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I HAVE NOTICED THAT A FEW OF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO LOWER YOR TRUCK. WELL I HAVE A FEW TRICKS THAT I HAVE USED ON ALL THREE OF MY TRUCKS AND THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE THEM WITH YOU. TO DO THE FRONT YOU BELIEVE UNTIL YOU LOOK AT A PAIR, BUT I USE 1 TON TRUCK LOWER CONTROL ARM AND THE 1 TON COIL SPRINGS. THE REASON FOR THESE LOWER CONTROL ARMS IS THAT THEY HAVE ABOUT A  2 &1/2"  SPRING POCKET THIS LOWERS THE TRUCK ABOUT 4 & 1/2". TO PUT THESE CONTROL ARMS ON YOU WILL HAVE TO DRILL THE MOUNT WHERE THE CONTROL ARM BOLTS TO THE FRAME AND USE THE BOLT FROM THE 1 TON TRUCK . YOU WILL ALSO HAVE TO CUT THE MOUNT WHERE YOUR BUMP STOP BOLTS TO ABOUT AN INCH & WELD A STEEL PLATE TO THE REST OF THE MOUNT AND PUT ON A FLAT SNUBBER. YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BALL JOINTS. THE BALL JOINTS FROM THE 1 TON CONTROL FITS IN THE HALF TO SPINDLE. IF YOU WANT TO GO AN IN LOWER USE THE STOCK SPRING FROM THE HALF TON. BUT, I DO RECOMEND THAT IF YOU DO USE THESE CONTROL ARMS THAT YOU ADD SOME BRACING TO THE LOWER CONTROL ARM. THE BRACING KEEPS THE CONTROL ARM FROM FOLDING IF YOU TEND TO BOTTOM OUT.  YOU CAN DO THIS IN A FEW HOURS ON A WEEKEND. THE REAR IS PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD EITHER FLIP IT OR USE DROP SHACKLES FOR A CHEVY TRUCK & PULL LEAF SPRINGS. I HAVE DONE BOTH AND HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH EITHER. IF I EVER DO THIS DROP TO A DODGE TRUCK AGAIN I WILL TAKE PICTURES & POST THEM.

Hey man good info but next time don't use the CAPS LOCK !!!!  You trying to scream out about it ?  Thanx for the post and will make a good FAQ . Will see if we can put your info therre after awhile once the FAQ is back and going again .

bt83rc

Sorry but it's just easier for type in caps. I'm not a very good typist.

VERY interesting!  Thank you very much for the info.

I bought some Chisholm drop coils from a friend for up front and I just did a flip out back.  I'm looking to really slam this pig.

I cut 1/2 of a coil off of the drop springs already and I was just about to go cut them down more because the back is lower than the front right now.  I'm kind of concearned about getting a worse ride from cutting down the springs anymore.  It'll only be for a few months though because I'm planning on bagging it in May and deeper spring pockets don't have much of an advantage when it comes to ease of air bag installation.

That is definately a great tip though and is a HECK of a lot less expensive than the $250 or so that Chisholm charges for pretty much the same product.

do you have any pics of your truck or any of the ones you've dropped.  If you do please post them.  I'd like to check them out.

This is my pig.  I've just started on her.  I have a few more things planned.  I just want to make it a clean, fun daily driver that can still tow my slammed Nissan to shows.

Replying to this partially to keep it alive. I had a few questions. I know that we have two threads going here that are similar. But I am still unsure of which model year we are talking about that is a direct replacement for the 1/2 ton pickups?

M.

the control arms from any year one ton will work on any year half ton. the control arms that i used came from mid 80's one ton & put on my 70's model truck.

What do you mean by requiring added bracing to the control arms?  My truck has the strut rods welded to the lower control arms that locate the arm longitudinally in the vehicle.  Wouldn't I have to either cut that strut rod off and weld it onto the 1-ton one or would the 1-ton LCA come with its own strut rod that will bolt into my existing strut rod mount?  Is that the bracing you speak of or is there something else?

I've heard of people using 1-ton coil springs to lift their trucks on the 94+ 4wd Rams.  How much total drop does the combination of 1-ton LCAs and 1-ton coils give you?  I'd imagine the 1-ton coils are significantly stiffer than the 1/2's right?  If so, that's definitely what I want to do...there isn't such a thing as too stiff IMHO.

UHHHHH! If your going to go though all that ,why dont you just buy the lower contol arms?

the lower control arms from a 1 ton, would lower your truck if you only use the 1/2 ton springs. my guess is that the 1 ton springs are taller and that't why you'd need the recessed spring pocket, otherwise, they'd be an inch or two taller than if they used 1/2 ton parts. what about 3/4 tons? they'd have hard springs but 1/2 ton size. if you want really soft, go with springs from a short bed 1/2 ton, probably from the 70's, they'd be the softest.

ramchargin88  the bracing that i was talking about was to the control arm itself.   at the point where it mounts to the frame the control arm is in the shape of a u. this is where i saying to add some bracing if the 1/2 coil was used.   in other words box in the control arm on the bottom side to give it added strength.

the reason i say this is from experience. i don't tend to let any grass grow under my feet when i drive.

i had this set up on my truck for the first time and there is this stretch of highway that has a few slight dips in the highway for about 3-4 miles. i was traveling across this stretch at about 80-85 mph.  the truck was taking the dips fine it never touched the ground but one time. this one time hit folded the control arm at the mount. i shouldn't say folded, i really don't know how to describe it.

let put it this way the u shape became the shape of the letter I. i was still able to drive the truck the the control arm squeezed together across the bushing sleeve. the bushing was fine the truck rode fine but i didn't trust it that way for very long. so off to the junk yard i went to find another control arm. this time i welded in some plates to strenghten this area of the lower control arm.


hey estwingr i just may take you up on that offer to help with posting pictures. i still trying to the hang of playing with computers.

got this from Cbody...
OK, here goes..........The #'s are the hollander # for the lower control arm..........hope this helps.  I think next time I might just snap a digital pic of the info


'72-'91, 1/2 ton........................................# 760
1/3/91-'93 1/2 ton......................................1042

'72-'81 3/4 ton w/3300lb axle........................760
'72-'81 3/4 ton w/4000lb axle........................761
'82-'88 3/4 ton...all.......................................760
'89-'91 3/4 ton w/3300lb axle.........................760
'89-'91 3/4 ton w/4000lb axle.........................761
1/3/91-'93 3/4 ton w/3300 axle.....................1042
1/3/91-'93 3/4 ton w/4000 axle.....................1043

'72-'81 1 ton.....all.......................................761
'82-'88 1 ton w/3300lb axle...........................760
'82-'88 1 ton w/4000lb axle...........................761
'89-'91 1 ton w/3300lb axle...........................760
'89-'91 1 ton w/4000lb axle............................761
1/3/91-'93 1 ton w/3300 axle........................1042
1/3/91-'93 1 ton w/4000 axle........................1043

'72-'91, 1/2 ton........................................# 760
1/3/91-'93 1/2 ton......................................1042

1/3/91-'93 3/4 ton w/3300 axle.....................1042
1/3/91-'93 3/4 ton w/4000 axle.....................1043


'89-'91 1 ton w/3300lb axle...........................760
'89-'91 1 ton w/4000lb axle............................761
1/3/91-'93 1 ton w/3300 axle........................1042
1/3/91-'93 1 ton w/4000 axle........................1043

Looks like the 91-93 rams are out, since they already use the
same size control arm as a 1 ton.
If this is true, a dropped a arm would result in no drop. These Rams were as tall as the duallies and stock 4x4s as well so they need all the help they can get!

Maybe I am not reading this right but it looks like
My 90  half ton is out too but that is what it looks
like to me
'72-'91, 1/2 ton........................................       760
'72-'81 3/4 ton w/3300lb axle........................    760
'89-'91 1 ton w/3300lb axle...........................    760

hey guys.. this sounds like the way to go if your gonna lower your truck..  I had a 86 Dodge D-50 that was lowered with 3" blocks in the rear, and Heated springs in the front..( it would scrape a tennis ball on the highway!! )  whatever you do, don't heat the springs.. really screwes up the ride.. unless you like the bounce bounce feelin..no suspension what so ever in the front.. after about 1 year of driving, went to dealer and got new springs and removed the blocks..  

Kinda curious here.  What benifits are there to lowering your truck?  I can see maby if your handicapped and need a lower vehicle to get into but other than that I see no point to it.  I guess the lowered trucks make good paint scrapers for those annoying speed bumps.  Other than being oh so cool, whats the point?

LeatherNuts - you're opening up a can of worms! LOL  What purpose is there to lifting a truck?  I see TONS of jacked up 4x4's that NEVER get dirty.  What's the purpose?

I lower my trucks because I like the way they look and for the fact that when they're done they don't look like anything else on the road.  Why do I have to have 14" between my frame and the ground when all I need is 3?  When lowered the right way a dropped truck handles better.  

For me the WHY boils down to BECAUSE I CAN!

I also love the family aspect of it.  I go to lots of truck shows every year and each one is like a big 'ol disfunctional family reunion.  The trucks are great but it basically just gives us a reason to hang out, drink some beer and have a great time.

Taz - I hear ya on the heated coils.  I had an '89 Mighty Max with dropped spindles and one coil cut off up front.  Out back I ran a monoleaf with 4" drop blocks and air shocks.  It rode like ass but looked hella cool.  Then again it never rode all that nice stock.

because "STOCK SUCKS"

Many, NOT MOST, lift trucks for off roading clearance. Your right about many 4X4s never getting dirty though. Getting stuck in a friends 4x2 we encountered a Jeep Grand Cherokee owner that refuesed to pull us out cuz he didnt want to damage his paint or possibly suspension.  

If lowering the truck gives you an opportunity to get together with the familia and have some good times, than its good to go.  I prefer to be up high when muddin but thats me preference.  Keep em scraping.....

I want to lower my truck but at the same time increase handling ability.  I was wondering if Eibach makes springs for a 99 Dodge Dakota.  And can you even buy some sort of performance springs for a truck with leaf springs?  Forgive me if this is a stupid question but I'm still learning,  
Thanks!

belltech or djm will help you the dakota is one of the number one trucks to lower these days anti sway bars will help after the drop but then i am still learning too

Hotchkis (sp) sells everything for the 97+ Dakotas to make them handle well.

Fletch69z do you find what you were looking for for your dakota "where did everybody go"

Thanks for being accepting of us lowered guys, just like off road guys like the  clearance we lowered guys like the looks,
and it is easier for shorter people to get in (like my wife) without hanging on the door and getting them out of alignment,
and a lot of us like the better on road handling a properly lowered 2x4 can provide.
Back in MS lifted trucks are for looks mostly since a lifted truck cant fit under the trees on most of our hunting trails, and mudding doesn't require a lot of clearance.
So we both do it for functionality and looks!

i personally like the look of lowered trucks better than lifted. don't get me wrong there are some lifted trucks that are damn nice. but also a lowered truck is looks & more so function for me.

the reason that i lower my trucks is because of easability to get in. i have a disability called spinabifida. i use crutches to walk & use a wheelchair to get around the swap meets and junkyards.

you see it is kinda hard for me to get in a truck that sits three to four feet off of the ground.

spent some time at the yard today i found that a 1995 front coil for a 1500 1/2 ton is only about 3/4 inches taller than the front coils on a pre 94 half ton so in thory to lower the front or you older ram just get drop coils for a newer ram for less than the chislom price that is just what i found out today

but what is the diameter difference, or is there any?

nice quote there, cheeto....  that's the name of wheelrr15's suspension company!!!  got a big ole sticker that says that on my windshield!!!!  sweet!  

the diameter is the same not even a 1/4" different

this is for slimmer i have found a 1ton at a local auto salvage i have a 1990 d150 and i was wondering if these 1992 arms from the one ton will fit

ok guys this is going to sound funny but Iike to lift my trucks rather then lower them, I lower cars instead. Had a 91 honda civic with 1.5" ground clearance dang thing scrapped on railroad tracks. But the reason I was writing was to find out if any one of you out there has lowered a newer Ram, a 94-01 ram 1500 v10 or diesel or a 2500 anything. I'm looking for suspention parts to lift the frount of my truck so I figured some of you may still have your old stock stuff if you lowered a nwer Ram. If any of you have anything or know anyone who does please IM me. Thnx alot guys. keep scapin

swwaltw, i'm not sure, but i do believe they would fit. the 90-93 trucks are pretty much identical other than the grill. i would have to look at it to give you a definite yes or no answer.

there's not too many dodge trucks in the yards around here that new of a truck. at least none that you can roll through. i'll look at some trucks in parking lots around here & do some comparison and get back to you.

saw960, i do believe there are suspension parts that will lift your truck, i see too many around here that sit above stock height. i'm pretty good aqantances with bill from extensive metal works, he does air ride suspension for all the chevy boys around here, the only time i saw a dodge in his shop was when they put that truck flat on the ground, this was a 3/4 ton truck, but that was about a year ago. other than that i have not seen anybody else drop a late model dodge around here.

well that sucks I could have used those parts they more then likely would have done just what I wanted.

Scott

has anyone found a one ton yet to check out the arms

I have a 93' D150 and i want to lower it. Right now it sits pretty evenly if not than the rear might be lower by an 1" because I had new shocks and springs put on all around. If i got the chisholm 3/5 kits wouldnt the rear be lower than the front? Someone said that i could use the drop coils for a 95' Ram 1500 1/2 ton but, would i have to do anythng else like different shocks? I can't find any flip kits for the rear end so what could I do with that? Im sorry for all the questions but im new at the suspension work I did all the body work (shaved taillights, welded in roll pan with 67' firebird lights, shaved tailgate handle and tailgate skin..) but now I need help to finish this project off any help would be appriciated  

i dont think that 94+ ram control arms will work put the coils will the spindles dont work either the rear is close enough the same that a flip kit will work but i am no expert

so are you saying that the kit for the 94+ trucks will fit mine can anyone confirm this??

the front suspension is completely different, except possibly the springs, if you want to find a flip kit, just follow the how to in the site.

since we are talking about lowering our trucks for better ride and road handling does any one know of sway bars

if they sell a 4" drop coil for the 94+ rams then could we lower our trucks 3" in front with out any alignment problems

control arms on the way

this link might be useful

http://truckn.com/Tech-Instructions/TechInstr/SUSPENSION/FLIPKIT.pdf

My "donor" '74 3/4 ton has same a-arms as 1/2 tons. My parents' '90 1 ton has "pocketed" a-arms so they would lower a 1/2 ton. Other years may differ and that 3/4 had some other mods but I believe suspension was stock.
Also, regarding that diagram, Dodges have the shock mount built into that plate that goes under the axle before you flip it. Chevys have shock mounts on the axle itself. So use the junkyard tip I told you about.

OMG I'm deaf now from reading that post!    LOL!

i would not recomand the AIM control arms unless you have patiance i had to get mine reworked so they would work but besides all the weld splatter and burs and holes not being the right size it turned out ok i think i havent gone in for an alignment yet but will when the back is done oya and the charged me twice so good luck and cheeto where are those spindles

The front of my '93 is slammed using cut down Chisholm coils.  I haven't had it aligned yet.  I've put about 3,000 miles on it since I've lowered it.  No pulling or tire wear.  I don't reccomend this though.  I'm not being smart in doing this, just really dumb and lazy.  Whenever you drop the front you should get it aligned.

The axle flip how-to was done by yours truely.  If you can work a wrench and yourself or a friend can even sort-of weld you can do it.  It was my first shot at welding and it came out fine.  Thousands of miles and not a single problem.

lowered fans look what i found at dodgetalk.com

can any one confirm the hollander # for 1 ton vans? hey they got d60 in rear for the 4x4 guys and they MAY have the control arms for the 2 wd guys. also what about the rumor about dakota spindles? i truley wish i could just look my self and give some great report but my local junk yards arent the best equipped  

i aslo found this little pick of dodge at cardomain

smooooth.....
I'm not sure about his choice of wheels though, but hey, it's not my truck.

Joe you can use the control arms from the van, you woukd have to drill the holes for the strut rod.

If you use the control arms from a van you can use them from a half ton van also. they just have to have the spring pocket.

Oh my lord that's a sweet old Ram!  Reminds me a lot of Bill's.



Do the newer Ram vans have torsion bars instead of coils?  I forget.  

No they have coil springs. the vans suspension is like the trucks with upper & lower control arms with coils. the strut rod runs toward the rear of the van instead of towards the front like the trucks.

I've been too busy playing with the truck to get to the spindle project myself but it will happen eventually. Current ride is good for lowered truck but I'm kind of a picky bastard and I want it to ride smoother. The spindles will basically give me back 2 1/2" of ride. Can you give me a link to that truck? I'd really like to contact the owner and get some info.

i have that one LoFrontier on my webshots  page but there was no info when i found it the one that i posted on page 1 was at cardomain.com and had it said it was baged all around

who is bill and whst did he have

I actually met Bill on here.  He doesn't seem to come around much anymore though.  His screen name is Rustynu612.  He gave me a lot of advice on dropping my Ram and sold me the coils I have.  He's from Maryland and I've met up with him a couple times.  His truck is BEAUTIFUL!

His truck has air bags and a parallel 4 link with panhard bar.  He's running 17" wheels.  He said his slant 6 spun a bearing on the way home from a show a couple weeks ago and he's rushing to get it back together for Carlisle All Truck Nats.

I'll IM you guys his email address.

You didn't do a How-To on doing the front?

ijust want to know WHY!!!!

anti theft, because it is hard to take a 30mph corner at 60 with something that you need a ladder to get into, we like it, were short, i live in the city the pavement doesnt get that muddy, we can, its our truck, its our money, it is easier to wash

why do like the cloud hugger type

well, I'm not exactly short, but the ideas that make a muscle car can also make an awesome truck, when done right, they look awesome, take cheeto's truck for example, excellently done.

i second the motion cheeto's truck is very sweet

{blush}{blush}{blush}

This is underneath SLIMER'S truck(pics of his rides in truck sec.)

one more

I thought the only time you would lower a truck was if you used it for a coffin and lowered it in the hole with ya.

what is a good shock for a lowered truck

i think lotta guys aree using run-of-the mill rancho shox commonly seen on our 4x4 friends

i want a shock that will give me a good ride and still be firm enough not to let me slam my control arms all the time on the slightest little crack in the road

KYB'S u can't beat em & there lifetime warranteed. They give a good firm ride, I have them on my green truck, but have not yet put them on my club cab yet.  I have found that you can use the ones that fit the 88 & up chevy truck. They are the same as the dodge truck.

slimer how bad to you hit bang on your bump stops with those shocks

well i got the drop done but i am rubbing the rubber off my tires on the rear fenders the are 255/55/18 and i think i might have to cut them out and tub it

before you do that see if you can get it to have a nice shape, banged out with some body hammers.

i almost think it would be easier to cut them out but i am going to try the hammer thing this weekend

all you lowered guys what kid of drop do you have and what tire wheel combo are you running are you ridden on your bump stops

Chisholm 5" a-arms/coils in front axle flip/notch in rear. 255/45-18's with 4.5" offset (this is the key). My 17's had like 5.8" offset and rubbed the inside of the wheelwell when entering parking lots with a hard approach angle. What bump stops?

my wheels have a +14mm offset is that why the are so close on the front and rubbed on the rear the front doesnt rub but if i had any less bump stop they would for sure

here is the link i have 5x5/1/2 14mm cant be right http://www.eaglewheels.com/167.htm

14 mm is 9/16 of an inch. that can't be right. maybe from 50/50, it's +14mm.

what does this mean
OFFSET BSM  
+14mm   5"      

off set is the distance form the center of the wheel + is away from the hub and - is to the hub i think so my wheels are 14mm off center from the hub i think that is how it works

With the KYB's my truck doesnt bottom out on the bumpstops.

Offset is the distance between the mounting surface of the wheel to the outer edge of the wheel.
For example on my club cab I have 15x10 whells with a 6" offset to the rear. from the outer edge of the rear to the surface where the wheels mounts to the hub is 6".

here's a shot of my dirty truck.  it's pretty dirty in this picture, and it's not the best photo, but here goes:

http://www.orionoutdoor.com/~jason/dirtyram.jpg

belltech is the place to find your lowering parts.  hotchkis makes some parts belltech hasn't got around to, also.  like the rear sway bar.  and yes, it handles like god.  it'll easily do 55 around a 25 mph marked turn without making any noise out of the tires.

jason


_{Edit: fixed the link}

hmm, that's odd.

lets see if this works:

Nice looking truck you got there.  Yeah Belltech and Hotchkiss make lowering parts...for the 94-01 Rams.  Us guys with the older stuff are SOL for most of the good suspension parts.  If I ever get a newer Ram I'd hope to make it look and handle as well as yours does!  I have yet to put swaybars on mine...my new wheels/tires help but it still handles pretty crappy.

why thank you.  despite the minor hassles i've had with the fuel injection system and electricals, i really do enjoy driving it.  it gets me to and fro and has plenty of the creature comforts i would ever want (roll up windows, who cares - it's got a/c and a nice stereo).  the rims are nice, tires just the right width, doesn't give that 'bling bling' look that the 20's have.  keeping the chrome rims just a bit dirty fixes that too ;-)

in that photo, it is missing the front air dam, which balances the look of the truck a lot better.  i have a new one, just have to screw it on and haven't taken the time.  so is the dilemma of he who has too many projects.  also, that ugly bmw parts car in the background that looks like a corvair is no longer in my yard.  i may have to destroy this photo of my truck just to eliminate any evidence of its existance ;-)

yeah as for the older trucks, chopping springs and flip kits are no fun.  i'll admit though, my truck has a bit of a rattle up front in the suspension, and i still haven't been able to pin down where it is coming from.  belltech has no idea either.  

jason

Ha!  I was going to say something about that corvair in the background until I looked at it again and realized it wasn't a corvair (my grandfather has a 63 2-door post).  Wasn't sure what it was but now that you mention I've seen similar BMWs at auto-x's.  Definitely ain't much to look at.  Better off with a Corvair and drop a V8 in it (seen that at an auto-x too)

No, 6" is not your offset.  Offset is the distance from the center of the wheel to the mounting surface.  So your offset is 1" (10" wide wheel)  I don't remember if that is positive or negative,

Backspacing is the measurement from the inside edge of you wheel to the mounting surface, so your backspacing is 4".

So, for example, if your 15" wheel had the mounting surface dead center in the wheel, your offset would be zero, and your backspacing would be 5".




That means that you have a positive 14mm offset and 5" of backspacing.

offset is - when it is to the mounting surface and + when it is to the body

i hope you're saying that my old p.o.s. parts car behind my truck wasn't much to look at, and not the CS models in general.  if ya ask me (well, hell i own one), they're beautiful automobiles.  mine runs pretty well too.  no auto-x action for it yet, but soon enough.  i'll bet my coupe with a buick gnx turbo v6 would house a v8 corvair at the coneyard.  that's what i'm putting into it after my 3.2l goes south.  

my real (non parts) car looks a bit more like this, without the cowcatcher spoiler and the rear wing:



by the way, you're the 10th person to call it a corvair (most owners cringe at that reference, but i grin.  it was CLEARLY a corvair knockoff.  and corvair's kick ass, imho)  piping the water lines and finding a spot for a radiator with the v8 swap is a bear though. ever tried to pressurize a cooling system that has 14 feet of steel pipe in it?  ;-)  my dad's building a gt40 kit that is on a corvair chassis, w/ 327 vette engine.  damn crate motor has 500 miles on it.  cast in '65!!  talk about the project that was never finished!!!

jason

my truck is lowered and this is where you can find it http://members.cardomain.com/swwaltw

I went ahead and bit the bullit and ordered a set of dakota dropped spindles. I'm finally going to try my experiment that I have been researching for a long time.

If it works I'll test it & let you know how it works.

cool, if it works, maybe I'll try that some time. I'd also like to make a rack and pinion system for my truck, but without bumpsteer. all in the future though, like the other million plans I have.

There isn't much trick in designing bumpsteer out of a rack and pinion system.  You just have to be careful about placement of the rack vs the location of the outboard steering rod ends.  I'll check with one of the suspension engineers here at work, but your best bet would be to have the rack slightly below the outboard pickups for the steering rod, so the link between the rack and the spindle angles upward toward the tire.  Should be easier in a lowered truck than a stock height one!

hay lowering buddies.. its been a while since ive been on here. but i got a 1986 dodge truck thats lowerd a bit. its the black one on this page sent in by lowfrontier.im going to be puting up some more pics soon. ive been busy. the reason im sending this meggage is because ive lowerd my dodge now 15inches. it lays frame so if you have question im more then happy to help give advice out. ive done plenty of trucks and know a bit. also im wanting to know if anyone is intrested in upper and lower control arms. i have a friend that im working with on producing drop tubeullar arms. from 2 to 4 inch drop. around $350.00 for both. so with these and a set of lowering spings or bags you can get about 8inches easy. so if you would be intrested please email me or reply to the post.

i want see some pics of that 15" welcome back and please check out my ram i will take any opions you might have will upper and lower control arms fix the bottoming out that we all have been having

well it depends. if you are bottoming out on the bumpstop or the bumpstop bracket then take it out. you wont really need it because you wont bottom out on anything else but the spring. if you are bottoming out on the spring there isent much you can do. is the spring you are running a drop spring or a cut spring. if you run a drop spring it wont bottom out as much because the coils are desined to stop that. but can still bottom out.

BILL!  Good to see you again!  

Tubular control arms would be hot.  The only problem I'm having with my setup right now (cut down drop coils) is that my strut rods are pretty close to the bottom of the steering box.  I'm thinking of moving the steering box and linkage up a bit to remedy this.  Some shortened lower arms would be great though.  Help correct my camber.

I'm going to try bagging the front as soon as I get home.  I'm going to try working with a fullsize Chevy kit and see how it goes.

Next in line is a 2 link and bags for the rear.

thats cool, well pass the word around on them control arms, im wanting to get them out there. you could always take your shocks out and relocate them. that will stop them from bottoming out. i put mine from the frame rail to the lower control arm and they work great. you need them with bags on that big boy.
    the two link is easy. thats what i did and its cake i can show you if you need. im just took the bed off of the truck and im notching the frame a bit more so that the truck will lay frame all the way around front and back. the front lays but im like just a c** hair from laying in the back. ill take care of that this weekend. ive got 3 more shows this fall and then its comeing back off the road for the winter. i got another idea for next show seson .

rustynu612 do you have any pics of you truck(s) i would love to see the work that come from your knowlage

rustynu612 do you have any pics of you truck(s) i would love to see the work that come from your knowlage if you go to my website you can see what is bottoming out and i am afarid that if i cut any of the bump stop mount that i might lose a tire in the fender

well i cant see how far you cut the bumpstop really. but i took mine all yhe way to the cup. im running a 255/70 17 tire all the way around and i only rub the inner fennder with the truck all the way out, with the tire turned. going straight the only thing i scrape is down is the frame. and takeing the stop all the way out should be ok. you wont bottom the truck out really but you will bottom the spring out. hope this helps.

Can I ask one simple question? Why in the world would you lower your truck? It's just a waste of a good truck, especially a dodge. LoL, yea of course I've had the idea but we all have out stupid moments every once in awhile. The only things I think should be lowered are imports and small sport trucks.

why lower a truck?  why lift a truck?  personal preference man.  Some people like to spend retarded amounts of money on mass produced hot rod pickups (Chevy Extreme, Ford Lightning, Dodge R/T's, etc) and some like to build them on their own.  I like my rides to be different.  My worst fear is pulling up to a stop light next to a truck that looked like mine.

I'm building my Ram for looks and function.  It's my daily driver and I'm building it to be as low and smooth as I can get it.  I'm putting on air bags for adjustable ride height and for towing cuz she needs to pull my custom Nissan to shows.

Oh, I also build lowered trucks to get comments like the ones you just made.  They make me laugh - and add fuel to my fire to build a lower and more wild truck.

All of us who are into lowered trucks have been down this road with the non believers before.  It's VERY rare that you'll come up with anything to convince us not to build our trucks the way we want to.

Kevin
www.EXCLUSIVESTYLES.com

you know its funny, i have a lowerd truck and a lifted truck and i get complements on both. i get more for my lowerd truck then my lifted.
  a truck is  a truck lowerd or lifted, as long as  the person takes care of there truck. its a peace of art. lots of time goes into a persons truck so weather its lifted or lowerd and it looks good i will go out of my way to give you a thumps up.  

so think of what you wright before you make a a** out of your self  

ok guys, here is  the truck. i finally got some pics scanned in and my good friend lofrontier let me use some of his space. its pic 11 through 15. there not the best pics but you can see some. you cant see the flames in the front but there there. well hope you al like it

i guess it helps when i put this in lol.

  http://public.fotki.com/lofrontier/cool_rides/old_rams/

rustynu612 what did u use to install airbags on the front?  I thinking of converting to airride, but not definite sure yet. I know that aim makes bag plates, but there products are not very reputable.

well i made my own. its not hard to do really. i have seen the kit for the dodge from aim and its not bad really. theres not much to mess up on lol. you can go with the aim setup it will be fine. i dont recomend there control arms.

Lowering a truck???  thats what ricers are for.

Hey, ya think that everytime someone replies to the first page of this thread dissing dropped trucks without reading all the arguments about it we just IM-bomb them?  Maybe the point will get across that it's OUR truck to do what WE want with it?

LOL! I was thinking something like that.

Don't take the ignorant replies to heart.  I know I don't.

rustynu612 so is it more harmful to bottm out the spring or the truck i am trying to decide if i really want to rub the tires because they were not cheap

rustynu612 can you get some pics of how you set up your bags and tank and pump and is it a dalily driver you know jack it up and take some shots so we can see what we need to do

My Ram is pretty much riding on the bump stops up front.  It does concearn me because all that shock goes right to the lower ball joint.  When my front suspension gets rebuilt that's the first thing that's getting replaced.  I think you'll hit your bump stops way before you bottom your springs out.  Either way I think it stresses that ball joint.

If you're wondering about where to put your compressor, tank and all that it's pretty much wherever it will fit.  With fullsize trucks there's a lot of room under the truck to hide a tank and compressor.  the only thing you want to watch out for is to keep the comps in a place where they'll stay out of the weather - like in the bed.

If you use electric valves you can mount them anywhere.  They're generally pretty rugged.  For added protection use a water separator after the compressor.  That way your valves have less chance of freezing up in the winter.  Manual valves are cheaper but there's a lot more involved in hooking them up.  Basically just a bunch of air hoze that needs to get run into the cab and back out again.

I think Bill can get you bags, comps, valves and all that.  If not drop me an IM.  I know a lot of people who can hook you up.

i had an idea 94+ 1" drop coils and bell tech nitro shocks i think that will give me a nicer ride the 94+ coils i have seen are taller than mine stock but have the same diameter

since this is the longest running lowered topic i thought i would refresh it and ask what are the best lowered shocks

I put Rancho RS5000's in the back of mine.  They work great!  I wish I had used them up front.  I bought cheapo oil shocks up front and they don't provide enough damping.  The front end is bouncy and it bottoms out on the bump stops a lot.  My truck is dropped about 6" and I have stock length shocks in the front and back.  No problems with bottoming out the shocks.

Bill (rustynu612) sent me some more pics of his Ram.  I put them up here http://public.fotki.com/LoFrontier/cool_rides/old_rams-1/bills_ram/

what did all you guys do about the shock mounts i welded my stock one to the axle

http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=225379&page=5

as you can see in the first pic the shocks are all most bottomed out and the front has control arms and it bottoms out alot i have stock shocks all around i am looking into belltech active nitros for all the way around do you guys know anything about them

the part # for 0-2" drop for front is 10046 and 6-7" rear is 10525 for new style rams i want to know is the front since i used control arms still stock height or not and i dont know how much i droped the truck how do i figure out what length the rear needs to be

http://www.belltechcorp.com/pages/shocks.htm

and i was looking at some toxic shocks but thought belltech was better waht do you think

I have an 83 ram I have lowered the front by cutting two full coils.  I am running Chisolm's dropped shocks.  Shocks are too weak.  I too am looking for a better shock.  Even thought about going to 3/4 springs or maybe a heavy duty shock and spacing the shock.  Truck rides good and don't want to lose that, but is bouncy on rough roads.  What do you guys recommend?  thanks.

Cut coils will ALWAYS be bouncier on rough roads.  You don't need better shocks neccessarily, you need springs designed to hold the weight of your truck with a decent spring rate; yours used to be, until you changed the spring rate (for the worse) by cutting them.

if you know the compressed and extended length of your shock any competent auto parts store should be able to find you a shock.  Get the lengths and call Bell Tech.

I made new lower spring plates and welded a shock mount onto them.  The spring plates were left over from my Fontier after it was bagged.  The shock mounts came from the HELP section in the auto parts store.  About $6 each I think.

I'm STILL waiting on my Dak spindles.  I'll call Josh tomorrow and bitch him out  

Lower an RC?  Good God man,  what for?  
Here in CA.,  the lowering kit would include dingo balls for your windows.

where are these spindles at i dont see any new pics

earlier (much earlier) in this discussion someone mentioned the possibility of using front coil springs from a 94+ truck for the older trucks.  is there any truth to this?  if so, what year trucks can use the newer, lowered coil springs from the 94+ rams?
i want to drop my '78 lwb 2/4 inches roughly.  an axle flip will give me more drop than i want.  how can i keep it to about 4 inches in the rear?

it was i who said that i have not done it but the theory all works the front coils for my 90 1/2ton ram are the same diameter as the coils on my dads 2001 ram 1/2ton and the 94 ram i mesured at the yard the difference is the old ram springs were shorter by 1/2"

with the different spring charistics for the old to new i figure that a 3"drop spring for a 94-01 ram would give around 2-3" drop

the rear is the same way with only small differences my shackle is the same width but shorter than the 94-01 ram i think that was a 1/4" but i cant rember so i would say that a 4"  shackle would do the trick in the rear

i was going to buy the western chassis 3-5 kit for the 94 ram but decided to flip and used lower control arms on the front

i guess this spindle swap isnt going wellfor anyone

I've gotten a few emails from Cheeto.  He's in progress with the spindle swap.  His truck is a bit older and things are a little different so he's running into some problems.  Also the steering arms on the Dak spindles are a little shorter than stock and are cast onto the spindle.  This MIGHT cause some steering problems.  

As for my spindles... having some slight problems getting them in.  My buddy that I ordered them from thinks his account at Western Chassis might be screwed up.  I'm going to try to sort this out soon cuz I want to get to bagging my pig.

i dropped my r/c a few months after buying it 3 yrs ago. i did it the dumb way by heating the front springs. for the rear i pulled the 2 lower leafs out and had no problem with the pinion angle. i had to go from 235/75/15's to 215/70/15's and they set about an inch in the fenders with no rubbing. just bounced real bad cuz the shocks were bad.

i have since lifted it back up with 3/4 ton springs up front. i replaced the leafs i pulled and added a set of coil over shocks to stiffen the ride.

now that im putting in a stronger motor(bored 318) i plan on pulling the leafs again and cutting 1 1/2 wraps from the front coils. going for a prostreet look.

tjones85 do you have pics or it lowered

ill have to find them i may have deleted what i had on disk.

heres a link to my pic post. scroll about half way down to see it on 215/70's it was taken at night so its not the best.
http://ramchargercentral.com/boards/index.php?board=22;action=display;threadid=2415

mmm... dropped RC's...

well i did a lot of calling and searching. i found out the i.d. for both the 85 trucks and the 94 1/2 ton are close enough to work. the 85 is 3.994  and the 94 is 4.07. now all i need to find out is what the top and bottom look like on the 94's.


now i just need to get the money to buy a set.

btw  you can get dropped shakles for fords and will fit perfect.
i can get a set for 50/pair.

btw on the dropped r/c in the pic do you know anything about it i.e. owner and drop method

Can you give use some more info on the shackles? This is along the line of what I've been looking for.

JT

all i did was go to my local custom shop and they said the ones for the late fords will work on the dodge. now the ones i looked at were a hair wider on the spring side. he said its the same for the fords.  

i had a buddy at autozone order me a set of 94 dodge front coil springs to compare with my 85 springs. when i find something out ill relay the info as to weither the 94+ drop springs will work

Any new information on the spindle retrofits?

I've tried to chase down info on that truck.  I saw it at Showfest in Greenville, Mississippi almost 3 years ago.  That was before I owned my Ram.  I talked to the owner for about 10 seconds just to tell him his truck was badass.  I've had no luck finding any more info on it.

94-2001 springs will work. I think i have figured out which shocks to get for my ram. I am getting belltech nitro drop shocks for a 99-01 1/2 ton chevy with a 4-6 drop.My buddy has a 00 1/2 ton with a DJM 4/6 drop and every thing seems to play out.

so let me get this stright to lower my 75 4x2 ramcharger I need lower controll arms from a 1ton 4x2 dodge for the front & the rear shakels for a ford(what year) or a mid 70s chevy.

after doing a physical comparison of the 85 and 94 stock front coils the only difference i found for the was that on the 94's they have about 3 wraps that are stacked. aside from the the height, diameter inside and out are the same.  just taking a guess the laod rates would be different.

to lower your 75 if the coils are the same as my 85 r/c all you need is a pair of dropped coils from the 94 dodge truck and a set of 2" dropped shackles for the rear. just ask for a set for a late model ford truck.

has any one looked to see if the shackle sam makes would dropp a 4x2?

btw this is a model version of what my r/c will look like. well not in yellow. i want to do it in suede grey with yellow flames.

c'mon.  don't tease me with that model like that.  spill the beans.  where did you get it and when are you sending me one? lol  that thing is cool as hell.

I'm buying some Chevy drop coils for cheap.  I'll let you know the measurements when I get them.

i bought 2 of them from mountianmama. this one was a 4x4 till i got it. the other is still 4x4 and dont plan on cutting it.  when i get done by this weekend the one in the pic will be suede grey to match my r/c.

what you think of lake pipes on a r/c?    if all goes well mine should be home this weekend.  cant wait to here the new motor fire up.

lake pipes on a rc , they look good on a rc  

Hi i am a newbie here but i have been workin on a 73 D100 which i am converting into an R/T and was wondering how to drop it. From what i have read in this topic the coil springs for a newer Ram (94+ ) will work on my 73 to lower the front? Just making sure that this is correct since it is the eaisest way of the ones that were discused.

hey outlaw 78ca   welcome there's a lot of good stuff going on here, I think you'll enjoy this place..    ok now what happened to the dak spindle swap thing did it work,or is it a bust

well i got my beltech nitro drop shocks put on yesterday. it's like a whole differenct world. the ride is very smooth and because i never cut my spring cup i was bottoming out alot now i dont hardly bottom out at all it is great just get belltech shocks for a 99-01 silverodo the bolt right up fit like they were made for the ram

got a e-mail from cheeto and he gave up on the dakota thing and is having that guy custom make him some

I got some Chevy drop coils today.  I'm going to try them out in the Ram and see if they'll fit.  The ID is about 4 1/8 and the OD is about 5 7/8.  

Along with the coils I got a Chevy flip kit.  No way to really see if it'll work on my truck 'cuz I welded new axle saddles on mine.  At the least they would need a new center pin hole in them because the Chevy ones are set back a bit.

why chevy the 94+ dodge coils fit and so does the flip kit

well, I collect junk.  It was a good deal.  Turns out the same day I got the stuff my friend IM'd me saying he needed a flip kit for his Chevy.  He's switching from a 4 link back to leaf springs on his van and is going to give me the old 4 link.  So, guess what's next for the Ram!

a friend and i di this to 84 ram that he used to tow his street rod. it had a 400 bb auto. all we did was use small block coils and take 1 wrap out of them. doing this with the bb put the front down about 4". in the back just did a flip. the rear was a tad lower than the front so we used addaleaf form trail master and it added  about a 1" rake. the truck road good and handled great. one thing we used new front springs, the org 150000 springs when cut, bottomed out easily.

bump

get this thread back up at the top...

so I've been eyeing the front cross member.  The sucker hangs lower than the frame rails and that's going to be a problem for me.  I haven't gotten under there in a while to really look at it but I was thinking of sectioning the cross member and moving it up.

Is the cross member welded to the frame rails?  Looking up from the bottom it kinda looks like there are a couple of big rivets attaching it to the bottom of the frame rails.  It looks like the bottom of the motor mounts are welded to the top of the cross member but I'm not sure if the top mounts are welded or riveted.

I'll have to take more measurements but I think that there is about 2" of clearance between the cross member and the oil pan so there's room to move it up.  Notching the cross member around the oil pan wouldn't be that big of a problem if it's required.

so i guess this means that the spindle swap in null and void and it doesnt work like you guys were told

It's been a while since I've looked under there as well...but if you're going to do all that work on the front cross member (K-member is what I've heard it called) could you move the lower control arm mounts upward at the same time?  One of the handling problems with the 2wd trucks is that the roll center of the front suspension is excessively low relative to the vehicle's CG height.  By bringing the frame-side lower control arm mounts and upper control arm mounts closer together, you can raise the roll center.  I'm pretty sure this would require the drop LCAs, since they're shorter ball joint-to-bushing than stock, and would negate any suspension "lift" you'd get by moving the spring bucket upward too.  IF the drop LCA is equal length balljoint-to-bushing than the stock UCA is, and you position the new mount on the K-frame correctly, you'll move the roll center upward AND eliminate camber change with suspension drop.

what if there was a way to completely remove the inner cross section. get a step up from like a 60's dodge truck with a straight front axle. build a set of frame mounts to support the motor from the front and rear. takke the 60's axle and build a ladder bar and bags. (would it work that way?)

im still trying to get some money together for the 94+ coils.

btw i was reading truckin's readers rap and a reader asked a valid question and got a wrong anwer.


             Dodging the issue
   "I was wonder if the suspention lowering components are the same on the '89 dodge ram and the '94 ram. If they are,it wont matterif i use them, will it?

truckin's anwser
Of course not. But they arent. We checked every single manufacturer of lowering components we could think of and every single one of them lists parts for'94-01 ram, but not a single one offer parts for the '93-or-earlier. One must assume that if they were interchangeable, these guys would say so to sell more parts. Ianybody knows different or makes parts for the pre-'93, let us know. Otherwise, you can go to a spring shop and have lowered leaves and coils made. Or build a one-off 'bag system like so many of our faetured trucks.

could someone please help defend this lie.

the coils work just fine the reason the dont adversize them as 72-2001 is because of the different weights of the trucks and for that they cant sell them that way for liablity reasons

yes, the front cross member is riveted in place.

no biggie. grind grind grind.

be careful though. dodgeguy front clipped on of his old trucks. he swapped out the straight axle and swapped in 1979 ifs outta 1/2 ton. he didnt get the front clip 90º perpendicular to the frame rails. i think he said it ended up being 30º off!

but since you are putting the same clip back in, maybe theres chance you ll get the holes lined up a little better than that.

not sure why you are removing it though.

why not cut out only the piece under the oil pan and weld in something a little more low profile.

that way you dont take chance off getting alignment waaaay off wack.

Just to confirm the 94+ Coils will work to drop an older ram but are not advertised as such to prevent legal issues. Ok if that is the case i know what i am addin to the parts list for project R/T. Just one question regarding the 60's Dodge Trucks i have a 63 D200 with a 313 V8 w/ 4 Speed Transmission are the 60's trucks lower then the newer trucks? i am wonderin because i have never had my 73 and my 63 side by side to be able to tell. The D200 looks like it is lower though just not sure. I plan on eventually restoring the D200 and maybe try to find some decent street tires for it with some steel 16' wheels (wagon wheel style or whatever i can find lol)

bump

still waiting to get my other r/c back so i can decide which to drop.

i just found out something sweet as hell today.    

come to find out the coils from the pre 93 s-10's will fit our trucks. this is the "low" down on the comparison this are random years but youll get the idea

85 dodge standard spring 10" free height,  load rate  1815
                                              inside dia. 3.994

88 s-10 standard spring 10.75" free height, load rate 1405
                                              inside dia. 4.85

the out side for both is roughly 5"
i picked up a set of 2" drop springs for an 88 s-10 for $20 and will try to fit them in the next few weeks. im waiting to get the other r/c from the shop so i can park my g/f's for repairs and drop session. ill be using a 2" drop shackle for the old body fords for the rear.

tjones85 Let me know if the coils work out. I am gettin very eager to drop my D100 now that i know that it can be done with bolt on parts. Just to confirm 94+ Coils will work and now that i hear that the S10 Coils will work it makes it easier to get a drop kit at Canadian tire lol. What Shocks would i use after i drop it?

Just make sure you get  drop springs from an S10 with a V6. The way most of the good places will sell them is buy year, engine and amount of drop. I've got an '88 S10 with 3" springs and an I4 motor. The springs were different than an '88  S10 with 6. Remember that your R/C weighs a lot more than an S10 and a stock spring on an S10 will probably give you 2" of drop right off the bat.
JT

the springs i have are from a v6 xcab. im hoping to get this as close to the ground as possible.

I put newer shocks on the front of my truck tonight.  HINT: DO NOT put oil shocks on a dropped truck.  Go with gas shocks.  While I was under there I decided to see what the air bags would look like.  I put a fullsize Chevy upper cup in and set the 2600# bag on top of the control arm.  I didn't use the lower cup because it would have been too tall.  This went real well.  All you'd have to do is weld a plate on the control arm for a lower bag mount.  This would lay the truck out on the bump stops and would tuck a few inches of a stock size tire.  There would be very little cutting involved.




At that height the stock size tires are almost hitting the wheel tubs.  To go lower you'd have to cut them out or run low profile tires.  Cutting the tubs out you'll run into other problems with relocating everything on the fenders.  The hood hinges also bolt to the inside fenders which bolt to the tubs.  It might get messy.

Sitting on the bump stops you're going to run into steering problems.  The pittman arm and idler are going to interfere with the radius rods.  I think that relocating the radius rods to the bottom of the control arm will remedy this to some extent.  The steering is at full lock left in the pic.



To correct the camber I think that you can move the upper control arm mounts up on the frame.  The mounts are riveted to the frame and welded to the tops of the upper spring cups.  There's a tech article in one of the new Street Trucks mags where Ekstensive did this on a 1 ton Chevy and it worked great.

I took my cut down Chisholm springs out and compared them to fullsize Chevy drop springs.  Mine are about 5 or 6 inches shorter.  Of course my truck almost rides on the bump stops.

It seems like all the cross members and everything are riveted to the frame so if you wanted to take it out to modify it it shouldn't bee TOO difficult.  While I was under there I was thinking how nice rack and pinion steering would be.

I have a few more pics up at http://public.fotki.com/lofrontier/93_d150/dropped_front/

I'm looking to sell those Chevy coils if anyone is interested.  You can cut them down to any height you need.  

you guys are sure going through alot of work just to ride on the bump stops i do that now with aim control arms and my 255/55/18 toyo's tuck quite nice alignment went well i just put on bell tech nitro drop shocks for a 2000 chevy 1/2 ton and they are great so while everyone is trying to ride on there bump stops i want to know how to stay the hight i am and not ride on the bump stops will go with bags one day but as my daily driver i need the transportation and dont want to be walking you can see what it looks like now at

http://members.cardomain.com/swwaltw

what were the bags meant for?

fire stone #2600 lbs bags are universal.

the upper mont he used was for a full size chevy.

www.suicidedoors.com

well i know this may not settle well with most of ya. when i finally get a chance to drop my g/f's r/c im getting a set of 17" mondera voleras. i want something different and found a set at super buy tires
heres a link to the wheel

http://superbuytires.com/wheels_by_brand.html?stage=2&brand=Mondera&model=SUV+Volare&id=8305&sugg_tire=275/60x17&orig_sugg=275/60x17

i see generic 9 1/2"x5" coil springs listed in my stock car catalog. 9 1/2 wouldnt offer any significant drop. but they are cheap and come in several specified spring rates. this means you can cut coils and not end up with a harsh ride, if you choose properly. $39 a piece. they also have a 4" "torque link" spring but thats a little too short.

i also see a lotta mustang II crap in there. every one seems to be using dem mudstains for front suspensions.

see a lotta other stuff like shackles, blocks, spring perches.

i recommend you order both racing and street rod catalogs.
www.speedwaymotors.com

Hey i have an 89 RC 2wd and was wondering if using 3" drop coils for a 94+ ram and using a ford drop shackle kit would it be a nice level 2/4 or 3/5 drop? my leafs are basically flat, no more curve. i am running 235/55/15s on all fours. since i need new shocks already what should i use with this new combo? also i have a TBI prob. at low to mid range throttle, one side sprays too much fuel and the other is almost dry. i have replaced the fuel filter and added STP injecter cleaned with a half bottle/half tank. TEXT

well i finally got the s-10 coils from my friend. i have to wait till my other truck comes home before i can put them in. in case i hit a snag and have to do a parts run.

if you dont want to run the drop shackle you can pull the second and fourth spring and get a good 2" still keeping a nice ride.   i have a set of coil over shocks on the rear so ill see how it rides dropped.

ok so lemme do a recap for any newbies that dont wanna flip through.



we will cover not bagged methods as bags are an entire other topic in them selves.

to lower the front there are several choices.
LOWER CONTROL ARMS
many 3/4 and 1 ton 2wd trucks use a different lower control arm. the spring cup is recessed which allows the spring to set lower. you need 2 of these lower control arms, the bolts, and need to drill the mounts for the larger bolts. now is a good time to beef the lca with any poly bushings you may use and or "boxing" the lca by welding flat stock to the bottom side.

another similar option is to use the ready (or not so ready) to bolt in lower control arms from chisholm or AIM.

you can also build your own set by cutting out the spring seat, and welding in a piece of 5" or 6" diamter pipe. and welding the spring seat into this.

there is also talk of modifying the ball joint mounts for better angles.

COIL SPRINGS
this is a bit broader.

dodge use a spring that is roughly 5" in diamter and 10" in length.

most any coil spring that fits these dimensions will physically fit. take 10" minus length and that is approximate drop if springs are both about as stiff

it is then up to you to decide if the spring rate is right for you.

vehicles with smaller diamter coils (the actuall wire wrap) gnerally are softer.

the increased weight of a dodge may result in even more drop (sag)

one example: 3" drop spring for an s10. [these will fit] the drop is based on a 4 cylinder model. by installing them in a dodge with v8, drop may be closer to 5".

for a firmer ride, a stiffer spring rate is needed.

a variety of springs (5''x9.5") can be purchased through a stock car racing out fit. $40 a piece.

chisholm also carries springs

coils can also be cut to further tune to your needs. these change characteristics slightly.

note: do not heat springs and alllow them to sag. this gives a slammed look but the spring will eventually collapse.

Dropped Spindles
at one time they were available, but are no longer.
happens to be that 1980s dakotas use the same spindle.
these are available through several manufacturers.

this is a viable option to drop approx 2" w/o changing alignment or geometry.

this fits 81-93 dodge rams. in order to install these on an older ram, you must machine the spindle to accept the smaller wheel bearing or swap to a later 81-85 rotor

thats about it for the front

there are several options to get that rear down low too (unless you like a mega-rake 70s style )

Axle Flip
this is where the leaf spring is relocated. Instead of sitting on top of the axles, the leaf spring is moved under neath. To calculate drop you add leaf spring pack thickness + spring perch height + axle tube diameter + and blocks/axle shims

this is done by welding a new set of perches to the bottom of the axle. These perches can be found for about $3 through a place like northern that handles trailer supplies. Read the how to for more detailed info.

A commercially available axle flip can be installed as well. These are most any mid/full size truck with a 3” axle tube. Such as one off a  70s-87 chebby ½ ton.

Shackles/Hangers

this is simple. By moving the mounting points of the leaf springs, further up, the truck is lowered. There is commercially available sets for older dodges through AIM. Lowered sets for other trucks can be used. Most any hanger can be used off most any vehicle. You can simply drill new mounting holes higher up. Also you can purchase/build adjustable shackles. A longer one will result in more drop.

Leaf Spings

once again. The sky is the limit. Most any full size spring can be used if proper hanger/shackle mods are done. There are flatter springs available for many trucks. Not dodges. You can remove a leaf or 2. this will decrease load capacity and make for a softer ride but will also lower you a bit.

Excellent write up Joe! You've put together a nice array of options. Once I finally get the bodywork done on the R/C I'll figure out which way I'm going.
JT

When I posted this topic I never thought that it would get this much attention.

ya, you are not the only one that likes me low

forgot another important aspect of us lowering guys.

shocks.

as you go lower, you risk bottoming out. that is when suspension travel exceeds that of the shcok and the shock is full compressed. you dont want that.

you can install a variety of shocks from simple oil shocks to rancho9000 adjustables and shocks off many different vehicles. major factors to keep in mind are mounting ends and length.

you can also move your shock mounts and use your stock shocks.


id love to tell you more about channeling and body dropping, but i dont have any info  

well i have the 2" drop coils from a v-6 s-10 and will be using 205/65/15's on the front for now. on the rear im going to put a set of drop shackles for the older fords with 225/75/15's.  sadly i only have the stock 15x6 rims and gonna paint them till next year when i can get a set of wheels.  

the only down side to all this is i have to wait till i get my other r/c back(4x4 clone  )

thanks JT . i have had lots of time to think about it, schools boring. i know im only 15 but i have alot of talent in cars. i have been building 'em with my dad for like 10 or 12 years. i plan to redo all the interior trim and dash in fiberglass copies painter body color and re-fabric my seats my self (seat covers suck) thank you fo making this board i helped me alot and still is.

hmm i wonder what we will talk about now?

air bags? body drop? some other technique? mabe front cross member mods or steering or 4 links?

i geuss air bags would be a good way to go with this board. i wonder if the 1 pocketed LCA work with bags very well? does anyone know?

we can talk about the wheels that will go on our lowered rides.

think ill get some 15x7 or 8 stars for now till i can get a set of 17's

2003 ford mustang gt rims

I can speak to bags and body drops as I own 3 bagged and body dropped trucks (not the Ram though).  

I'll tackle body drops first.  I'd say that sectioning it probably the #1 mos difficult overall body mod, Chop tops and body drops are fighting for #2 and 3.  

Body drops, or channeling as the old skoolers call it, is basically cutting the cab and bed floor free from the rest of the body, lowering the body down over the floor so the rockers are even with the bottom of the frame (or lower), and welding it all back up.  Sounds simple enough but doing it right takes a lot of skill, time and planning.  You have to fabricate a lot of new stuff, relocate all kinds of stuff, deal with interfering parts...  The end result is totally worth it though.

Stock floor body drops are a fairly new thing to the truck world.  It's essentially lowering the body mounts on the frame, cutting off the interfering top part of the frame and boxing it in.  This way your rockers lay on the ground but there is minimal modification to the factory floor and you keep all the headroom.

if i use an air ride technologies weld in 4link can i lay frame. if so with how big of wheels/tires. i want to use 18s and be ablut 1 or 2 inches off the ground so i dont have to move/modify/replace my gas tank. i have the skid plate whick im keeping for safety. how hard is it to body drop an RC (1-10) vs a pickup (1-10) thanks for all the info this oard has given me.

getting your Ram to lay frame on 18's is going to be difficult mainly because of the front suspension.  I think some crossmember mods will be in order as well as a swap to rack and pinion steering.  Definately not impossible but just not a walk in the park.

If you're doing all the work to get the truck to lay down and to install a 4 link moving the gas tank up a hair is small beans.  If it's an RC I don't think they're even close to the ground.

Doing a standard b/d on a RC is going to be a bit more work than doing a pickup.  On a PU most of the work is with the cab floor.  An RC is essentially a huge cab floor.  The amount of extra cutting could be minimal.  Then again if you install a big notch in the frame, want to go real low on some tall tires things will get tricky with the rear floor.  You'll have to rebuild the floor around the wheel tubs and above the axle.

Like I said, take the time to plan out as much as you can.  Spend a few days under there with a tape measurer seeing where everything is going to be with the axle 10" or so higher and the body 3" or more lower over the floor.

every b/d is different.  To get over the front crossmember issue you can drop the body a couple more inches so the cross member will lay and the body will be a couple inches lower than the frame rails.  If you like welding on your frame you can Z the front frame rails up a couple inches just forward of the firewall.  

just some food for thought.

If you're wondering how much mayhem is involved I have a bunch of pics of the Mazda pickup that I body dropped and bagged here  http://public.fotki.com/LoFrontier/the_maz/

is there a remote chance a body kit could be found

what kinda body kit are you talkin about?

my ultimate goal is to be able to lay frame but to be have a good 8-11" ride hide for driving. i only would do a b/d if the frame was to low below the body, which isnt a problem. the gas tank w/ skid plate does hang about 6" below the bottom of the frame level. i am planning on removing the body and doing some line-x on the frame and under body. would a combo of 17s front 18s back lay the frame flat. i am gonna reapulster the 83 camaro buckets this weekend my self. do you think it would make a good how-to? thank

I will NEVER endorse the use of a body kit on any vehicle!  yuk!

Standard - you have a RC, right.  If so the gas tank might hang down below the rear frame rails but it's much higher than the frame rails between the wheels.  That's where it counts.

I met a guy a while back on another forum that was bagging and body dropping his dad's old 70's step side Ram on 20's.  Last I heard from him it was going well.  I'll try to look him up and see how he made out.

Ok now i have a better idea as to how to go about this. I am going to use the 94+Ram Coils since they will probably be cheeper to buy since they are not as popular as fords and chevys. What year of ford do i order the drop shackles for? and what year of Chevys do i order the front drop shocks for? I am probably retaining the stock steel wheels for now and run a set of Crager S/S Wheels with BFG Radial T/As at a later date. And one final question how do you post pics on here i am asking because i have a concept pic that i have created based off of a 72 D100

thanks for the help, i will prolly lay it out on 17s and 18s. if i have it flat on the ground, could i body drop it so the rockers lay on the groung and weld the inside up? i dont know if i would body drop it though. and yes its a RC, click the link below for my site, under "slam charger" thanks

to post pics you use the little Insert Image button right up there on the "Add YABBC tags" menu.  You have to have the pic hosted somewhere online though.  You can host pics on RCC.com and have your own little page if you become a member.



You can body drop the truck whenever you want to.  It doesn't HAVE to be bagged.  Bags just help the look.  

Outlaw - I suspect that the Ram coils will be more expensive because they aren't as popular.  Law of supply and demand.  If you want Chevy drop coils I have a pair I can sell you.  You'll probably have to cut them down a bit to really slam your truck.  Here's a pic of them next to the cut down Chisholm coils I have in my truck.  My truck sits just off of the bump stops.  Drop me an IM or email at LoFrontier@yahoo.com

well i figured the easiest way to get the body even with the frame bould be having the frame on the ground

hmm  some times a tube chassis looks so appealing  

only real issue is keep the dodge suspension or go to something better or more available?

actually other than measuring and measuring again, it doesnt seem to be an extremely hard.

right now me and a buddy are building a trailer in shop.

wish i could find a set of wheels like these

i wasnt going to keep the stock suspension completely. i was gonna use an air ride technologies weld in 4link. i was also going to use the ride pro system. the front is just gonna be bags in place of the coils with relocated shocks. i hope to lay frame evenly. i will also box the frame most of the way through, just leaving small cut outs for fuel, air and brake lines.

I'm pretty sure that the RC's are built a lot like the Rams.  On the Rams the front suspension cross member is about 1.5 - 2 inches lower than the frame rails.

The thought of building a new frame has crossed my mind more than once.  I just can't justify putting that much money into my Ram that is slowly rusting away.  I wouldn't put a Mustang II IFS in it though.  It's a CAR suspension and I wouldn't feel safe with it under my truck especially if I was towing.  There's a company out there, I might have mentioned it somewhere in this long thread, that makes front cross members based on Dakota suspension!  And we all know how much easier it is to get Dak drop suspension parts.

It's my feelings that boxing in your frame is going to be overkill.  It'll look wicked nice but isn't really needed.

I can't really see the wheels in that pic.  Kinda look like Niche Flys though.

Ok here is the Concept it was created using Paintshop Pro.

hey i dont see the pic. wow 5 pages of lowering! where did you get paintshop pro? thanks

that the wheel.  where you find the pic of it?

Okay, We've established that '94+ Cheby coils will work in the RCs. How about '99 and up? I've got a line on a cheap pair of 3" lowering springs for a '99+ Cheby. The dimensions are 5 3/4" in diameter and 13 3/4" unloaded. This seems mighty tall though.
JT

too tall, would work as a lift spring in a dodge though  

just wanna go................BUMP  or is it HOP

so using 94+ ram 3" drop coils and a rear shackle drop would make it a 2/4" drop. works with an 89 RC? thanks

ok i dunno if i mentioned this earlier or not.

in order to drop the rear 4" with a shackle set, the shackle needs to be 4" longer and you need new front spring hangers that mount the fornt of the spring up 4". you can drill new holes in the old hanger. drill each hole 4" lower than the one directly above it.

if you do not raise the front mount, you will only end up with 1/2 drop. so 4"=2". plus the rear eye will be higher than the front, effectively giving you a negative pinion angle. i imagine it owuld be a pretty nasty angle. expecially since i believe most dodges need a slightly positive angle.

once oyu figure in the cost of a longer shackle and raised hanger, you might as well just flip the axle.

that is prolly the cheapest drop you can get. spring perches can be baught for under $10 a pair and then you need to buy new shock mount plates or fab up something.

since my leafs are flat and my truck is about even, should i filp it then have the springs re-arched to get back some drop. then wouldnt 6" = like 4 or 5". on the front i could run 3" drop coils. then would i have a 2/4 or 2/5" drop?if the back is lower i'd use bigger tires. Thanks for every one that help make this board so comprehensive.

on my grey r/c i pulled 2 leafs from the rear and heated the fronts(big mistake). ive since lifted it back up. i plan to drop my g/f's by pulling the 2nd and 4th leaf and running coil over shocks in the rear and using 2" drop springs in the front from a v-6 s-10 blazer.

as soon as money gets flowing again ill be getting either a set of 15x7 rev's or 16x8 wires.  if i go with the 16's i want to run a set of 225/60/16 vogue's

Couldnt the original shock mounts that held the axle under the springs be modified to work? would not be much different then when lofrontier modified some old parts from one of his other trucks.

hey tjones do you have any pics of you RC? how hard and expensive was adding coil-overs to the rear? thanks

i think the pic of my r/c dropped on 215/70/15's is on the 2nd page.   the coil-over shocks were like $65 at autozone and have a lifetime warranty. i have to find myg/f another ride so i get to turn her r/c into a trailer queen.

hey people, you said that they stopped making drop spindles for 80s daks but bell tech still does. you can order them through here http://www.stylinconcepts.com/parts.cfm/partfamilyid/825/CategoryID/30/SubCategoryID/206 they are 400 bucks but dont they make laying from easier on 'bags? would they bolt up in place of my 89 rc 150 le spindles? thanks joe

they still mkae dakota spindles. they do not make ones listed for full size trucks. i believe they will fit 81-93

laying frame is a lot more ocmplicated than spndles. even on bags, its not too likely. the front cross member will scrape before the frame rails do, and that is waaaay before the rockers do.

it will take some metulurgical surgery to lay frame.

well i dont want to lay frame, but with D.S. isnt the suspension geomentry when fully emptied 'bags better than without D.S.? is it worth the $400? thanks

Western Chassis drop spindles are cheaper than Bell Tech - about half the price.

http://www.sporttruckdirect.com/spindles.html

drop spindles will definately help with camber problems

does it have better geometry? definitely.

do you drive around on fully emptied bags? prolly not.

geometry is only really for alignment and steering purposes. if you re showin it (prolly one of few times bags will be empty) then its really a moot point, although it will help you get even closer to the ground.

would i pay $400? no way.

Check the printed summit racing catalog



i just thought of something. what happens if you notch your frame and flip you leaf springs over so they arch the other way. should =quick cheap mega drop with stock ride. only problem i could see is front hanger clearance.

4x4 lift springs=more drop. blocks to correct for too much drop.
has this been done before? is it some long lost trick?

I've got to pull my front end apart ( Upper control arm and ball joint replacement) this weekend. I don't have the cash on hand to get 2" drop springs before then. Since it's going to be torn apart anyway here's the plan for a cheapo drop at the same time. Cut 1 maybe 1.5 coils (I'll be measuring them loaded before I start) and pull 1 or 2 leafs from the back. If I only wanted say a 2" drop would it be smarter to take out the 1/2" block and only 1 spring? If only 1 spring which 1 #2 or #4?
Thanks
JT

If you're pulling springs start with the shorter ones.  Leave the thick overload spring.  You might want to stop by the spring shop and get new center pins before you do this just in case you mutilate the stock ones taking them out.

Take your time cutting the springs.  Measure the ride height, cut 1 coil off from the bottom of the spring (I think the tops of the springs are coutoured to fit nicely into the upper seat) then reassemble and drive the truck for a day or so to let the springs settle then remeasure and determine how much more you need to cut.  Springs DO settle a bit.  That's why my truck rides about an inch lower in the front than I'd like it to.

On a side note.  Would anyone be interested in a bag kit for the front that'll lay the truck on the bump stops?  I think I've got the upper cups straight.  I'm going to try to make a bolt-on lower mount for easy installation.  This all hinges on my getting off my lazy ass and doing it though.  I'll give it a whirl once garage space clears up and I get a couple other projects done.

Anyone have pictures of a (dodge)dually slamed I would like to lower my 1990 clubcab.And I have a complete dually donar truck.Some pic's would really make up my mind.......

hey m2bueller when i did my grey r/c the first time i pulled the second and fourth leafs starting from the top. if you go back a page or 2 youll find a pic of it(not the best). it sitting on 15x8 w/215/70/15's the tires were about 1/2" from being in the wells.

ill try to get my g/f's drop when i go on vacation if not sooner.

DING DING DING!  what do I win?



and completed



The truck was built by Ray Vern Hydraulics in England.  I was hoping to visit his shop when I was over there last summer but things never worked out.

i think im in pending on price. id like to trrim the bump stops or remove em though.

Bags are about $75 each, brackets would probably run about $50 - $60, $200 for a good compressor, $20 for a pressure switch, $45 for an air tank, maybe $80 for misc line and fittings.  I think that lighted gauges run a little over $30 and switches are pretty cheap.  Valves are about $35-$40 each for 1 way valves.  You'd need 2 for front up/down or 4 for independent front control.  

When you do the back you can keep the single compressor and tap in to the air tank.  Complete fast bag kits typically run about $2000 without brackets or linkage rear ends.

I just want to try to make up a good lower bag bracket because I don't trust the junk that AIM sells.

Sweet Thanx.......

i guess bags would vary by manufacturere and rating.
i guess generic firestone 2500/2600 lb bags are the norm
then there is various plumbing (im thinking of check valves and 4 solenoids)
ill need to figure out tank and mount and all that.

i allready have a compressor. puts out peak of about 14cfm. how high psi do i need?

im just loking for front bucket mounts. i suppose they can be fabbed of pipe.

im sure you allready knew of these

http://www.suicidedoors.com/products/fullsizechevycups.htm
http://www.suicidedoors.com/products/lower_airbag_circle.htm
http://www.suicidedoors.com/products/single_airbag_circle.htm

I'd put check valves on the tank outlets and inlets so if your compressor leaks it won't drain the tank or if the tank loses pressure your bags won't leak down.  

Most valves require a minimum pressure differential betweent the two sides of it so if you lose tank pressure air will leak backwards through the valves.  It's just how they are.

Typical tank pressures are 150-175psi.  It's about all you really need.

I got fullsize Chevy cups to adapt to my truck.  If you scroll back through the thread I posted some pics of them and a bag set in place up front.  The upper cups fit well but the lowers are too tall so a little custom work will be involved in making one.  I explained a little of the complications I'd expect in getting the front to lay out on big wheels too.  Freakin steering!

You'll want to run 2600lb bags up front on a fullsize.  The smaller bags will be stressing to carry the weight or get any decent lift.

Jason at suicidedoors.com is a real cool guy.  I've bought stuff from him before.  All of his stuff is excellent!

My RC already sits pretty low stock, but I want to give it a noticeable drop.
So, I can drop the front with 94+ drop springs, and the rear with late model Ford shackles? This would give a somewhat front raked "stock stance but lower" look?? I'm not planning on bagging it, but I do want a nice mild lowering for not too much cash. Would stock shocks work with this setup. They should? Right? Sorry I'm asking so many dumb sounding questions, but I do not have the vehicle yet. I will be picking it up next weekend. I just have no visual reference to go by. Thanks,,,,Cruisin

i was told that if i do the 2" shackle i dont need a pinion shim. does that sound right? i know when i pulled the leafs on my grey r/c  it didnt cause a problem. i want to try one more time to get the s-10 springs in.

think i should keep the sway bar on the one i drop or put it on my grey r/c?

I don't think shackles would effect anything, on their own anyway. I have them on my Ford F-150 with the original shocks as well. I didn't have to change pinion angles on it either. I'd leave the sway bar on the lowered one, unless you really want to improve the handling on the other. Witha drop you might need shorter end links, but Pep Boys carries all different lengths on the shelf, if there's one near you.,,,, Cruisin

i thought i allready mentioned the shackle thing in my "over cap"

basically a longer shackle will lower truck half of its extra length.

say stock is 5" and this other one is 7". it is 2 inches long there fore it lifts the rear spring eye 2" closer to the body. the front is still stock height. so a 2" shackle gives you about 1" of drop.

plus since the rear is now higher than the front instead of even, this points your pinion downward. so you use a shim to point pinion back straight in line.

this can be cured a different way though. drop the front hanger an equal amount. you will get full advertised drop and no pinion problems. look at mr peal and his kits he used to make. that would be a good person to talk about.

Is there something about the Dodge trucks that is different? An advertised 2" shackle for my Ford dropped it 2" in the back, well at least 1 1/2"?? That is confusing to say the least. Would a flip kit do a more effective job if a 2" shackle only drops 1"?,,,, Cruisin

when i pulled 2 leafs from the rar i got about a 2.5" drop after the springs settled. im just exploring other options. i dont want to do an axle flip incase i ever decide to lift it back up or sell it.

this is an important thing to think about before you use extreme meathods to drop something.   it cost me almost $500 to lift my grey one back up after dropping it.

Are there any special tricks to pulling leaves? I was wandering around under the RC yesterday and was looking at the spring bolts. Both the upper and lower bolts on the rear shackles are towards the frame/tank. This in complicated as well by my receiver that's in the way too. Do I need to plan on dropping the tank to be able to get the bolts out or can I remover the leaves without disconnecting them from the shackles.
JT

  what i did was buy a set of square u-bolts in case i busted one and a set of coil over shocks to help keep the ride smooth.
 jack the rear up to a workable hieght and set the jack stands.  pull both wheels off and loosen the u-bolts working both sides down at the same time.  let the rear end down far enough to see the head of the bolt holding the pack together. i used a pair of vise-grips and lots of wd-40.  take the nut off the springs and continue to remove the u-bolts. i pulled the 2nd and 4th leafs. remember to put the pads back in. just go back together in reverse.

after about a week retorque the bolts. after a few weeks the springs will settle in.

Well I did it! I had to rebuild the front end of the Ram this weekend. Since I had to take the lower control arm off anyway to replace the bushings, I took the front springs out and cut one coil off of each one. It gave me what I expected 1.5" of drop. It's will probably settle a little more. I may need to get shorter bump stops. It's only got about 2" between them and the control arm. Either that or I'll break out the Sawzall and trim them a little.
The R/C Has a cool stance right now. Sort of that 70's jacked up look. Hey, maybe side pipes and some Cragars?  8)Actually I'm going to get 2" drop shackles to bring the rear down about an inch. I should still have the sport rake.

BTW: I'm doing a how to on the whole front end thing as well.
JT

has anyone confirmed the fitment of S-10 springs?

id like to drop my 86 mildly <maybe 2-3inches> but i dont want to cut or modify<wreck>anything in case i ever go back to stock

or spend a bunch of money on parts
<im cheap and my buddy owns a junkyard so i could get stock s-10 springs for free>

this is what i was thinking

stock S-10 springs <designed for a smaller lighter truck so they should drop my full size right?> in the front

and removal of 1 or 2 leaves in the back

im not REAL picky on the ride <it IS a truck after all> and im not mario andretti so i dont need razor sharp handleing

would this setup work ok?
handle and ride a little worse than stock but still highly driveable?

thanx scott

Got a pic of the lowering, m2bueller? I'd like to see what that looks like before pulling my springs out and cutting them. I finally have the RC in the driveway, let the modding begin ,,,,Cruisin


I'm not opposed to the one ton A-arms either though.

hey m2... how high is the ride hight ffront and rear? my back is saggy so its almost level stock so i was wondering how much yours went down to. if you have any pics ill add 'em to my site. click the www below for it. i update about every week or two cuz im kinda bus and dont get new infro./pics to often so hey lowered RC and ram guys pics please.

Cruisin_RC,
I took pictures, I just have to get the film on CD. I wanted to get some good images.  Should have them by this weekend.

StandardByker88,
I was at 32" at the peak of my front fender lip before the drop. It has settled a bit in the last couple of days. Now I'm at 29.5" The rear is at 32" currently. When I recover from doing the front end I'll be pulling 2 , leafs.

I still have plenty of tire (235/75/15) clearance and intentionally abused the front end to see if I could get any bottoming or rubbing. I did put in Prothane bushings and new ball joints while I had it apart. I can say without a doubt that the ride is light years ahead of where it was. I'm just not sure what did what as far as improvement. I still need to get an alignment and retorque everything.  The cool thing is it's so much easier to work on the top end now too.
JT

Urethane bushings?? Sweet! Do they only have the control arms, or do they make those funky looking swaybar end links too? I don't see how that setup could actually work, but I guess it does. I'm putting on 235/75's today, so that's good to know I can still do a mild drop on it. Can't wait for the pics. Maybe some brand new springs with a coil cut off would be the way to go? Of course I might end up back where I'm at now, and lower later on ,,,, Cruisin

On a side note: I'm having a hell of a time finding baby moons to fit these stock wheels! Plan is to put the new tires on, paint the wheels red, and pop on some stainless steel moon hub caps if I can find them. Nice old school look

Yep Prothane does make the swaybar bushings as well. I don't have a swaybar on my R/C so I haven't had a chance to look at one.
www.prothane.com
My springs were 17 years old and I know the truck was not treated well. I'm sure there was some sag but it was only an inch lower than the rear when I started.

Baby moons, to cool!  I had a set on my '68 Nova. Very retro even for 1978 when I had it. I had mine on Chrome reverse rims. You might try these guys for the hubcaps. I haven't dealt with them but I hear good things.

http://www.petepaulsen.com/Accessories/Accessories.HTM

JT

I went to my local trailer supply shop and got some today, thanks for the link though. I was going to paint the wheels red and put the moons on. The more I thought about it, that could be done later. I blew off the loose paint, and shot some semi gloss black on them, then popped the covers on. With the 235's, black wheels, and moons it looks like an 80's police vehicle. I'm still polishing out the paint, but I will have pics by tomorrow of the freshened up wheels. It really looks wicked with black paint, wheels, and chrome center caps

Now you need to get it lower to really set off the wheels. Don't forget the trim rings. They'll really make the wheels look complete.  
JT

I kinda like the cop look, with no trim rimgs, but I will buy a set and try them out for a while;D,,,,Cruisin

Hey Cruisin any time You want to see what the lower controls will do to your truck, how it will sit,  let me know I can bring my truck over for you to look at. I have a truck with the cut coils to. so just let me know.]

Rodney.

Cool man, maybe in a couple of weeks? My wife is coming into town monday, and I have to do all kinds of stuff before then, lol! But here's the wheels, talk about an improvement over those old dry rotted whitewalls and factory dog dishes.,,,,Cruisin

has anybody used the drop coils for an later model ram from AIM on there trucks/RCs? i can get a set of 3" drop coils for $69. the would only give me about 2" drop though cuz late rams have a 1" taller stock coil. thats what i heard anyway. or i can get the 80s v-6 s-10 coils for like $33. 1" drop would sag to like 3, right? whats better the ram or s-10 coils in terms of ride and product life. thanks for the answers everyone. joe

well I finally have the motivation to bag my truck.  I'm going to start on it next week.  Having the bed off to fix the brake lines and install the discs got me all fired up.

I'm going to install my 3" C notch and mount the bags behind the axle.  I'm going to pull a couple leafs to get the rear down some more and maybe move the spring perches up if it needs a bit more drop.  I might sissy out and just use drop blocks.  I want to keep a couple springs to minimize axle wrap.  Also a full spring pack + air bags will make for a very stiff ride.

I have to pull the cross member that the shocks mount to and replace it with a new one that the bags will mount to.  This is going to be fun!

I'll be able to add a 4 link pretty easily in the future.  Mounting the panhard bar will be the hard part.  

i have been tryin to figure if i want to bag my pickup or just use 94+ dodge coils and ford shackles, If i bag it is it possable to use a ladder bar set up instead of four link? because if i can use ladder bars i will only have to get the mounts welded on the housing and use the orignal mounts from the front eyes of the leaf springs,

ladder bars are pretty much the same thing as a 2 link.  Really good if you're just going straight on flat terrain.  They don't allow for much independent up / down movement of each rear wheel.  If you also run bags with ladder bars you're going to have pinion angle misalignment through the suspension travel.  You also have to add a panhard bar to locate the axle side to side.  For all that work a parallel 4 link with panhard bar will suit you much better.  You can get 4 link kits where the front mounts will bolt to the side of the frame.

I have a 2 link on my bagged Mazda.  It came with it so I decided to use it.  There are tons of people who use them without any problems.  I just don't think it's the best way to go.

thanx for the heads up, i think at this stage i am just going to do a suspension drop using 94+coils and shackles and/or removing leafs in the rear. ironicly when project R/T is complete it will look nothing like the 73 D100 it was originally. about the only stock body parts that will remain are the cab, hood and front grille/under grill panel. True it may not be one of the thousands and thousands of fords and chevys out there but that is the whole point of this project, if i wanted an easy way out i would build a ford or a chevy. But i want to be different that is why i am building a Dodge  

I did a photoshop today of what I would like mine to be like once lowered. The wheels are real, I just got done with them today with the moons and trim rings. I'm going for an anti-billet look.,,,,Cruisin

Sorry for the F150 site, but they will not let me link to just the picture. The nazis!

http://www.f150online.com/galleries/pictureview.cfm?pnum=64950&anum=3454

That thing looks SWEET!  I stole your pic and put it on my photo site.  Feel free to link to it

http://images3.fotki.com/v30/free/62adb/2/20477/110855/rcphotoshop-or.jpg



I have a bunch of pics of dropped old Rams http://public.fotki.com/LoFrontier/cool_rides/old_rams-1/old_rams/

Thanks man! I was gonna put it on my site but didn't get around to it. I have a friend who cannot seem to open pics of any kind via e-mail. I hosted it there so she could see it, she couldn't figure it out otherwise, lol!,,,,Cruisin

She blames it on her ISP??

Cruisin_RC,
Very nice!. I do like the trim ring baby moon look. Have you decided how you're going to drop it? I still haven't gotten around to doing the rear on mine. The front has just a little more altitude than your picture. I've got to get a digital camera.
JT

Well, one ton Dodges aren't very plentiful around here for some reason. If you can find them in the junkyard, they are bare front frame rails. Fenders, hoods, suspension all gone. I guess some 94 up coils is the way I'm going to go, then a pair of shackles for the back. Maybe lower later on.,,,,Cruisin

hey nice look RC ya got there. mine is still in the works. need to get some $$$ to drop it. i can get 94+ drop coils for 69 from aim. they any good? then pull some leafs out the rear and throw in coil-overs. looks like i need $100. hey can i borrow $100 from anybody?

is it just me or would it be smart to make a front suspension skid plat the covers the LCAs and the oil pan. not very attractive unless done right. but when we are droping them donw if they bottom out arent they hittin the LCAs and other important parts? i think im goin to do that on mine soon. i know dont weld it on, bolt it for easy removal and work access. and dont make it a clearance prob, not a bottom out protection. make it flush with the lowest place on the front undercarrage. really y arent we doin this already? he gas tank on rcs got skid plats. well cya, thanks ppl

StandardByker,
You planning on 4 wheeling a lowered truck?  :DThe lowest point on my truck even with full spring compression and sitting on the bump stops is still my rims. So even if I get a flat at full compression the LCAs and oil pan aren't close to hitting. Unless of course I'm parked over a log and then it's anyones guess.  
BTW: I just ordered my rear shackles. I hope to have them here by this weekend.
JT

good point. well i might take mine 4 wheeling. lol

well i didnt actually know how low everything is. also how much did you drop urs. let me know how that shackle kit works for ya. did ya get the kit for a f*rd or a dodge? who did ya order from. has anyone done a drop spindle and drop coil on the front of theirs? how low was it? im thinking going coils then maybe spindles. well thanks for your help guys

I got the '94 Dodge kit from Suspenmax.I snagged them on Ebay for $42.00 delivered. I got my springs for my S10 from there as well.
Good luck finding spindles. There was a thread going here about Dakota spndles but I think the idea went south. Shorter spring up front seems to be the way to go unless you bag it. I just cut my coil to see if I like it. The ride is great with no bottoming. I went from just shy of  31" at the fender lip to 28 1/2" cutting 1 coil. both sides came out within 1/4" of each other. When I get access to a digital I'll post pics.
JT

well i heard the 80s rams/rcs used the same spindle as the 80s dakotas. i know of a few places to order those from. its the 70s trucks they dont fit on /eo mods. well im gonna get the aim drop coils unless i find a better deal.

A buddy of mine is using the APC (logo looks like A1C) lowering kit in the back. It actually sets his rear a bit lower than the front. Cant remember eactly how much it was dropped, but the front is stock height. He is running 235/75/R15 tires on stock 15 inch LBP steelies. Its not a drop it in the weeds stance, but for those wanting it leveled or a bit lower, its the way to go. I'm going to do that on my '81 and use 1-ton Van control arms since I've got em.

I'm wanting to bag mine now . I'm at the TX Heatwave now, and a good 80% of the trucks have some sort of bag system on them. BUT?? Guess what else!? NOT ONE single solitary dropped ram older than 94, and not many of the 94 ups either. A few new bodystyle trucks there on 22's and 24's, but not dropped. Mine will be here someday, mirror black paint, custom interior, and booming system. Ahhhh,,dreams....Cruisin

Ok now things are gettin interesting, a friend of mine has a dropped 90 Ramcharger that he is bringing down to my area on the 27th    He just moved down here and is slowly bringing his toys home. But he is talkin about the idea of bagging the Ramcharger and if he does so i called first dibs on the old suspension parts   But if this does not work out i am ordering new drop coils for a 94+ Ram and drop shackles or axle over conversion.

yeah, im prolly gonna go the coils shackle route. maybe pull the 4th leaf also

Aah yeah!  It's front bags time!!!

I worked on bagging the Ram last night.  I have pics but my photo hosting site is down right now.  Like I mentioned before I'm using fullsize Chevy brackets as a starting point.  I used the upper cup and fabricated a lower plate.  They're pretty simple and they bolt right in.  They lay the truck on the bump stops which is about as low as I can go with the tall stocker tires I have without hitting the inner fenders.

I got my room mate to help me fit the air gauges into the dash.  We're putting them in to the left of the stereo.  We moved the Cargo Light button up next to the OD Off button.  I'm not sure where I'm going to put the switches just yet.

I got air tanks from the local big rig shop.  I'm going to mount them saddle bag style outside of the frame rails right behind the cab snugged up to the bottom of the bed.  You'll barely see them.  There is room for them to stand away from the frame and give clearance for the E-brake and leaf perches.

Once fotki.com comes back online I'll get the pics up.

If anyone is serious about giving this a try I might be able to make up another set or two of lower brackets.  I'll want to test these ones out first though.

so u finally finished baggin' the ram huh? good job. what are you doing with the old coils? were they cut or 94+ coils? i might buy the old coils from you, i wanna drop my 89 RC. uu can look at my site if u want to see what ive got to work with. ok keep on draggin'

Well the fotki site is back up, WHERE ARE THE PICS!!!!??? LOL! I will definitely be interested in a set of those lower brackets if the price is right. Would the "shockwaves" be easier? I don't want to drop that much cash to find I can't use them?,,,,Cruisin

yeah ill prolly be able to get a set also if the price isnt to high. i would still prolly rather buy those old coils tho. if they arent to short, do you know their height? thanks

I've been wanting a bagged truck for YEARS, gonna actually do it this time. I would've loved to bag my F-150, but we use it year round, and goes cross country the whole time. I could just see myself sitting in the middle of Wyoming looking for a bag or fittings, hehe. I heard ALOT of bags pop this last weekend.,,,,Cruisin

Look back to pg 4 of this thread.  The coils I have in the truck right now are cut down Chisholm drop coils.  The lower control arm sits about 1" off of the low profile bump stops with them.  I have a 318 so a 360 might be heavier.  They're about 10" long.

I don't know much about Shockwaves.  Never used them.  They're a lot of money for something you can do just as easy and cheaper with a simple bag and shock in most cases.

I got my air gauges in the dash today and I'm working on mounting the air tanks in the bed and compressors under the bed.  I still have a few fittings that need to come in before I can start plumbing the air lines.

I'll put the pics up tomorrow.

Hey lofrontier:
is the front of yours only lowered by the coils or other mods also? mine is the 318, not 360. would you be willing to sell your old coils? if the price isnt bad ill prolly buy them

all I did to drop the front was put in the drop coils.  I just want to be 100% sure that all this is going to work before I sell off the old coils.

here's a few pics of the bags.
This is the lower bracket bolted to the control arm.


this is a little dark but it's the bag with the upper cup bolted to it.  The threaded rod goes through the upper shock mount to hold the cup in place.


everything in there at full compression sitting on the bump stop.

Cool! Thanks man! Bout to head out to the airport, and will be gone sevn days. Just wanted to voice my appreciation before I disappear ,,,,Cruisin

LoFrontier
What's up with the lower control arm mount? It looks like it was cut away from the fender.
BTW good looking setup.
JT

You have to cut a bit of the webbing out of the cross member there above the lower control arm mount to allow the bag to fit in there.  If the bag rubs on anything it'll eventually wear through it and burst.

The basis of the bracket is a 1/4" x 2" piece of bar stock.  The inside rests on the control arm and the tab welded to the end bolts it down.  The outside rests on a hump in the control arm from the coil spring mount.  This looked a little 'tippy' to me so I added the cross piece to bolt it through the shock mounting holes.  Normally I'd just weld the thing down but I'm thinking about you guys

hey that looks similer than i thought it would be, nice job. i updated the page for my truck on my site take a look y'all. http://www.geocities.com/standardbyker88/Slam_Charger.html hope the link works. u said the fron coils are about 10" tall, how tall is a stock coil? just wanna know how much drop ill get to match it on the back. if you want you may use pics of my truck on you site lofrontier.

hey lofrontier how much would u want for the old coils if this all works out 'bagged? just wonderin how fast i could pay ya. ok thanks for the help

Hey cruisin you tellin me that you didn't see that mid 80's crew cab dually that was bagged & layin frame at Heatwave. That was one of the first things I saw there.


Rodney

i think ive seen that truck b4, or i have a picture of a duaully layin frame on my site to look at. before and after shots included. i photoshoped in the wheels in want for my truck in 18" variety to a pic of mine taken sunday. itll be on my site soon, i used 18" american racing jammers. hey lofrontier, how is it coming baggin? let me know if you'll sell those coils, and how much price and drop. thanks every1

SWEEEEEEET!
My rear shackles showed up today. I can chose a 2" drop or a 4"drop. 2" will only give me about a 1" total drop. Guess which holes I'll be using? I ordered the ones for a '94 Ram 1500. I did some measuring and it looks like everything is gonna fit fine. The one question I have is the bolt holes. The hanger end has a 5/8" hole/bushing, The spring end is only 1/2"  does that sound right? If I get some time this weekend I'll install them.
I'll shoot some pics when I can borrow a digital again.
JT

so m2bueller, how much ya gonna drop the rear? whos kit did u get? hangers too? what did ya pay? any good? sorry about the questions im still not sure what way to drop my rear end. shackle kit or pull leafs and use coil overs. prolly shackles. thanks

The shackles I got are from these guys.
http://www.suspensionmax.com/HOME.htm
I bought my S-10 drop from them last year and was very happy with it/them. If you do a search on ebay for "dodge shackles" you'll see their auctions.


I'm going to use the 4" drop holes at the shackle so that should give me 2" for the rear. Since I'm only going 2" total I don't think hangers are worth the trouble.

If I'm not mistaken my fenders lips should be  28.5" front and 30" rear.

To bad I've got to work all weekend but $40.00 an hour is hard to refuse.

JT

oh ur using that kit. i was gonna get that one anyway. didnt know u were goin w/ that one. its only $26 + shippin right? well let me know how it turns out. also would i be retarded to drop the back 1st the front later? ill prolly go real cheapo the 1st time i lower. coil clamps up front those shackles in back.

Does anybody know if and where I can find the template to drill the frame of a 1979 RC.It started out in life as a 4X4,But like most thing around here it got striped.And I got the shell for FREE.but I have a 1981 dodge truck irs front end that I want to put in to it.
So I can lower it.I have allready fliped the rear axle and removed one spring.Would it be easyer to just sub frame the front with the truck.I have learned that 14" ralys wount fit a truck too bad I had a nice set of them to.I am going to turn this into a woodie.Or at least try to.Thanks for the Help guys

SB88,
I doubt if you'll be able to pull it down more than an inch with the spring clamps. Besides that it'll ride like $hit. I've seen a lot of Ricers do the ass draggin thing. If that your style what the heck. If you don't want to pull and cut the coils any bone yard will have a set of truck, R/C coils that you could pull inside an hour. A spring shop should be able to cut them down if you don't have an angle grinder. That way you'll still be able to return to your stock springs if need be. A

I would suggest you might want to wait, get your parts together and do it right. If you don't you won't be happy and you'll end up doing it over.
JT

1962vwbug
Template to drill what? Most R/Cs have the holes drilled for 2 and 4 WD. 79's and 81's are close enough that it should be a bolt on. What are you planning to use to drop the front?
JT

I was going to use the 81 truck suspension.But the 79RC frame is not drilled.There is a few hole that are drilled but they are to big but not all the holes are there.I have all ready looked it over.Getting that K frame member out is going to take some work.

Hey  another VW person here as well ! I am N.FL, you ?
I have a 60 Rag w/suicide doors, narrowed beam on a late pan. I am still building this and got rid of my '72 Beetle for a 91 2WD LWB. I now have to leave for work earlier because the truck is slower.
Anyway I am considering dropping my truck as well, but I might wait till I get new tires. I have 31 truck tires and I was thinking they are too tall. If I put some Passenger car tires that are about 26" or 27" would this cause any problems with weight issues ?
Is there any advantage to buying shorter springs instead of just cutting them. It doesn't seem so since they would usually advertise it if they were stiffer or progressive spring rate .....  I was just thinking of shackles removing a leaf cutting the springs and getting some drop spindles with smaller tires I think this would be a conservative drop. Right ?
I usually prefer a serious drop as most of my VW's have always had ground scraping ft. ends.

well if ya got some money get a set of drop spindles for an 80s Dak. they fit the 80s Rams and RCs. 3" drop coils for a 94+ ram they give us 1" less, and a flip kit in the back. that oughta be low enough. u can always bag it later like lofrontier did.

I did see that bagged dually the next day after I posted that. Actually my F-150 was not far away from that Dodge also. I was in the huge group of Fords right behind it. I was the tan supercab with the Stillen bumper cover and FX-4 wheels. The group was Fordtruckworld.com and the same guy that owns that site runs Dodgetruckworld.com also. Wish I had known you were there, would've been cool to meet up!

Lofrontier
i'm interested to see what kind of shock mounts you will work into that suspension setup. Are you planning on a fabricated outboard mount? It doesn't look like there's a whole lot of room for a shock lengthwise? I also saw a website that had round precut airbag plates for like $5. I wonder if it would be feasible to cut out the spring hump out and weld an airbag plate onto the lower control arm?,,,,Cruisin

I started putting on a set of AIM rear 2" drop shackles today.  Got the left side loose but can't get the top bolt out.  The bolt is stuck in the bushing.  It turns, but will not come out.  Can I hear the bushing with a propane and knock out the bolt?  Stuck right now.

http://www.alliedwheel.com/steel/chrometrifin.html
these are my wheels in a 15x8. want to run  either 225/70 or if i have to a 215/70-15 again.  hope to have them by next month(fingers crossed)

when i get the wheels and tires ill put the s-10 2"drop coils on and pull the 2nd and 4th leaf out. since i have a set coil over shocks in the rear i shouldnt have a big problem with ride quality.

btw for those wanting to go bags check out the showk wave at www.ridetech.com  if the coils from a chebby will fit i dont see why this wont work.

plan to bag just the front of my r/c for security.

remsgem,
If you do have to heat the bushings have another set on hand. they may catch fire and be unusable. Energy Suspension and Prothane sell em for about $10.00 per set. Autozone sells the rubber ones but I'm partial to urethane anymore.

Do you have enough clearance between the spring and the frame to remove the bolt? Mine have the nut on the outside. The only way I can see to get them out is to let the spring rest on the bottom of the bed. There's a gap up there between the frame and bed that may be large enough to let the bolt go through.

JT

well here it is... the moment we've all been waiting for...

I FINALLY BAGGED THE FRONT OF MY TRUCK!!!

After a good year or so of talk I finally did it.

I didn't get any pics of it lifted and dumped because it was raining out today and I had to run and pick up my girl for the movies.  When it's nice out I'll take some pics.  It lays on the bump stops and lifts at least 8".

Here's a few pics.

My dash.  It took a little cutting but my room mate made a nice spot in the dash for the pressure gauges.  Below the gauges is a power window switch to control the valves.  We moved the Cargo Light switch and I installed a manual cutoff for the compressors.  Looks pretty nice


Air tank.  I got this from the local  big rig shop and made the mounts for it.  The center line going in is the fill line comming from the compressor mounted under the bed.  The other 2 are the outlets going to the left front and right front.  The tank has a drain in it to drain out any condensation and there's a bike valve on the back in case the compressor dies I can still fill it at a gas station and get myself home.


Compressor.  Viair 450 100% duty cycle compressor.  I made a splash shield up so tire spray doesn't get at the inlet.  You can kind of make out the pressure switch that turns the compressor on and off.  The comp pulls about 30 amps max so you need to run a relay.


The cutting.  You can see the side of the cross member has been cut to allow room for the bag.  The top of the spring hat has been cut for a space for the air line to come up through.


The bag and upper spring cup.  Notice how the bag is offset inwards about 1/4"   This is important so that the bag doesn't rub on the spring pocket.  ANY rubbing is BAD and will cause your bag to rub a hole and blow out.  The cups I got are for a fullsize Chevy.  They were about 2 3/4" tall.  I cut them down to 2.5" to get the front to sit on the bump stops.


Bag installed - looking up.  Fully deflated.  The bag is at its max diameter so this is an important time to check for rubbing.  It's close but nothing is touching.


all the rest of my pics are at http://public.fotki.com/lofrontier/93_d150/dropped_front/

Oh, and the frozen leaf spring bolts...  Been there!  My axle flip would have been a 1 day job if it wasn't for that ONE bolt that was frozen in there.

suicidedoors.com sells some good circle plates to use for lower bag mounts.  I was thinking of doing something like that on this truck but didn't feel like doing all the cutting and welding.  I wanted to do something bolt-in for all the guys on here that want to do this but don't have access to a welder and torch.  Really all you need to do is cut out the funky bumps and grooves and weld in a flat plate onto the control arm.  Just drill a hole through it and bolt your bag right to the top of the control arm.  That's how the lower bag mounts on the front of my Nissan are done.

Well 2 long days of cutting, wiring, testing, fitting and crawling around on the floor and under the dash and under the hood in stupid high humidity has taken a toll on me.  I'm going to bed!  Later - kev

Awsome possum! you got it workin. well now what about selling me those coils? lol. well keep on dragging

Where the Hell have I been?   I thought I was leading this parade at one time...now it seems I'm at the back with a scooper and a wheelbarrow! Better get off my butt and catch up.
LoFro...how much for those lower brackets?
Where's the pic of this '80s crew cab dually aired out?
Rat bastard beat me to it. I'm going to look at one for cheap tommorrow.

give me a few weeks on the coils.  My truck still has to make it to Indy and back and Delaware and back in the next 3 weeks.  That will be the acid test.  If it doesn't blow up during one of those trips then it's all good to go.

here's those pics Cheeto.
under construction

done

I think I'm in love

I'm pretty busy for the rest of this month.  I can whip out a few sets of lower brackets when I get some free time.  I just need to get some 1/4" bar stock.  How does $30 sound?  You'll still need to get upper cups that are 2.5" tall.  suicidedoors.com can probably make 'em for you and sell you just the uppers.  Hell, he might be able to make the whole lower bracket.  I'll make up some drawings when I get the chance and see what he can do.

I just saw the lowered and lifted pics. Is the crossmember touching the ground at all? I was thinking it would look lower than it does. I'm not trashing your hard work, I know how much it involves. I guess drop spindles would drop it some more, eh?  I have not looked that closely at my suspension, is there any way it could go lower, like say moving the bumpstops up, etc. Is that the limit without major surgery and/or spindles and drop A-arms?,,,,Cruisin

I love that one too but I mean the one somebody was talking about at Texas Heatwave(?)

Well, it was faded white paint with black spray painted graphics, so not much to look at. It was LOW for sure though! I have a couple of pics, but I'm out of town and no scanner with me.,,,,Cruisin

hey cheeto, havent seen you since like page #4. welcome back

ok, a little recalculation...

I pulled the truck back in tonight to install front shocks.  I aired the front all the way up and crawled under to put the jack stands under the cross member.  I looked at the bags and noticed that they were rubbing on the insides of the spring pockets.  I forgot that the bags expand outwards a bit when they have air in them.  Any rubbing like this will wear through the bag and cause them to burst.  The only remedy was to cut out the spring pocket.  Bye Bye bump stops!  It's OK for these bags to settle down on themselves and act as bump stops.  Now the truck sits down even lower in the front.  24" to the top of the wheel openings!  NOW the tires hit the inner fenders when it lays out and the radius rods hit the steering.  

I was too grubby to get pics of the cut spring pockets.  I'll get them in a day or so.  

Hehehe, you go dude, I knew those bump stops were not long for this world. Can't wait to see the lower pics Pretty soon you're gonna have those tires touching the hood. Cruisin.

Please let me know when you get some scanned. I'm "jonesin" for some more slammed Dodge dually pics.


Glad to be back...been busy with new house. Obviously I've been missing out!


Yea...me too. Mine went away the first time I lowered my truck. Never missed 'em.

Are you sure about this? I just measured mine and it's 26 1/4". This is with stock coils and dropped spindles only. What size are your tires? I've got my old Chisholm springs that should be good for another 2" and I've easily got 6"+ of ground clearance at the lowest bracket under the truck (the one under the fuel tank that has some kind of unneccessary 3" loop in it). You've got to be closer to the earth than me.

this kicks ass, i got a thunder storm goin on here! well anyways, lofronteir is still running the stock tall tires. that could restrict some drop. mine still sits stock and pisses me off. well have fun with ur house cheeto. later all, im off to play in the lightning. and no not the ford kind.

I meant to post this yesterday.  I hit the preview button an forgot to hit post.  Anyway...

Here's a pic of the new style Ram dually that was at heat wave.  Was there an old style Dually there?


The front cross member is about 2" off the ground.  I can't even get a jack under it when it's laid out.  I still have the tall stock tires on my truck.  Shorter tires would make it lower but I do a lot of long distance driving and I don't want to get even worse gas mileage.

Going lower on tall tires would require a lot of work that I'm just not up for right now.  You would need drop spindles.  The suspension won't go up any further without the radius rods hitting the steering.  You could relocate the radius rods.  Ball joint binding might also be a problem.  There's a lot of negative camber so shorter lower control arms would probably be in order.  The upper control arm is getting close to hitting the steering shaft.  You would have to cut out the inner fenders, relocate some wiring, the cruise control module (if you have one), wiper fluid resevoir, etc.  While you're at it you'd probably want to make new fender supports.

see, just a little too involved for me right now.  So the easy way out is to get shorter tires.

Now that I cut out my bump stops and the tires hit the inner fenders I think that with a 2" drop spindle the truck will lay that front cross member with the stock height tires.  The tires are about 29" tall.  If I'm not mistaken I think this thing could lay some 20's or 22's! with some inner fender mods.

Yeah loFrontier there was an 80's crew cab dually laying frame, the graphic that was on it was the mopar symbol painted across the back doors.

I know my brother took some pics of it I'll see if he can post some pics for ya cheeto.

That late model dually was put together in two days, they started thursday morning & finished friday night & was at the show saturday morning. The guy that owns it works for Bill at ekstensive metal works. They were worried that they would'nt get the wheels in time. I see it running around here all the time. the truck looks sweet

Rodney

Ekstensive also had that bagged H2 on 24's if I'm not mistaken. Looked kind of silly IMHO. I guess if you have the money?? Hehe.,,,Cruisin

I am sooo stoked on slammed duallys right now. Nothing compares to the visual impact of a slammed dually...unless it's a slammed dually haulin' a trailer! Gotta' hit "the yard" and see if they have a 2X dually for front suspension parts.

Can't wait for those pics guys.

How about a slammed dually RC, that would make a visual impact ,,,,Cruisin

dude, ive seen pics of a 4 door RC dually in a mag b4. the guy spliced a club cab and rc together and added dually fenders. now if he just slammed it.......

What other spring options other than S-10 and the newer rams springs are there ?
I don't wanna spend money on new lower ram springs to only get 2" lower and S-10's seem like they would be too soft. Are there any others that would fit like maybe those made for Chevy trucks possibly ?
Also lowering shackles wich ones fit better the Fords or the Chevy's ?

well u got a few ways using springs. you could take stock coils and cut those [bad ride quality if overcut], use ram drop coils, cut ram coils [same as any cutting, dont over do it], use s10 stock or drop coils [cuttin 1 coil on a drop coil should be like 5" drop?] and if u decide that you droped lower than u want to go and had cut ur coils, throw in some of the coil isolaters that the 2ws lift guys use to raise the spring up. i was thinking of doing that if i decide a cut drop coil and shorty tires is to low.

Did some comparo at the j/y today. Somebody somewhere mentioned using van a-arms for cheap drop, here's what I found...
Somewhere between 77 and 79 they switched to a "pocketed" arm.
Strut rods go to the rear in vans and the bolt spacing where they mount to the arm is way wider than the trucks. Possibly flip strut rods around and use them on truck? I didn't measure. Redrilling holes to fit your truck probably would be easier.
Vans have a different steering set-up but the steering arm on the spindle appears to have the same bolt spacing as a truck so keep your steering arm.
If I had my air compressor hooked up and some extra time I would try these just to see if it would work. Maybe I'll drag my brother-in-law to the junkyard and get a pair for testing.

slammed duallies... Mmmmm....

I won't post pics here because it's a Dodge forum but my friend that's building my Frontier built himself a bagged F350 crew cab long bed dually that lays body.  Because the I-beam suspension in those trucks is junk he put C3500 suspension under the front of it.  He's selling it for $35,000 - with the 22" wheels  I only wish I had the money for it.  It's such a HUGE truck.  It dwarphs our friend Chad's bagged C3500 even when they're both laid out.

I wonder if they drilled two sets of holes in them at the factory. I used to mess around with old Mustangs, and every lower control arm had two sets of strut rod holes. They would fit either side. That would make an easy swap of it. If that'll get me two inches of drop without drilling new crossmember mounting holes, then I may do that, and bags? But will a bag fit down into the pocket without rubbing? That would be the main drawback, unless you planned not to bag?,,,,Cruisin

VWJON,
The 94 Dodge shackles fit best IMNSHO. All you need to do is drill the spring bolt hole out to 5/8.

I've got no call on the springs cause I cut mine one coil and got exactly the drop and better ride I wanted.

JT

Yes the control arms from a van will work I have tried them, all you have to do is drill new holes for your strut rod.

Well now that you did that research, what am I gonna' do today?

you don't need bump stops with double convoluted bags.  It's OK for them to rest on top of themselves when they're deflated.  The Max diameter of the Firestone 2800# bags I have is 8".  The Air Lift bags are 8.2" max diameter.  Slam Specialties RS-82 bags max diameter is 7.75".  That's only 1/8" difference on the radius and isn't going to prevent the bags from rubbing.  

They do make smaller bags which are used in the front and sometimes the rear of mini trucks but I wouldn't suggest using them in the front of a fullsize.  You won't get a lot of lift and you'll need higher pressures to keep the front end up.

Slam Specialties bags do have internal bump stops.

Cruisin_RC requested that i post my post from the new topic on here for the lowered guys. This is all AIM stuff, and LoFrontier said that they arent the best guys to deal with, so be ware. He pointed me into the direction of KP Components' 4 link rear kit. well here is the original :

well i have been looking for the past couple day for stuff....and it looks like there are some bolt on things to lower your truck. Definately not low enough to need bags, but just to bring it closer to the ground.

1974-1993 Ram 150 Bolt on 4 Link rear http://www.truckn-store.com/product.asp?returnURL=default.asp&ID=23945
Axle flip kit for 1974-1993 Ram 150 says 6" drop http://www.truckn-store.com/product.asp?returnURL=default.asp&ID=24084
Lower Control Arms for 1974-1993 Ram 150(about 1/2 way down on the page) http://www.truckn-store.com/product.asp?returnURL=default.asp&ID=24282&makeid=0


then use some 94+ drop coils for the front I guess. Lemme know what ya guys think... and woudl you use the 4 link rear and the axle flip together?

Their 4-link includes the parts for a bolt-on axle flip.

that 4link would be so sweet to have. so i would get a 6" flip and 4 link for like $560? awsome, kinda spendy. for like another few hundred i could get a bagged 4 link from Air Ride Technologies tho.

Look again...the AIM 4 link incudes upper and lower airbag brackets. It's their shipping that's killer.

well do u think this is a better product than say the Air Ride Tech. 4link? http://www.ridetech.com is the site and http://ridetech.com/productinfo/air4link_parallel.asp for the parallel and http://ridetech.com/productinfo/air4link.asp for the triangulated. it looks like you could modify parallel to be non-bagged. could that use coil overs? would it drop any on an 89 rc? i dont have any money to buy a whole entire air bag set up right now.

hey lofrontier! how much did the entire front bagging cost you? bags, parts, compressor, tanks, valves, the works? and how could i cheep bag the rear? i dont want to spend a ton on it. i would think the whole truck could be bagged for like 1000 bucks or less.... i hope

I make nooo claims as to the quality of AIM products. The idiots sent me Chevy mounting brackets and instructions when I ordered a billet grille for my Dakota! I was simply passing along what I had seen from investigating their 4-link kit. Caveat emptor!

in #302, it looks like the reworked the drip rails to end before the extra window instead of after. how hard would that be? just wonderin.

I think I have a little over $2,000 into my air system and that's without a 4 link.

The axle bracket on Air Ride 4 links seems pretty universal in the hot rod world.  They have a plate on the back side with 3 or 4 holes running down it that you can bolt coilovers onto.  Hot rod guys do this all the time.

Like Cheeto said the shipping on AIM stuff is retarded!  Read the small print carefully!  If they screw up and send you the wrong thing YOU have to pay for return shipping AND restocking fee for THEIR screw-up.  I won't even get into their lack of customer service or their second rate products.

Buy from them if you want but don't say I never warned you.

If all goes well I should have the back of my truck bagged soon.  I'm going to pull leafs till the back comes down to where I want it and use the bags to get it back up.  I'm too poor for a 4 link right now.  The bags are going behind the axle which will help reduce axle wrap.  Since the bags aren't carrying the full weight of the rear I'm going to modify the cross member that the shocks mount to and mount the bags to it.  It's 3/16 steel and pretty beefy.  This is gonna be FUN!!!

I think it would be harder to rework the drip rails to change their location than it would be to remove them completely.  I don't know why they would go through the trouble of cutting them off and welding the body back to the roof to only make another cut and weld that ugly piece of aero drag crap back onto the body.  I say remove the drip rails completely and when you weld it back up maybe include a cap piece to smooth out the lines of the truck, make it more modern looking.  One of the subtle things that if done right will look awesome by being unnoticeable.

im back finally.  

if all goes well wednesday or thursday ill have my new wheels and tires.  a set of 225/70/15 kumho's on 15x8 awc steel trifins.  then ill try to get the S-10 drop coils bolted to the front.
ill pull the 2 leafs from the rear and retain the coil over shocks.
if the front is to soft ill get a set of coil overs up front also.

ill try to get pics up before the drop and after.

tjones i gotta know, in ur profile pic. is that a ram and windowless canopy or and rc with the windows blocked/filled?!? also im not getting rid of my drip rails, i like them with the chrome trim, my new antenna lines up with them nicely. and i have to ask, why such shinny tires? its a dodge truck not a rice burner.

i played with a pic and filled in the side glass to see what a panel version would look like.

"why such shinny tires?" i guess you mean skinny?   they 225/70 fits a 15x8 just right. the last time i dropped it i ran 215/70's on 15x8's. want it a little higher this time.

So the axle flip kit that AIM is selling doesn't require welding ?
Then am I to assume the new spring perch fits exactly parallel the original ?
It just seems a little odd thats all. I would like to get just the perch and nothing else if this is the case. Not that I can't weld it just seems like it would be eaier to locate the correct placement that all.

Would it not be possible to raise the bracket that the upper control arm and shock/springs mount to a few inches up. Seems like it would be possible.

I read on the other post this :
"the 1ton lower arms drop the 1/2tons because the 1tons use a longer coil spring, but they dont want different geometry so they made a 'pocket' that the springs goes into to keep things correct. i have seen them on our 85 3/4 ton van so i know that they would work. im not sure if bagging the 1tons arms workes well."
Will this also work for the 91-93's ?

You know it's funny, I've been toying with the idea of turning my RC into a "panel truck". I did that back in the early 80's with a 2wd K5 Blazer. It turned out pretty good looking.

JT

god  tuesday cant get here soon enough. hoping to get my new wheels on.

I've been looking at the 4-link setup or the single leaf with airbags for my Lil' Red, but my truck it a triple threat (daily driver, work truck, tow rig).  Would bagging it be a bad idea for load handling capacity?  If I did bag it, since I am going to work the truck like a truck, would a 4 link or the stripped down leaf pack be the better way?

I haven't used the AIM kit but know basically how it is set up.
The flip kit requires no welding but does require cutting an upside down "U" shaped notch in your frame. Look at the pic of the kit and you'll see why. The plate with the notch in it bolts over your existing frame section by you drilling holes through your frame. This is done to reinforce the frame after you have cut the notch out of it.

57Plymouth...the bags will be fine for hauling/towing. The bags used for air suspensions are rated about twice as high as the bags that come in "helper" kits that just assist a stock suspensioned truck. I can't really answer your question about leafs/4 link because either should be fine. The 4 link gives you more axle travel and fights axle wrap better than the leafs.

hey vw, thanks for queting me.
jones i just perfer a wider tire but if u dont have to get 10" rims that works. saves a few bucks i guess. o well, if ya like it it works.

SLIMER/ Cruisin RC...come on...it's been two weeks since you guys mentioned that aired out dually. Stop teasin' me!

I wouldn't run a bolt-on flip kit on something that you tow with.  I have friends who've ripped spring perches off with those things.  If you're going to tow weld those things on!

Well I finished bagging the back last night!  It doesn't go any lower yet because I haven't pulled any of the leaf springs.  It's going to work GREAT for towing though!  I think I'm going to leave all the leafs in there for a little bit until I get all my towing out of the way in the next 2 weeks.



http://public.fotki.com/LoFrontier/93_d150/rear_drop/

am I winning the race? lol

i just cant get into a wheel wider than 8" . a 10" wheel should be for a 4x4 cuz they make the tire stick out.

well inside the rear area inside my rc i have about 2" between the wheel wells and back seat. i figured i would make them fit up to the seat and get a little bit bigger tires and wheels out back. and if it sticks out, then ill make some small fender flares if its alot.

i dont think a 10" wheel will fit on a lowered r/c. you need at least 2" inner space to keep the tire from rubbing. besides if you want to do a flare it wouldnt look right IMHO

well how much do you think a 255/60/15 would stick out. they fit fine on our 85 d250 ram van. i may swap my gandpa the wheels and tires on that for mine. its his van.

oh thats just sick....   wait huh what are we talking about.... i think i made a wrong turn how'd i get in the lowering your truck post? AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GET ME OUTA HERE!

lmao. where did u think you were?

dude, i was just looking at Preston_USA1's early 74 RC w/o the upper door frames and it looks like that would look awsome sitting a little lower. im am strongly thinking about making a bagged, early style roadster rc. that would be soooo f*cking cool. and since ur starting with a unibody not a cab/bed, it would be easy to do. weld the tailgate shut, fill the tails, smooth it all out. and have its sitting low on big rims

well i photoshoped a pic of his truck which was nice to start with and it now looks like this. here is the link to the pic http://www.geocities.com/standardbyker88/1974ramchargerroadster.jpg and if the link is bad you can use the link below to my site and its on the right column at the top. hope y'all like my idea. and make it more era correct, i would put a 340 in it. hey 74 dusters had 340, why not a 74 rc?

They won't.  I have a set of 275/60/15s on 8" wide rims, 4" backspacing on my Ramcharger.  The fronts are about flush to the fenders but the rear track is a little narrower.  Never had a bit of rub but I'm not lowered any more than what 15yo stock springs give you.

SB88
That's what I was doing to my S10 before I got the RC. It's not as easy as it sounds. It would be cool though.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=13488&item=2424889647
JT

nice work on the s10 but i was going for the unibody, non-pickup kinda idea. like in the picture. keep the top for winter. fun stuff, ya know

Well, Energy suspension bushings just showed up for my shackle swap. I'm going to use Springtech 94+ shackles and Energy Suspension bushings with new grade 8 bolts. The original spring bolts are 5/8". The new shackles have 1/2" holes. The bushings came with inner sleeve that is slightly less than 1/2" ID. I can get different sleeves that will be a full 1/2" ID. Is it safe to run 1/2" bolts or should I redrill the shackles see if I can find a 5/8" sleeves and try to force them in?

JT

my self i would go with a bigger bolt if i could do it....so i would suggest that. but thats just me. makes it strong enough, then go overboard on strenth. ha

would the 2" S-10 springs drop the front end down to a point that getting an alignment would be almost impossible?   i figured id get almost a 3" drop cuz of the weight difference

if it does ill have to cut my 3/4 coils down.

alignment shouldn't be a problem.  My alignment barely changed from stock height down to full drop.

hey lofro: now that ur bagged, are ya gonna change ur lil mini profile below ur posts? it still says bags to come. and nice site i was ur sublime green frontier, awsome...looks even towed by a droped ram.

the Ram is aired out in this pic.  I think I'm going to have the wheels polished up and put some lower profile rubbers on 'em.  The bags were awesome for towing!

well lofro, im headed over to ur site to get a few of the new ram pics of urs to put onto my site in a day or so...

post #365 on this post. its a whole years worth of lowering info, YAY!

well the wheel s i wanted didnt work out so im trying to get a set of 15x8 smoothies w/caps. get some ark grey primer and go old school.

old skool and ghetto are so similar. we made our own hood scoop from a childs toy box lid, sheet metal, and rivots. looks kool tho.

TODAYS NEWS:
anyways i looked at my front suspension today and measured a few things. 1 is that the lower bumpstop is about 1.5-2" off the LCA. and the upper bumpstop us about 2" off the crossmember. now knowing this, how much could i lower it. i dont mind cuting my old bumpstops at all as long as i got some left.
right now its parked in grass. i measured from the LCA base to the tire base the best i could and got about 10" i still got stock tires. im gonna move it to a hard surface tomorrow.
my plan is to cut the coils and flip the axle. im just asking to make sure exactly what probs and mods i gotta do to get about 3" drop from cuttin coils.
and yes i know about using drop shocks. i will get those after its alligned and done.

thanks ppl. hope ya got all the info u need.

well i got a call from the tire shop and they said my tri-fins will be in tuesday or wednesday.  so i wont be doing the smoothies.

check out the street trucks mag. flip to page 67. its a sweet lime green super charged frontier.

are you telling lofro or is it lofro's? and also can someone answer my ?s from the 25th. its my post i made b4 this one.

SB88,
I got a little over 2" of drop cutting exactly 1 coil.  1.25 to 1.5 coils should give you 3" but you never know until you do it.

If you're going to use a wheel cutter make sure and keep the coil wet. Either put most of the coil in water and keep wet rags on the rest of it or cover everything but the cut in wet rags, stop often and re-wet them.

I'm finally getting around to putting my shackles on the weekend. I've got all grade 8 bolts and locknuts plus a set of Energy Suspension spring bushings. I didn't realize this until I got the box that they give you both the front and back bushings. I won't be changing the front bushings. Anyone need a set for cheap?

JT

how cheap?
and also my plan is weld up a axle flip for the back and sawzall of 1.5 coils from the springs.
what mods need to be done to the control arms, bumpstops, bumpstop mounts, and cross member for a 3" coil drop to work right without alot of bottomin out?

what you need to do before cutting your coils up is get a salvage set. this way youll have something to put back in if you cut to much.  if it were me id get some 3/4 ton coils install them and heat the 1.5 coil on top to make a perch. heat it evenly enough and you should get a lowered height plus the ride your looking for.

btw i got my new wheels today and hope to get pics before and after the s-10 spring istall.

cant i just get some 3/4 tons coils and cut 1-1/2 coils off of them?

Yes you can do it that way, & I beleive that would be better than cutting your stock coil. If you cut your stock coil especialy that much, the spring will just settle until the truck is sitting on the bump stops & you will have to replace the springs again.

With you cutting the 3/4 ton springs you cut the hard stiffness out, but still enough to give you a nice ride without the truck settling.

I've done all this with playing around with the springs from trial & error & this is what works for me.

Rodney

thanks slimer, ill call around to the local junkyards and see how cheap i can get some 3/4 truck springs. also could i use 3/4 van springs?

well i got the new wheels and tires on. 15x8 w/225-70-15's.  the tires gave me about an inch in drop. i spent 3 hours putting on both the S-10 2" drop coils. i got about 2.5" drop so far wont know total till they settle in.  as it sits now i have 28.5" from the ground to the fender lip on both sides. the hood lip sits about 38.5" from the ground.  all i need to do now is get the leafs pulled in the rear.

let me know how the ride is tj

well ive put about 25 miles on the springs and the ride is a lot smoother than i thought. i still have the stock shocks.  i live down a rough road so i dont think itll take long to settle down.

well i havent got around to calling the junkyards but how much do think a set of 3/4 coils would run me? anybody got any they will sell?

a set of new 3/4 ton springs run $80 a a-zone with lifetime warranty.  S-10 drop springs arent much more unless you want the stiffer ride.

btw  the ride height in the front after 3 days is still 28.5" .  very happy with the ride.

if it doesnt rain this weekend ill get the back dropped.

80bucks for new 3/4 coils? thats a lil high. for $69 bucks from AIM i cant get 3" drop ram coils. one ? tho. is aim that retarded they can screw up a circle? a 3" ram coil gets an 89rc 2" right? if so ill just go that route. then i can still cut it later, like lofro had for a while. some cut drop coils. altho his were chisholm....

Who wants pics of a early bagged ram dually?? LOL! I finally got off my lazy butt and scanned them. Lofrontier, can I send em to you? My site is getting a bit crowded.,,,,Cruisin


Sorry guys, been into bicycles as of late. I do have a wicked looking old school retro bike now though Motorcycle style forks, 3 speed, flame tread tires, mooneyes sprocket, etc... Blame it on Heatwave, they were everywhere...

send me those pics cruisin ill add them to my site. and if u got pics of that bike ill look at them too. im really into bikes. i had a specialized vegas all hoped up with better parts but someone cut the lock and stole it from the mall like 4 days ago. im sad now i gotta save up like $300 for another one.

on the subject of bikes. i ran with a kid in high school that had a "swing" bike.  it steered like a normal bike but under the seat was a h.d. spring. pull the locking ppin and the bike could be swung sideways.
wish i could find one.

There's a guy on the boards at a bike site I visit, who has one. He lives here in Houston as a matter of fact. He won't sell it though. Those bikes were recalled after kids stated getting mangled by them. Here's mine?,,,,Cruisin

PIMP BIKE! those tires are the shit. heres a link to the on i used to have. thats in stock condition tho. http://www.specialized.com/BMXFrames.jsp?orig=us&minisite=10020&minisite=10020&my=2003&JServSessionIdroot=5onm6kmq0h.j27002&san=03Vegas

here are those bagged 1 ton pics.  This thing rocks!





Love the bike too.  I'm going to start making some chopper bikes this winter out of some old frames.  We'll see what I can come up with.

just a few comments on ur reply lofro.

1. that is a sweet dually!
2. i love the paint and graphics. thats down right hilarious.
3. those are the funny dually fenders  
4. is that a stock bumper? i like it.
5. is it just me or does it look tilted upwards?
6. i have a super ghetto chopper bike in my shed ill try and snap a few pics of, u ppl will love it.
7. is he runnin 2 rears or just a really fat 1? i cant tell

thanks ppl, i know im a lil ? boy but i like to bugg u all so very much.

Actually, those are the stock Dodge fenders for duallys up to 94. Never did like them much and I didn't think they were big enough to swallow the tires on full drop...guess I was wrong. I noticed that "tweak" in the bumper too. Bummer.

Slimer or anybody got more info on this truck? Body drop? Size wheels/tires? etc.

Got airbag setup sitting in the shop but not sure which truck to put it on now.

do a bagged dually cheeto. ya got ur 70s ram, it looks sweet. save the bags. but hey ya know any old bagged dodges are sweet. and i know those are the stock fenders they are just funny lookin. looks like a 55gallon barrel cut in half over the tires.

I couldn't find the guy that owned the truck, wanted to ask some questions. but from what i could see from looking at the truck it had 225/60/16 tires, a super c notch, 5,000 lb. bags on the rear frame was on the ground. It wasn't channeled (body dropped). the bags on the rear were huuuuge I guess he drags a trailer with it.

The body on this truck wasn't the straightest, it needed alot of work far as body wise. My brother has this same body crew cab dually & we had been talking about lowering it, when he saw this his mouth just dropped. I've got a 78 crew cab dually sitting at the house just waiting for me to get started on it, right now I'm just collecting parts to put it together.

It's been along time. I'm glad everyone has much such progress. I messed up my knee and have been out of work the hole summer so not much has changed with my truck. just thought i would say good job guys.

Judge can i get a ruling here?

is this not the longest thread in RCC history?  

i dont know if its the longest ever but i have been here since like page 3 or 4. lol, im the top post on pages 7 and 8. me funny man, HAHAHAHA! HEHEHEHE! HOHOHOHO! MWOUHOHAHAHA!

that WAS a nice club cab dually...  who ruined it?

well it could use a lil work but its alot lower than my rc so i dont mind a lil work to go. gotta love them bagged dodge duallys tho

WHY AM I NOT GETTING THE E-MAIL NOTICES FROM THIS THREAD??  Anyway, I am still gathering up front end parts. I'm doing a full rebuild, though, with cut coils to start. I know a powdercoater here in Houston, so I am thinking about having all four of the arms done before reassembly. He told me about $150 or bit more to get that done. I almost got ball joints the other day, but it was not clear what type was correct. I didn't know if I had the screw in or press in. I'm gonna pull my tires tomorrow and get a good look at them. So, are you guys saying I shouldn't cut my coils, and get some 3/4 tons??,,,Cruisin

no! as far as i know a 3/4 ton coil would lift you 1", dont think thats ur idea is it? they said to get 3/4 ton coils and CUT THOSE not ur stock 1/2tonners. because you change your spring rates and things when u have less coil. why not have a thicker coil wire like that of a 3/4. they are a lil beefier do to the extra weight they carry. ur choice a shorter thin coil or a shorter thick coil. hmmmmm......i wonder

I believe our ball joints are press in.  Ask on the HELP board.  I'm sure someone knows.

Well, I meant that some were saying to buy 3/4 ton springs and cut them instead. I don't see the difference, and that the ride could possibly be worse right? I mean you take a stiffer spring, and cut it, making it stiffer. Might be great for handling, though? Where's everyone getting the front end urethane bushings? Does someone know a site that has a listing for them. I'm looking for a FULL set. Bushings, sway bar, strut rods, the whole works.,,,,Cruisin

The uppers and lowers are screwed in.



www.prothane.com
Expect about 2 weeks delivery. I did a product review.

JT

Am I missing something? All they show is body mounts, tie rod boots, and rear shackle bushings? Have they greatly expanded their product line without updating the site?,,,,Cruisin

for some reason they left them off when they changed the site. Try this link, It's the one I used when ordering mine.

http://www.parts123.com/PartFrame.asp?ZTM=cadehgda&GHOME=www.philsinc.com&TITLE=Phil's_Inc

  PHIL'S INC  (877) 750-7251    
1972-1993 Control Arm Bushing Kit  Front w/o Shells 2 WD Up to 3,600 lb Axle without Heavy Duty Package.   Info 4-203   22.21   Each    
   
 





JT

hey cruisin what i did was get a set of 2" drop springs from a S-10 v6. i went from a 33" fender lip to a 28" lip with the springs and a set of 225/70/15's on 15x8 rims.  the springs ride as smooth as the stock springs.  i pulled the helper spring out in the rear but i need to cut down the coil on my rear shocks down.

im hoping to get pics up next week.

Whoa, a five inch front drop?? I'm not sure I want to go that far until I bag it, hehe. So would that mean that a stock set of S-10 springs might get a 3 inch drop? I'm still searching on the bushing thing. M2bueller? How much would a complete front set cost? I want to get it all, control arms, sway bar end links and mains, strut rods, etc... Is the price you have there for all four Control arms only, or a whole replacement set? That link went to a start page, nothing there. I think I'll just go to my local dealer and see if they can order them.,,,,Cruisin

Cruisin,
Autozone can order energy suspension poly every thing. The price I gave you was just the 6 control arm bushings (4 top ,2 bottom). From what I've seen energy suspensions and Prothane are almost identical. Prothane doesn't list the sway bars bushings.Energy suspension does. the p/ns are as follows:

Front End Control Arm Bushing Set
5.3105
Front Strut Rod Bushing Set
5.7104
Body (Cab) Mount Set
5.4102
Complete Front Sway Bar Bushing Set
15/16" 5.5140
Tie Rod Boots
9.13101

These are all from
http://www.energysuspension.com/dgt1.html

Autozone can look these p/ns up.
Hope this helps.

JT

That's what I was looking for! Thanks man! Either tomorrow or Monday I will go order those. You know the standard reply of any auto parts store on the weekend. "Uh, we can't order that until Monday, sorry dude" Hehehe!,,,,Cruisin

Last time I ordered energy suspension parts from Autozone they had them in the warehouse. I had them the next day. Even though I still haven't tackled the rear shackles  .. Maybe this weekend I'll get the rear of the RC down with the front.

BTW: Cutting one coil brought me down to 28.5" in the front but I was only at 31" before. I'm considering getting a pair of stock s10 coils to bring back some of the smoothness.

JT

Hmmm. I just measured mine for the first time just now. I'm at 30" in front, and 31" in the back. I must have a decent case of spring sag going already?,,,,Cruisin

yea i want to measure mine all up and stuff but its parked in grass at my gramps house right now so i gotta get over there and move it to the street for a real measurement from the ground. i swear the back is lower than the front. i got almost flat leafs.

ihave to bust the passenger side open again. i didnt get the spring set right.  ill get a measure and post it.

ok i got the coil spring in the right way now. went and did a little driving and settled down to 28".  i still need to get the back futher down. its sitting at 30" the fender lip.

the S-10 springs have been in about 2 weeks and the ride is as smooth as stock. still need to get it in the shop for an alignment.

do u have coilovers on the front too?

well i did a few measurements the other day.
the rear fender lip is 31". front is 30.5". is that normal? whats normal at for u guys? im planing on geting some 15x7s on 245/60/15 up front and 15x10 on 295/50/15s out back.
and im thinking about using some v6 80s s10 drop coils. is $75 a good price for 1-3" ones?
im still undecided on the rear way to drop. i can easily stuff a 295 into my rear wells even droped 6". i measured all of it, i might have to widen the wells a tiny bit but o well not a prob. should i do an axle flip or shackle drop? from the tires ill get about 1"drop all around. so if i did an axle flip it might be way to low for me w/o any bags. well thanks ppl and BUMP!

i just have a set of stock replacement shocks in front. i need to pull one more leaf from the rear. have to get a shorter set of u-bolts.

Ok, is anyone serious about bagging the front of their truck?  Home Depot *finally* got some more 1/4" steel back in stock.  I can burn off a few pairs of lower bag brackets.  $30 per pair plus shipping.  Drop me an IM if interested.

What model Chevy truck drop shackles?
I only want to drop back 2" to level truck...........
tony

im pretty sure u can get drop shackles for any fullsize truck (dodge, ford, or chevy) and they will fit with few mods

Well, I got the bags installed in the front of my truck today. It went pretty smooth, no big surprises. I still have to run all of the lines and mount the compressor and tank. Oh yeah, I guess that means I'll need to buy a compressor and tank first.

Anyway I wanted to check if any of you have any experience relocating front shocks on a D150. I don't really have any good ideas where to mount front shocks or what type to use.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Deuce Out

got any pics of the setup? or any pics of your truck, before after whatever just hows it look.

I took a few pics of the install, but I don't have a digital camera so it will be a few days before I can post them anywhere.

I'll try to get some posted ASAP.

hey guys, this pic is photoshopped by jm8881. Figured you all would appreciate it.

I like that photoshop job!

I relocated the shocks off the back of my control arms.  I just welded a bolt to it and made some mounts off of the frame rails.  I was looking under there last night and the drivers side mount wasn't up high enough and it blew out the shock from being over compressed.  Oh well.  It needs stiffer shocks anyway.  I just threw them in real quick.  I'll redo it this winter.

Deuce - just be sure that the bags aren't rubbing on anything.  I recommend the Viair 450 compressors.  Practically bulletproof.  Drop me an IM if you need anything.

This post also falls under "stupid human tricks"

I finally got my shackles in today. The springs haven't settled yet but I got 2" of drop in the rear with them. I went from 32" + at the fender lip to 30". This puts my front end at 28" and the rear 2" higher.

The Stupid human part comes from the tailgate. I used to be able to walk under the gate without ducking. Guess what? I smacked my head twice on it since the drop.   Sooner or later I'll get used to it, I hope.

I may still pull the helper springs to bring the back down just a touch farther.

nice photoshop pic except that freaking coffee can, NO! anybody know what year it is? then i can throw it on my site. and also i got a pic of a photoshop i did but didnt have good rims added, lofro i got a few dropped rc pics if u want to put them on ur site or rcc. just email me for them, k? and im 5'8 and walk into my gate. mines not droped but its a a 31" rear lip

Hey LoFro, I'm interested in those front airbag cups if you are still planning to make some.  Please let me know if you will.  Your experience with bags makes it logical for me to buy from you instead of cobbling together my own set for something I've never done before.

my friend that owns Wicked Kustoms can make you the upper cups.  I can make you the lower brackets.  I'll get the metal today.  It'll be about a week before I can finish them.  I'm going to be out of town this weekend.

I was under my truck last night and everything seems to still be working great.  Nothing is rubbing or breaking  Well I did remove the sway bar because one of the end links snapped but that's just because it's old.  I haven't noticed any differences in handling without it.

its a 79...
and this is what it really looks like...
http://members.cox.net/dysko/right1.jpg

LoFro, let me know the cost and when you will be ready to cut a set for me.  I'm thinking the front bags with the rear bag-over-leaf setup will make an awesome riding daily driver.

i know ive seen the pics of it with the mods on tires and rims and then the droped version

Man everyone really hates that fart cannon.  It was just a joke.  But for everyone who would like to see it sans ass blaster, here it is.

well i know i was a joke but it looked out of place on an rc and i like this one better w/o it. thanks man, good work.

we were talking about custom bikes a while back...

This is a  little something that me and my room mate have been working on. It started out as his old Schwinn mtn bike. We streached the chain stays, raked the hell out of it, extended the fork legs 34", bent the seat stays down and welded in a new top tube. Custom bent (around a tree) beach cruzer bars. Custom made suicide shifter. 72 spoke wheels. 16" front and 20" rear.

The freewheel will be in tomorrow so we'll put the chain on and take it for a spin once that's on. It rolls pretty nice. Pedals are a little close to the ground even after shortening the crank arms 1"

Not too bad for my first attempt at building a bike. All told we've got less than $250 into it.

http://public.fotki.com/LoFrontier/chopper_bike/

LOFRO'S FRONTY IS IN ANOTHER MAG!
hey lofro, i found ur fronty on page 67 of the october street trucks in the section about the "Assorted Minitures: Showfest 2003" show pages. its on the outer edge and has the caption "How about a new supercharger Nissan crew cab with the body layin' on the pavement? Pretty impressive"
damn straight it is. good job lofro, looks good and i really thought it was urs b4 i checked on ur site to compare. now u gotta get that ram in a mag towing the frontier.
peace out ppl, and props on the mag cameo lofro.

If anyone is interested I've posted a few pics of my truck. I took a few before and after shots when I installed airbags in the front. Here is the url:
http://www.cardomain.com/id/deuce6911

nice truck duece. that front looks killer low, all u had to do was bag it? how much ur system cost ya for all of it minus the back stuff?
on another note, can i use the lower control arms from a '75 3/4ton pickup in an 89 rc? goal of lowering it the 1" or so u ppl said i can get. would they work with bags if they are the cupped kind? if they arent i wont even use them. im just checking to see if they would work b4 we get the parts truck. thanks ppl

looks SWEET Deuce!!!  

Pssssst  Pssssst...  

Low riders are for dudes who cant get it up!!!
Also, Fat chicks cant jump, so get a lift kit!

Real nice.

hey rust, be nice man....just cuz we like our mopars lowered dont mean they stop being mopars and duece u gotta bag the back. if ya could, 4LINK!

i know, i know, yo guys do have some cool trucks. i just live in an area that has bad roads.  a lowered truck would get trashed here. i live out in long island new york, so its cool to have 4x4s to use on the beach and stuff. plus its really salty here so its hard to keep shit from rusting out

SB88

A 4 link setup is damn tempting to me right now. I'm just thinking that I want to wait until I swap the rear axle assembly because of the welding needed for 4 link brackets. And being a full time engineering student who works 40+ hrs a week, I haven't have a heck of a lot of time to work on my truck lately. Not to mention the $$$

well depending on how good at geometry and math and that stuff u could fab up ur wn 4link.

I know a ton of guys from Long Island with lowered trucks that drive them every day.  http://www.csautoclub.com/  That's no excuse.  

Hell, I live in Massachusetts.  My truck rolls smoother over the bumps now that I have bags.  A lot less body roll and sway also.  She can still tow a load.  Zero negatives.

Can't get it up?  Do you have 8" of lift at the flick of a switch?  Didn't think so!

hahahaa. nice one lofro. hey man what is ur name anyways? im joe if anybody cares. and whatever happened to that cannopy for your ram? it looked kinda kool on there. did u sell it? break it? just off? im just wondering cuz i looked at ur profile pic.

any new drop info folks?

on another thread i posted this info. it might help everyone on here. its mostly shocks and spindles info.

queto StandardByker88 on another thread
also i forgot, the info on the drop spindles. i dont know whether anyone has used them on the 80s rams/rcs or not so in a few months ill try them and if they dont work ill sell them to someone with a dakota.

here are the shocks i would suggest:

Belltech Nitro-Active Monotube Shock Absorbers $37.95-49.95
http://www.stylinconcepts.com/parts.cfm/partfamilyid/460/CategoryID/30/SubCategoryID/237
Belltech Nitro-Drop Twintube Shock Absorbers $37.95-39.95
http://www.stylinconcepts.com/parts.cfm?brand=&brandid=0&categoryid=30&color=&filterword=&orderby=0&partfamilyid=458&subcategoryid=237
Toxic Shock Drop Shocks $32-34.95
http://www.stylinconcepts.com/parts.cfm/partfamilyid/552/CategoryID/30/SubCategoryID/237
Colored Boots $9.95
http://www.stylinconcepts.com/parts.cfm/partfamilyid/676/CategoryID/30/SubCategoryID/237
and last of all the Edelbrock Performer IAS Shocks. lil spendy but got a limited lifetime warranty
http://www.stylinconcepts.com/parts.cfm/partfamilyid/115/CategoryID/30/SubCategoryID/237

i think any off these shocks would be a good choice on yours with the slight drop you'll be using. with one droped a ton, like bagged and laying frame, i would prolly use the twintube belltechs that are meant for something dropped alot. like a bagged dakota or s10. well hope this helps you all.

how do you post pictures here?

Ok I have some pics of what I am doing to my Ram charger.
At     photos.yahoo.com/k_n_browning
Kevin

oh my god!  that is going to be awesome!

Am I seeing that picture right?  Did you Z the frame to raise up the front crossmember?  

That thing is going to kick ass!

Yes it has a 4 1/4 z cut in the frame.And thanks.The cross member is out of 1981 dodge truck.I am thinking about moving the struts to the rear like the van.So that I can lower where the core surport (radiator)goes.That way I dont have to make one up from scratch.Still need to make a C for the rear.Still looking for some bags for the front.But cant find them in my town.But I dont need them just yet.Still need to build the doors up out of wood.Kevin

yeah, things get real tricky up front with the strut rods and all the steering linkage.  Rack & pinion steering might help.  It should be fairly easy to mount one up to the beefy front cross member.

You can get bags online.  If you're looking for them locally try at a shop that services big rigs.  

take more pics!  I love to see trucks cut up.

What size bags did you use on your truck?Right now mine is setting on the bump stops(no springs yet waiting on the motor).This truck is built from just part that I have laying around.So far I have about 180.00 into the hole truck.And 140.00 of that is just the wheels and tires.The two trucks that gave up the their lifes was Free.Have found a motor and trans for 200.00 but have not went to pick it up.Hate to pull motors out of vans.And it a an auto trans.Like to find a 4 speed.

one word to that, FUCKING WICKED! ok thats two, back to skool for me. wood doors? lol but damn thats cool, have fun with it.
linked properly: http://photos.yahoo.com/k_n_browning

I have 2600lb Firestones in my truck.  They work well.  There are a whole assortment of bags out there that will work just as good.  The Air Lift Generation 2 Extreme bags and the Slam Specialties bags are both real good.  They don't expand outwards hardly at all when you air them up unlike the Firestones.

Regular double convoluted bags work well in most situations.  In the back though if you want the best ride and are going to mount your bags above the axle or just in front or behind it you should look into the Firestone F9000 bags.  They're a tapered sleeve bag similar to what is used in the rear of Town Cars.  They give a great ride and good lift.  Only problem is you need to limit the suspension travel because if they over extend they will break.

Hey Lo Fro, any word on the front bag mounts you were going to sell?  I am still interested if the price is right.

I'm getting there.  I got as far as buying the metal anyway.  I was thinking about it last night as a matter of fact.  I'll get working on it.  

Cool, let me know...

how much did you say they were? plus shipping? like how much total? thanks man, i figure i should get 'em from you, you did hag ur ram and it works so it must be a good system. later ppl

well I found a motor for my phantom woodie.The good news is it has less than 50k on the motor.Bad news is its in a 1983 van.Never pulled a motor out of a van any of you guys pulled one?I was looking for a standard trans but its an auto.Can you put a standard one a dodge.I know back in the 60s Dodge did not cross drill so you could put a standard in place.
Kevin

vans can be a hassle. it works best if you take off the hood, core support, grille, doghouse, anda few other things to get it out. take more time but it makes it easier to get out. or you could just torch it out.

Hey guys.  After reading this *entire* thread, I think I have made my decision on my next move.  The Ramcharger is going to go up for sale and be replaced with a `77 ClubCab.  A couple of my friends are trying to talk me into dropping the `charger, and even though I would love to, its going to impossible to have it as low as I want it without any kind of major reconstructive surgery (its a 4x4).  The ClubCab is a 2wd, and for the asking price of less then $200, I have to jump on it.

So, unless I run into any major snags in the deal, I too will be living a little closer to the pavement.

Welcome to the thread Ex,

Good luck on your project. Club Cabs look sweet lowered! Have you thought about how you would want to lower the truck? Have you considered air bags?

When I first decided to lower my truck air bags were the last thing I thought I'd ever use. Then I saw that there were guys using them (e.g. LoFrontier) on older Dodge trucks. The idea of an adjustable ride height was awesome to me. So I decided to give them a shot. I'm right in the middle of bagging my 86 D150. The front bags are installed and the rear are soon to come. I was amazed at how easy they are to install.

So consider air bags, and I promise you will not be disappointed.

Deuce Out

Air bags are a big possibility.  For now it will probably just get some goodies in the front (stuff mentioned here) and a flipped axle.  Airbags perhaps on tax season?

lofro and duece, im jelous of ya guys...i want my rc bagged. but i dont have a job or any cash, cuz im 15. but my band is getting signed soon so i might have alot of money soon. ill keep everyone posted on how the band part of my deal goes.

Hi guys just a short update.In case anybody needs to know all
the Dodge vans 1980s the motors come out the front end.Not the sidedoors.The motor that I am pull got put on hold bad weather.But I did get the core support cut up and welded back.And the radiator is now in its new home.With less that an 1/4 inch from the hood.Have a few new pictures of the work at my yahoo.
http://photos.yahoo.com/k_n_browning
Keep them low

sweet work dude

heres the direct link so you all dont have to back step to see vws pics...http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/k_n_browning/lst?.dir=/lowered+Dodge&.src=ph&.view=

what year is it bug?

Well lets see the back hafe of the frame is a 1979 4x4 the front hafe of the frame is 1981 out of a truck.The body is 1979 the front sheet metal (fenders core support and hood)is 1981 Truck.Bumpers are 1983 van

so you would call it what? 79? 81? 83? lol

Its a 79 by the title here in Oklahoma.Having some trouble getting the stearing shafts to match back up.With the 4.25inch z cut in the frame they dont line up real good and the upper A arms hits the shaft.May use the column out of the van.Its much shorter and a tilt it may help some.The u-joints are a little to pricey so have to see what I can do with just the parts I have on hand and can get for free.

I was wondering about that steering.  My '93 is bagged and the steering shaft comes real close to the upper A arm.  I had thought of Z-ing the frame or modifying the cross member and moving the A arms up and the biggest problem was going to be the steering - shaft, tie rods and center link.  The way you did the front clip (cutting the core support) takes care of the tie rod / center link problem.  Not sure what you can do about the steering shaft though.  They advertise some funky steering setups in hot rod mags but they're pricey like you said.  I'd say go to the junk yard and see what you can salvage from a car or truck.  Get a few u-joints and shafts and weld something up.  For the whole tie rod thing I had looked into rack and pinion steering but couldn't find and good info on aftermarket setups.

See if you can use this how-to  to work for your application.


    http://ramchargercentral.com/boards/index.php?board=&action=howtoshow;id=30

Rodney

yeah let me know how that works out and try to keep the pics coming. i will prolly add the pucs i got so far and a few other mopar truck pics ive found last couple weeks to my site. good work

yea I looked at that how-to last night.That is a good idea.But the steering colomn I have dont have the removable rag joint.The in van look like the best way to go and its even a tilt.But I am going to try to go to the junk yard tomorrow and have a look.Right now the the truck is sitting on the bump stops.The frame is just about 2inch off the ground.I may use maual brakes and a tilt colunm.That will give me some room to move the colunm around some.I put some pics of the seering shaft in my yahoo.

Well I got most of the steering colunm in today.Did not get any pictures yet.I used the 83 van colunm that was reworked.And the bottom part of the 81 truck.

kool. im in 3rd period but ill look at it at home later

some custom made tubular upper control arms might do the trick!

sweet and tube uppers would be sweet.

Ok got the steering colunm done.Its got parts from three colunms in it from the 60s to the 80s, but it does work.And I even got tilt!!Got about 10.00 into it.And yes thats a exhaust clamp on the bottom holding it in place.It was simple and cheap.Need To figure out the master cylinder next.I may just go with manual.There is no room for the booster that is used on trucks.Too big The smallest that found is 7" and thats too big by the looks of it.May have to wait on the brakes untell I get the motor in and see how much room is left.

Oh by the way photos at the yahoo.

Are you going to use a floor shifter?

on "Trucks" on TNN when they were building project Crazy Horse, they had the master cylinder on a angle mount and shot it off to the side. you could do that and use hard metal lines and A/N fitting to place it in a lil more of a convienent location. just my idea, i dont know your clearances and space.

Yes I am going to use a floor shifter.I was thinking about putting the shifter in a center console to hide it.I did not think about turning the master cylinder sideways.I will have to look into that some more.And that would not be to much work.

considering what you have already done to it, its nothin major at all. or i wouldnt imagine it to be. you would hate having to stop 20s or bigger with manual brakes.

Right now 20s are out of the queston.But there is still not much room even if I do change the brake cylinder sideways.I want to see a Mustangs power booster.They are about 7" and that may give me the room that I need.But first I want to get the motor in the truck to see just how tight things are.If its to tight I may move it under the floor board like it was on my 1950 Studebaker truck.Come to think about it it was under the floor boards on my 49 Dodge truck as well.The key to good brakes is having the right ratio on the pedal.And this RC has about 6.5 to one.My 85 Dodge truck has the same ratio and its not bad to stop with the motor off at 60miles hour.And Its got the big 235 15s on it.

If you do the sideways monut master cylinder and booster, see if you can find a mid 70's dodge van, their master cylinder & booster were mounted sideways under the hood. you could probably use the mounting brackets.

Any body got a Picture of one of these 70s van master cylinder & boosters

Ok never mind about the picture.Just looked at it the stock 80s truck unit and if its turned 90 degrees its to long.It will hit the fender.And I am having second thoughts on the thing bellow the floor to.I forgot how much of a pain in the butt it was to change when it was cold and or wet.And a master cylinder allways seem to go bad when its cold and wet.I may move it to the other side of the steering colunm.So its out of the way of the exhaust.Put in one of those 1 1/8 master cylinders.And call it good.

it doesnt have to be mounted at 90 degrees, something closer to 45 might work, and using the smaller mustang style.

Well it done for now just manual brakes.Cut up one power box to make it but it will work for now.Power brakes are not that important to me.But most of my trucks were to old to have it.

I'd say wait till you get the motor in till you worry about the master cylinder.  You can extend the booster and master cylinder forward.  IF Customs did this on a truck that they built to lay body on 22's or something like that.  I'm thinking that you might need to lower the motor mounts a bit to keep the motor under the hood.  Oh, if you're rich Wilwood makes some nice pedal assemblies.  They have one with dual master cylinders in which everything mounts on the inside of the firewall.  You can also get remote mount resevoirs that you can mount in the engine bay.  

Well the motor is in and its a tight fit.And the hood even closes right.And that with the stock motor mounts.The only misshap was the dist cap its in peaces.Dont have the trans in yet.I started cutting the fire wall.So it will have some room for the trans.Looks like the stock radiator hoses will work.It now has manual brakes just no room for the power.Maybe later I will try the power brake thing again.Thats all that I can get done on it for this week.

sounds like its coming along well

Does anybody have a picture of the tran mount for a 1979 RC or truck 2 wheel drive.All I have on hand is the 1980 truck and it dont fit the 79 rc.

i dont know but its time to bump this post back up to the top. dont want to lose this 10 page trasure chest of info....BUMP!

Ok not much is happing trying to find out the angle of the motor.So I can set the rear trans mount.I know a motor is not level.But not having much luck find out the info.I leveled you 85 and found that the motor is lower on the trans side.And the core support shows its not level eather the radiator is laid back about 1 1/2 to 2".

thas all assoiated with the angle of the driveline setup. from the crank into the tranny into the driveshaft and then into the rear end center section. it should all be as much of a straight line as possible. the u joints will go to hell and possibly bind if its off too much.i would kind of work backwards on this sitiation. put the rear axle at the height you want it at and then angle it so it will aim at the front mounts of the motor. then just make everything in between line up square. just one of the half ass ways to do it

To help with the angles I removed the front mounts.And cut them up and  the motor now sets about an 1" lower.

helps on hood clearance too

the hood clearnaces are not that bad.More about angles for the drive shaft but got that fixed.The hood will be made up out of fiberglass.And will be in 3 pieces like  the late 40s dodge truck had.Have not had the time to take pictures yet.But did get the trans mount made up.Just need to cut off the parts that hang down to low.

sounds like its coming along.

hey check it out, i drew this pic of a ramcharger laying body the other night. it looks bad cuz i had to take a pic of it with my digi cam.

Thought I'd bring this thread back up. Just screwing around with paint shop pro.

pretty kool dude. not great but looks good for a screw around. pop up a new version of it if ya finish all the lil stuff. nice work and hows everyones droped projects comin?

I have one ton lower control arms coming, and have the rear axle perches relocated to the bottom of the housing.  I plan to get new bushings in the leafs so I can hang the housing next week.  I have not ordered the PST kit for the front suspension yet, but after I do I will rebuild the front end.  I plan to use stock replacement front springs for right now, and after the truck is assembled I will see if I need to cut a coil out.  But my bare frame sure is pretty on four jackstands!

Ok found the time to get some new photos of what I have done.But due to the holidays not much work has happened.Did get it back on the stock springs on the front.Need to come down 2" or so.Not I am making up the trans cover.I was thinking about using some of that foam that you can get in a spray can.And then cover it in fiberglass.

that would prolly work

Well, once again I am NOT receiving e-mail notifications from this site?? Looks like some of you guys are really going hardcore on your RC's. Loving it!! I am back out on the road again, so I have not been on here for a few months. Of course this means the truck is STILL not street legal, sigh....If I ever get home long enough, I'll get back to work on it. Just letting you guys know I'm still out here, lol.,,,,Cruisin

hey cruisin rc, thanks for checking in on everyone. glad to see ya still got the rc.

I'm not getting e-mail notifications either!  
That Photoshop pick of the topless RC is wicked!
I tried to buy a '76 Club Cab shortbox the other day but it didn't belong to the guy at the repair shop it's been sitting at for months. Business is being evicted by the owner so it may become an abandoned vehicle soon.
Let's see...bag the purple truck...bag the dually...or wait for another project I can really get sick with.

get a frequent PSSS'er card from Firestone cheeto

well guys i have the perfect ride to drop.  I bought a 1974 8ft bed ex-cab adventurer for $100 a little while back. thinking about pulling the R/C apart and moving it all over to the 74.

think it's took long for a drop?

SLAM IT DOWN JONEY! long beds look wicked cdroped.

Long beds dropped are cool.!

anybody going anythink to their trucks??It been too cold here in Oklahoma to do much but I have started gettting the trans cover welded back in the truck

Not me, I'm 1000 miles away from my RC right now. Soon, I will be rebuilding the front end, and dropping it about two inches to start with. Gonna be a few weeks til I get home though:-(,,,,Cruisin

as soon as i get mine home again im getting nrew tires and rims and doing some body work

well i still havent gotten mine home from my grandparetns house. its not running good so we gotta trailer it here but out friend with the trailer is never available. and a few of you ppl might be starting to think in a poser or whatnot saying im gong to do all this stuff to my truck but havent done hardly anything yet. its not that. just slow and have gone thro alot of other car breakdowns and things so i hope to get it up and running soon. i also need to do alot of other things to it. anybody else having slow goin through winter?

so whats up with everyones projects? hows the bags running you few dudes?

I have to un-flip my axle since it will be too much drop.  How many leaves did you guys pull out of the srping pack and how many inches of drop did it give?  Since I plan to tow, should I get a set of helper air bags as well?

you could put some helper bags in, its not like i t would hurt anything when your not using them.

No progress on any of mine. Not getting e-mail notifications either. Grrrrr!

well its good to see your alive chetto. im finally gettin my truck into the shop this weekend to fix the damn tbi, erg i hate electronics sometimes.

good news. i got it in yesterday and it was out today. $578 later that is. i still gotta grease my suspension bushings and stuff. as well as put a full tank in him. and other stuff. but hopefully ill be digging into the front suspension soon. i wanna drop the front. just to double check. if i cut one whole coil off the coilsprings it gives about an inch or two drop. right? and if i get 4" shackles it drops me 2" right? sorry that i might sound dumb since i know this but its been along time since this thread had any major talking going on in it. later dudes.

and also im putting some "new" tires and rims on tomorrow. they are 255/60/15s. grand am radials. the rims are 15x8s, might be 15x7s. i forgot. the rims are eagle series something or other. ill update when i look at the rims. they are the 8 hole design with seperate caps. ill try to get pics of the rims on the truck this weekend and will post them then.

Ok Boys and girls Do I have a wed site for you.We can have lowered springs made at this place.Just got a quote for a 2" drop and stock ride.they are 138.20 + 1400 shipping and about 3-5 days to get where you are at.They even can make them softer if you want or heavy duty.So now we can stop cutting coils and rattling the filling out of our teeth.

the web site is................

Sorry about that
www.coilsprings.com

thanks a ton dude! ill try to check it out soon.

woohooo! Good news.

Okay, Who's gonna be the guinea pig?

i made a request, ill letcha know what they told me when i get the quote.

Ok, after reading this entire thread 2 times, I still have a couple questions that someone may be able to answer.

Back to the early Dakota spindles.  Did anyone really verify that they will work.  Do the spindles bolt up to the 80's full-size arms or not?  If so, then do you need the rotors, brake calipers, etc off of the Dakota as well?  Or can you reuse your rotors etc?

1 ton lower arms - I have a set available to me if I want to go that route.  When putting them in with the 1/2 ton coil springs, is it messing up the camber behond it's adjustment?  Did it change any other suspension related items?  Hitting the bump stops or anything like that?

nope. no plans in the near future. my trucks are in michigan and im like 8,000 miles away with no visions of coming home anytime before DEC 2005. and even after that i wont have any solid block of time until JUN 2007. a small point i forgot to consider before enlisting. almost tempted to sell em.  

wow...in the service?

I physically bolted the Dakota spindles onto my truck and have talked to at least two people that run them. Use all other stock parts from your truck.

The 1 ton arms affecting the alignment beyond compensation has too many other factors for a definite answer. Sag of your stock coils, worn bushings, frame flexed/fatigued, etc. Look at your current adjustment and see if there is plenty of room to adjust the upper arms out farther. This should give you an idea of where you'll be at afterwards. Of course I believe you could always use the Moog offset bushings if you don't have enough adjustment remaining.

I also just got a quote back from coilsprings.com about springs for my 92 (second gen) dakota. I want it lifted though, and NO ONE makes any sort of lift for these trucks. So for 168.93, I can have a set of 3" lift coil springs made. 22 dollars shipping and 3-5 days for them to be complete. Sounds really decent to me. Thanks for the link!

My advice on the one ton arms as I am in the middle of trying to get them to fit.  DO NOT USE THE HEAVY DUTY CAMPER MODELS!!!  Sure, the big juicy ball joint looks strong.  The problem is you need to use the heavy duty lower spindle part, and the tie rods are not interchangeable.  I had to make a bushing for the tie rods to fit.  Now I am trying to make a bushing for the bolts so I can bolt the two halves of the spindle together.  Other than that, they do fit on the frame great and it does not look like alignment will be a problem.  If I did not get arms with the Camper Package severe duty parts everything would have been kosher and it would have been a direct bolt in deal.  

great advice! thanks for an update/headsup.

I've been driving my truck dropped for a few years now.  It's had negative camber ever since I put the drop coils in it.  It cambers even more now that it's lower with the air bags.  I haven't had to make a single adjustment to the alignment.  It rolls straight aired up or slammed down.  I've been rolling the same tires since I bought the truck and there is no uneven wear.

Don't sweat the camber.  It doesn't hurt anything.  Most Fords with I beam suspension roll off the assembly line with more camber than you'll probably see.

As a side note I'm thinking of selling my bagged Ram.  It's super reliable but I want something newer.  I'm looking at newer Dakotas with 5.9's.  I want a truck that's a little smaller but can still pull a my show truck.

i dropped the back of mine yesterday about 2". the way i did it was i had 10 poeple in it including me. front went down a bit too. i know, too many people but we were being chased by some crazy people and everyone pilled in the back. only had to go a block or two...

A few degrees more negative camber on these trucks should make it steer BETTER anyway.  I get way too much sidewall scrub on my RC.  Maybe I corner too hard or maybe it's cuz I don't have anti-sway bars but the tires roll over on the outsides way too much.  Negative camber would help keep a flatter footprint overall by allowing the tire to level out with cornering loads.

I finished bolting the 1 ton A arms on my 1/2 ton frame yesterday.  The bare frame sits 15 inches off the deck to the frame horn right now with a 235/70/15 tire.  Pictures coming next week when I can get back to my fast connection at work.

sweet man, we gotta see them pics.

Well guys, im new here (yep first post). I just read every single post from start to now!!! Im so tired...anyways...I have a 1990 Dodge Ram 150 short bed. I was jsut wanting to MAKE SURE that the 94+ lowering springs WILL work for my truck. Also, for the rear...if I get the shackles....say it drops me 2" could i also get rid of a spring? I know many ppl said alot of this already but i really never saw any answers. PLEEZ GUYS!! I would like a 4-6 drop but for no im thinkin 3(front)-4-5 drop. I want it level but lowered.

Also on the shocks...i want to make sure that the 99 chevy silverado nitro drop shocks WILL work on my truck. I hate being iffy about stuff. I like to be positive something is going to work. What would be the easiest way to do this?

One more thing...whats the word on the s-10 springs? How much does the front v6 s-10 (i guess oem) coils lower? Thanks guys...I like this place so far. MAKE ME PROUD!

i recommend buying a few power tools first. a decent 125amp welder should do (*wire feed mig) and a torch.

you will have so much fun! and you ll save money on body work, customization, and lowering parts.

the 94+ ram coils WILL work. the s10 coils WILL work but will sag some so just get the ram ones. you CAN pull out the overload spring and do a shackle drop. this should get you somewhere from a 2/3" front and 3-5" in the back drop. and loprofile tires can getcha about another inch or so.

I'm getting rid of some stuff.  Check in the classifieds section under Parts For Sale.  I'm selling upper bag plates, a 3-1/4" C-notch, drop coils and some other junk.  Drop me an email at LoFrontier@yahoo.com for more info or if you have any questions.

I also have a bunch of passenger door hardware.  Door panels, window cranks, glass, handles, vent glass, etc.  I'll get some pics and put up a classified for that later.

sweet...whatcha want for the chevy drop coils?

drop me an email at LoFrontier@yahoo.com  Don't want to clog up the thread with this.

no prob man...i just figured since ya didnt put a price this would be kool. no biggie....

How did we get on page five of the tech fourm anyway i plan on getting and air ride package from a 99-02 chevy/gmc 1/2 ton good luck everyone

Sorry I haven't been doing much. I did get all new tierods in, and centerlink, and the drivers side upper balljoint. Still yet to order the urethane bushings and chop the coils. I may just go for the 94+ drop springs and be done with it. I don't want much of a rear drop, I like the raked look anyway. That dropped front end hotrod look. BTW: if you have a nasty steering wheel wobble while braking, tie rods should fix it. Mine drives MUCH nicer now. Was pretty scary before, lol.,,,,Cruisin

Now to do the shift linkage seal. Leaks like no tomorrow, and right on the exhaust crossover. Sheeeeeez

yeah, stuff is still goin really slow on mine and i havent droped it yet. in the near (hopefully soon) future, im planning on having the front rotors cut (i have a small wobble cuz of warped rotors.), replacing the upper and lower balljoints if they are bad, putting a new timing chain in, changing the water pump, hoses, clamps, rerouting the air inlet tube, and cutting the coils about a coil and a half. prolly get new shocks while im at it. oh i almost forgot, im gonna try and find a 28" radiator out of some big boaty car and drop that in cuz mine leaks off the top seal. damn, i gotta lotta work to do, wish me luck.
and hey cruisin, that front end wobble could also be warped rotors it its when you brake. might wanna check that out too. later dudes.

It was a slow back and forth motion, and was cured completely by the tie rods. Believe me I know warped rotors when I feel them, lol. My 98 Ford F-150 has had rotors replaced twice. EXCELLENT truck, even 108k. But they did under brake them. They warp easily, and can only be cut once before they run out of matierial. Each set on the Ford has been cut once, then warped again,,,,Cruisin

im gonna try to get pics up in the next week or two of mine. i wased the S-10 springs and got 4" of drop. need to get a set of coil over shock for the front. bust the driver bump stop off.

They make those nifty bumpstops out of urethane? Look like a 1/2 thick plastic disc, with a bolt on the back. Not much of a cushion, but better than hitting the frame on the lower A-arms? After his week I should be done with working on the house for a while, and can start the lowering on mine. Going to start with chopping one coil off the stock springs, and see what happens. Is there a way to bag it without spending all the money up front? I want to kind of do it in stages. Get the bags on the front, and use a line with a shrader valve attached, to fill it to the ride height. Then I could get the front end all rebuilt with the bags in, then do the compressor system later, when I have more money. At least I have a dedicated daily driver, so I don't have to do the in on Friday, out on Sunday thing. Is that even possible?,,,,Cruisin
Lets see more bagged pics, showing shock mountings, etc!!!!!!

well ive heard that it is possible to do it with the shrader valve style but you might wanna keep a cig lighter style compresser in the truck in case you lose some pressure. anyways, i gotta go...class is almost over...later dudes.

Cruisin - save up the money and do it all at once.  A decent air ride kit with valves, line, fittings, tank, comp, gauges, switches, etc will run about 2g's.  Brackets are going to be extra.  

Little "fill my tires" comps suck ass.  Not even worth spending the money on them.  You're going to need a good 110 psi to lift the front.  That comp isn't going to like that.  Most comps at gas stations only put out 90psi - not enough to lift your front.  Been there, done that.  Pony up the $130 or so for a nice Viair 450.  

I'll try to get some more pics of my front and rear setups.  

Well, I would rather do it in stages, since that's how the money comes to me, lol. But I do see your point. Kind of learning by doing on this one. My first bagged vehicle. Doing it in stages, will allow me to learn, and spend the money when I have it.,,,,Cruisin

well ive seen the air ride technologies setups run like $1400 total, so sometimes you can get a deal and you can make your own brackets. but your prolly right about the compressors sucking ass...

do dakota spindles work. i need to be sure. do they really work for rams.....

from what ive learned, they work for the 80s rams. but not so well for the 70s.

I have a 90 ram do they work for those also

81-93s are pretty much considered the 80s trucks so they should. just order the ones for a 90 dakota.

major question:
the parking brake system: maybe its just my truck but the brackets and lines to the parking brake hang WAY BELOW the frame level, like atleast 4". they seem to be rivoted to the frame. and there seems to be room to move them up higher and cut off the excess. other than the pivoting part, its there any major worrys about trying to move it up. i could prolly just bolt the stock brackets up higher on the side of the frame. opinions/ideas?

the bracket on Rams hang a little below but this part of the frame is where it kicks up.  Where the single cable mounts further up the truck doesn't hang below the frame rail.

R/C's might be different.

Mine is set a bit higher than that. In fact the Y where the two cables hook to the rod was hanging on the bracket in front of the spring hanger. Once I adjusted it past that it was fine. When it was hanging on that bracket, the parking brake was pretty mnuch not working. I may have stretched cables, but it does work now. Before it was just barely holding the truck with no gas pedal applied.,,,,Cruisin

Before adjusting it, I could see the adjusting rod and the front cable attachment bracket hanging way down below the truck. Looked horrible, like something was broken. The adjustment solved that.....

 

Patrick

I can't make out what that is really?? The front of something? 10" off the ground?,,,,,,,Cruisin

yeah its the front fender of my 1956 Dodge truck.  It was at around 15 ichs befoire i removed 2 leafs.

Patrick

Nice. Love the 50's stuff, cars or trucks!! Front leaves, eh. My old 61 Ford had them too. I like the feel they give, pretty bouncy and trucklike.,,,,Cruisin

thanks for the pics guys. helped a bit. mine seems to hand way too low (for my liking) so ill fix it by lifting the brackets higher. and eventually i might swap over to a honda style e-brake in the console and re-route the cables.

New member here so take it easy on me. I've been over at DodgeTalk.com and have been trying to get to the bottom of what I should do to lower my ride. I only want to go 2-4 inches MAX. I might try the whole '94 and up springs with the Ford shackles in the back. Any new info? Until I get my ride lowered and get some chrome rims on it, I'm going to take Cruisin_RC's lead and do the steelie's with the chrome moon inserts. First I gotta sandblast the rims and paint them red though. Anyway, let's keep this great thread alive!

Did you ever find the chrome moon caps and/or beauty rings for your truck? I wasn't sure if those were Photoshop'd in your pictures or not. They look pretty real to me. Any info would help.

Thanks!!

They are real? I found the moons at a trailer supply store, and the rings at Autozone. For less than 100 bucks including black paint, the wheels look nice and clean. Good luck finding them!,,,,Cruisin

Has Anybody seen the new StreetTrucks mag!!Its got a Dodge in it and its low.He used Dakota spindles.Like to know what he used for the the brake rotors.And how he made them work.Kevin

i think the spindles work directly with the post 80 rotors. its the smaller wheel bearing of the pre 81 trucks i think. i thought i read about having to turn them down in a lathe.

I was looking at putting them on my 85 truck

i also have a 1985 full size that i want to lower front and rear.  chisholm has the front coil with a 2 inch drop, but the rear is a problem.  i am also concerned with the pinion angle changing.  chisholm also has a 5 inch drop leaf for the rear but i really dont want to go that far.  i have shackles on the rear now, but didnt get as much of a drop as i wanted.  i want to accomplish the lowering soon to take the truck to Woodward Dream Cruise in August.  guess i better get working, but do need ideas. thanks for the help.

how much do you want to drop it? you can flip the rear(good bit of drop) or pull a couple springs, ride will suffer.where around pittsburgh are ya?

What issue of street trucks? Post some pics of it I havent seen it. Please

the rear is so easy.

when installing a longer rear shackle also install a higher mounted front spring hanger.

there are other methods of lowering involving leaf springs. flatter springs or removing a leaf. axle flipping. or even leaf spring flipping. i dunno if thats been done on a dodge or not tho.

dont be scerd to use f150 or chevy 1500 parts to lower.

bigdog 440, i'm in south park about 10 miles south of pgh.  i wanted to achieve a mild drop getting a slight rake  from front to back, something like the old hot rod style.  i knew of the fromt brackets and removing leaves, but didnt know about the pinion angle changing.  wanted to go maybe 2 or 3 in the front and 4 in the rear.

also, when lowering, does anything else have to be changed, such as anything needed lengthened?  

not usually.

using a higher mounted fornt spring hanger should actually bring pinion closer to factory spec plus drop ya down a lil more.

you coudl use a grinder and grind rivits off old spring hanger.

then using a drill relocate holes a lil higher which brings axle closer to frame which means truck is closer to ground.

I finilysaw the Aug. issue of street trucks. That is one bad ass RAM. I do believe that Cheeto has a better setup minus the air. Props to Cheeto and I hope to see you published soon. By the way did you ever getyour spindles.

I just called Chisholm Suspensions yesterday.  They make a 1" and 2" lower coil for the Ram along with the lower a-arm which lowers another 2".  The lower coils are $160, lower gas shocks are $130 for all four and de-arched rear leafs are $400.  I am going to order the 2" coils and shockson Monday.  Not sure which way I will be going on the rear.  The guy at Chisholm told me not to remove leaves from the back, that may cause other leaves to break.  Currently, I have AIM 2" lower shackles and was debating on getting the lower hangers.  Still affraid of changing the pinion angle.

the spring hangers CORRECT pinion angle. imagine this

this is your stock pinion angle   [---]
this is your angle when using longer shackles [/]
this is angle using only spring hangers [\]
this is angle suing both spring hangers and shackles  [---]



if for some reason your angles do end up messed up the sell spring shim wedges that will rotate pinion back up or down.
the chisolm guys are somewhat correct but i can vouch that there are factory dodges with only 3 leafs in spring pack. and some cars ran whats called a "mono leaf" which is simply what the name states. one leaf.

you can find those lowered control arms in the 1 ton trucks for very cheap.


you can also play with chevy sring hangers and shackles.


$400 is too much to py for a lowered leaf suspension. if it was a $400 air bag setup than itd be worth it. but $400 on dodge leaf sprung is ludacris. an axle flip doesnt even cost that much and will drop you down more.

there are also other choices on dropped springs but that price isnt so bad either.

throughout this huge post there are mention of several stock type coil springs that work. one guy is running s10 springs for a v6 and claims to have excellent ride. another has posted about using dodge ram springs from 94-up models.

thats what lowering a dodge is all about enginuity. (and saving money in the process)

one of the first posts mentions using chevy shackles.

we all sometimes whine and moan there is no aftermarket for dodge.

ya know why there isnt an aftermarket? because crafty people before us found out ways of getting by w/o one by adapting and fabbibng and cross breeding. know they re passing on info on spring swaps, shackle relocation brackets axle flips dakota spindle 1 ton control arms.

you could prolly get your front cross member to the ground without ever using one piece designed specifically to lower a 72-93 dodge.

heres another option

remsgem, have you seen the pics of slimers trucks? he told me to use 1 ton coils, cut 1 1/2 - 2 coils off to get the same look as his. now we both are running bb, so with a sb, you might sit a little higher.

u can use 1/2 ton coils and get even more drop. the half ton coils are physically shorter plus sag a lil more since they re softer riding.

my buddy used new 1/2 ton coils and cut 1 wrap outwith a sb. had alittle bounce once the springs wore in. i was trying to find a different idea for my bb.

i have found a bunch more suspension components traight outta my racing catalog for cheap



Pinion Shims

$20

Adjustable shackles

$13

Front spring mount welding required

$12

Spring perches


$13/$50
$50 are no weld clamp style

Leaf spring slider

$30/$40
alternative to a shackle

Shock mount

$20

Tru-Coil 9.5" springs
$40
Eibach springs (same as above)
$54

these are per piece not as a pair



9.5" results in about .5" drop but these can be further cut to size and come in various rates to compensate for stiff or soft ride.

want a stiff spring with huge drop?

6" dropped

$38 piece

marty has the leaf spring slider on his magnum.

the beauty is the slider shackles handle better, are a bolt on, and you can adjust to your fitting.

you need a piece of angle iron prolly 3"x3"x1/4" [L] then bolt the side of angle iron to holes allready in frame or drill new holes. then drill holes in bottom of angle iron that match up to slider.

you could also bolt those front hangers to frame ina similar fasion.

plus the adjustable shackle links for $13. just move the spring bolt higher for more drop

clmap on axle perches make for a no weld axle flip for relatively cheap

pinion shims to correct for any problems

plus eibach or trucoil springs in what ever spring rate you so desire. would be great to have the factory coil specs as something to compare. these things should drop right in w/o problems. those short ones are pretty stiff but allready short for big drop.

when dropping big time it might be better to readjust ball joint mounting pads. that would require cutting a section of the control arm, bending the metal to angle desired and rewelding. wouldnt be hard nor necessary but may help prevent any excess ball joint wear. or get some higher quality ball joints and see if there is enoguh slack to align properly w/o cutting.

I would like to know more about cutting the control arm to adjust the ball joint. Has it been done? How do you know angle to put it at? I have the dreadded AIM control arms. I got it aligned but they said that it might not work next time.

i dont think its been done to the dodge control arm. it would be a trial and error process. small cut.

do you understand what i meant about cutting and re bending?

no please more detail

please stand by for crude pictures

ok the componenets are labeled.

in a perfect world, the spindle and the ball joint mount on the control arm would be at a 90º angle. perpendicular. straight up and down. therefore wheel is straight and no angles on ball joint.

alignment isnt a problem at stock height. but once lowered the control arm gets a really wacked angle. something has to give. either the ball joint is maxed out at an odd angle or if there still exsists too much angle then the tire is tilted in extremely. causing undue wear. either way the ball joint and/or tire is gonna see lot more wear.

as you can see in the modified control arm the angles are corrected so the ball joint is still much closer to paralell



maybe the angles dont get extreme enough with dodge control arms. a longer anm is affect less by shorter springs than a shorter arm. its just a lever.

this is what belltech means when they claim their drop spindles preserve factory suspension geomtry.

with a spindle the tire is moved directly up or down where as springs affect the control arm in an arc movement. the tire travels in an arc with different sized springs or when a spring is cycling. a tire moves on that arc and a ball joint lessens this effect but only to a certain extent.

I have pics of my truck as it sits with the lower control arms on it. you can see the ball joint is almost maxed out and the spring is not stright up and down. the pics are on page 2 i could not figure out how to get them in my post

http://www.cardomain.com/id/swwaltw

i have seen some adds for upper and lower control arms what is the benefit of that?

Well, a friend just turned me onto this list since I'm trying to lower my '72 D200 (3/4T) crew cab LB. Yah, a BIG one  Skimming the posts it looks like I already have the "good" LCAs for the job, but I'm going to go measure just to be safe. I hate to cut coils due to ride quality (or lack thereof) but it's looking like that's the only way for me? Argh.  Mainly it looks like I'll be flipping the rear and trying to find something to do to the front to make it match. Any suggestions?

I may simply be getting too old and lazy but some of you guys seem to be making this way more difficult than it needs to be. There is no known 100% bolt on drop for our trucks. There are several products made for our trucks but all require slight "tweaking" to work/fit or they sacrifice something else (i.e. alignment, ball joint angles etc.). There are tons of items for other vehicles that can be modified to fit. I've been through many different scenarios on my trucks in the past and several on the current truck...it's still not perfect. I say step back and look at what is more important, saving a few bucks or getting as good of ride/drive experience as possible.
And the board STILL isn't notifying me of replies.

I finally got a reply notification for your post, first one in months?? Still waiting on my Urethane bushings, the place said 5 to ten days, so it may be a while yet. I am going to cut one coil off of my stockers and see if it gives me what I need. I'm pretty certain it will, since I am looking for a slight nose down stance. You know, the "hot rod" look? I still need to get a socket for the balljoints though. I have a question Cheeto? Is it possible my uppers are threaded in, and the lowers pressed? I see no flat spots on the lowers, they look completely round? My brother and I just used the ball joint and bushing press set the other day and it works pretty well with an impact. I just need to know what's up on my lower balljoints, so I can be sure I'm getting the right ones?,,,,Cruisin

Not 100% certain but I believe the lowers are pressed in.

That's what I was thinking, since there are no flat sides for a socket to grip. Easier for me, no socket and huge pipe to add leverage, hehe. Hook up the tool in the right configuration, and impact it till it pops. As Chiltons sez, "Assembly is the reverse of removal" lol!

The one tons are ALMOST a bolt in affair!  It took less than an hour of modifications to make them work for me.

quick ?....think i need shorter shocks on a 2" all around drop?

depends on how many speed bumps and pot holes you usually hit

pretty bumpy town. lots of speed bumps and potholes. and i drive kinda fast....

how was it dropped?

you don't NEED new shocks for a 2" drop.  I dropped the front of my truck almost 6" with the stock length shocks.  Good, stiffer gas shocks will help the handling a lot.

On the camber - ball joint issue.  Don't worry about it unless you're getting down to where you're dragging your front cross member.  My truck goes down to where the tires hit the tops of the front inner fenders and the ball joints don't bind.  The radius rods hit the bottom of the steering box and the idler arm though.  

Camber never hurt anyone.  It's bad toe-in that's going to eat your tires up.  I've been rocking my truck for 3 years with hella camber and there is hardly any uneven tire wear.  Stock I-beam Fords are going to camber more than your truck will.

i havent dropped it yet. im shooting to do a 2" drop soon. thats why i asked, because mine are shot and need to get replaced. i needed to know if i needed shorter ones. thanks.

hells yeah!!!!
just found this pic

It's a big pic so here's the link
http://img.sportruck.com/events/itb04/9.jpg

hell yeah! awesome!

just bumping this up...

Check this out.  Some dude brought a '99 RC in from Mexico.  He's planning on slamming it.

http://forum.sportruck.com/showpost.pl?Board=trucktech&Number=141634&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5

i love it. but those taillights need to get filled and replaced, i hate the minivan back half...erg.

thought this thread was dead. havent gotten a reply since like page 7 or 8 i think.

just wondering if anyone has tried to do a ball joint flip?  im sitting at 28" on 225/70/15's but i want to get lower.  gotta take whats left of the bump stops out.   b-t-w if you do use the S-10 drop springs get a good set of coil over shocks, they finally softened up enough to bounce me around.

I got 1 ton LCA and the ball joints dont match my 1/2 ton truck....... Can some one tell me why??   I thought they were a direct bolt up.......



Dagger

the lower control arm brackets on the frame need to be drilled out bigger for the bolts. is that the problem?

i think you have to use the 1/2 ton ball joints

tjones - any sort of ball joint flip isn't really going to get you anywhere.  the "flip" as they call it on old Mazdas and the like refers to mounting your ball joint to the top of the control arm instead of up from the bottom.  That plus a shim or two will get you another 1/2" of drop or so.  I've seen ball joint flips done on newer F150's that are pretty involved.  Stock those ball joints insert from the top.  Reverse ream the hole, rework your lower arms and insert them from the bottom, reverse ream the tops and flip your uppers and swap them from L to R and pa-dow you have a pretty serious front drop with stock suspension geometry.  Of course this doesn't apply to our trucks.

Now the back bolt on the LCA bolted up perfect, but the ball joint from the 1 ton was too big for the spindle,  I tried with the 1/2 ton ball joints but the hole in the LCA is thhe big for the 1/2ton ball joints.......Need help with this in case i wanna go lower than i am!....

Thanx Dagger

p.s.   The year of the 1 ton LCA is unknown, but i think it came from a diesel truck, dont think should matter....

You have to use the lower spindle half off of the 1 ton and make up some spacers to get the bolt hole size right.  You cannot ream the 1/2 ton lower spindle half to fit the 1 ton ball joint.  Trust me, this is the only way to make everything work.

has anyone used the lowering shackle for fords on the rear yet?  want to go lower and fill the well up.  really dont want to pull anymore leafs.

im confused now...does cutting the coils make a softer or stiffer ride? i wouldn't mind stiffer because of the way i corner

Cutting coils makes a stiffer ride.

thats fine with me, i just didnt want a softer ride. itll corner better anyways.

Quick question

Is there any companies that make "kits" or anything like that for the 94-up 2wd Dodge trucks to lower them? Or are they very similar to the older trucks in lowering one? I'm looking at my uncles 97 Club Cab SWB 2wd Dodge truck,it's nice but I'd like for it to be a little lower to the pavement,possibly air bags tucking 17s or 18s Any help,info,URLs etc would be cool

Jimbo

OK guys,

Not wanting to weed though the whole dang post, give me a SIMPLE way to lower the BACK of my '85 to make it sit farily level with the front. I've got 6 cyl springs up front and it sits the way I want it with the big block in the engine bay. I just need to lower down the back to get it to set level (drag truck).

I've been curious to see if a Spring-under with 3/4 or 1-t springs would do it, but are springs from either arched different (higher) than my stock 1/2 tonners? This is just curiosity BTW and I probably wont go that far, but I need the truck dropped own in the back.

start by taking off the overload spring from the pack, the smallest one. then you could stake the next or get shorter shackles. the ones for the new dodges work and only need to be modified a tiny bit (enlarging the hole a bit). if that doesnt get you enough drop you could do an axle flip (gets about 6" drop) and ADD a leaf with an add-a-leaf kit. that would be about a 4" total drop with the springs stiff enough to be good for a drag truck like you said. and with the 6cyl springs, the front prolly lifts easy to put the weight out back. any of these methods would work, but for a drag truck, the last might be the best. stiffer spring would be best for that specific application.

LoFrontier On your Dodge with the bags how and where did you mount the shocks for the front end?

I found the truck it was at the 99 mopar nats 76 body 94-01 front end chopped top i have a pic but cant link to anything.

Where can I get the lowering shackles for the back? My RC is riding really high in the back. Just want it to sit level,probably going to put small bolt pattern axle shafts,front spindles and rotors on it and put my slotted aluminum wheels on it

Jimmy

as far as i remember the ones for the 94-01 rams work, might need to bore out the hole a tiny bit though [no biggie]. and you can get them from summit, jegs, stylin' concepts, or ebay. should run you about $35 or so.

Well, I have one side done now. I leave town Sunday so I may not get back to it until after New Years, sheeeeez. I cut one coil, and installed the urethane bushings on the drivers side. MAN, I have never seen SO many 1/2" nuts and bolts holding a front end together. I'm talking mainly about the sway bar hardware. I have Michelin LTX's in 235/75, and the fender lip is exactly level with the top of the tire. Just the look I was going for. That "hotrod" nose down look. I haven't driven it yet, but I'm pretty sure I'll be happy. I have about 2-3 inches of bumpstop travel left, and will be changing to the energy suspension shorties anyway. I also got the registration sticker!!!! Woohoo!! A little more work after New Years, and I'll be ready to cruise next spring.,,,,Cruisin

I know it doesn't look like much, but if you're standing on the other side, it looks like it has a flat tire on the front left.

how much drop did it get on the lip height? about 2"? and how many coils did you cut off?

About 2 to 2 1/2 inches. I took off one full coil on the bottom of the spring. The spring was originally straight at the end that fits into the lower control arm. I took a little of the inside curve off for it to fit better. If you do it you'll see what I mean. And the major rule of cutting coils, don't use a torch. Any heat will effect the ride height and spring rate. Use a high speed cutting wheel, the heat is very loocalized and nowhere near the amount of a torch.,,,,Cruisin

what about a sawzall? i heard a few new blades do it fine....and is it better to take it off the top or bottom of the coil?

Well, I guess it could work, although it will take quite a while I bet. The top of the coil is formed to fit a flat mount, so the bottom is the best end to take off from.,,,,Cruisin

thanks. i knew one side went flat, i just didnt know which side it was...although when i go to do it i would see anyways...lol. thanks. so how well did a cutting wheel work?

Took about a minute or less to cut through. You could also borrow or rent a Makita style grinder from somewhere? Thicker wheel, but about the same effect.,,,,Cruisin

to criusin rc, what did you do to the back?(for lowering
(i see your info says 2,2 lower soon)
gerry

well, I was going to lower the back, but I may just leave it as is. I was going for the nose down hotrod look, and lowering the back would make it level. If I could figure out how to lower the front 4", then I'd lower the back 2 inches with shackles. Early on in this thread it was made known that some Chevy and/or Ford kits would work. I don't remember the exact year or make that would work.,,,,Cruisin

bigger tires in the back and shorter ones in the front would still make it have that raked look. and if you put a 2" shorter shacle or hanger, you only get half that amount in drop because its only lowering [technically its lifting that point] on one side of the spring. that combo would bring tha back down a smidge but keep the cool look you want.

There was an article where they're making an old big body Dodge ready for the strip in one of the mags this month, and it kind of has the look I want. They used BF Goodrich drag radials in 295/55/15. Man they're huge looking. If those will fit in a late sixties big body, they should fit okay in an RC. In fact they used TD 8 inch rims to mount them on. I have thought about getting bigger meats in back, and maybe a bit smaller in front.,,,,Cruisin

what are you running right now? i have 255-60-15s all around, and they fit good. if i had a lil more of an inset rim in the back i could fit a bigger tire [i got plenty of room inside, not much outside] and the front maybe a lil short overall next time around.

I'm pretty sure they are 235/75/15's on all 4. I'm up in Indianapolis right now  so I can't walk out and check. I got them off of our Ford conversion van, which is sitting in the garage and may never move. Dry rot specials vs. Michelin LTX's, I'll take the Michelins every time.,,,,Cruisin

thats the stock size. i would suggest a combo of like 275-60-15/245-60-15. i have the grand am gts, they work well but shoulders die fast [for me atleast]. pretty good burnout life though. a much nicer tire is the toyo proxes st. about $15-20 more per tire than the gts, but are far better in specs and quality. should run about 80 on the 245s, and about 95 on the 275s. and they can all go onto an 8" rim.

this was a really quickie photoshop of my truck with 20" MHT - Neeper - Vandle rims and a body drop. total time, about 90 mins.

p.s. this is my first experiance using a real photoshop program [im a 'paint' expert...lol] i used 'jasc paintshop pro 9.0'

p.s.s. anybody got any good paintshops that are free? this one is a 60 day trial...

Thought I'd bump this back up. I emailed the guy that is running this auction about his drop.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4510266470&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT


He cut 2 coils in front and in the back he removed 2 leafs and used extended shackles. I like the look.

I like it too! It's that nose down look I'm after. Cutting two coils seems a bit severe, though. I cut one coil, and have about 2 inches left for downward travel. Maybe he's using the short bumpstops to cure that?,,,,Cruisin

i love the stance that truck has, and the paint looks awesome. same scheme i wanna do, except black on bottom and dark blue candy over silver on top

Mine black on top, silver on bottom, with some sort of red grpahic in between. It'll probably end up suede black though, I love that dropped black primer and smoothies thing.,,,Cruisin

but you already fixed your trashed black paint...why would you scuff it back up? lol...

im eventually gonna make my seperation line be 3/8" stripe of silver leaf that ill rub with a light brush to put swirles in it. i love the look of swirled silver leaf.

Oh yeah, me too. My paint looks amazing in pictures, but up close it's kinda cheesed. It has non matching black around the tail lights, and the roof and hood look like they were done in krylon and left in the sun for 5 years, then waxed. Not too mention it HAS krylon on the front edge of the hood where I shaved the emblem and hood ornament. Overall it looks pretty good in a camera, and from 40 feet, but needs some work. If you want to add to that, it's black, and shows every low buck trick the last paint shop tried to pass off as good work. A good sanding job and some suede black will give it that SoCal custom in progress look.,,,,Cruisin

yeah, mine is the original paint and in the 80s the clearcoat formula dodge used was horrid. my grandma had an aries and it was the same oxidized stuff. ive tried sanding it down smoother, but i think i used to roagh of a grit. i pretty much just want to sand off all the clear but leave the paint. i dont care if its dull or not. as long as its not flakey. ill prolly just use alot of black primer as i do custom body mods [steel roll pan, shaved doors, shaved fender emblems, shaved lower trim, smoothed out liftgate, custom tails, shaved roof lines, welded-on fenders/cowl/rockers/body seams, steel cowl induction scoop,all that kinda stuff.]

oh, i have a drawing my girlfriend drew for me of my truck with 20" Neeper Vandle rims and the paint scheme i want. here it is...file is very low quality though...its incredible in person, ill get a better scan on here sometime...

Well, I'm un-bagging my Ram.  I need winter reliability.  Once it got cold my compressor started struggling and I had a lift valve freeze up one morning.  I'm living out in the woods now, 30 mins from work and no longer have a garage.  I can't be messing with this stuff on an arse-numbingly cold morning when I need to be getting to work.

Once I get the stuff off the truck I'm going to put it up on eBay.  I'm going to do some CAD drawings of stuff like the front bag mounts so you all can make them at home.  I *might* be able to burn some off of the CNC plasma here at work.  Gotta get the owner's OK on that first.

She's still dropped just no longer on air.

I will be home tomorrow night, and rain permitting, I'm going to finish the drop/urethane job. Shoot me an e-mail if you get the CAD drawings done. I know a shop that has a waterjet cutter, and they can cut them out smooth!,,,,Cruisin

any format you prefer?  I have autoCAD 2000 at work.  I can save it as a .dwg or as a .dxf   The .dxf is probably more universal.

here's the lower



fotki reduces the image size - sorry.  

email me at LoFrontier@yahoo.com and I can send you a .pdf, full size .jpg, .dwg, or .dxf  If you're using autoCAD let me know which version.

Awesome man, looks great!! I will have to ask them what format they use. They also moved recently, so I can't run over there as easily as I once could. It turned from a 10 minute trip, to about a 20 to 25 minute trip one way. Are the pictures still up of the part you had to cut out of the spring pocket? Or did you have to cut any at all? As much as I hate the thought of pulling one apart in the junkyard, I want to keep a spare set of lower arms.,,,,Cruisin

yep, all the pics are still up.  Really no need to get new control arms.  These brackets bolt right in.  Use the shock bolts in the slotted holes.  The other hole bolts through a slotted hole in the control arm.  You'll have to weld shock mounts to the back side of the control arm.  

hey lofro, whats the link to it on ebay?

yo, lofro...how much you want for the whole setup?

haven't gotten off my butt and put it on eBay yet.  

Comps are pretty much toast.  Got water in 'em and they don't quite pump right anymore.

My buddy got dibs on the valves, gauges and switches.

So I've got tanks, brackets, valves and some fittings.

I'm probably going to be selling the truck soon.  I'm looking at a used Pathfinder.  I had one a year or so ago.  I love 'em!  The gas mileage on the Ram is killing me and I want a 4x4 toy, 4 doors and something a little smaller.  The Ram is a good damn truck though.  I'm going to hate to sell her.

wait? you said your buddy wants to valves, gauges and switches, but you said that leaves the tanks, brackets, valves and some fittings. did you mean the bags? because if nothing else, i would like the front mounts you had to make. and i'll possibly get the tanks and other stuff you have. its all just a little less i have to buy later when i buy a set0up and toss it in. lemme' know how much you want for all of it, or just the mounts. and could you also email me the bigger pic of the schimatic for the front mounts you posted? my email is standardbyker88@yahoo.com.

thanks, later.

just bringing this back to the top...

what year shackles for chevy trk. works on a 86 2-wheel drive same year or any of them.what do you mean by pull the levs.

update: as soon as the pull-a-part has another not so striped 80s ram/rc im gonna snag the coils, shackles and hangers and modify them to be cut coils and shorter shackles and hangers for about a 2" drop all around.

if i got the coils from a 3/4 ton and cut them, would they be stiffer, stock 1/2"ish, or boncier? i hope stiffer, but not a huge amount. i want them stiffer than i have now, be it by 1/2 ot 3/4 ton.

later people...

I put 1996 chevy shackles on mine. It gave me about 2" total drop. I had to drill the hole out to 5/8' on the spring end though.
 
Pulling leaf springs is what he meant. You pull the 2nd and 4th spring. I'm getting ready to just pull the helper spring. That should give me another 1" of drop.

Short shackles will give you lift, not drop. The shackles actually mount to the frame lower than the spring mount. The longer the shackle the more drop.
FYI, You can't go more than about 4" more in shackle length because of the gas fill tube being lined up above it on the drivers side.

sorry. the shackle becomes longer. my bad. but doesnt the hanger become shorter?

just bringing this back to page 1 from page 6. geez, how'd we let it get this far down?

just so i understand i am a first time do it yourself slammer  if i use the 4000 lb 761 lower arms on my 82 dodge d 150 which has 760 lowers i would need to use the one ton springs and it would give a stffer ride and only 2 in drop but if i use the 1/2 ton springs it would give the same ride but without beefing up the arms might stand to buckle uner the pressure? now for the rear can i use 99 and up for shackles i would rather not flip the axle i was told to use a longer shackle to get the drop.?? any help would be nice

I have a '85 2wd D150.  I have lowered the back 2" with AIM shackles already.  I was planning on getting the AIM lower A-arms and adding their hangers on the front of the rear springs.  That would give me a 2" drop in front and 4" in the back.  Do shimms need to be added in the rear for the pinion angle?  At what point of a drop are they needed?  I just got the transmission rebuilt yesterday and don't want to do damage to it.  I also have the "lean" and will be checking that out today.  Thanks for the help.

I am finally geting back to mine. I'm on the passengers side now. It's all torn down except for the bushings. Urethane is sitting on the side, waiting for install, hehe. I'm experimenting first, and cutting one coil off for a mild front drop. If I have problems aligning it, I guess
I'll break down and get the high dollar drop springs. I just can't make myself spend that much for ten bucks worth of steel, that takes them minutes to make. That balljoint socket is HIGH buck, but it's the only way to go.,,,,Cruisin

And yes, with a 4" rear drop, you will probably run into some vibration problems. You could do it first and see, but you will more than likely need a shim or two.,,,,Cruisin

well i guesas thats the next step for my rc,and running 245/60 r15's makes it quite low already.

All the RC's I see around here seem to be running that size, hehe. I hardly ever see a 4x4, weird huh?,,,,Cruisin

ive got 255-60-15s and 215-65-15s. its a nice combo, handles good and drops it a little. but it shows about 2" too much fender gap on all 4s.

Tip from the formerly bagged - reinforce your spring pockets when you cut them out for bags!  Mine were fine when I was bagged but now that I went back to coils both pockets have cracked.  EEK!  I'm going down to my boy's shop in DE in a couple weeks to get them fixed.

Oh sheet! You talking about where the upper part was cut out for the bags?? That's a bit scary!,,,,Cruisin

yes it is.  I'll weld it up and put a patch over it and it'll be okey-dokey.  The springs transmit more force to the frame than the bags do.  I'm pretty sure it's because the bags baloon outwards when they're compressed and dissipate some of the force sideways.

Yeah, a softer force than springs, sounds about right. Not sure what's holding me up, besides jackstands, lol. I only need to rip out the pass. side control arms, get the old bushings out, reinstall the urethane, and button it back up. I need to do it before my wife gets to town on Monday. She's not as much an enthusiast as we are, and doesn't appreciate vehicles sitting around in pieces, lol.,,,,Cruisin

My neighbors torch isn't an option now, the acetylene ran out. sheeeesh, lol.

Air bags transfer zero force sideways.  There is nothing to transfer the force to but air.  What air bags DO accomplish is spreading the load carried out across a larger surface area (cross-section of the bag), as opposed to springs, which concentrate the force on the last coil of the spring on both ends.

The bags are softer because they baloon out when they compress.  The pressure of the air in the bag acts in all directions - up, down, sideways, etc.  The rubber sidewalls of the bag affect the spring rate of the bag.  When they baloon out they are doing work and absorbing energy.  That's why bagged trucks ride so smooth even without shocks.  The bags are absorbing energy.  They don't rely simply on the compressibility of the air for the spring.  I had Firestone bags in my trucks.  Slam Specialty bags are stiffer compared to the Firestones because they don't baloon out like the Firestones.  That's why people like to use them in their hoppers.

Spring force acts linearly (unless they're progressive springs) to the tune of F=K*x where K is the spring rate (lbs/in for example) and x is the distance the spring is compressed.  The Force vs Compressed Distance graph for an air spring is much different.  Due to the compressibility of the air the force ramps up more sharply as the air spring is compressed.  That makes for the softer ride.

The softer ride is what was saving my spring pockets.  Going back to coils is a harsher ride.  The coils don't absorb energy like the bags so all that energy is transferred right to the spring pockets and caused them to crack.  Gotta think of the dynamic system here and figure in the damping effects of the air spring.  Damping forces increase with the square of the velocity - just like drag.  Bags dampen (absorb energy) a LOT better than coil springs do.

I completely agree.  The tensile strength of the rubber is akin to spring rate of a coil spring.  The 'spring rate' of the rubber bag changes with it's shape.  I.E. the more 'stretched' the rubber is, the higher the spring rate gets.

That doesn't change the fact that the only transfer of force by the bag is vertical.  All of the force going into the bag has to leave it.  Otherwise, it would not set still.  The action of the bag squishing, as in when you hit a bump, shows that more force is going into the bag than is leaving it at that moment.  This causes the suspension to move up or the body to come down.  Unequal forces = movement.  A split second later, the suspension rebounds, the bag is no longer 'squished'.  Now more force is leaving through the top of the bag than is being input on the bottom.  Hence the suspension drops, or body moves up.

There is some possibly quantifiable amount of force dissapated in the bag itself, as it will not be 100% efficient at rebounding energy it receives (if you find a material that does you will be a rich man )  The action of compressing the air within the bag also absorbs some energy.  But most of it is still transferred straight through.

What I said above is easier to show with numbers.  Say you have a 6" diameter air bag, and a 6" diameter coil spring with 1" diameter wire coils.

The area for load transfer on the air bag is roughly 28.3 square inches(PI*3^2).  The area for load transfer on the coil spring is roughly 12.6 square inches((PI*3^2)-(PI*2^2)), less than half the area.  Apply a load , and spread it out over each area.  Say bag or spring is supporting an 800 pound load.  The pressure on the coil spring mounts is roughly 63.5 psi, while the pressure on the bag mounts is roughly 28.3 psi (coincidence it matches the area LOL).

And again, the bag has damping properties.  Dampers absorb force.  Less force is transferred to the frame.

It's the harsher force of the springs that broke the pockets.

If you draw a free body diagram of the coil vs the air spring the net result of both springs is a force acting through the center line of the spring.  That force creates a bending force around the area of the spring pocket that cracked.  The spring pocket didn't crack in the spring seat area.  If it did the issue of the force distributed over a larger area would apply.  When applied to what actually happened on my truck it doesn't make a difference because the total force is what matters.  With the bag the total force is less in the time domain due to the nature of the damping properties and spring coefficient of the air air spring - read harshness of ride.  The bag softened  up the ride and transferred less force to the portion of my pocket that cracked.

Just like your tires absorb the shock of bumps in the road the air springs absorb the shock of the suspension movement.  Rubber absorbs vibrations better than steel.  Input a force, the rubber absorbs a portion of it.  

I finally got sick of looking at my RC's front end up in the air last night, and got the bushings done. The lower arm is back in, and the
upper is all rebuilt ready to go in. I ended up using my propane/MAPP torch to burn the offending rubber bushings out. It was the same effect, just took three times as long, lol. By 1 or 2 PM it should be back on the ground, and I will take some pics of the effect. Cutting one coil got me about 1.75" to 2.00". I know it's not much, but the fender lip is even with the top of the tires, a marked improvement in looks. With the amazing experiences I've had with urethane bushings on other vehicles, I can't wait for the test drive, hehe. I'm going to see if I can get to the alignment shop without a ticket, wish me luck!! I have the registration done, and it's insured. The only ticket I could possibly get is for speeding, or expired inspection, hehe. I may fill it up too, if I can find $80 lying around, lol.,,,,Cruisin

Inspection?  What's that? lol  Mine's been past due for almost a year now.

I did the full front end rebuild in the fall.  I burnt all the old rubber out.  All in all it was a pretty easy rebuild.  My radius rod bushings were SHOT!  Biggest problem I had was getting the upper ball joints out.  What a BITCH!  

Yeah I used the pipe wrench welded to angle iron trick for the drivers side. That SUCKED, lol. I bought the socket and adapter for the passengers side. MUCHO easier!!! I still needed a 3 foot piece of pipe to budge it though.,,,,Cruisin

It's done! And, it looks about how I wanted. Now for some 15x10's and fat tires in back, smaller rims and tires in the front. Yeah
right maybe if I save up for a year, lol. One thing that is puzzling, though. When it forst came down off the jack, it was pretty well
negative cambered, which I expected. I back up and down the driveway a couple of times, now it looks overpositive? The upper
A-arm adjusters are very tight, so what's the deal?,,,,,Cruisin.

Crusin', did you only use the AIM lower control arms?  That is what I am planning now.  I want to order ASAP.  I have been trying to find Chisholm and am not haveing any luck.  I talked with them last fall, but now it is the wrong phone number.  Does anyone have a number or address?

No you don't want to use the 4000# axle. You want the 3600# axle . the 4000# has the bigger ball joint & will not fit. If you use the stock half ton spring it will give you about a 5" drop and have the same ride as stock. with the one ton or 3/4 ton spring it will give you roughly a couple inch drop. I used 73-up chevy drop shackles to lower the rear.  you need to beef up the control arm if you use the 1/2 ton spring. because it will buckle on the pavement when going over bumps in the road, not under pressure.

That's weird, I could have sworn I answered. Sorry about that! I chopped one coil off the front, and in the back I used modified 88-98 Chevy
shackles. I could not do the full rear drop unfortunately, as the drivers side shackle would have rubbed the fuel filler tube, and vent.I didn't want to deal with that later, so I just used the bottom hole. The bottom hole was 2 1/2" taller than the stock shackle. It lowered the back just enough, IMO. Now it has the nose down stance, but not like the 31's in back and 235/75 in front look, lol. That was a style here in TX, believe it or not. If you had a 2wd truck you put the biggest mud tire you could on the back, and left the front stock. It was pretty funny looking, like a mud dragster.,,,,Cruisin

Before!


After!!

looks good so far...

And as of ten minutes ago, it has no fender emblems. Pried them off, sanded, welded up the holes and ground them down, and primed for future bodywork.,,,,Cruisin

A single pull Autoloc for the drivers side, and shaved door handles are next. I'll either do that or use the old kustomizer trick, leave the door locks and connect them to the door latch.

I did the same drop as you. One coil in front and chevy shackles. I was worried about the same thing so I wrapped my filler hose with a 1 liter sode bottle and then covered that with some 2" exhaust pipe that I cut 1/3 out of lengthwise. It's held on with cable ties. I crawl under there about every other month and there is still no sign of wear.

hey cruisin, thanks for the message...i forgot about the door lock trick. im going to hopefully get that done on my driver door this weekend. ill hook it up before i weld it up though to make sure it works....later.

and m2, thanks for the filler wrap tip, ill try to remember that when i get to workin on mine in the coming months. things have been slow, i just spent $700 to get the thing running again [computer burned out amongst other problems].

Hmmm, I might go buy another set of shackles later, my buddy sells them to me for $37 with tax. Not a real big loss in my book. First I have to get my other friend a set for his 04 F-150. He's been bugging me about that, hehe.

SB88, I'm not 100% certain the door lock thing will work. I have to get into the doors and check it out. I'll post my results later. The one good thing about the late eighties (and possibly others) Is the indention around the door handles. All I have to do is take off the door handles, cut a piece of sheet metal that shape, and weld it in. No big time cutting and welding to do.,,,,Cruisin

well, i got the lock hooked up to the latch. it pops it open really easy and the result is nice. hopefully this afternoon or sometime this week ill shave the handle off. im going to cut a 3x9" section out and then weld in a filler plate. ill also weld up that vent area on the door jamb [plastic vent broke] and the lock system is completely removed so ill fill the lock knob hole too. ill try get some pics when its all done.

Sweet. So no big deal then? Any bending or cutting of the actuator rod needed? Remotes are nice and all, but I prefer a mechanical
connection just in case. Old vehicles are notorious for dead batteries.,,,,Cruisin

You might also be able to use a slick older car lock as well. Some of the old ones had flip open covers for the keyhole, etc....

And be careful about filling up door and cab vents. I remember my Dad got this new Ford work truck. The cab was so tight your ears popped when you shut the door, lol.,,,,Cruisin

Crusin, thanks for the info.  Hopefullt, I will be doing the lower front this weekend.

While you're getting parts, get some energy suspension or similar bumpstops. I bought some, and ended up trimming them
down to about an inch thick. I was riding on the factory ones. I have not driven it since they were put in, but it's GOT to be better!....Cruisin

Well, I ordered 2" lower coils from Eaton Suspension yesterday the they were delievered today.  Quick service.  Now I want to start tearing into the front end.  I will take your advice and add bumpstops.  Also going to change tie rods, ball joints and shocks.  That should keep me busy for awhile.  Thanks again for the advice.

got it all welded up. warped the door a little bit, nothing major. not wavy, just curves in a bit. the only mods i had to do to the linkage was this:
1. take the stock power lock linkage out.
2. take the lock cylinder linkage out.
3. set the two next to each other, you'll see that the lock one is alot smaller. i just cut some of that off the end that connects to the lock and did the same to the other linkage.
4. the only thing was, i made it about 1/8" [maybe 1/4"] shorter, that way it wont bind up and/or be too tall.
5. i pulled out all the linkages except the inner door handle and the one i made. ill try to snap some pics today and have them up by thursday [maybe sooner].
the weld i made on the linkage was a nasty weld, but its strong as hell. i didnt bother grinding it down since itll be inside the door.

does anybody have the plastic cover that goes over the hole in the door jamb. i broke mine [fell out as i closed the door] and it looks like a bit of a bitch to shave it smooth.

and now for an actual suspension question: do you think i remove the coil, cut it and put it back without having to swap any parts [ball joints, bushings, ect.]? i have new shocks in [about 2 months old], really nice ones [10 stage valving, great ride].
and out back, do you think i could pull the overload leaf without having to get new u-bolts? i would like to change them but dont know where i'd get new ones. any help on that. i want about a 2/4 maybe 3/5" drop, but cant do that much up front [wheels wont go that far into the wheel wells.] the backs will tuck all the way until they rub the tops, but the fronts are kind of tight. thanks in advance for the help.

Just came in from the garage and shot blaster on all the bolts and nuts.  When changing to the lower coils, I want to change tie rods and ball joints.  Is the special tool needed to separate the ball joints or can I just take off the nut and lower the a-arm or use a pickle fork?  Is another special tool needed to install ball joints?  Getting anxious to get this thing lowered since I got the 2" drop coils.  Thanks for any help.
Garry

Installing the uppers is a bit of a pain, as they screw in and out. I went to my local auto parts and ordered the special socket and 1/2" to 3/4" adapter. You still need a cheater pipe, a 4 foot long piece of 1.5 inch water pipe worked fine for me. Believe me you do not want to do them with a pipe wrench welded to angle iron, which is what I did on one side. Took me about 4-5 hours incl. taking breaks, to keep a level head, lol. The lowers press in and out easily enough with a loaner tool from an auto parts store. Has a giant C clamp, and some fittings, etc. As for bumpstops, they already have them from the factory, you need shorter ones. Mine were snug against the lower control arms. HItting these wide speed bumps we have, felt like it would lift then drop, with no travel.,,,,Cruisin

I got one side done on the shaved handles also. I used the door handle rod, put a new bend in it, cut it down, and drilled out the lever piece on the door lock. You're right, opens WAY easy. One little turn to the left, and pop. Door's open.

SB88
A good rule is to always change the u bolts. They tend to stretch when installed and will not be up to par. Any spring shop sould be able to hook you up with new ones.

Remsgem.
AZ has the socket you need for the upper ball joint on loaner. I used an impact driver to take mine out. You can use a pickle fork to seperate the spindle from the  ball joint. I used an AZ loaner press when I did mine.

AZ gave me a blank stare when I asked? With as many Dodges that are running the streets here, you'd think they would have been a little more knowledgeable.,,,,Cruisin

well i snapped a few pics of the setup on my door with my crappy digi cam. here ya go. in the first you can see my un-ground filler. the 2nd is my unground [no need to, its in the door] linkage [ill make a new one at a later date] and the 3rd is the door panel [note the lack of a lock at all, no need for it]

Well, I spent the day attempting to get the upper ball joint out on the drivers side (didn't get very far).  I got use of the tool (socket), but have to return it tomorrow.  Called around and no one has any to rent or loan out.  Looking to buy one but not having any luck.  But tomorrow is another day and more time to try again.

1/2" ratchet, and a four foot piece of pipe. I still had to push pretty good. Good luck!!,,,,Cruisin

Well, I got the socket for the upper ball joint and a press for the bottom.  But I can't get the top out.  Tried my air gun at 120 even.  Those suckers are ON there!  Also tried a breaking bar with a pipe, no luck that way either.  Any ideas?  Those lowered coils look great in my dining room, but would rather have them on the truck.

Impact will not budge it, no matter how high it's set. How long of a pipe did you use? Mine eventually got easier to turn. You're turning
counter-clockwise, right? Sorry, had to ask.,,,,Cruisin

well, im pretty far into this 3D model [using rhino 3.0] it was an F350 longbed dually club cab. i chopped the top, shortened the bed to the dually fenders [havent made them yet], shortened the cab to the doors, made it a unibody, just borrowing the steelies and whitewalls from a 49 merc project til i make the 19.5" dually rims. the pictures dont do it justice, i have bigger versions if anybody wants ill email them or something.

here is the back shot...

using a 3 feet pipe.  I have a Dakota that needs a carb sitting next to it, so, there isn't much room.  

Try the pressure jerk. Not sure if that's the proper term, haha. stand up, put pressure on the pipe, then jerk it with all your body weight.,,,,Cruisin

My son and I tried again today to remove the upper ball joint.  We had the impact socket and impact reducer and used a 1/2" breaking bar. Well, we snapped the breaking bar.  So, guess now is the time to send the truck to a garage and pay a bundle.  This thing better get a total 2" drop with the new coils after all of this.

Man, you must have the worst stuck upper balljoint of all time. I feel for you. Sorry about that:(,,,,Cruisin

Just for the sake of asking. Did you break the spindle loose from the ball joint before you started removing it?

That wouldn't make a whole lot of difference would it? Not trying be a smartass, just curious. It would make that nut easier to remove if you did it first, but otherwise the balljoint should spin freely in the part you're trying to remove? ,,,,Cruisin

I do see what you mean though. At a certain point you would have seperate them to even get it apart.

I did break the ball joint loose first with a pickle fork first.  Did the top and bottom joints.  I am having a friend at a garage try on Wednesday, but he is having doubts if he wil be able to get them off.  He suggested having a backup plan.  That would be to get another set of upper arms and installing the new ball joints in those.  I'm not sure about taking off the top arms and what will happen with the coils when I do.  All of this started to put 2" lower coils in.  

As long as you keep pressure on the lower arms while  the top arms are off, you'll have no problems. I would say minimum to be safe, is to have the frame on jackstands in front, and a jack under each lower. If you only have one jack, I would only do one at a time. You might be able to prop something under the other side, but it's not very safe. Your best best is to find/rent a spring compressor, and take the coils out completely, since you're changing them anyway? As for putting the new shorter ones back in, you may not need the compressor at all. I cut one coil off of mine, and they went back just by lining them up and jacking the lower arm into position. Above all be safe, keep pressure on the lower arm at all times, unless you have a compressor in place, and/or the tension is relieved.,,,,Cruisin

And do NOT, EVER, buy a spring compressor from a flea market, or discount tool dealer. I pulled a coil out of
my Falcon once. The scond I set the spring down on the ground, the hooks on one end broke off. I believe the only thing that saved me from injury, is that the spring didn't have a solid surface to launch itself from. It released in both directions at once, cancelling out any movement. I learned my lesson the hard way. It could have just as easily broke while it was still in the spring seat on the car. I try not to think about that, lol. ,,,,Cruisin

wow. close call. good luck on the upper swap. i would suggest removing the coil too, just to be safe.

the coils will be coning out and replaced with 2" lower ones.  I do have compressors but am having a problem getting them between the coils.  just like that old saying -anything that can go wrong, will.  the bolts on the upper arm are rusted, shot some blaster on them, but didn't seem to help.  guess they will have to be cut off.  after this is done, i will be putting hangers on the back.  already put lower shackles on the back last summer.  you are right about those coils and the danger involved.  sure don't want to have my head taken off.

If you have the type with the loose hinged hooks, it's fairly easy. Put the threaded set into the spring through the shock hole seperate from the shaft. You kinda need three hands, reach in from the sides of the spring and feed it up towards the top. Hook the hoks over the spring, and then spin it up the spring until you can't go anymore, and the center block is pointing straight down. Once you get that piece in, then put the threaded shaft with the other set of hooks in through the bottom as well. Thread it in slowly and continue moving the hooks around until it looks straight, then tighten the shaft through the bottom shock hole with a socket. The main trick is to put the
threaded hook set in seperate, then assemble the compressor inside the spring. if you keep the lower arm jacked up close to how it would sit on the ground, you don't have to compress it that much. You just have to hold the spring at that length, and then lower the jack under the lower arm to remove the spring.,,,,Cruisin