How to drop a 3/4 ton with leaves on the cheap

[Jacfourteen]

I've been getting alot of questions lately on how I dropped my 3/4 ton with leaf springs, so I figured I'd start a thread on how I did it so I could point people to it when they ask. First off Before you start any work measure the highest spot on each wheel arch and write it down.
First to drop the front I cut 1.5 coils. The springs on a 3/4 ton are longer and have more tension on them than a 1/2 ton so they can be a pain to get out. What I did was jack it up, put stands under the shaft that attaches the lower a-arm to the frame. Next pulled the wheels off and I disconnected the upper shock mounts (3/4") and backed the nuts off of the upper ball joints (15/16") until there was about 1/4" of slack on them, then I hit the spindle with a BFH (3# sledge), after a few whacks they popped loose. Then put a floor jack under the a-arm and jacked it up till it started to lift the truck off of the jackstand, then I took the nut off of the ball joint, and slowly let down the jack, then I repeated for the other side. It's important that you let both sides down because they are connected by the swaybar and you need all the droop you can get. Now you need to watch the brake hoses so you don't stretch/brake them. next I had to use a long pry bar to work the springs out, they don't have any tension left on them but they are just a little long to pop out easily. Then I used a 4.5" cutoff wheel on an angle grinder to cut off 1.5 coils, after you cut one match it to the other to make sure they are equal. Then you can pop the spring in jack up the a-arm thread the nut on the ball joint a few threads, put a few lugnuts on the tires and set it on the ground just to check the drop you have got, I think 3" it about the most you want to go. If you like it then you just put it all back together, if not trim a little at a time until you get where you want it. (sidenote: make sure the tapered end of the spring is up and that it seats all the way into the cup, it takes a little play to get it right)
For the rear I jacked up the rear of the truck then set the frame on jackstands, you have to make sure that the tires are off the ground and the rear is hanging by the springs. Next, I sprayed down all the U-bolt nuts and the bolt that goes through the springpack with penetrating oil. Then I put a jack under the center of the diff and jacked it up enough to take the weight off of it, then I pulled the 8 u-bolt nuts (15/16") off and removed the bottom plates and U-bolts. Next I pulled the nuts off of the bolts that hold the spring pack together (9/16"). Next I lowered the axle down slowly until the tires were on the ground. I then pulled the center 4 leaves out of the pack, and did a test run (Jacked rearend up lined it up then picked it up off the jackstands and set the truck on the ground to see how it looked). I liked it with the 4 springs out so I started putting it back together. With the 4 springs removed it makes the u-bolts too long so you have a few options to deal with this, Option #1:you could get new shortened u-bolts (prob. have to have them custom made because they have square bends unlike most round bends). Option #2: cut and re-thread your u-bolts to the new length (need a 5/8" die to cut threads) Option #3 is find something to take up the space in the u-bolt. I chose option #3, I went to the hardware store and found some 3/4" bolts that fit over the u-bolts but were fairly snug, I had figured I needed 2 3/4" nuts on each end of the u-bolts to get the 1.5" of spacer I needed. So I bought a grand total of 16 nuts for about $10.00. Then I ran home and bolted it all together and set it down.
After it was all said and done I spent $10 and the truck sat 2.5" lower in the front and 3.5" lower in the rear. After driving it for a week or so I remeasured it and sure enough it settled a little more, so now it sits about 3" lower in the front and 4" lower in the rear. I know alot of people are concerned about the ride after a drop buth the front rides about the same as before and the back rides a little smother. I haven't hauled anything in it yet but I may get a ton of gravel this week so I'll let you know how that goes (before the drop I hauled 3500 lbs of gravel in the back and it could have taken more). Here are some pics of the "before" (not really before, I jacked it up to the pre-drop height, and sorry about the crappy pic it looked good on my phone, but you get the idea), and the after pic.


"Before":



After:



Hope this help clear any confusion and gets you on the right track. If you have any questions let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

[mdwilf]

Thanks for the write up, I've been considering something similar & wondered how it would go - I'm not a fan of lowered trucks, but I've thought of dropping mine just a few inches - 3 at most, probably two. Anxious to hear how it hauls with the missing leaves.

[Jacfourteen]

I'll let you know how it goes, there are always air helper springs to get the capacity back too.

[jorgensensc]

Originally Posted by Jacfourteen

What I did was jack it up, put stands under the shaft that attaches the lower a-arm to the frame. Next pulled the wheels off and I disconnected the upper shock mounts (3/4") and backed the nuts off of the upper ball joints (15/16") until there was about 1/4" of slack on them, then I hit the spindle with a BFH (3# sledge), after a few whacks they popped loose. Then put a floor jack under the a-arm and jacked it up till it started to lift the truck off of the jackstand, then I took the nut off of the ball joint, and slowly let down the jack, then I repeated for the other side. It's important that you let both sides down because they are connected by the swaybar and you need all the droop you can get.

Thank you for doing this write up. On a side note I would like to add for safety to please use a chain and chain the spring to the upper arm before you even start unbolting ball joints and hitting anything with a hammer. I understand you put a stand under the lower control arm, but if it slips or shifts then you will have a big problem. These springs are under an enormous amount of tension and can shoot out and kill you instantly. By chaining it the spring won't be able to shoot away and hurt you or a loved one. Also be careful letting the spring raise the truck up when releasing the tension. If the other side is on a jack stand it can throw the angle of the truck off causing the truck to fall off the stand.

Not trying to be a wet blanket, just trying to add some safety so nobody dies from something overlooked.
Shawn

[Jacfourteen]

Originally Posted by jorgensensc

Thank you for doing this write up. On a side note I would like to add for safety to please use a chain and chain the spring to the upper arm before you even start unbolting ball joints and hitting anything with a hammer. I understand you put a stand under the lower control arm, but if it slips or shifts then you will have a big problem. These springs are under an enormous amount of tension and can shoot out and kill you instantly. By chaining it the spring won't be able to shoot away and hurt you or a loved one. Also be careful letting the spring raise the truck up when releasing the tension. If the other side is on a jack stand it can throw the angle of the truck off causing the truck to fall off the stand.

Not trying to be a wet blanket, just trying to add some safety so nobody dies from something overlooked.
Shawn

Thanks for pointing this out, I'm all about safety too! I should have explained it a little better on these points, when I loosened the ball joint the shaft for the a-arms were both on jackstands and I had a 3 ton floorjack under the springcup so it was secure. When I whacked the spindle the ball joint was still very attached, it was just backed off a couple of turns so that it could pop free of the interference fit. You have to have the tension of the spring still on the ball joint in order for this to work, it is what forces the taper free when you jar it. Like you said the chain would be good insurance to limit the amount of movement it has, you could also leave the wheel on so it could only drop so much. I realized that I also didn't explain the part about how to "jack it up until it started to lift it off of the jackstand", by this I just meant that you jack it up and watch to make sure you have the most lift on it as you can before you pick up the truck. You just watch as you jack it up until it starts to come off of the stand and then lower it down a hair. Thanks again for the good advise.

[andrewhass81]

What if your truck has all three? Leaves, shocks, and coils.

[blackandblue]

So how are things working in the longer run? how did the gravel do? is the ride holding up? tire-rubbing? I'm strongly considering going with this drop before summer, i have a leaf-sprung 3/4 i've wanted to drop, but axle flips were too much drop, and i didn't have lots of luck finding lowering leafs. And what size rubber are you running up front? I'm tire shopping with drop in mind, and looking for advice. Thanks for the thread!

[Jacfourteen]

Originally Posted by blackandblue

So how are things working in the longer run? how did the gravel do? is the ride holding up? tire-rubbing? I'm strongly considering going with this drop before summer, i have a leaf-sprung 3/4 i've wanted to drop, but axle flips were too much drop, and i didn't have lots of luck finding lowering leafs. And what size rubber are you running up front? I'm tire shopping with drop in mind, and looking for advice. Thanks for the thread!

Everything worked out great, I hauled lots of loads with it since the drop the largest was about 3500 pounds of rock. anything over about 1500 pounds an your on the bumpstops, but it still hauls okay. The tires on there are 245/75/16 (31" x 10"). I never had any issues with rubbing. However the leaves are no longer on the truck anymore, I am currently swapping over to a 12 bolt rear and coils If you want to see more on the swap here is my build thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=349005. If you have any more questions about anything let me know.

[bcwilson_1]

Originally Posted by Jacfourteen

Everything worked out great, I hauled lots of loads with it since the drop the largest was about 3500 pounds of rock. anything over about 1500 pounds an your on the bumpstops, but it still hauls okay. The tires on there are 245/75/16 (31" x 10"). I never had any issues with rubbing. However the leaves are no longer on the truck anymore, I am currently swapping over to a 12 bolt rear and coils If you want to see more on the swap here is my build thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=349005. If you have any more questions about anything let me know.

I know this is old but I was just asking some others about doing this to my 72 c20 until I could do something more effective. So you kept the overload leaf and the top leaf then? And did you have the dana 60 rear before the swap to 12 bolt? If so, do you know what the difference is in hub to hub inches between the dana 60 and the 12 bolt?

[hecmaclaren]

I just did this yesterday and got a pretty good drop. did the recomended 1.5 coils in the front and in the back i did the top spring one of the middle springs and the overload springs. Initially i did the top spring and overload and the overload was actually bending the top spring. added the middle spring and now its perfect. I didnt measure before and after like i should have but it really does sit nice.

[bob arrington]

same here but with 3" drop spindles and only the top and middle spring with the keeper on the rear, no over load. Works perfect, looks like I wanted, fenders right at the top of the tires, still need to set toe in but just driving it a short way on my dirt road, rides like a car.
many thanks to all who kept this thread going, respectfully

[steves1967]

I also used drop spindles in the front, then took the rear springs to a spring shop and had then rearched to drop it 4". The truck sits low enough, but the ride is bouncy and if I put more than a couple hundred pounds in the bed it rides on the bump-stops. I think i'm going to add helper air bags to the truck. Ive got a 26' enclosed trailer to haul the racecar in!

[72dfts]

This is my 3/4 ton 72

What i have done here is found some 3in drop spindles plus cut 1.5 turns from the front coils

Rear is still full stack leaf springs with a flip kit on them. Thinking of taking 2-3 leafs out like mentioned above

Wheels and tires are 215/60/16r

Still have it a 8 lugger all around

[Big Kev-O]

Originally Posted by 72dfts

This is my 3/4 ton 72

What i have done here is found some 3in drop spindles plus cut 1.5 turns from the front coils

Rear is still full stack leaf springs with a flip kit on them. Thinking of taking 2-3 leafs out like mentioned above

Wheels and tires are 215/60/16r

Still have it a 8 lugger all around

I apologize for hijacking this thread but.....

72dfts:
Absolutely hands down the most perfect C20 I have ever seen! Color scheme is OUTSTANDING. Pin striping is the icing on the cake. I may take a moment alone with those pics. I just shortened mine and this has me feeling like I should have left it alone. At least it fits in my garage now.

Any way you can post some more pictures or maybe start a thread on your truck? I'm sure i am not the only one who wants to see & know more about it.