Well I wanted to get rid of the slight rake I had so I replaced the 1" lift shackle that came with my belttech flip kit for a 2" lowering shackle. That dropped me 3" from where I currently was and made it to where my tires were almost tucked in the fender wells (16" bottom of fender to center or axle). I was using about 10psi in the helper bags to air me up to even(17" bottom of fender to center of axle). That turned out to be a terrible idea.

Using the helper bags to achieve a level stance without a load in the bed caused the truck to ride so bouncy it was unbearable. It prevented the "bottoming out" that happens from time to time but the CONSTANT bouncing on every little bump was no where near worth it. I attribute this to the fact that the air in the bags in conjunction with the leaf springs was causing way to much rebound. The shocks weren't even coming into play. The truck rides great with air in the bags if you have a load in the bed or on the hitch and I believe that is because the extra weight provides enough force against the rebound caused by the leaf spring and air in the bags.

So in order to fix this problem and still achieve the level stance I decided to remove the 2" drop shackles and replace them with the factory shackles. The factory shackles were 1" lower than the lift shackle belltech provided with the flip kit. Doing this has allowed me achieve the level stance I wanted and puts me at 17" from bottom of the fender to the center of the axle at all four corners. I no longer have to use air in the helper bags to get me to a level stance and my truck rides like a dream again with no more "bounce".

I still "bottom out" on rare occasion but I have been driving lowered trucks for a long time so I know when to slow at bridge joints and intersection and such. I should also note that I "bottom out" on my bags not the bump stops. The location of the bags over the axle is the limiting factor in my range of motion. It is about 1 1/2 away from my cut down factory bump stop.

Now onto the pics.
This is with the 2" drop shackle and no air in the bags. 16" from bottom of fender to center of axle.



here is with the 2" drop shackle and about 100psi in the helper bags with no load in the bed.



here are some pics with the factory shackle on, no air in the bags, at my current ride height 17" from bottom of fender to center of axle at all 4 corners.

 

What did you use to go lower in the front?

 

The front has been at 17". I don't run any spacers in the adjustable strut. Never have. 40k miles like that with no problems. The back had been at 18" hence the need to modify to eliminate rake.

 

Ok? But the struts only lower you 3" not 4.5" where did the other 1.5" come from?

 

Looks good either way though

 

You don't read so good sometimes. The belltech struts lower you up to 3" IF you use the recommended spacer. If you DO NOT use the spacer you get more drop. Belltech does not advise running the struts w/o the spacer and that is why they state the struts only give you up to 3" of drop on the 2009-2012.

 

Looks really good

 

Well I have yet to ever see if say that please post it so i can read it thanks.

 

I downloaded the instructions it says on 09+ use one 16mm ring so if you use zero rings that actually lowers it an additional 0.63" so your actually 3.63" in the front and 6" in the rear because the flip kit gets you 5" with the lifting shackle and the factory shackle drops it an additional 1" and yes I can read I just have not ever read the instructions for the 09+ struts.

 

Oh well doesn't matte the truck looks good

 

He just meant you didn't read good because he already mentioned earlier in this thread what his front drop was

 

I don't care what the "instructions" say or what kind of drop the kit is supposed to provide. I go by real life measurements. I took measurements at stock height and every time I have made any adjustments. I can tell you that stock I was at 21.5" in the front and 23.5" in the rear. I am now 17" at all four corners. That is 4.5" drop up front and 6.5" out back.
Thanks

Truth

 

Thanks buddy. Lower is better, and you know this maaan!

 

Sorry I didn't go back and read my apologies

 

my buddy Paul sent me a pic of your truck he saw like two weeks ago. We still need to meetup one weekend and shoot some pics