Here is the truck with a 2/4 drop, 18 inch L rims


Some pics of the suspension before More drop.



I had to replace lower ball joints, inner tierods, Hubs/rotors, bearings, shocks and while I was at it I decided to clean it up a bit. So far I got the front done and would of had the back done too but the leaf springs I got had the wrong bushings in the front hoop so I am waiting for the new Prothane bushings and swaybar endlink bushings. I didn't need the endlink bushings but I wanted them all to match.







The bearings are Hi Cap KOYO Performance set with new seals, Rotors are Powerstop drilled and slotted with ZR16 ceramic brake pads.
The spindles are 2" belltech drop spindles, Coils are Belltech 2" drop coils
Belltech 2" shorter than stock Nitro drop shocks and the ball joints and inner tierods are Moog. I repainted the calper brackets black and used duplicolor high temp ceramic paint on the calipers. The gap on the fender is now 16 inches but depending on where I park is 15.5. So the truck went down 2.5 inches and there will still be a little coil sang in the next week. As soon as I get the leaf spring bushings I will be doing the C-Notch and lowering the rear 2.5-3 to match the front. The leaf springs will be 3" Hotchkis with belltech nitro drop shocks and a DGM C-Notch. When I do the rear drop I will decide to adjust the rear height with the adjustable shackles +/- 1 inch. I will post Pics as soon as I get it done. By the way when belltech says you have to use their bolt on the lower ball joint they mean it. Follow the directions and you will be good. Once the rear drop is done I will go to the same place and take pics so I have a better reference point. Measurements before additional drop were center wheel to fenders. Front was 18.25 and the rear was 18.5. sofar the results tend to lean towards a 4.5/6.5 drop. Time will tell.

 

Sweet! If you don't mind a suggestion, I'd remove the nerf bars. They just don't go with the muscle truck theme you have.

 

Roger that> I am waiting till its all done and can get the ground effects kit. They hide the frame for now.

 

Here is some pics today with a better camera. Note the control arms are parralell to the ground. This gave me the extra 1/2 inch
Look how close the spindle is to the rim. Thats why you have to use belltechs nut and washer and cut the ball joint stud.
Then notch the bolt in an X with a hammer and chizel to keep the nut from coming off. Belltechs spindle need an 18" rim minimum to work.


From this pic you can see how much lower the front is. I should be working on the rear this weekend Parts and weather permitting.

I still want to order up the sway bar endlinks to match the rest of the red prothane bushings and I need a ground effects kit. Time will take care of that one..lol

 

Looks good, Depending on the 18" rim some people grind off a little off the bottom of the spindle to make a little more room.

Looks good, what do you have in the rear now? Just shackles?

 

I moved the O.E. hangers up about 1.5" up with 2 inch shackles and removed the overload leaf. So the back is about 4.15" now. I think I want to have a small amount of rake to it so I will probably put the hangers back to the O.E. spot or drill an other set of holes and move them down an inch. The new leafs are 3 inch drop. I will play with it a bit till I get it the way I want it.

 

Looks good let me know if you need any help with your Belltech parts.

 

looks good so far

 

Thanks bud. The new bushings should be here friday when I get home from work so weather permitting I will be working on it this weekend. I will take pics and post as soon as I get it done. I was talking to the Ol' lady and she thinks level would look better than a little bit of rake. I personally think with my style truck 1/2 to 1" rake would look preety sweet but I wiil play with it. The hangers and shackles are the key to my adjustment to get it just right. What do you guys think?? To rake or not to rake??
To put things into perspective. My sig Pic is with 20's and a 31.22 tall tire and with the L rims is an 18" rim with 28.45 tall tire. So the truck is down alot from when it started.
Over all down in the front right now is around 3 7/8. Big difference. Now I have to make sure I don't pull all the way up in a parking stall or I WILL hit the bump stop or curb. It's been a while since my last Low Lowered truck...lol High speed low drag...gotta love it.

 

I vote level when slammed this far. Just looks so clean.

 

^^^^ I agree. It looks much better when you're that low. With the rake, it looks like something is left out and takes away from the looks of the truck.

 

Well I crawled around and took a bunch of measurements. The front wheel gap is 1 7/8 and the rear right now is 4 1/8. so the back to be even needs to come down about 2 1/4
So it looks like I will need to drill some new holes in the hanger and move it down about 3/4. If the leaf springs drop the 3" promised it should be dead on even wheel gap front and rear which if I remember right is 1/2 from dead level.

 

I think you should install the leafs before you start drilling more holes, and see what they actually drop you, then you can tweak the shackle if need be.

 

were your 3 inch springs 3 inch drop?

 

I had 2.5" Eibach coil springs that were 3"

I have '99 Lightning leafs that dropped me 2.5"