47-59 Stance / ride height

[-Dan-]

I ran across a picture of what I want for ride height / stance, but I don’t know what I am looking at. Is the truck pictured a stock ht with a 2” drop in front?
To avoid doing things twice, I believe that I need to decide on engine then order suspension parts accordingly. I want a BBC.
I intend on boxing the original frame and using that. I’ve tried the search function here and find very little concerning BBCs in the AD trucks. I suppose that there is a reason for that.

[mr48chev]

The front isn't much higher than mine was when I had it subframed and had cut one coil out of the 68 Camaro springs.


The back was too high because I had N 50 tires on the back then. Plus it had a 66 Impala 12 bolt posi in it.

If you are going MII you have to ask the supplier about what ride height to expect. If you are going dropped axle and lowering springs again ask the supplier. Sid probably has photos of customer trucks for that.

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by -Dan-

I ran across a picture of what I want for ride height / stance, but I don’t know what I am looking at. Is the truck pictured a stock ht with a 2” drop in front?
To avoid doing things twice, I believe that I need to decide on engine then order suspension parts accordingly. I want a BBC.
I intend on boxing the original frame and using that. I’ve tried the search function here and find very little concerning BBCs in the AD trucks. I suppose that there is a reason for that.

Yeah probably cause these trucks don't weigh a damn thing, so you can scoot pretty fast with a lighter engine... a cammed and carbureted 5.3LS will be plenty dangerous!

you can take your wheels off, then use a jack/jackstands to get your truck at the stance you want, then start taking measurements of the differences. Even with the same platform, the appearance will change with spring rates and engine weights (BBC...) wheel/tire size, etc.

[-Dan-]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

The front isn't much higher than mine was when I had it subframed and had cut one coil out of the 68 Camaro springs.


The back was too high because I had N 50 tires on the back then. Plus it had a 66 Impala 12 bolt posi in it.

If you are going MII you have to ask the supplier about what ride height to expect. If you are going dropped axle and lowering springs again ask the supplier. Sid probably has photos of customer trucks for that.

Good looking truck!
Who’s Sid?

[-Dan-]

Originally Posted by daveshilling

Yeah probably cause these trucks don't weigh a damn thing, so you can scoot pretty fast with a lighter engine... a cammed and carbureted 5.3LS will be plenty dangerous!

you can take your wheels off, then use a jack/jackstands to get your truck at the stance you want, then start taking measurements of the differences. Even with the same platform, the appearance will change with spring rates and engine weights (BBC...) wheel/tire size, etc.

I want a big block just to be a little different and also the sound of a BBC with a good exhaust will still make the hair stand up on my arms! I love it. My Pontiac is a 461 but will never sound like a rat.

[GreasyLikeaBurger]

Originally Posted by -Dan-

Good looking truck!
Who’s Sid?

https://droppedaxles.com/

[MD2020]

I would say it's 6" drop from stock, front and back.

Mine has 6" in the front and 4" in the back

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by -Dan-

Good looking truck!
Who’s Sid?

As greasylikeaburger said Sid is Sid Drapel who owns Dropped Axle company in Oklahoma and is the go to shop to properly drop a Chevy truck I beam axle.

That is if you want to stick with leaf springs and an I beam axle.

They aren't cheap but If I wanted an MII front end I would seriously look at the front end from TCI that has upright mounts for the upper control arms that in turn use shims for caster/camber adjustments rather than the slots that duplicate a stock MII front end like a lot of companies sell.

I've got a Jag XJ 6 front end that I am thinking about using. Cost ends up being about the same as a gypo MII after you buy and rebuild it but they were build for a 4000 lb car so they will handle and AD pickup just fine. The good there is you do not have to cut any of the trucks sheet metal and the only thing that shows under the hood is the steering shaft being different than a stock one. A guy on FB has all the pieces except the actual crossmember and rack for sale for less than I can buy the rebuild parts for and that is tempting but I'd have to sell something to swing it right now. Found out a second ago that he was a lot further from me than I thought though.

[Chopped53]

The ride height on my truck looks pretty similar to the pic in the original post. It's about a beer can high at the front of the running boards. My truck is on an Art Morrison GT Sport Chassis. Kinda pricy as a lump-sum touch, but I wrecked my original frame back in high school trying to graft on a front section from a '68 Olds. It ended up wayyy too wide.

The AM chassis rides like a dream and really accelerated the timeline on my build. Since the truck had been waiting 40 years for me to finally finish it, I figured a little help from the experts at AM was more than worth it.

Good luck with your build.

[mr48chev]

I like the height on the rear better than what mine sat at when I had the N50 tires on it.

I had overload springs on the back of mine when I had the camper shell on it for the road trip to Texas and back in 1981.


An hour or so after getting to my inlaw's house in Texas I had backed up the driveway and unloaded the slide in camper shell and popped the overloads out to let the truck down to regular driving height.

I lightened your truck up a bit to show it a bit better. I've talked to the crew from Morrison's a number of times at Goodguys in Puyallup. A great bunch of folks and most all of the guys who work there are hard core car freaks along with being highly skilled.

[-Dan-]

Originally Posted by GreasyLikeaBurger

https://droppedaxles.com/

Thanks

Originally Posted by MD2020

I would say it's 6" drop from stock, front and back.

Mine has 6" in the front and 4" in the back

Good place to start. Thanks

[quote=mr48chev;9165724]As greasylikeaburger said Sid is Sid Drapel who owns Dropped Axle company in Oklahoma and is the go to shop to properly drop a Chevy truck I beam axle.

That is if you want to stick with leaf springs and an I beam axle.

They aren't cheap but If I wanted an MII front end I would seriously look at the front end from TCI that has upright mounts for the upper control arms that in turn use shims for caster/camber adjustments rather than the slots that duplicate a stock MII front end like a lot of companies sell.

Lot of choices out there.
Thanks

Originally Posted by Chopped53

The ride height on my truck looks pretty similar to the pic in the original post. It's about a beer can high at the front of the running boards. My truck is on an Art Morrison GT Sport Chassis. Kinda pricy as a lump-sum touch, but I wrecked my original frame back in high school trying to graft on a front section from a '68 Olds. It ended up wayyy too wide.

The AM chassis rides like a dream and really accelerated the timeline on my build. Since the truck had been waiting 40 years for me to finally finish it, I figured a little help from the experts at AM was more than worth it.

Good luck with your build.

The chop and the stance looks just right! Nice truck.
The AM is way out of my budget. TCI and others will be what I end up with.

[crossfire84]

Originally Posted by -Dan-

I ran across a picture of what I want for ride height / stance, but I don’t know what I am looking at. Is the truck pictured a stock ht with a 2” drop in front?
To avoid doing things twice, I believe that I need to decide on engine then order suspension parts accordingly. I want a BBC.
I intend on boxing the original frame and using that. I’ve tried the search function here and find very little concerning BBCs in the AD trucks. I suppose that there is a reason for that.

Check out my build thread, you’ll find a BBC in there, good luck.

[28TudorAZ]

That looks like a s10 swap with how far the wheel is in.

[skip99]

2” drop spindles, mustang 2, original frame, four link and 20” wheels, qa1 coil overs all around, i can actually go about 2” lower if i want..

[mr48chev]

The 20's and low profile tires let you do that legally, if it is a good idea or not remains to be seen as we still have to clear the uneven areas were we travel.

Way back at the start of the bigger wheel and smaller tire I had a buddy with a lowered Astro van who went to 17's that were big at the time because he had scrub line issues with 15's.

[mongocanfly]

That truck in post#1 is a beaut..!!!. Perfect stance