he is not only off the beaten path, he is out beyond where the path ends. I haven't been up there but know that area pretty well living on the other side of the mountain ridge between us.

[MiraclePieCo]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

That is the funniest but most truthful thing I have read all day LOL. I belong to it but very seldom even open the page to see what is going on. It might drive them over the edge when I finish my truck if I post photos there.

Yeah, I thought I was safe posting it in the High-Performance section - nope.

[Black_Sheep]

I like a little rake but the back needs to come down a couple inches...

[hogfarm]

Mr 48 Chevy.you are right,to get to my house you go to the middle of no where,then another 4 miles.
I don't have any wood in the bed,I wanted to set the bed in place so I could get it back to muffler shop before winter,guy needs to finish tail pipes.So I'm going to get the roll pan on the rear and take it back.I have adjustment and I agree the rear needs to come down

[_Ogre]

what have you done so far? mustII front? stock rear on springs?

[MARTINSR]

Yeah, I would lift the front but it really does depend on where you will be driving it. But seeing it is where it is in the photo, that's pretty uneven, I am thinking raise the front.

On the whole idea of rolling it outside, this is a VERY good thing to do! What you did is exactly what we all should do, roll it out and get a good look at it during the build, move around it looking at it, get a good look at it. With it in a garage you are seriously limiting the real "view" of it.

Harley Earl with GM made the "Viewing courtyard" at the GM Styling studio, a legendary viewing platform.



Brian

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by hogfarm

Pulled the 58 out of the shop today,I'm thinking I need to lower the back a little,or rise the front

just a thought, do you have a rear gas tank? do you have gas in the tank. that'll drop the back some and any thoughts of using blocks to drop the rear a little? My 56 sits somewhat similar and since it rides so nice, I left mine alone. check out the ride first

[hogfarm]

Originally Posted by my56chevytruck

just a thought, do you have a rear gas tank? do you have gas in the tank. that'll drop the back some and any thoughts of using blocks to drop the rear a little? My 56 sits somewhat similar and since it rides so nice, I left mine alone. check out the ride first

Well I have been very busy,as you can see there is a lot of firewood for me to split and put away.
I think it was a good idea to take the truck out of the shop,in the shop I just could not get a good look.I have ifs and 4 link in the rear,so it just a matter of adjustments.I need to get truck back in shop and finish the rear roll pan,then get it to the muffler shop before winter.

[dsraven]

leave it at the ride height it is, then, sitting on a level surface with no cargo or people inside, check the lower control arms front to rear and see what angle they are. that angle is what the front end is sitting at right now. the control arms are usually level front to rear and side to side. if you jack the front the angle will get correspondingly different which could be good or bad for the steering.

[nikwho]

I would want it's final stance to be lower in the rear, BUT, I would not make significant adjustments until you have the full normal load over the rear, as mentioned above. Gas in the tank, bed floor in, and so forth.

FWIW, when these trucks are sitting level, there is going to be a larger gap to the front fender, than the back. My truck sits almost perfectly level. Wheels front and rear are both 17's, though the front tires are a bit shorter. I took out my old cut springs the other day, swapped in a new set of Eibach springs, Bilstein shocks, new rotors, steering components and McGaughy's drop spindles. Sits about the same as before, but suspension is more correct now, with the drop being mostly spindles, rather than all spring. This truck has a '79 Camaro subframe swap done the "No Limit way".

Nik

[whitedog76]

I kind of dig it. Looks fast sitting still. Reminds me of the matchbox cars I had as a kid.

[nikwho]

Thanks! I love it! Took a while to get it to sit exactly how I wanted it to look. Sometimes these trucks look a little "off" when sitting low. It can look like the front wheel is shoved into the firewall, because of the angles of the wheel arch in the front fender. My trucks wheel base was extended to 115", from the 114" factory wheelbase, because of this. It was originally a long bed, so when doing my Camaro IFS swap and frame shortening, i took that into account. Can't wait to see your truck at its final ride height! I do love those fleetside's! I'm after a nice fleetside bed myself!

[nikwho]

Thanks! I love it! Took a while to get it to sit exactly how I wanted it to look. Sometimes these trucks look a little "off" when sitting low. It can look like the front wheel is shoved into the firewall, because of the angles of the wheel arch in the front fender. My trucks wheel base was extended to 115", from the 114" factory wheelbase, because of this. It was originally a long bed, so when doing my Camaro IFS swap and frame shortening, i took that into account. Can't wait to see your truck at its final ride height! I do love those fleetside's! I'm after a nice fleetside bed myself!

[mr48chev]

Just don't try to lower the back by lowering the back of the bed on the frame slightly. It might be an optical delusion but the back of this one looks like it is 1/2 to 3/4 inch lower than it should be to be perfect.

[mikebte]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Just don't try to lower the back by lowering the back of the bed on the frame slightly. It might be an optical delusion but the back of this one looks like it is 1/2 to 3/4 inch lower than it should be to be perfect.

Maybe its got one of them hydraulic bed lifts that go up/down for show?
Prolly not, but it for sure looks like the bed is not level.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by mikebte

Maybe its got one of them hydraulic bed lifts that go up/down for show?
Prolly not, but it for sure looks like the bed is not level.

A shop built it for him over a perod of years. I'm thinking that they just wanted the rear lower and didn't pay attention to keeping it all lined up. From a lot of photos I have seen on the net that droopy back end look is all too common on frame swap trucks but I think that truck just has a subframe/stub swap on it. One of my buddies worked on on it and I think he did the subframe swap when he worked for the guy who was doing the work. It's one of the slickest and straightest TF trucks I have ever seen anywhere. One reason I thought it might be Hogfarm's truck but I forgot his is a later model.

[hogfarm]

Mr48chevy
I have not had much time to work on my truck.But the bed will not be tilted.I have gotten the truck back in the shop,so I can semi install the roll pan on the bed,need to get truck back to exhaust and alignment guy before the snow flies.So yesterday I worked on lowering the rear.I have a 4 link with coil over shocks in the rear, there is about 3" of adjustment I can play with.The bed is in ruff shape and I need to take it off,get the big hammers out and then get to the pint shop.I will have all winter to finish the rest of the truck

[dsraven]

a lot of firewood to split before winter? yeah, but what are you gonna do AFTER lunch? lol.
if it were me, thinking of the stance and what to do about the rear, I would get it sitting on a flat level surface, drop the rear some to level it up to MY liking, figure out how much clearance room I need for the tires if the suspension were to bottom, ensure the wheel wells will accomodate that wheel movement, then get the truck over to the exhaust shop. I would do the alignment after the box is all done and installed so the stance is figured out with the final weight of the truck sitting on the wheels. all body panels are attached, seats, carpet, box wood, full tank of gas etc. that way the alignment is done when the truck is done. one thing to ensure is that the 4 link adjustments place the rear axle perpendicular to the frame and parallel to the front wheels (when aimed straight down the road) so there are no surprises when the alignment shop possibly adjusts things enough so that the 4 wheel alignment places the tires so that they are not centered in the wheel openings anymore. in order for the 4 wheel alignment to be done properly the truck needs to be loaded like it would be for the final ride height and stance. the stance has a bearing on the caster angle so if you get an alignment done now and then the rake angle changes later due to load applied or rake angle change, the alignment may be close but not quite right. if youre paying for an alignment, and it may be extra due to setting up a 4 link in the process, you might as well get it right the first time.
personally I like the truck with about 2deg of rake angle or simply sitting level. thats a tough one because sitting level means sitting low in the rear if you ever put anything in the box. unless you have air ride that self compensates for load.