Newbie here and i have a few Q's

[AesC10s]

Hi guys im new here im in salem oregon and im 17 and just got my first truck and its a 64 fleetside long bed with a 283 and 2 speed powerglide with big window cab. My plans for the truck are to lower it pretty low and i was wondering if you can cut an inch out of the upper and lower A-arms to bring the tires in so i dont hit my tires on the fenders?? Will 86 suburban disc brake spindles bolt right up to my stock A-arms so then i can have disc brakes and so i can have 5 lug. i am putting a 5 lug posi rearend in to.

[Blue Beard]

The tires may clear the fenders, but you then take a chance hitting the frame when turning.

Check with a tire store and see if they have anything with an offset that may work for you.

Some shops will even take your wheels and change the offset.

[AesC10s]

I have plenty of room when im turning every where. And i dont have much money to spend on offseting wheel or getting new ones.

[jasonrmorrow]

OK well theres a couple things that need to be straightened out here. First of all your idea of cutting and inch out of the control arm ?? No idea how you came up with that. There are pressed in bushings which attach the control arm to the frame via the crossshaft which gives you adjustability for your alignment. On the other end you have the ball joint which is riveted/bolted in, if you mean cut the control arm somewhere in the middle and weld it back together, No it's not feasible.

The 85 spindles will bolt up if you have 85 balljoints. If you have access to an 85 front end either take the whole crossmember (14 bolts or so on the frame) and all the steering components, idler arm, pwr steering box (use the rez adapter), tie rods, centre link you're going to need these components to bolt up to your 85 spindles anyways, unless you machine the adjuster sleeve to go from the 64's inner tie rod so its not worth the hassle just get the 85 parts. You'll have to drill new mounting holes for the idler, make sure the centre link is perfectly level mark your holes and mount it.

If you don't want to do the whole front crossmember just get the control arms spindles discs calipers bearings and steering components, bolt those up to your crossmember.This gives you better bushings in the control arms and overall cheaper replacement parts when the front end wears out.

If you wanna go cheap, get yourself some upper and lower balljoints throw your spindle on, disc and caliper, get some 71-72 pickup brake lines and proportioning valve, booster and brake rod, new dual resevoir master cylinder, split the lines front and rear and your done.

The new front end will widen the stance or the track of the front wheels by up to 1.5" which means get fitted for your wheels after the swap is done. There are plenty of guys tuckin 235's and laying on the ground. You may have to roll the lip of the fender. I know guys running stock 8 inch rally's with no problems, they are only 3.75" backspace i think. Have fun.

[Slammed66]

Hey hey , Jsongo easy one em, although it is noice to see I have taught you well haha , one thing You MUST change the lower control arm you cannot fit a 71 and new ball joint intoa66 arm.

as for the shortening or the a arms , Yes it can be done it has been done , and will be again , In my oppinion you dont need it ,

if your front tires ar gonna hit the fender you've got some other clearance issues to deal with like the fact that your tire is now resting on the inner fender,

do the 85 front end grab some spindles and some springs or bags and your cruising here mine aired out * before I strated cutting
again and a during kinda.

[AesC10s]

im gonne be running 28 inch high tires. I got to looking and it looked like the tire was going to hit my fender when i turn and i was most likely going to take my inner fender out and just keep the springs mounted in there so i can open and close my hood. for the lowering im going to cut my springs. thanks, Aaron

[jasonrmorrow]

Ya I wrote it last night late when i got home i didn't mean to sound too much like an asshole, sorry if it came across like that. I figured slammed66 would straighten out anything i got wrong, the lower balljoint hole in a 64 control arm is too small to fit the 85 balljoint. I guess i missed that.

[AesC10s]

its ok jason but thanks for the help guys.

[Slammed66]

if your cutting your springs, you wont have to worry about anything ,

if you cut 1 coil, ( the most Id do ) you'll only drop it 3 inches , if you cut more it will ride like shnye and you will have troubles getting an allighnment,

if you add drop sindles, that would bring you to 6 which will still mean no clearance problems.

this is mine with 3 inch springs and 3 inch spindles in front. still too high for me

[SIR]

HOWDY...BRUCE HERE,HEY!! HOME-BOY.I'm just down the road in g.p.,well if your going to do it do it right,read,study,do your home work,see what others have done...pick and choose wisely,and most of all make it SAFE!!the extra bucks you spend now will payoff later in a dependable ride.nobody wants to do things twice, and most of all have fun!! I have a 4-4 drop on my 66-lwb.with a "72" front & rear check it out at http://community.webshots.com/user/LVNR66

BRUCE...grants pass....