Quinnster Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Ok, my truck is lowered 2 inches in the front with Beltech lowering springs and in the back with a 2 inch lowering shackle. I bought the kit for 50 bucks used it for a couple years, and now I need to move on since my truck handles horribly (it leans a lot, squeaks, throws me around over bumps and bottoms out in the front and rear.) I have more $$ and knowledge to do it properly now so what do you guys suggest? I would like the truck to be 2 inches lower (than stock) in the front, and 4 in the the rear. Now the problem is I am a pool man on Fridays and when I load it up with 400lbs the rear drops a bit to where the axle is only about 1 1/2 inches from the bump stop with one notch already cut off. Also I need to replace the rear leafs since they are shot. I looked into rear lowering springs, but I was told they are not very strong and probably wouldn't hold up too well. Should I notch the frame for it being 4 inches lower in the rear, or is there a better method of stiffening up the rear to not bottom out. I also want to do rear sway bars so witch diameter and brand would you suggest. As far as the front, it is really bouncy and unless I crawl at about 5-10 mph over a dip I will scrape the ground. and how should I proceed to stiffen up the front. also I would like to replace my front sway bars with better ones. Then at the end I was wanting to throw the Edelbrock IAS shocks on it since I have heard nothing but good about them. What do ya think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackOut V8 Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 IF your using your truck for work why lower it? It will just dramtically increase wear on parts especially under heavy load. New absorbers in the back and springs in the front will solve the harsh ride though. BlackOutV8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddy03pimpin Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 i would start by adding some better shocks and see if you can use some smaller bump stops in the rear to start before you make any changes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supercharged06SS Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 do you still have your stock bumpstops up front? I'd also highly suggest removing the springs and running a drop spindle. If you run a 4" drop in back, you will need to notch it or run air assist in the rear. It won't ride the frame, but you will hit on larger bumps. Been there done that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinnster Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 (edited) do you still have your stock bumpstops up front? I'd also highly suggest removing the springs and running a drop spindle. If you run a 4" drop in back, you will need to notch it or run air assist in the rear. It won't ride the frame, but you will hit on larger bumps. Been there done that! yea, bump stops in the front are unaltered, all that is done in the front is a 2 inch lower beltech spring. and I have thought about the Mc Gauphys drop spindle since they claim to keep the stock geometry, but I would also want to replace the front spring with something a little better than OEM. And in the rear I think that the biggest problem is that the leafs are shot and actually make my truck look 3-4 inches lower even though it shouldn't be right now... and IMO 400 LBS Max isn't a lot of weight and shouldn't have a dramatic effect. What about helper leafs? gimmick? I also don't like the shackles since they are longer it seems like that would create more rear sway, but I think only other way to lower is lowering leafs right? Edited October 13, 2009 by Quinnster (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Take all that crap out and replace it with a DJM kit, and cut/weld in a 3" step-notch. Dan and I just did this to his truck this weekend, he has a DJM 4/6 drop kit now and it rides STOCK and still has the STOCK springs (front and rear), load carrying capacity is stock, road manners are stock, etc - his truck rides so well it can EASILY be driven across country. The trick is the step notch, we did our own at a cost of less than $40 in materials + 1 day of time. I give the DJM kit two thumbs WAY UP :thumbs: I hear you on bad drop kits, I have a McGaughys and HATE it. One of these days I'm cutting-up and redoing the rear because it is awful. Every woman that has rode in my truck has told me "my boobs hurt". Seriously. Mr. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinnster Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Take all that crap out and replace it with a DJM kit, and cut/weld in a 3" step-notch. Dan and I just did this to his truck this weekend, he has a DJM 4/6 drop kit now and it rides STOCK and still has the STOCK springs (front and rear), load carrying capacity is stock, road manners are stock, etc - his truck rides so well it can EASILY be driven across country. The trick is the step notch, we did our own at a cost of less than $40 in materials + 1 day of time. I give the DJM kit two thumbs WAY UP I hear you on bad drop kits, I have a McGaughys and HATE it. One of these days I'm cutting-up and redoing the rear because it is awful. Every woman that has rode in my truck has told me "my boobs hurt". Seriously. Mr. P. So did you lower the front with DJM lowering Upper and lower A arms? or a spindle? and is the rear a flip kit, or lowering shackles and hangers? So far I have been kinda leaning towards Hotchkis sway bars, and rear leaf spring, and I already ordered the 2/4 Edelbrock shocks. and then for notching the frame you just cut it on your own and welded in metal for strength or something rather than buying a kit? I have actually had people complement me on my ride, but that is if I'm driving civilized. If I'm a tad bit aggressive I absolutely hate it though, too much lean and it throws you a lot. I have noticed my truck is smoother than a SS, but the SS kills it in a corner since it is stiff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 (edited) So did you lower the front with DJM lowering Upper and lower A arms? or a spindle? and is the rear a flip kit, or lowering shackles and hangers? So far I have been kinda leaning towards Hotchkis sway bars, and rear leaf spring, and I already ordered the 2/4 Edelbrock shocks. and then for notching the frame you just cut it on your own and welded in metal for strength or something rather than buying a kit? I have actually had people complement me on my ride, but that is if I'm driving civilized. If I'm a tad bit aggressive I absolutely hate it though, too much lean and it throws you a lot. I have noticed my truck is smoother than a SS, but the SS kills it in a corner since it is stiff. The DJM kit uses custom lower control arms to lower the front, you use your factory springs & steering knuckle; the rear is a set of special brackets that let you relocate the axle above the leaf springs, along with a pre-fabbed notch for the frame that you bolt-in. We chose to fab/weld our own notch in the rear because we want the truck to be a 4/7 drop and the DJM notch isn't tall enough for that. After finishing the install we determined that the truck was riding on the rear bumpstops before, now it is dead smooth even on the roughest pavement. I have the Hotchkis rear bar on the SSS, and it helps a lot to keep the truck flatter in the corners but the truck still has a ton of understeer, the bar reduced the understeer from 'scary' to 'moderately high' LOL. But in my case the understeer issue could be the McGaughy's front spindles, I don't know... But I would recommend the Hotchkis rear bar, make sure you have the large OEM front sway bar too, sway bars have to be sized correctly in relation to each other. Mr. P. Edited October 13, 2009 by Mr. P. (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcairns Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Thought about some helper air bags to level it out when loaded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinnster Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Thought about some helper air bags to level it out when loaded? possibly, It doesn't ride well even when its not loaded, so I'm gonna get it to perform how I want unloaded then go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinnster Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 The DJM kit uses custom lower control arms to lower the front, you use your factory springs & steering knuckle; the rear is a set of special brackets that let you relocate the axle above the leaf springs, along with a pre-fabbed notch for the frame that you bolt-in. We chose to fab/weld our own notch in the rear because we want the truck to be a 4/7 drop and the DJM notch isn't tall enough for that. After finishing the install we determined that the truck was riding on the rear bumpstops before, now it is dead smooth even on the roughest pavement. I have the Hotchkis rear bar on the SSS, and it helps a lot to keep the truck flatter in the corners but the truck still has a ton of understeer, the bar reduced the understeer from 'scary' to 'moderately high' LOL. But in my case the understeer issue could be the McGaughy's front spindles, I don't know... But I would recommend the Hotchkis rear bar, make sure you have the large OEM front sway bar too, sway bars have to be sized correctly in relation to each other. Mr. P. Funny story about sway bars. When I got my truck lowered a couple years ago I got lazy and took it to my mechanic to get it done, so it gets done, and never cornered well at all. Then a couple months later I get under my truck to change the oil and look up and there are no end links on the sway bar! so I take it to him to fix and he wanted to charge me for the end links since he said I lost them since he gave me all the parts he took off my truck which was only the stock shackle and springs. Eventually he gives in and just does it and ever since then I never took my truck to a mechanic again. He has done some other half a** things to my truck also. Moral of the story is do your own work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 ... and there are no end links on the sway bar! ... Yeah if that happens around here someone gets their pee-pee slapped. It's hard finding someone that cares for your vehicle as well (or better) than you will. Unfortunately. Mr. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.