I installed the 2" drop shackles on my 2002 HD and it still too high for my taste. What is the best way to get the rear lower? I also would like to drop the front 1" or so. Any advice here would be welcome.

 

I personally like Ground Force products. But they are more expensive.

http://www.groundforce.com/




RickC

 

well if you just dropped the rear, like yesterday or whatever, give it a few days or so to settle all the way. After i dropped mine, the rear went from a 2" bigger gap than the front fender well, to just a 1" gap, and i used 2" shackles. After a few short trips though, i gained another 1/2", and when i remeasured (parked in the same spot) about a week later, i gained another 1/4". So now she's sitting at 1/4" higher in the back then the front, which is perfect for me, although i would like to drop the front another inch cuz i like the raked look, but then i'd be risking scraping the front end pulling into my drive

 

I don't understand how it could "settle". It's all fixed length parts and the only variance is the angle of the shackle. Maybe you torqued the bolts to a high torque that caused the shackle to not sit at it's designed angle. When I installed my 2" drop shackles, the truck droped about 1.5 inches and it hasn't moved. But I torqued everything back to what it was from the factory.

RickC

 

If the 2" drop wasn't enough, I agree the ground force is the way to go. Good stuff, but pricey...
Brian

 

well it either settled, or the tape measure shrunk
i didn't overtorque them, i put them right back to around what they were when i removed them. You're not gonna get instanly the complete drop cuz the suspension needs to bounce or work a little bit so the shackle is sitting in the right position or angle. I'm not saying its gonna take 1K miles or anything, but that if he just dropped the truck right before he posted, and hasn't driven it at all yet, its probalby not settled all the way, thats all.

anyway, if you want a killer looking stance, i'd say go with the setup outnumbered has! Really mean looking! 2" front drop and 2" rear drop. He used 3" springs and 2" hangers i believe. He said it bottomed out too much in the rear when he put it any lower. Good luck! let us know what comes about from it all

 

After doing a search on this subject, I decided on the Ground Force 1/2 kit. It includes the nitrogen charged shocks, which are tuned specifically for this truck at the height of their kit.

Has anyone here tried this kit yet? Wondering about the ride quality and such. I will be adding my Hotchkis anti-sway bars (front/rear) additionally.

 

I found that the 2" Belltech shackle didnt drop the back a full 2" I found that by loosening the bolts and driving around the block, and then tightening everything back up while the truck is on the ground helped.

 

Yeah, most guys get around 1 1/2 to 1 3/4" drop and not a true 2". I got a 1 3/4 and its perfect cuz the rear is about 1/4" higer than the front fender well so worked out good. Anyway, like i was saying earlier, the same reason you loosed your bolts and drove around the block and mine settling over a couple days does make sense. Yours just did it quicker cuz your bolts were loose. See, i'm not totally stupid

 

I have the ground force 1/2 kit on mine. It was only 199.00

 

And it looks dang good.

RickC

 

I have about 4K miles since installing the 2" drop shackles and like Harley356 said it did drop some more after driving a bit. I was told that it should settle a little more once the leaf springs get some more miles on them since the truck is new and only has 4,200 miles on it. I think that may be the reason you hear guys saying that the suspension will settle lower, if it is a new truck. Anyway, how much trouble is it to lower the front with the ground force kit? "outnumbered's" truck sets about right for my taste.

 

I experimented with a lot of combinations on my 2002 HD and wanted a level 2 to 3 inch drop front and rear and finally came up with a 3 inch Belltech front coil and ground force shocks and a 2inch Belltech shackels and 1 inch Belltech hangers in rear with ground force shocks. Loved the look but was bottoming out too much and finally refastened shackel connector about 1/2 inch higher and this did the trick.
Great ride, great look, little bottoming, big improvement in handling and cornering.
Will try to furnish gallery soon.
my experience for what it is worth and hope it helps

 

lucky4770,
That looks great! Now, I can hardly wait to get the kit installed.

chgames,
How would you rate the ride quality with the new Ground Force shocks compared to the stock ride? How does it handle 'bumpy' highways? Any bumpsteer?

 

I like the new ride better than stock because it feels very solid and when i hit a bump i can feel the trucks response and not the bouncing shocks.
I can still bottom out but not a problem now
Love the new feel and cornering and handling much better
Feels like sports car in curves
hope this helps