Leviticus Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 When looking at a lowering kit for an awd Silverado ss, and for example the kit is a 2/4. The stock ss comes with a 2” drop on the rear already right? So do these kits mean that the rear of my ss will drop an additional 4” or only an additional 2” because of the stock 2” drop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmuir Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 I think, but am not positive, that the 2 inch drop you are talking about on the AWD SS's from the factory is not really a drop, but rather the 2" spacer block that is installed on the 4wd trucks and awd sierra's is left out from the factory. This gives the trucks the same stance as all 2wd's. If the kit is a 2/4, it would have 2 inch spindles in the front and shackles/hangers in the rear. The shackles will give 2 inches, as well as the hangers for another 2. Your truck will sit 4 inches lower than now in the rear. I have a AWD sierra C3, dropped 3/5 ( had the 2 inch spacer in the back) so really this would be a 3/3 on your truck. I found by using the shackes ad hangers in the rear for the full drop was too low, as I could not get the front low enough due to axel binding, never mind barley any travel in the back. I have spindles and wound the torisons about an inch in the front. In the rear I added back in a 1 inch spacer to give the truck about a 1/2 inch rake front to back. I hope that made sense and helps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leviticus Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 you're right about the spacers, i dont have any. however i do have shackles on the back and right now my rear is 1/2" higher than the front. I want to lower the front 2" and the back 2" also. But i want to lower the rear two more inches than now, not two inches from factory. Do i just need hangers then? and also has anyone ever heard of anyone removing their rear shocks and installing airbags? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leviticus Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Another thing that doesnt make sence to me is that mcgaughys says that you can drop the rear of your truck 3.5 inches and keep your stock shocks! That doesnt make sense to me because you are bringing the axle closer to the frame so your shock would be compressed an extra 3.5" more than its designed to right? so wouldnt that be askin for a blow out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmuir Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 If you want to drop the back 2 more your either going to have to do hangers ( a real witch) or replace your drop shackles with stock shackles and get different leafs that give a 4 inch drop. I did the hangers and they are a pain in the ass! If you have access to a lift and a torch life would be a lot easier though. I had to use a grinder, air chisel and a hammer and punch to get all the rivets on the hangers out and it took forever! If you do leafs, i have heard the ride is not all that great (pretty stiff) but the spring rates may have changed in the last while? You can use stock shocks, but yes they will blow very soon. I had mine lowered with just shackles, when I did my hangers i replaced the shocks and they were pretty much gone then. I know that there are helper bags that you can add for towing, or if you have bottoming out issues, but don't know if you can get kits that allow you to remove your shocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leviticus Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 when using spindles to lower front 2", the wheel is just moved up 2" right? the suspension stays the same correct? i mean like in the rear the axle came closer to the frame, but in the front the shock wouldnt be compressed anymore right? so stock shocks would be fine w/ 2" drop spindles? also on an awd ss, would a 2" front drop change the angle of which the front axle attached to the wheel? and if so would it be enough to create ANY peoblems with anything in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leviticus Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 do shocks play any part in holding the axle in place or are they strickly there for absorbing sudden impacts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leviticus Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 can i see a pic of your truck before and after the drop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmuir Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 The spindles just move everything up 2 inches. Shocks will be fine but the axle angles will change. That is why I said you cannot go lower than about 3.5 inches without binding issues in the front. I would suggest getting new shocks if you are going to wind the torsions down at all, as I blew mine in less than a year. The rear axle is held in by the leafs, the shocks are there to dampen. I don't have any good pictures of after the hangers were installed, sorry. If you search on the site there are many people who have posted pictures of there trucks after lowering though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leviticus Posted February 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 with those 4 link set ups, do they actually remove the rear shocks? your saying that with an awd i could lower my front 3.5" and be okay? if i put on 2" spindles in front, your saying i should replace my front shocks? do you think i should touch the torsion bars w/ 2" drop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse 05ss Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 When looking at a lowering kit for an awd Silverado ss, and for example the kit is a 2/4. The stock ss comes with a 2” drop on the rear already right? So do these kits mean that the rear of my ss will drop an additional 4” or only an additional 2” because of the stock 2” drop with the SSS already being lowered from the factory ya can only do a 2/2 drop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 (edited) The truck in front is mine - the truck in the background is bone stock; the drop on my truck is 2.75" in front, 3.75" in the rear. Compare the distance from the ground to the bottom of the front bumpers; mine perfectly clears a parking curb, the next time you park your truck against a curb poke your head underneath and check out how much distance there is between the bumper and the concrete curb, on my truck it's about an inch, give or take 1/4".... How much you can lower the truck safely depends on lots of factors and the method you use. If you use 2" drop spindles in front, you can also add $99 drop keys for an additional inch (3-inches total front drop) and that's about as far as you can drop it before the front will not align anymore; mine is barely inside "the red" and the alignment guy gave no guarantees at all but the truck doesn't eat through front tires. With drop spindles the shock length is compromised, you need shorter shocks; lately everyone gives very good feedback on the Beltech front drop shocks. The front rubber suspension rebound bumper will need to be correctely trimmed to the right height and holes drilled in it so that it works as intended to load the suspension. Using drop spindles IMPROVES the front CV joint axle angles, however totally f's-up the tie-rod angles and introduces a fierce amount of bumpsteer, my truck will 'skate' over rough pavement pretty bad, you more herd it than steer it on rough pavement; DJM makes a kit to flip the tie rod, I would recommend it on a seriously lowered setup. There is another alternative to lowering spindles, and that's the DJM lower control arms; I've seen a set installed and liked it, I want to throw this McGaughs stuff in the garbage and switch to the DJM kit, you can get lower with it too. It is more expensive however, but the alignment is *factory* and far better geometry. Rear - you can lower the truck up to 2" using rear drop shackles; this is an easy/safe thing to do as you don't severely mess up the pinion angle. To get more drop that that, you must either install a redesigned front leaf spring hanger, or lowering springs, or have your factory springs de-arched. Using a front spring hanger will ALWAYS seriously affect your pinion angle, the result is that your truck will shake HARD at 69-78-mph like you are about to throw a u-joint; I corrected my pinion angle but still have a mild shimmy at exactly 73-mph, so I don't cruise at that speed. I HATE front hangers and do not recommend installing them. Rear shocks question, yes lowering the truck will shorten shock travel, but it's not enough to worry about with stock shocks because the truck would be that low anyways if it were filled with 1000+ lbs of payload. Other answers - the shocks give no structural support to the suspension at all, they just "absorb" not hold the pieces to the truck. When using drop spindles the geometry of the front DOES change specifically the scrub radius, the truck will need a realignment. From what you describe, you are wanting a "2/2 drop" and this is very safe to do, my suggestion 2" drop spindles + 2" rear shackles. I have not seen anyone replace the rear shocks for airbags, but there are towing kits with supplemental airbags and depending on the kit purchased some are crap and others are pretty good, they all use the same Firestone air bags. Mr. P. LOL found another pic of that run at the track - I launched hard enough that I've passed the start beam and the truck beside me isn't in the picture That was a pretty fun day. WHAT'S INTERESTING is look at the amount of squat in the rear - almost none, I've got very little travel left until the stock shocks bottom out (I suspect). Edited February 10, 2009 by Mr. P. (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse 05ss Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Ya can do what I am going to be doing to mind I am bagging it will be able to lay out the frame on 24'sbut when dun with the kit it will be close to $7000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rojo_143 Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 jesse25 are you goin to retain your AWD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slammedbowtie Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 sweet. cant wait to see that. im a sucker for a sick truck on bags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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