i never thought i would be saying this...

[extreme gmc]

but i think my truck is too LOW. i got the front redone today and what was involved was 2" blazer spindles withh 2 piston calipers, ceramic pads, and slotted rotors along with djm 2 inch coils and urethane bushings. i like the stopping power, but i drove it from the shop to a frindes house and i scraped going into his driveway so i had to park on the street. i never scrapped before on anything!!! i am ging to give it a coupel of days to see if i like it. it doesnt ride hard or anything, it is just plain too low. what do you guys think i should do? i am thinking of putting 1 inch coils in and removing the jtr 1 inch blocks out back and going from there. sound like a plan? heck, it seems lower than all the pics i see of dimes wiht a 4/4 drop.
any and all feedback is appreciated.

[xtreme lowpro]

lowered trucks are always gonna scrap some places. its one of those things that you have to try to dodge. i just got mine repainted about 2 monthes ago and got a crack fixed and the paint redone. it didnt cost much because the guy i bought my xtreme from works at a body shop and does my work for pretty cheap. but just watch for low spots and goin up hills!!!

[extreme gmc]

everything around me is hills. if i cannot get in a driveway, what is the point of driving it? to give you an idea of how low it is, take a look at this pic
http://www.mys10.com/images/trucks/5049818_5398460.jpg
that is how my trucks sits. i thoughtit would look good but now that i drive it it is too low...

[importmaster1300]

Camaro are about that low, you just have to go up the drive way REAL slow or park in the street.

[T Man]

camaro's are much higher up than that. If you decide not to take it off, take driveways at an angle. I agree, it looks a little low to be sitting on the stock wheels, especially if that isnt the look you are going forl

[extreme gmc]

o really?...

[extreme gmc]

.:gears slowly breaking free of the rust bond:.
cccccccccrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaa aaakkkkkkkkkkkk

[T Man]

??? wtf????

[extreme gmc]

:idea_125: :idea_125: :bulb_125: :bulb_125: :eyebrows_ :eyebrows_ :2000-pont :1998-pont

[T Man]

????? wtf????

[inprogress10]

hey man where did you get your clear tails from? are they legal where you live? oh and dont feel bad i have a 2/3 drop with 2 chassis tech spindles up front and bell tech blocks in back. my truck rides pretty decent but i dodge pot holes on a daily basis because if i hit them i will scrape as well. my suggestion is to convert to 2/3 it will look good and ride low but you will have less of a problem. you might also consider trimming your bump stops too.

[extreme gmc]

i am getting a few ideas in my head...

[extreme gmc]

which are never a good thing.

[extreme gmc]

that isnt my truck, it is just an example. i will try to get soem pics of it up tomorrow.
try ebay...

[extreme gmc]

^^^post whore wannabe^^^

[importmaster1300]

The front end of a camaro is accually that high, but not the back

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

It was the "normal" suspension, right? And then a 4/4 drop? Sits about where mine is. . . ZQ8 + 2/2 drop. Yeah, it'll scrap every now and then -- fact of driving a dropped truck. It's a bit unnerving the first couple of times, but you either get used to hearing it or you adapt your driving (or, in this case, parking) style to it. I had to replace the c-clamp on my y-pipe recently -- it scraped enough to wear it too thin and finally broke loose (**** speed bumps!).

:smileyR: = my truck, huh? Wanna race? LMFAO! I'll even give you a head start. . .

Then it will be:

You = :horse:
Me = :firedevil

And then you = :furious3: as a white blur goes sailing by. . .

:eek2:

ROTFLMFAO!

All in good fun! :vader1:

[extreme gmc]

t thought that would stir the pot...

[extreme gmc]

btw, my back end has been that low since last may...

[extreme gmc]

all right who changed it?!!??!?!?!

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

It did, oh, it did!

:p

[LayItLowS10]

umm youlike the low look but wanna get in driveways, umm BAG IT !!!!!!

[extreme gmc]

how do you like dem apples?

[extreme gmc]

baghs are out of the ?, i really dislike bags...

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

how do you like dem apples?
I'll take the gimp over a ricer ANY day! Between a gimp and a ricer, the gimp would win!

But, I'd still take ya! LOL!

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

Of course, even with a locker I've still got monstrous :3gears: problems!

[XxInFaxX]

holy hell, how hard is it to combine your ideas into 1 post...your like my grandmother inlaw...doesnt call once, but 5 times to finish the 1st sentance!!!!

[Maximus]

I think if yours is that low it would look pretty sweet.And I bet it handles a whole lot better that low.

[20Xtreme02]

There's no such thing as too low unless you are hitting those little white reflectors on the highway!! If you haven't owned a lowered vehicle before, you will need to adjust your driving style a little. As mentioned above, driveways will need to be entered and exited at an angle and you'll have to watch out for speed bumps and not pull into parking places so far that the front hits the curb or stop. But, a lowered truck handles and looks much better (IMO). I think yours looks great and appears to sit about the same height as mine.

I bet you could put someone through the windshield with those brakes!!

[DROPPEDGMC]

i think it looks good :D. i'd leave it. you'll just have to learn to drive it a little different

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

holy hell, how hard is it to combine your ideas into 1 post...your like my grandmother inlaw...doesnt call once, but 5 times to finish the 1st sentance!!!!
Ah, my young post whore, you have yet to learn the Way of the True Post Whore! You have much to learn!

[extreme gmc]

you guys think i shoud do something to the inner and outer front fenders so that i dont get any problems with the steering?

[20Xtreme02]

If the tires aren't hitting anything when you turn the wheel full travel each direction, then you are fine. Don't change anything.

[T Man]

Oh crap sorry max. I didnt mean to edit your post, i ment to quote it!!!! Im sorry!!!!

[T Man]

I think if yours is that low it would look pretty sweet.And I bet it handles a whole lot better that low.

Were you talking to me or Extreme Gmc with this?

[Maximus]

extreme and it's cool it wasn't a biggie

[extreme gmc]

my truck does handle quite well. the tops of my outer fenders are starting to rollin at the top, so i am not too worried there. anyways, here is a recap of what my suspension setup is:
front: all urethane bushings, hoctkis sway bar, 2 inch djm coils, 2 inch blazer spindles wihth slotted rotors and 2 piston calipers with ceramic pads
rear, 3 inch belltech leaves with 1 inch jtr blocks with 2* shims, zq8 rear sway bar (for now...hoctkis sway bar sitting in garage.)

[inprogress10]

why dont you like bags?

1. better ride quality than springs
2. ability to raise up and down
3. scare the living crap out of pedestrians
4. piss off tailgaters by throwing sparks at their car
5. they are just fkn cool

[extreme gmc]

i have seen tooo many bag problems at work...

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

When you say "all urethane bushings" -- do you mean ALL, or just the sway bar? Looking over mine, there are the sway bar mounts, sway bar end links, coil spring isolators, bump stops, body mounts, control arm (upper and lower), and transmission mount -- as well as the shock mount bushings.

I'm doubting I'll be able to do the control arms or the rear leafs and shackles myself (don't have the right equipment), but everything else I can handle.

[extreme gmc]

all control arm bushings, trans mount, sway bar mounts, sway bar end links, coil spirng isolaters...

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

all control arm bushings, trans mount, sway bar mounts, sway bar end links, coil spirng isolaters...
Did you do the control arm bushings yourself? I have an idea of what's involved, but I don't think I have the equipment to do them myself.

Also, on the front coil spring isolators, did you need two sets or just one? I'm looking at the set I've got and it has the two main bushings and then two urethane tubes -- not certain if this set only converts ONE spring, or both. I haven't torn the front end apart yet to look it over, so I'm not certain which goes where.

Sway bar bushings (mounts and end links), trans mount, body mounts, front bump stops and IAS front shocks are in place -- my hands HURT. . . I keep forgetting how much sharp metal there is under there. . . I'm going to be tackling the rear sway bar mounts (haven't gotten the size for the end links yet, so I haven't ordered them) and the IAS rear shocks later today (or tomorrow). I may try to tackle the leaf spring and shackle bushings myself as well. . . Don't know if they're the same as the control arm bushings or not as far as installation equipment needed. I still have the tie-rod end boots to deal with, but I'm not touching those until the current ones need replacing (how much can a tie-rod end boot improve handling? Not all that much, I would think!).

And, of course, the way the weather works around here: it SNOWING AGAIN! Stupid Ohio weather. . . It was in the 50s earlier this week.

More down time due to weather I guess. . . MY GEARS ARRIVED TODAY!!! WOOT! Considering that I've done ALL the work on this truck myself, with the exception of the spindles and blocks (I had a local shop do that -- I don't have a ball joint press), it may have a little longer down time, depending on if I can manage the rear leafs and control arms myself.

I'm PUMPED about how this bugger will do when it hits the road again. It handled well and accelerated monstrously before. . . It ought to be a bit different -- especially since some of the stock bushings were a little worn (40K miles on them) and the stock gears are 3.08s. . . All urethane (well, graphite-impregnated) and 3.73s. . . Now it just needs to stop with all the **** precipitation!

[extreme gmc]

the edelbrock shocks i got for the front and back cae with urethane bushings. i , like you farmed out the suspension work on my truck. all that is required to replace the arm bushings is a bushing press, autozone rents them to people. it looks like a giant c clamp with a cup looking device at one end to "catch" the bushing. the place i got my spring isolators from (which i will give a link in a minute) only give you enough to do one so you need to order two sets. you can use this with a rachet and socket, but it wil lgo much fast wiht an impact. i have change quite a few front end bushings at work so it isnt that hard. you ought to look into getting the hotchkis sway bars front and rear. they come with urethane bushings. granted, they are only 1/16 of an inch bigger, but i did notice a difference backing out of my driveway when i changed over for the front zq8 sway bar.. the guy that did my suspension work the other day could only install the coil isolators in the top because i got 2 inch coils with the spacer on the dirvers side. i dont think i will run into any problems down the road.

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

the edelbrock shocks i got for the front and back cae with urethane bushings. i , like you farmed out the suspension work on my truck. all that is required to replace the arm bushings is a bushing press, autozone rents them to people. it looks like a giant c clamp with a cup looking device at one end to "catch" the bushing. the place i got my spring isolators from (which i will give a link in a minute) only give you enough to do one so you need to order two sets. you can use this with a rachet and socket, but it wil lgo much fast wiht an impact. i have change quite a few front end bushings at work so it isnt that hard. you ought to look into getting the hotchkis sway bars front and rear. they come with urethane bushings. granted, they are only 1/16 of an inch bigger, but i did notice a difference backing out of my driveway when i changed over for the front zq8 sway bar.. the guy that did my suspension work the other day could only install the coil isolators in the top because i got 2 inch coils with the spacer on the dirvers side. i dont think i will run into any problems down the road.

The only work I haven't done so far is the spindles and blocks. . . Everything else is all me (and I've got the scars on my hands and forearms to prove it!). I also noticed that about the Edelbrocks -- the urethane bushings, which are nice -- better than the stock deCarbons, for sure. My coil spring isolators are also Energy Suspension -- is that what you went with? What exactly was in the set? Like I said, it has the two main isolators and then two tubes. . . Either one type goes on the top and the other on the bottom, or the set just deals with one side (top and bottom). I don't know. Of course, maybe the isolators only mount on the top. . . Again, I don't know.

The control arms look as if they will need to come off the truck to do the bushings -- in which case, even if I rent the bushing press, I still don't have the means to deal with it. I haven't looked at it very closely, but I doubt the control arms can stay on the truck while I'm replacing those bushings. . . oh well -- there's a local suspension shop that does outstanding work, so I'll be sending some business their way, maybe -- and have it aligned as well.

I looked into the Hotchkis bars, but decided against it until (or if) something goes wrong with the stockers. The front is 33mm and the rear is 23mm -- so the stock ZQ8 bar is already a little larger than normal. It does pretty well for me, so I'm going to keep it for the time being. I've got a tonneau cover, carpeted bed liner, sport mirrors, and cowl hood I'm currently trying to talk my wife into letting me get, so I won't fan the flames by throwing in the sway bars. . . LMAO!

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

This is the set of isolators I picked up:

http://s10planet.performancecenter.com/products/?productID=404363

[extreme gmc]

energy suspension arm bushings and yes, the arms have to come off. what aobut my ? about the no isolators on the bottom?

[extreme gmc]

you also ought to look into getting blazer drop spindles with slottd rotors and 2 piston calipers with ceramic pads. hawk is what i got, but ac delco makes em too which i could of picked up for about $55. from about 30 to 0, youi stop and you stop now!!! i have yet to test my 60-0 stopping distance because like you, i live in the midwest aka five minute season changes. dont like the weather now? give it 5 minutes, it will be t shirt and shorts weather!!!.

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

energy suspension arm bushings and yes, the arms have to come off. what aobut my ? about the no isolators on the bottom?
Sorry, I didn't know you asked a question about them. As far as a problem with not having isolators on the bottom. . . Hmm. . . Do you not have any at all, or just not urethane? None at all, then you've got metal-to-metal contact, and something's going to wear sooner than expected. If you've got the urethane up top and rubber on the bottom, the urethane, because it doesn't have as much cushion and the rubber (not as much "give"), it may cause the lower rubber isolators to wear prematurely. Other than that, I can't really see any problems, so long as the spring track isn't thrown off.

I went with Belltech spindles -- I looked into the Blazer spindles, but I've already got the Belltechs and I'm very happy with them.

I'm working on converting the rear drums to disc first, then I'll be dealing with the fronts. I may just go with the Hawk HPS pads up front -- since the rear discs actually do work to stop the vehicle (unlike the rear drums), and that will greatly reduce stopping distance. Depending on how it goes, I may upgrade to SSBC two-piston calipers up front and turbo-slotted rotors on all 4 corners.

Yep -- I know all about Midwest weather. . . You're right: if you don't like the weather now, just wait 5 minutes or drive 5 miles and it WILL change!

ROTFLMAO!

[extreme gmc]

ive got no isolators on the bottom.

[extreme gmc]

how soon are we talking? the guy that did my suspension sadi that because of te thickness of the top left isolator, he could not ge the bottom isolator to stay in... he said it kept sliding out.

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

ive got no isolators on the bottom.
Depending on how well seated they are, that could cause a problem. Metal-to-metal contact is rarely a good thing. . . I would look into that and see what you can see about getting SOME kind of isolators in there, somehow.

So, that was the set of isolators you picked up? Two sets, eh? Looks like I need to order one more set!

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

how soon are we talking? the guy that did my suspension sadi that because of te thickness of the top left isolator, he could not ge the bottom isolator to stay in... he said it kept sliding out.
Sliding out? That sounds odd. . . How soon? That's hard to say, to be honest. . . Depends on a lot of factors. If there is no play at all and the coils don't migrate much within their spots, then they should be good indefinitely. If there is a lot of play, then either the spring mounts or the springs themselves will start to wear. I don't think it's going to be anything immediate -- it could be a couple years, it could be 10. Too many variables to say.

[extreme gmc]

maybe i will se if he could tape them in with electrical tape? soudn like a plan?

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

maybe i will se if he could tape them in with electrical tape? soudn like a plan?
You're kidding, I hope. . .

[extreme gmc]

huh? (filler)

[extreme gmc]

tape them to the coil and then reinstall the coil

[xtreme lowpro]

ok i did it again. i cracked my airdamn. right down the center when i was pullin into my friends driveway. yes it sucks because ive only had it painted for 2 monthes and already busted it again. next move is possibly bags.

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

tape them to the coil and then reinstall the coil
You mean tape them to the coil until they're installed and then the force of the coil should keep them in place, right?

Yeah, I see that working. . . For a minute there I thought you were talking about using the TAPE as the isolator. . . That wouldn't be good!

But, yes, taping them in place on the coil ought to work nicely.

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

Um, Charlie, I did some looking around. The front coil spring isolators are sold in PAIRS. The round discs go in one spot and the tubes get made into rings and go in the other. I didn't look long enough to figure which goes where, but (in a nutshell) the discs go on the bottom (or top -- but bottom makes more sense) and the tubes you make into a ring and those go on the top (or bottom). You only needed the one set -- and that probably explains why the lowers keep slipping out. I would double check with ES and see what they say. But, that set was for the PAIR of springs -- and not just one side.

http://energysuspension.com/pages/sboots.html

[extreme gmc]

i ordered the same coil isolators you did so when they come in i will go to a shop (a different shop) and see if they can put the tube/ring in.

[xtreme lowpro]

yall are some post whores if i ever did see some

[extreme gmc]

why spank you very much...
where are ya supercharged? he is the grand dad of post whoring. me? i am a mix of a post whore and a ebay whore

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

I disappeared to take a nap. . . I've had about 4 hours sleep in the last 48. . . But, I think I'm cognizant enough to whore some more!

[T Man]

Whores!!!!!!!!

[extreme gmc]

i ordered some 1 inch coils to replace the 2 inchers i got in there because when my dad and i are both in my truck my tires rub the fenderwells halfway thru turning. i rode with my friend a few minutes ago and my father has abut 100 lbs on him and it still did it, but not as bad. maybe if i beat the fenderwells some more that should take care of the problem. when we got back from dinner last night i had to beat the lip of the otuer fender on the passenger side to keep form rubbing the tire. probally will have to do that ont he other side too along with inner fender. i realy want to keep the 2 inch coils in there, but i dont want to be eating wheels and tires up either. i dont care abouthe wheels i gon on there now as long as they hold air. o well, time to go check the weather to see wheni can work in the driveway again.

[lowriderbowtie]

Mine's almost too low to, but not quite:D
still got 3 and 3/8th's of an inch under the frame

http://www.rankmyride.com/data//5/8/15400//.large/dsc00452.jpg