The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk suspension: stock or lowered?

ok, ive got a question. is there such a thing as lowering your suspension( new, lowered springs/spindles/shocks/ect) without loosing your ability to haul/tow? if u do loose some, how much? i would like to lower my truck, but if it's gonna loose its ability to be a truck, then i may have to rethink my idea.

If you want to keep your truck a truck and lower it i'd go with air bags.

i guess i forgot to mention that i'm 15 with no source of income (funny how the little details skip your mind.) i have thought about a 'bag system, but the money, time, and knowledge required to install one of these things is beyound my budget and skill level. i think.

If you're on a budget (like most of us are) I'd recommend that you leave it stock and spend your pennies on other things for now. There are other, more important things to spend money on - especially if you are concerned about safety.

You can always lower the truck later. For now, I'd recommend you tighten up your steering (since you mentioned towing) and have your brakes rebuilt if it hasn't been done yet. You can do the brakes yourself, even if you're just getting into the hobby. That would save money and give you an opportunity to hone your mechanical skills.

Take the time to enjoy your truck. Tinker on it enough to keep it up and running safely. Don't feel pressured to slam it to the ground right away. If that's what you want to do later - go for it.

You didn't say what you would someday be hauling. I haul livestock about once a week. I wouldn't pull a heavy load on a lowered vehicle. On the other hand, most guys are just pulling a light load - like a motorcycle or snowmobile trailer. In that case, if you haven't built a street-rod that is skimming the ground, you should be fine.

kimberly- thanks for reminding me of my priorities. the brakes have all been rebuilt by a pro shop recently. the steering is, of course, manual, and is alot of fun to make turns with:) it has a 6 cylinder/3 on the tree, so i wont be doing any heavy hauling besides the ocational small 1 axle trailer to and from Home Depot when i cant get all of whatever i need in the bed. the dropping the truck also is on my wish list along with an overdrive, paint, ect., so its not happening anytime soon, btu i just wanted to get an idea from yall folks. thanks again.

I've seen some guys really slam their vehicles, and still be able to haul a load, or pull a trailer with them.. altho most folks who do such extreame lowering haul little more than a beer cooler in their rides, since it's all about the LOOK.. and a load of gravel in the bed would tear up their big dollar paintjob.

So yea, you can really lower your ride and still be able to load the back.. and so long as there aren't any bubble gum wrappers blowing across the road to get stuck on.. (or got forbid potholes) you'll be alright.. but those types of lowering projects require a good deal of $$.. IFS, airbags, lots of mods.

Sveral guys on here into that sort of thing.. and I imagine they'll be happy to share important do's and don'ts for the kind of mods you're dreaming of.. as well as give you an idea of the costs involved.

With an equalizing trailer hitch and lift bars you can tow a trailer with a fairly heavy load (like a car) and it works fine with a lowered vehicle. I have done that lots of times and had no problems, just be careful when towing even with trailer brakes it takes more time and distance to stop the extra weight. My car trailer has about a zillion miles on it and I have never had any problems with it, loaded with as much as 14,000 lbs. or empty.

On my 61 I turned the torsion bars down on the front and when I have the dough (about $120) I am going to get 2" drop coils for the back. For my purposes that is not going to comprimise my working ability, but I do not do any real heavy hauling in my truck. I say if you have the money and can make the hauling comprimises thengo for it!

Kyle

Without skill and funds, it'll be hard to accomplish this. With that said, there's no time like the present! An old truck is a great way to learn. I've done more fabricating, wrenching and learning as I go on my '65 than any other car I've owned. The great majority of it was with the help of people here. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Try to do as much homework as possible before starting a particular project and you'll make less mistakes and have to do less rework.

I'm guessing you have a '63? The easiest and cheapest way to do what you're asking would be dropped springs and notch the frame in rear to give you more travel. Classic Performance has everything you need and then some. CPP drop kit
You'll want to get their notch kit if you're going to haul. In the front, you may have to trim down the steering stops a bit and install some shorter bumpstops.
I did a write-up on my Yayhoo! group about lowering my '65. I bagged the rear and for lack of funds did a bunch of fabricating on lower control arms to get the front down. The bags work real nice. I've hauled quite a few heavy loads and it's all good. To view my write-up under "Files", you've gotta join the group. That's just the way Yayhoo! has things setup unfortunately. Here's the link: Kustoms-and-Sleds
-David

YES YOU CAN!
Look at it this way: You might probably need to replace the 40-year-old+ springs (front and rear) anyway, so putting in a some two-inch drop springs will cost little more money, and no extra time.
You're 15...you aren't hauling a race car or big fishing boat. You're going to be hauling parts, some buddies, coolers, camping gear, junk from home depot, and furniture (with any luck, a girlfriends! Nothing like having a girlfriend who needs furniture hauled...ALWAYS worth the effort!) I'll be amazed if you're ever hauling more than 1000 pounds in the next few years.

At the point where you do start hauling heavy loads, the engine you have won't be up for it, nor will the trans...without being totally rebuilt, anyway. So lower your truck, enjoy it, and make it safe and functional. (go through total steering, suspension, seatbelts, etc)A 2/4 drop (2 front/4 rear) is usually about right, striking great balance between looks and function. You DON'T want to be getting hung up on speed bumps and driveways all the time.

ps: I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota I lowered 2/4, and I've pulled an 1800lbs trailer, loaded with a '54 Buick, '57 Chevy, '56 Chevy, numberous times, '58 Buick (will admit that one stressed things--me included!), hundreds of pounds of steel, landscape timbers, a couple 2-ton landscape rocks, a whole trailer load of shop equipment/appliances when I moved, and more. Never a problem--except that '58 Buick. So, yeah, you can moderately lower a truck, and still use it as a truck. Even a stick-shift, 2001 Dodge Dakota with a 4.7L V8.

-Brad

i was thinking abt lowering my truck 2 in the front and 4 in the back like Brad was saying. that way, i can haul and still look cool:) and fumblin46, dont worry, im gonna put in a steel bed( wood's completely rotted out) and get a roll-on bedliner so i can haul stuff.(my summer lawn service.) i know i wont be hauling a 2 axle trailer with a huge Buick behind it every day, but i just wanted to make sure i would be able to pull sometihng like a 2 axle uhaul( moving my grandmom to my house slowly but surely.) thanks again.

I don't know about the '63 but lowering the back of my 51 was pretty easy- I just put some lowering blocks between the leaf springs and the axel. If you've got coils in the front that's a little different. You'll probably need a couple of new coil springs. Or you could take the ones you have to a spring shop and tell them what you want and they could cut/rebend etc... to get you what you want for a decent price. Truth be told, you'll need new springs one day soon if they havn't been changed since the factory. So that's the time to get into the lowering.

BTW pulling the coil springs ain't too bad, but it is a bit risky if you don't have a reliable spring compressor to get them out and in.

I used lowering spring on my 64. They were just a shorter but beefier spring, which didn't change my hauling capacity. Don't forget to have it aligned after you change your ride heigth,
Scott

yea, if i do do anything, i will get new, lowered springs.

i used early classic five inch drop springs on the back of my 64 short step side.i didn't notch the frame and i carry what i want.it never bottoms out.

2/4 drop will be fine., My friends all had SLAMMED (4/6 ON s-10'S) lowriders back in high school. they looked cool, but they had to watch potholes, speed bumps, & curbs (just pulling into the gas station).
In reality by slamming thier trucks they took alot of the "drivability" out of them.... In my opinion, a truck should be a truck (not SLAMMED)... unless you have a full-blown custom or street rod that is NOT a daily driver