Been over before but i need refresher. 5/7

[Srubydo1986]

Ok im thinking of a 5/7 drop for my 1986 2wd truck. im running 235/75r15s all the way around, but i need wider in rear cause rear rims are 10in wide & front are 8in wide.

Heres a picture of the truck. im curious if the if i can uses the same sizes cause i like the amount of rubber and rims. Please some input would be good casue i love my truck but i want a more car like ride.

And if some one could show me how low this really is cause id like to still go over a speed bump.



How would the best way go for doing this casue my front suspention is already out of alinement like this \ / so i have no worry about if my alingment gets messed up.

[lolife99]

A 5/7 is too low for those tires in the front. They will rub on the inner fenders. I would change to a 7" rim in the front with a 215/70-15 or your 8" rims with a 235/60-15 or a 245/60-15. In the rear I would run a 275/60-15 or a 295/50-15. The front and rear rims should tuck or you will rub the fender lip. Remember to use quality lowered shocks, (belltech, etc) and a 7" drop in the back will require a bolt in notch. A 4"/6" drop might be better for a daily driver.

[Srubydo1986]

hmm that usefull info thx id like to not cut any thing up casue underside is so clean and un hurt from time. I like level so i do guess a 46 would be better. also whould i do how would i do spindle spring set up and what rear set up.

[BowTieOgre]

I just did mine with cut coils and a rear flip kit. I wasnt able to do spindles in the front like I wanted as they sent me the wrong ones and I didnt figure that out until I painted them and tried to put them on...so now they're mine.



My ultimate goal, and what I would recommend, is 2-1/2" spindles and a 1" drop coil in the front and a flip kit in the rear. Dont forget lowered shocks all around otherwise you are riding around on stock shocks that are at the end of their travel length and will jar the teeth right out of your head. That setup will give you a 3.5"/5" drop with no cutting (except the stock rear snubber mounts) which is about what I have in the pic above. Im running 15x8 rally wheels with 275/60/15s.

[beaterC10]

Originally Posted by BowTieOgre

Dont forget lowered shocks all around otherwise you are riding around on stock shocks that are at the end of their travel length and will jar the teeth right out of your head. That setup will give you a 3.5"/5" drop with no cutting (except the stock rear snubber mounts) which is about what I have in the pic above. Im running 15x8 rally wheels with 275/60/15s.

I have to disagree about using drop shocks. I had Deotsche shocks on the rear of my 5/3 daily driver that I hated. The ride was bone jarring. To add insult to injury the plating on the piston shafts was shot after just one winter.

I have stock shocks all around now and the ride is same as stock. I have spindles in the front and a flip kit and shock extenders on the rear.

[cochino12]

Originally Posted by lolife99

A 5/7 is too low for those tires in the front. They will rub on the inner fenders. I would change to a 7" rim in the front with a 215/70-15 or your 8" rims with a 235/60-15 or a 245/60-15. In the rear I would run a 275/60-15 or a 295/50-15. The front and rear rims should tuck or you will rub the fender lip. Remember to use quality lowered shocks, (belltech, etc) and a 7" drop in the back will require a bolt in notch. A 4"/6" drop might be better for a daily driver.

I agree with lolife but I would stick with at least a 245 in the front, I have 235's on 7" rim in front and they are just way too narrow.

[BowTieOgre]

Originally Posted by beaterC10

I have to disagree about using drop shocks. I had Deotsche shocks on the rear of my 5/3 daily driver that I hated. The ride was bone jarring. To add insult to injury the plating on the piston shafts was shot after just one winter.

I have stock shocks all around now and the ride is same as stock. I have spindles in the front and a flip kit and shock extenders on the rear.

Thats true, if you have spindles and shock mount relocators then you can get away with stock shocks as you arent really changing the distance between the upper and lower shock mounts. If you do like I did with the cut coils and no rear relocators then drop shocks are in order...but I may hold off on mine as I like the way my wife bounces when she rides with me.

[Ivan D.]

Originally Posted by BowTieOgre

Thats true, if you have spindles and shock mount relocators then you can get away with stock shocks as you arent really changing the distance between the upper and lower shock mounts. If you do like I did with the cut coils and no rear relocators then drop shocks are in order...but I may hold off on mine as I like the way my wife bounces when she rides with me.

I'll have to disagree with that - stock shock lengths are selected from the manufacturer so that the suspension maxes out in both directions before the shocks run out of travel, at least that's how it is in the front. By cutting the front coils you're just reducing the upward travel of the suspension, however since no modification is done to the LCAs at max compression their position relative to the frame will be the same as stock, so stock shocks will work just fine. Reason why you want lowering shocks is that lowering springs are shorter and if you get airbourne they may dislocate and damage the suspension upon landing, also they are ususaly stiffer so a different damping rates are required for the shocks now.

In the rear it's pretty much the same, if you have stock shocks the axle will hit the frame bumpstops before the shocks run out of travel, so you're safe there too. The problem happens with rear coil-sprung vehicles, such as the '60s Chevy trucks and also most full-size cars - using shorter coils means the extension travel of the shocks can be larger than the lowering spring's free length, so really if you lower a Caprice with just springs if you get airbourne the rear springs may fall off. Not a concern with leaf-sprung trucks.

[BowTieOgre]

Well the way my brain figures it is this...when i cut the coil the control arms moved up as they would in a "bump" situation on stock height suspension and compressed the stock shock by about 1/3 or so. Well the resistance in the shock increases as it compresses so by riding around already using up the initial 1/3 of the shock when I hit a bump im only going to get the bottom 2/3 of the resistance which is firmer than the initial 1/3 which should make for a rougher ride and in my case it does. Confused yet? I am. I mean if you were bungee jumping off a bridge and they lowered it you wouldnt use the same cord would you?

Please correct me if my warped logic is flawed. Im serious...help me out before I waste $150 on shocks.

[Ivan D.]

Shock damping should be speed-sensitive, not position-sensitive, meaning the change of damping rate don't depend on how much the shock is compressed or extended. However when you limit your compression travel by doing a flip kit or cutting the front coils you now have to stop the same unsprung weight (wheels and axle and such) in a much shorter distance, so ideally you need a progressive-rate shock - whether someone makes one I dunno, maybe look at the road-race suppliers? Or maybe that's what those lowering shocks are, progressive-rate units... dunno, but geometrically you should have no problem running stock shocks, just make sure all your bumpstops are in place and your front coils don't try to fall out when you get the tires off the ground.

[Srubydo1986]

hmmm so what i gather. do 2 1/2 drop spendles and 1in drop springs then do a flip kit in the rear. And as far as i can gather from shock is if i do not buy the relocation kit i must have the drop shocks. Which i might do so i dont cut anything.

[slugish]

flip kit for rear/ approx 6 in/ & 3.5 TOTAL UP FRONT SHOULD PUT YOU ABOUT LEVEL

Is that what you want / If you want a little of the stock rake / do 2.5 spindle & 2 IN SPRING IN FRONT / YOUR CHOICE /

YOU WILL ONLY HAVE TO REMOVE YOUR REAR BUMPSTOPS & REPLACE WITH SOME SHORT VERSION . I JUST CUT SOME RUBBER & MADE MINE

[slugish]

Yes , I Have Drop Shocks Also

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

I think I'm in between a 4/6 & a 5/7 drop. T/A's all around ....

Front: 275 X 15 X R50's.

Rear: 295 X 15 X R50's.

No Scrape. no bottom out, static drop with no frame mod's.

esll.

PS: Thats a coffee can and it will not go under the bumper!

[Srubydo1986]

very nice and yes level is what im looking for i like a rack but i like level

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

I think everyone here appreciates a good " LEVEL RACK."

esll.

[Srubydo1986]

eheh yea a level rack is nice (sorry bought that)

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

No problem just having some fun. Home depo has a level rake for only $59.95.

esll.

[Srubydo1986]

hmm a level rake might come in handy to make those leave straight.

[slash crashley]

Originally Posted by BowTieOgre

I just did mine with cut coils and a rear flip kit. I wasnt able to do spindles in the front like I wanted as they sent me the wrong ones and I didnt figure that out until I painted them and tried to put them on...so now they're mine.



My ultimate goal, and what I would recommend, is 2-1/2" spindles and a 1" drop coil in the front and a flip kit in the rear. Dont forget lowered shocks all around otherwise you are riding around on stock shocks that are at the end of their travel length and will jar the teeth right out of your head. That setup will give you a 3.5"/5" drop with no cutting (except the stock rear snubber mounts) which is about what I have in the pic above. Im running 15x8 rally wheels with 275/60/15s.

i really like that stance. so that was achieved with no $$$ at all?

i just got an 82 but it's got meaty tires on it. could i achieve the same results with these:

? (235/70r15)

getting my truck lower is my number 1 priority at the moment. it'd be cool if it'd didn't ride like a dump truck as a result. how's the ride in your truck since the drop?

thanks.