body drop advice PLEASE

[cb]

hey guys it seems that there is a lot of experienced people on this fourm. I am attempting to make my '82 short bed chevy lay body. I myself have never done this but i feel that i have done enough fabricating that I'm confident i can do it. I have an LS1 and 4L60E motor trans combo, want to run bumpers front and rear, want seats to sit at stock height, and hmm im trying to think of any other factors. oh probabily a 28 inch tall tire (diameter). can you guys give me a heads up on what ill run into. I have seen the idea in person that i am probabily going to do unless someone can talk me out of... cut the floor boards out only where the frame rails come through and relocate body mounts. so if i do go this route, what will i run into, nothing is too obvious as i have never gone this low before.

please help continuie my list any advice is appriciated

1. rad support drop
2.cross member drop or frame notch (what is better?)
3. cut away firewall possibly?
4. Floors and cab mounts
5. any other cross member need to be notched for tranny or drive shaft?
6. bed floor and bed mounts mounts
7. step notch
8. 3 or 4 link with bags(rear)
9. gas tank (what do i need to do) it has dual tanks...
10. spindle and bags (front)
11. steering column to power box linkage??

i cant think of too much more but any help of advice or ideas would be great thanks guys.

[bodydropped]

u can z the frt end 3 inchs and lower the body mounts to lay body and raise the bed floor this will let it lay body but theres a place called killer ridez make body dropless chassis for the 73-87 trucks

[bagged81]

I am not professionl but I have an 81 that I am Z'ing right now. Some one will jump in if I am wrong.

2) You lay body by a crossmemeber drop only. I have my 81 apart right not and I had to do a 4.5" Z to get the rockers on the ground. I have 3" spindles also. Do you have the tires and wheels on the truck that you want to run?
3) I think that you will have to cut the the firewall a little to accomodate for the tranny and you will figure that out when you cut the hump out.
5) Yes. There is a crossmember just in front of the rearend that will have to be removed. Also, you will need to do something about the tranny crossmember since the frame to which it is mounted it being moved down.
11) Something will have to be done but I have not gotten that far yet.

[cb]

Hey thanks guys that’s the kind of information that im looking for. I have seen posts where people notch there cross member to gain the stance. It looks to me that the ladder bar part of the steering system causes some problems when notching. I really haven’t seen any pictures of a z being done, though I know a lot of people go this route. Can some one please post pictures of a z'ed frame (front)? I have the tools to go either way. What’s the better route? (I can already see the confrontational posts

[cb]

what an lazy A$$...ok i found the search option on this fourm now. so sorry for asking a lot of stuff that i could have found on my own. one more question tho, can someone give a measurement from a good reference point on the frame where i should cut the frame to z it... thanks and sorry.

[bagged81]

see if this helps http://www.loweredd.com/Frame_Z.html

[cb]

bagged81, so you have never even bodydropped your truck, only z tansmission tunnel and lowere part of the frame. as far as body mounts you havent ever touched them?? is that right? thats a lot less work than body dropping. i wonder what the down sides to this method are? anyone? but i think you convinced me that the z is the way to go over crossmemeber drop. are you going to run the stock control arms with bags?

[bagged81]

I do not believe that the cross member drop will get you what you want and that it to lay rocker unless you have 5" drop spindles. Before I took mine apart, with just a notch in the rear and 3" spindles in the front and AirRide all around, my rockers were 4.25" from the ground. All I am doing right not is trying to set the rockers on the ground so I did a 4.5" Z in the front and obviously adding 4.5" to the height of the rear notch. The front is tacked up and ready to box in, but I have not bought the steal to do the rear notch yet. One other thing that I did, which loweredd shows in his photos, was to cut about 1.5" off the bottom of the frame where it runs under the cab. If you notice, that section of frame would keep you from laying the rockers on the ground. I have not body dropped mine and would not need to if I have measured correctly. The only thing that I had to do to the cab mounts, the front two, was to cut off about 1.25" of the bottom because they are on the section of frame that sticks below the cab. Now, there may be some other things that I am not seeing yet, but I am not worried about them. I will figure them out as I go. I have not decided on the controls arms yet, but I will probably get some tubular ones. My tires are 245/45/20. I am not even sure that the stockers will work but I'll see. FYI, I am not sure it you were thinking this but that is not my truck in that link I posted. That is just the method that I am using to lower mine.

The thing that I am struggling with on mine is whether I want to go one step farther and cut the rockers off so that the doors will lie on the ground. If I do, I will have to body drop it another 3.5"-4".

[bagged81]

Originally Posted by cb

cut the floor boards out only where the frame rails come through and relocate body mounts.

That's not the way to do a bodydrop. You would cut the floor on the inside of the cab around the perimeter. The floor would stay where it is on the mounts and frame. What happens is the shell of the cab around the floor lowers . When you get it where you want it, you weld the floor back to the cab shell and fill in the gaps where the shell was lowered.

[cb]

Cut the floor boards out only where the frame rails come through and relocate body mounts.... this is kind of old method, not a lot of people do this anymore, but I believe it is called channeling. Another way of doing it is to cut the top part of the frame horizontally after the cab is removed. For example, the frame on my 72 measures 6 inches tall, cut it in half and box it in to support it, lower the body mounts the same distance (3 inches). Resulting in a 3-inch body drop. One of my friends has a truck where he did the 1st option I mentioned and I really like it because the floors look and feel really stock after carpet. I prefer this over a total floor raise because of my height. Oh well I am going to cut the bottom of the frame off like that truck in the link. Looks like it can save time and maintain a stock floor (minus tranny), I never considered that option before but it looks affective. Thanks for all of your help.

[bagged81]

Originally Posted by cb

Oh well I am going to cut the bottom of the frame off like that truck in the link. Looks like it can save time and maintain a stock floor (minus tranny), I never considered that option before but it looks affective.

...and you are going to Z the front too, correct? Just cutting the bottom of the frame is not going to get you anywhere.

[cb]

Yes my plans are to do the 4 inch z in the front, I want my spindle as close to stock as possible because I'm planning on running stock 15in" wheels at first until I can afford big rims. From past experiences I'm sure even with a 3 inch drop spindle I won't be able to run stocks, but I'm hoping for the best... does anyone know for sure if the 15's will rub the lower control arm?

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by cb

.... does anyone know for sure if the 15's will rub the lower control arm?

Yes, if you run 3" dropped spindles and factory 8" wheels they will rub. You can trim the lip off of the control arm all the way back to the shock mount and it will prevent the wheel from rubbing. If you do this, I suggest you make a boxing plate and box the bottom of the control arm to prevent it from cracking.

I "think" Scoti has done this with 15x7" Chevy van wheels and they clear without trimming. If you want the "big and little" tire look that will work just fine.....

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

....I "think" Scoti has done this with 15x7" Chevy van wheels and they clear without trimming. If you want the "big and little" tire look that will work just fine.....

Actually, the van ralleys are 6.5" wide. Pretty good memory for an 'old' guy .

[bagged81]

I trimmed the lip off my lowers when I put my 3" spindles on. I then welded a 3/4" pc of flat stock to the top to help the structure. I ran 15x8's for several months like this until I got my 17's. I still have the same control arms 8yrs later. I can get you a photo if you need it.