superredss Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Over the past few weeks I have had the tonneau cover added, the windows tinted, and have completed half of the drop kit. I ordered a 2/3 drop kit from norcalss and I learned more than a few things while trying to install it today. I went to a friend's house this morning (yes he is a mechanic, so at least one of us knows what they are doing) in hopes of installing the drop kit in one day. Big Mistake! After about 30 minutes of not being able to get the stock spindle off, we stopped what we were doing to go get a bigger hammer and tools for removing the rivets in stock rear shackle. Contrary to popular belief, size does matter. Just a couple of swings and the spindle fell out of the a-arm just fine. 45 minutes later the front was dropped and we started the back. This is where things went wrong. First it took a few minutes to get the rear of the truck stable enough on a jack stand and the jack while keeping the axle at just the right height so that the leaf spring would "float" and the bolt holding it could be removed. After that bit of magic was accomplished, we removed the right rear wheel. We immediately started trying to remove the rivets in the stock shackle. "Trying" being the key word here. We attached an air chisel to the only 100 psi compressor that we had. ....nothing.... By this time it was after noon and the "oh crap" factor was starting to kick in. We searched and called around for almost an hour before finding someone that had an air compressor large enough to operate the air chisel. After obtaining the newly acquired tools, we headed back to the truck. Two hours, two sets of pounding and ringing ears, and two rivets later, my friend called in a grinder. Almost another hour later, the grinder was delivered. At last the grinder was a success! It tore through the remaining rivets like paper! Only one problem....it's now almost 5:00, and there's not enough daylight left to start the left side being that the gas tank has to be dropped to remove the leaf spring bolt! So, we bolted the right side back up and put the wheel back on. Right now the truck is dropped 2 inches in the front and is sitting at the stock rear ride height. Looks like a drag truck, lol. I snapped some pictures for everyone to see. We are going to finish the rear in the morning. Well, HOPEFULLY finish the rear. I will get more pics once the install is complete and the truck is cleaned up some. And I must say, norcallss's kit looks really good so far! I can't wait for the rear to be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddieo818 Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Nice! cant wait to see your finished product what size tires you running? Hey i love those wheels you wanna trade for some chrome SS wheels?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 ...Contrary to popular belief, size does matter... Yup! And timing is everything! LOL Sorry to hear it was a real fight; I've never had success using chisels either, I've used a grinder. Another idea you might try is Dan's (sprayed99's) method - cut a deep "X" into the head of the rivet with the grinder, then use the air chisel to cut the weakened head off - he's had very good/quick success with that method. Mr. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superredss Posted October 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Tire size is stock, I actually sold my SS rims to get these rims. And Mr. P. I will definitely try that idea tomorrow. I don't think the install would have gone so poorly today if we would have had the right tools to begin with, but as in all things, I had to learn sometime. I just really don't like rivets now, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnss Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 sorry to hear the bad luck. doing a drop can be a pain. i have done 2 drops now by myself and its no fun. but one thing i did to speed up the project was to remove my bed. also i never dropping my tank for the frame hanger removal. just used a grinder and a big punch to remove the hangers. best of luck to you when finishing the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superredss Posted October 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Well, we almost finished the drop today. We finished everything but installing the shock extender. That will be completed tomorrow. We had two major problems today though. One problem was that the DJM right leaf spring hanger would not line up with all of the bolt holes. We managed to get 4 bolts in but still need to get 2 in. Looks like I will have to take a large drill bit to the holes tomorrow after work to get them all lined up. The second problem was that after everything was bolted up and the truck was back on the ground, the exhaust pipe on the left side rubed against the rear end housing under the bed of the truck. So tomorrow morning I will be at the exhaust shop getting the exhauast redone. I am going to get the side exhaust in front of the rear right tire instead of behind the tires. I figure that it will be louder and no so much of a pain to deal with if I decide to lower it more. After that, I will finish the shock extender, get the remaining bolts in, and hopefully get some pics. So far, it looks really good and rides well too. I gotta give it to norcalss, this kit is awesome so far. Maybe a pita to get installed, but I think its gonna be well worth the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueAKSSS Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Looking good, lets see it after you get it all finished up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bag Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 I was able to do my rear shackles myself alone, well kind of, "Nekroman" was on the speaker phone next to me lol offering his assistance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wishminewasanss Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 I was able to do my rear shackles myself alone, well kind of, "Nekroman" was on the speaker phone next to me lol offering his assistance [/quo Looks good dude! always glad to be of any help Aaron! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superredss Posted October 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 (edited) Well she has been finished and I havent had time to get any good pics, but here are some that I took with my camera phone. I gotta say thanks to Tony cause it looks sick and drives great! Edited October 24, 2010 by superredss (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinthegreat Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 (edited) Looks great buddy. I bought the 3/4 djm kit and shocks from norcalss and I love it. He's a good guy and alot of help Edited October 24, 2010 by kevinthegreat (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1BAD2K Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 Yup! And timing is everything! LOL Sorry to hear it was a real fight; I've never had success using chisels either, I've used a grinder. Another idea you might try is Dan's (sprayed99's) method - cut a deep "X" into the head of the rivet with the grinder, then use the air chisel to cut the weakened head off - he's had very good/quick success with that method. Mr. P. X2, this is how I always do it. truck is looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funceca88 Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 nice bro, one day mine will be like that:drool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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