I want to lower my truck.

[Mandrew]

i want to lower my 1977 C10 but kinda on a budget (my budget being almost no money) is there anyway to do this without spending hundreds of dollars? and without sacrificing frame strength... please help and thank you.

[THE "10" SILVERADO]

Originally Posted by Mandrew

i want to lower my 1977 C10 but kinda on a budget (my budget being almost no money) is there anyway to do this without spending hundreds of dollars? and without sacrificing frame strength... please help and thank you.

moving hangers = $0 + time
cutting coil = $0 + time
drop shackles = $ little + time

There are lots of ways to lower our trucks without spending much money. The ways that require no money usually take more time and labor but will accomplish the same things as expensive kits.

[Mandrew]

Thanks for the info man my buddy was telling me to take the leaf spring axel plate(?) cut it off and weld it back on the bottom so the leafs sit under the axel, does that affect driving feel? like "dogtracking"

[THE "10" SILVERADO]

Originally Posted by Mandrew

Thanks for the info man my buddy was telling me to take the leaf spring axel plate(?) cut it off and weld it back on the bottom so the leafs sit under the axel, does that affect driving feel? like "dogtracking"

That would be a "flip kit". It changes the position of the leafs above the axle. Just search in the box at the top of here for flip kits and tons of hits will come up. It's a pretty common way to lower our trucks but I'm not sure how much the kits cost.

[Mandrew]

since i am new to this lowering stuff will it affect tire wear? or is that if i drop the front to much to put it in the negative camber? and i will search flip kits to get more usefull tips.

[stepside-mitch]

you will need an alignment

[J Knight]

If you want a $0 drop I would recommend 2/4, cut one round of of the coil springs for 2in in the front and move your shackles and hangers up 4 inchs.

If you drop more than that without buying at least spindles, flip brackets, and shock extenders or drop shocks you are going to have issues to deal with like not having enough bolt to add shims for proper alighment, excessive front tire wear, rear shocks bottoming out. Also flipping your spring perch to the bottom without drilling an alignment hole towards the front to effectively keep your rear end from being located to far forward will possibly result in jamming your drive shaft into your tranny and improper pinion angle.

Some kits imo come with more stuff than you realy need and are pricey, but realistically you can get a 3-5 drop in the front for the cost of a drop spindle ($225-$250) and a 5-6 drop in the rear for the cost of a cheap flip bracket and shock extenders ($95-$125).
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[Mandrew]

So whats the purpose of buying a "flip kit" if everything in the kit is what you take off and (depends on which one you purchase) have to weld, besides the fact of getting lowering springs, and new bump stops as far as i can see in the flip kit pictures.

[J Knight]

Originally Posted by Mandrew

So whats the purpose of buying a "flip kit" if everything in the kit is what you take off and (depends on which one you purchase) have to weld, besides the fact of getting lowering springs, and new bump stops as far as i can see in the flip kit pictures.

When you install a flip kit you dont remove anything but the factory bumpstop and the mount for it. The flip bracket does more than just abapt the rear end to the top of the spings, it also maintains proper pinion angle, its alignment hole is offset to keep the axle centered in the wheel opening which also keep the drive shaft from binding (jamming into the trans). Shock extenders keep your shocks from bottoming out and keeps them at the right angle.
You can fab your own brackets or flip your spring perch and fab a shock extender if you dont buy drop shocks. Just keep in mind that these are issues you need to address in your fabrication. Below is a pic of flip bracket dementions if you want to fab one up instead of moving your spring perch and a pic of the shock extenders for reference.

[mud.man.rj]

You can always pull the second leaf from the top on the rear, no cost at least 2-3" drop, cut one loop front coils, 2" free drop.

[oldschool18]

Using a flip kit is quick and pretty easy, cutting the front coils if you never took coil springs out before is not very quick not the best ride you could want and you can get yourself hurt if you dont know what your doing. flip kit it the rear would be cheap but I would get a set of spindles ( ithink Chassistech.com sells for about 250 ) or a set of lowering springs for the front. when I lowered my first C-10 I got lowering leafs and spindles they set me back about 400.00. if you dont got it save up to get it cause there is nothing worse that than fearing pot holes and man covers when your driving down the road.

[bark]

hey, is that your pdf with the flip bracket specs? I sent you a pm, I need to build some of those

Originally Posted by J Knight

When you install a flip kit you dont remove anything but the factory bumpstop and the mount for it. The flip bracket does more than just abapt the rear end to the top of the spings, it also maintains proper pinion angle, its alignment hole is offset to keep the axle centered in the wheel opening which also keep the drive shaft from binding (jamming into the trans). Shock extenders keep your shocks from bottoming out and keeps them at the right angle.
You can fab your own brackets or flip your spring perch and fab a shock extender if you dont buy drop shocks. Just keep in mind that these are issues you need to address in your fabrication. Below is a pic of flip bracket dementions if you want to fab one up instead of moving your spring perch and a pic of the shock extenders for reference.

[J Knight]

Originally Posted by bark

hey, is that your pdf with the flip bracket specs? I sent you a pm, I need to build some of those

I got it off of another site, it was posted that way. I tried to enlarge it and turn it with no luck. Maybe someone can photoshop a close up of it.

[gGMC DOG]

Originally Posted by bark

hey, is that your pdf with the flip bracket specs? I sent you a pm, I need to build some of those

Thats just a screenshot of a PDF file its not actualy a PDF file, heres a link to an actual PDF file.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=368

[gGMC DOG]

for those of you that don't have a pdf reader, you can right click and save the image, save it to your desktop, open it up with microsoft paint, a standard program for windows. use your magnifying tool to enlarge to get your measurements. no photoshop necessary.

[Mandrew]

thanks again for al lthe useful tips from all you guys, so, im pretty sureim gonna do the kit and all the necessary brackets, due to my truck being a not a high dollar show truck but something older gentlemen and GM fans a like can appreciate, in the end no one really wants to see a nice restored truck with the moeny put into it like that why skimp on the lowering?

[gGMC DOG]

never skimp on the lowering. get the best parts you can get. i simply posted what i posted to clear up some things. be sure to take plenty of pics and post them

[Mandrew]

I soon hope to make a build thread soon, just need to get money, i've changed my mind on budget wise so no skimping, no cutting corners, nothing. oh and does anyone know where i can find a decent billet grill other than LMC Summit Ebay or Vatozone?

[Mandrew]

Hey J knight, did your kit come with springs? and how much was that kit in the picture?

[J Knight]

No, I cut one round off of the factiry springs.

[Desert1957]

Originally Posted by J Knight

I got it off of another site, it was posted that way. I tried to enlarge it and turn it with no luck. Maybe someone can photoshop a close up of it.

Here you go



Desert

[jitteryguy]

Originally Posted by Mandrew

I soon hope to make a build thread soon, just need to get money, i've changed my mind on budget wise so no skimping, no cutting corners, nothing. oh and does anyone know where i can find a decent billet grill other than LMC Summit Ebay or Vatozone?

save the bittet grill money for somethen to make the truck look good, like drop spindle's.
also the $30.00 shackle kit that AutoZone sell's will fit your truck and lower it 2"

[J Knight]

Originally Posted by Mandrew

Hey J knight, did your kit come with springs? and how much was that kit in the picture?

The pic in post #9 is everything I installed. I got it all from Stylintrucks, $340. McGaughys 2.5 spindles $245 DJM flip bracket with shock extenders $94.99
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[gGMC DOG]

Originally Posted by jitteryguy

save the bittet grill money for somethen to make the truck look good, like drop spindle's.
also the $30.00 shackle kit that AutoZone sell's will fit your truck and lower it 2"

i just bought a set last month and they were $40. just make sure to carry your old ones in to match them up cause my nephew picked them up, and they were the wrong ones, so we had to return those and get the correct ones. seems all their packaging is the same.

[ghettoluxury]

On the flip bracket does the hole go to the front of the truck or the rear?
Thanks.