to notch or not to notch

[chris mc bride]

Doing some measuring today. Thinking may go lower in rear about 5" drop and close to same ionfront. I know will have rake but can adjust some of it out with coil overs and want some rake. Like the look myself. Not bunch but nioticable.

Question is do I have to c notch frame for 5", Doing some searchs seems 5 is in limit and toss up on c notch. While they are sheap a saw,welder,bridgeport mill all sitting here. Can build one easy since have pictures. Can be bolt in or weld in, Seems weld in has to be stronger.

Required, needed, just insurance or wasted till go lower?

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

For 5" I would either step notch or Z the rear of the frame.

A C notch will be pretty close to bottoming out to much for my taste.

So while your doing the work. It maybe a good idea to build in future expansion.

[HO455]

The reason some folks don't do frame changes around 5" is they remove the rear bump stops and are okay with banging the frame, while others run stiff springs with shocks with lots of compression dampening to keep from hitting basically using the tires for suspension.

[brandnew72]

I did a bolt in , then bagged the truck and had to remove it for a step notch. It was preformed for the rails and sucked to install. And I cant stress that part enough.

If I had to do it again I would have gone 8 piece notch and cut it down to the height I wanted. To avoid removing and rewelding the crossmembers.

Oh well! Its in, it's ugly, it's solid. Maybe one day I'll cut it out again, lol.

[chris mc bride]

Doing some measurements today. Looks like with 4 to 4.5" drop I should be ok but little too close to suit. going to do a weld in notch 2" deep with notch and a plate spanning 4" to 6? on each side of notch welded in. Kind of like having 4.5 " x 3" x16" 3/16 channel welded in with a 2" notch. Should be stronger than the bolt in stuff they sell.Plus metal laying here and 4 or 5 hours fab plus installation cost nothing but time. Well some grinding tools, welding gat and filler rod.

will set ride height remeasure and see if think might go lower in future, Because be a ***** to cut out what I have designed.LOL Not to insult but not fan of slammed to ground look just not my thing/

[KQQL IT]

My 73 was no notch for 20 years. Rarely hot til I ditched the roll pan and put a bumper on it. Then it was tolerable but smacked occasionally
Now I've notched it with under bed step notch. Yet to drive it.

[chris mc bride]

With panel anything over inch above frame would mean cutting floor. Not going that far for a look. So if notch hits at 4" either more spring or backup on drop/

[super72swb]

4/5 drop and removed bump stops, I have never bottomed out. Bell tech shocks, front and rear sway bars on 18s.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by super72swb

4/5 drop and removed bump stops, I have never bottomed out. Bell tech shocks, front and rear sway bars on 18s.

I'm not sure this is a good comparison. Short wheel base pickup vs long wheel base panel. The panel body will have much more momentum due to the weight difference requiring stiffer shock settings to control the movement with the same range of movement limitations.

And a quick flip for a great looking truck!