The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk lowering a 65

I am wanting to lower my 65 stepside alittle but don't wanna pay the ridiculous prices for the drop springs. Does anyone know the best way of either cutting or heating the springs? The front looks like no problem but the back springs have a taper to them and I am afraid if I cut them they will not mount back properly.

I have a 72 which I will get around to lowering in the future.I plan on using 2 1/2 in.dropped spindles and 1 or 2 in.lowering springs on the front,and 4 in.springs on the rear.I take it you have coils all around.I will get a lot of neg.feedback,but I find the best way is to put out the extra bucks and buy the aftermarket stuff.On my 55 I installed the TCI M2 frontend with tubular A arms and powert R&P steering.On the rear i used the TCI springs, mounts,shackles,shocks and swaybar.Oh yeah and flippied the rear end.A little bit pricey but everything works perfectly.The truck runs down the road nice and steers and handles like a new vehicle.I am sure you will get a lot more advice here,telling you to either cut your springs,or go the junkyard route.Its your choice.

cut front,heat the crap out of the back springs and drive the dog out of it untill you save enough $$$$$ to buy the stuff to do it right,you'll prolly be suprised how fast you save up the money to buy the right stuff to do it with,cause its gonna ride like a log wagon and that gets old after a while,but like I say"thats the price you gotta pay for look'n cool",and by the way I would start in the front with the new stuff,shadtree hillbilly lowering tends to cause more money probs in the front end if driven for a long time.

NOTE: the term shadetree hillbilly lowering is not intended to insult or degrade any one who might live in a mountainous or hill laiden area,Thats just what we call it round here when we lower a vehicle that way,wich is most of the time.

use a bandsaw or cut off wheel to cut your front springs,not a torch.you can get lowering blocks for the back to fit your truck.you can't drop the front more than a couple of inches with springs because it forces the a arms into bad angles and pushes the top of the tire out into the fender.ask me how i know.go ahead and buy drop spindles.then you can use 1980s disc brake stuff.

Boy I love the torsion bar front end on my '62! Took it to the alignment shop to have the front done, and added "Hey, can you crank those torsion bars down 2 inches before you do the alignment?" Sure, no problem. Free lowering.

But that doesn't help you.
The fronts can be lowered pretty easily: Get a coil spring compressor (do NOT remove them without a coil spring compressor. They're a pain to use, but beat the hell out of broken ribs), remove the springs, and either find a buddy with a chop saw, or rent one from Home Depot, and cut the springs. The front coils should not be tapered, so you can cut a round out of them. Start with a single round, then remove half a round at a time, re-installing them after each cut until you find a height you like. I wouldn't go more than a couple inches, thoug, because you will screw up the geometry. Also, to clear the fenders (like someone mentioned earlier), try going with a factory-type back spacing on the wheels. I just installed factory steel wheels on my truck, and gained a TON of clearance between tire and fender. Removing/installing the springs will be time consuming, but a day spent doing this will be worth it.
Also, cutting coils stiffens a spring--your front end will firm up. If your springs are original and worn out, this can be a good thing.

For the rears, they're tapered on both ends. You can't cut them.
Don't heat them and let them collapse, either. It'll ride like crap, and it's very hard to make both sides even.
New rear springs aren't that expensive. Get a couple of street truck magazines and call around to some of the "generic" low-rider suppliers--the ones who have several pages of adds for every kind of truck--and shop around for the least expensive springs. They're not nearly as expensive as you think.
And changing them will be very, very easy. I swapped the rear springs in my '62 Suburban in less than an hour--and that was with about a foot of clearance between the garage wall and the truck on the driver's side, so I was moving really slow while I did the work.
Dead simple, and should fit your budget. Just lower it a few inches, and you'll be very pleased.
-Brad

Don't forget to give attention to the drive line. I took out 2 carrier bearing mounts within 6 mos as the lowering pinched the drive line. I went to a solid one piece drive linewhich there is no way around purchasing. It should be a one time purchase.

In the last catalog I got from CPP they had lowering springs for 95.00 a pair front or rear. Sounds pretty cheap. I was thinking of going with a 2-3 drop on my 64. It's been awhile but I think CPP stands for Classic Performance Products. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Some of the GMC guys can correct me but I think GMC used the leaf springs. If so, a donor could be found and the whole works swapped--rear end, springs, and hangers. This setup is a whole lot more straight forward to lower. If the jimmy has leafs, check out your haggling and swapping skills, you might get off cheap.

if you decide to swap the rear springs,pb blaster the bolts a while before you try to remove them.