3/5 drop?

[greyghost85]

hey guys i have an 85 shorted chevy. I just got a 2/4 drop kit from a friend of mine, ( drop spindles and hanger kit) and i want to make it drop 3 in the front and 5 in the rear. to do this i need to cut 1 round off of the coil springs right? and then for the rear i was thinking about taking one of the small leaf springs out and adding a drop shackle to get 5 total inches in the back. would this all work correctly and give me the look I want or is there something i left out?

thanks guys

 

[J Knight]

You will get a 4.5/5-ish drop with what you stated. Cutting one round off the coils will give you 2in-2.25in spring drop added to the 2.5in drop spindle would be 4.5in-4.75in.
You need a 1in drop spring and 2.5in drop spindle to get the 3.5in drop.

On the rear of your 85 you probably have a 3+1 stack of leafs so removing the thick overload is fine and will give you 3/4in drop but removing one of the thin leafs will leave you with only two leafs which will cause some axle wrap under acceleration.
You would be better off with a flip kit to achieve the 5in drop.

 

[smoothandlow84]

I second what Jknight stated above. I would only suggest removing the overload spring from the rear leaf pack. X2 on the axle flip kit. I have a axle flip kit AND rear drop hangers...approximately 7 inches in the back with that setup.

 

[greyghost85]

hey sorry guys i haven't been on in a couple of days. and okay knight i got what your saying about the front. i can cut half a round on the springs can't i? aprox. what drop would that give me? and yeah guys i agree i was only going to remove the overload spring. and @smoothandlow84, do you have a c-notch on your truck? if not do you have any problems bottoming out on frame or axle hitting frame? and what shocks are you running on your truck?

 

[greyghost85]

oh and i checked my truck and it has 4 thin leafs and then the thick overload at the bottom.

 

[J Knight]

hey sorry guys i haven't been on in a couple of days. and okay knight i got what your saying about the front. i can cut half a round on the springs can't i? aprox. what drop would that give me? and yeah guys i agree i was only going to remove the overload spring. and @smoothandlow84, do you have a c-notch on your truck? if not do you have any problems bottoming out on frame or axle hitting frame? and what shocks are you running on your truck?

Cutting 1/2 round will net a 3/4in-1in drop, BUT it is a royal pain to get the bottom to seat in place because the top of the spring is D shaped and has to be clocked to the D shape in the spring pocket which will make the bottom off by 1/2 a round. I would suggest a 1in drop spring or cut one round off a 1 ton spring for a 1in drop.

oh and i checked my truck and it has 4 thin leafs and then the thick overload at the bottom.

You can remove the overload and one of the 4 thin leafs but that's as far as I would go. You need at least 3 thin leafs.

 

[greyghost85]

Cutting 1/2 round will net a 3/4in-1in drop, BUT it is a royal pain to get the bottom to seat in place because the top of the spring is D shaped and has to be clocked to the D shape in the spring pocket which will make the bottom off by 1/2 a round. I would suggest a 1in drop spring or cut one round off a 1 ton spring for a 1in drop.

You can remove the overload and one of the 4 thin leafs but that's as far as I would go. You need at least 3 thin leafs.

okay yeah thats what i was worried about cutting half was getting it back in the pocket. and thats good to know i can remove the 4th spring in the back too. also, I've never cut coil springs and if i decide to go with a full round, where or how do i measure what a full round is? is there a spot on the bottom of the coil that is flat or is it curled all the way down?

 

[J Knight]

okay yeah thats what i was worried about cutting half was getting it back in the pocket. and thats good to know i can remove the 4th spring in the back too. also, I've never cut coil springs and if i decide to go with a full round, where or how do i measure what a full round is? is there a spot on the bottom of the coil that is flat or is it curled all the way down?

Cut right where my finger nail is with a cutting disc, saws all, or band saw. Do not cut with a torch.

 

[greyghost85]

Cut right where my finger nail is with a cutting disc, saws all, or band saw. Do not cut with a torch.

alright thanks for the help!! ill send some pictures when it all gets done!!

 

[smoothandlow84]

Greyghost85, I have a mini notch in the back for added clearance. Some people don't think its necessary, But I do. The mini notch even with the polyurethane bumpstop installed still gives me about 4-5" of added clearance for g-out bumps. It rides very smooth as it sits. Just don't expect to drive off road and blaze though speed bumps . I have gas charged shocks on all four corners. I had stock shocks, but they suck. The larger bore and larger bodied drop shock are well worth the $$. As a budget option, you can use the gas charged oem shocks as well. The stock shocks won't give as much resistance to bottoming out if you accidentally drive over a large rolling dip in the road.

 

[greyghost85]

Greyghost85, I have a mini notch in the back for added clearance. Some people don't think its necessary, But I do. The mini notch even with the polyurethane bumpstop installed still gives me about 4-5" of added clearance for g-out bumps. It rides very smooth as it sits. Just don't expect to drive off road and blaze though speed bumps . I have gas charged shocks on all four corners. I had stock shocks, but they suck. The larger bore and larger bodied drop shock are well worth the $$. As a budget option, you can use the gas charged oem shocks as well. The stock shocks won't give as much resistance to bottoming out if you accidentally drive over a large rolling dip in the road.

alright thanks!