Thursday, May 27, 2010

Lowering Your Chevy

Well,you've decided that you want to lower your Chevy.Atta boy! I'll describe a few different types of suspension drops for you.There are a few things you need to know.Your shocks will be compressed if you choose to use the same ones and if they will fit.They may just bottom out when you go over bumps,think of how your back feels when your butt come to an abrupt halt before you expect it.Using a new set specifically designed for your lowering kit,make and model would be the way to go to maintain comfort of ride.You might want to think about how the truck will handle as well.You are going to lower the center of gravity.Lower profile tires,a stiffer set of springs,stabilizer bars and even bigger anti-sway bars will make your truck take a corner a lot more like an F1 car and make it way more fun to drive,especially if you have modified the performance of the engine. That doesn't mean you had haul ass into and out of corners without first learning where your Chevy will break loose coming out of or going into a corner.That is no fun,you could end up in the rhubarb on your lid if your not careful.
The front end of your truck will also go through some geometry changes so you might want to think about a 4 wheel alignment when you are done with installing your lowering kit.
Lowering a "Solid Axle".Which means that the rear axle is solid.You can do this a couple of different ways.If you have a Chevy with the rear axle below the leaf springs then the "flip kit" will allow you to install the axle above the springs.Longer shackles will take a little height out of the rear of the springs.To lower the front end of the springs you can install longer spring hangers,they will allow for the springs to be a little higher.When you combine the longer spring hangers and the longer shackles with spring blocks you can achieve almost any amount of drop desired.trucks like the 67-71 Chevys with rear coil springs you can install shorter springs to achieve the same amount of drop.You may have to notch and re-enforce the frame rails above the axle to maintain your frames strength.I will say this,the best and probably most drop would come from taking the springs out altogether and use a 4 link with an air bag system.


You have an old classic if your wanting to lower a solid front axle Chevy.Aftermarket springs will help you with this,there is also an Air Bag system for almost every application.Shorter coils springs can be used to lower the new Chevy truck front ends.Recessed pockets and dropped spindles will go a long way to helping you get the front end as low as you want.

Eibach 35112.530 Pro-Truck 
Lowering KitEibach 8210.140 Pro-Kit 
Performance Spring KitD2 Racing BMW 3-Series (INCL 
M3) 99-05 Lowering Springs Kit

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