How much lower is safe? - look

[SilverMachine]

Hey guys, i currently have a belltech 3-5 drop on my 86, and ive been thinking about swapping the coils to try to get just a tad lower. im not trying to go as low as possible, cause its my daily driver, but i want to try to get a bit lower!
My only worry is my headers and their clearance. they currently have about 6.2 inches of clearance to the ground.
do you guys think i could get by with 2 inch lowering springs? or should i play it safe and go with 1" lowering springs.
Thanks!

[bdiamond]

You should be ok with 2" I'd think. Be careful over speed bumps with those headers.

[stanski]

If your tires have sufficient sidewall height, just let air out in increments and drive around, you'll soon find out how low you can safely go. Also, take a good look and you'll note the first point of impact will likely be the lower control arms and whatever is behind them will survive. If your wheels are 8" or wider the tires will usually contact the inner tubs on even the smallest of road dips so that alone in the end will determine your final ride height.

[SCOTI]

For 'no worries' daily driving, you'll want ~5" clearance. 2" springs will put you close to that but will be just beyond that dimension so you'll want to go easy of speed bumps etc. You could always go w/different headers (I always try to keep everything above the bottom edge of the frame rails).

1" springs shouldn't be an issue

[SilverMachine]

Hey guys. Thanks for the replies.
My tire size is 275 r20 45. So I think that's like 10.3" wide.
I recently found 1.5" drop coils from a company on eBay made in the USA. So maybe that would be a nice option.

[Dead Parrot]

As a daily driver, how many parking lot speed bumps do you have to deal with? Unless you go very slow over those, the truck will want to bounce a bit as the tires get to the flat road after the bump. About the same time as your headers are over the bump. If your truck is heavily loaded, it will both be sitting lower and subject to more bounce.

You might want to consider some shorty type headers first, then see where you are on being able to lower things. Otherwise, you might wind up re-buying lowering stuff if you buy lowering stuff first, then change the headers.

[SilverMachine]

Originally Posted by Dead Parrot

As a daily driver, how many parking lot speed bumps do you have to deal with? Unless you go very slow over those, the truck will want to bounce a bit as the tires get to the flat road after the bump. About the same time as your headers are over the bump. If your truck is heavily loaded, it will both be sitting lower and subject to more bounce.

You might want to consider some shorty type headers first, then see where you are on being able to lower things. Otherwise, you might wind up re-buying lowering stuff if you buy lowering stuff first, then change the headers.

Yeah I definitely agree with you. The header idea is preferred since I'm starting to see some rust pop up on them anyway. The only thing that would hinder me from doing that is figuring how much work it would take to reconfigure the connection point for my exhaust and the new headers. Stanski brought up a good point too about tire rub, but with the common 4 inch drop in the front I don't think it should be a problem. I'll look for some shorty/ mid length headers.

[jkk]

2 1/2 In spindles with 3 in springs long tube headers pretty close to the ground never hit........a lot depends on how you drive it and where you drive and things to avoid

[SilverMachine]

Originally Posted by jkk

2 1/2 In spindles with 3 in springs long tube headers pretty close to the ground never hit........a lot depends on how you drive it and where you drive and things to avoid

Nice stance!that's what I want mine to be like. Just a little tire in the well!

[Dead Parrot]

Nice truck! Here in OKC, we have lots of pot holes deeper then your control arm-pavement clearance. What few patches they do often create mounds of asphalt several inches tall. Needless to say, we have more standard or raised trucks then lowered. Even a lot of the cars with the real thin tall tires are raised.

[SilverMachine]

Update. I found some Western chassis 1-1/2" drop coils. I'll probably go with them and see what happens.

[jkk]

Thanks it's has a 2" rake to it which to me actually makes the front look lower

[D13]

I can tell you're not from Michigan. 4-6" deep potholes are the norm, wiht a couple of 8'+ on local paved roads right now. LOL.

[SilverMachine]

So I got the 1.5 drop coils in!
The truck looks great and the headers do not seem to be a problem. The only difference is that on a full turn ( steering wheel turned all the way) the tires rub a bit on the inner wheel well. Also, when I hit a decent bump, the tires scrape the top of the wheel well a little bit!
Other than that I like it!