There are all kinds of kits, I'd just cut coils except from what I understand, they are pigtails. Has anyone lowered their 60' to 66' Chevy/GMC, and if so, how did you do it?
I'm lowering my 64 RIGHT NOW!! 5" drop springs rear, 3" drop springs up front. C-Notch kit, short shocks... all from CPP. You'll need a new panhard bar too. it's the cheapest way I could find other than cutting the stock coils...
what are pigtails? Is that something to do with the ends of the springs? 60-62s have torsion bar front suspension if that makes any difference to you other guys thinking of lowering What is the cost of the complete CCP kit? Do you have a pic of what it looks like with your 3/5 drop? Briggs
it came in around $560... without panhard bar and shock relocate brackets... like I said, I'm right in the middle of it RIGHT NOW. tonight I hope ti have the C-notch in amd new rear Springs bolted up.
I lowered mine with spring clamps... totaly gheto, but it worked. This is what I learned from that. Don't lower it with clamps. Not only are the springs pig tail, but they are progressive too. It would bounce your nog' off the roof on the smallest bumps. Now that I look back on it though, it was sorta fun when I'd have someone in the truck that had never ridden in it. Is the '63 a torsion front end or does it have coils (mine was a '65)? If you have coils in the front you are totaly set. All of the chevy truck front end parts up to '79 will bolt on, disc brakes, and all. Just lop off a coil or so (as nes) in the front and you are good to go. I'd replace the ball joints while your in there, 'cause of the added stress on them from being lowered (tight angles).
You can cut front coils. Just cut them on the bottom. I coil equals about a 3 inch drop. The top is pigtailed. The rear coil is pigtailed top and bottom, so no easy cut solution there, but, you can easily make a lowering block for cheap. I've done that a lot of times. In the rear, you can get away with a 6 inch drop rear coil without c-notching and still won't bottom out. I've done a bunch of these trucks, and have used most brands of suspension parts. Early Classic is hands down the best, but not the cheapest. I currently have a full 4.5 front 6 rear drop kit in the mail from Early Classics, for my 64 Suburban. I expect it to arrive Tuesday. Stop in over at www.67-72chevytrucks.com and visit us. I'm a moderator over there and go by the name "Tx Firefighter". We've got a huge forum that deals with all years of GM trucks.
When I said bolt on, I meant, if you use the A-arms, and spindles from a later model truck they will bolt onto the cross member. I don't think you can use the old arms with newer spindles though. So when you are at the yard pulling parts, you would need the steering box, drag link, pitman arm, upper and lower A-arms, spindles, and all. This will also change the front to 5 lug so you will need wheels too. Hope that helps! When I did mine, I added power steering, and brakes, but later I removed the booster from the brakes. I also recomend a NEW master cyl, and calipers (they'er cheap).
We used the front suspension out of an 87 full size in my brothers 63, then we bagged it. You will need adapters for the tie rod ends but you can get them from CCP.
I am doing my grandfathers '64 right now too. Lowering spindles for me. This truck is a keeper so I am not gonna Cheepout. They are so easy to work on, perfect for noobs
mine had 3" blocks ...and 77 monte carlo or malibu springs....i ended up c notching it when i got it....and i redid the panhard bar....the front had a cut coil.....and the steering arms flipped and switched from side to side.....it wasn't low enough for me ....but then again ....you can slam one of these trucks with out some surgery .....brandon
My 64 I just torched the coils but when I did my 63 I robbed all 4 coils from a 71 Chevelle. Cheap and gave it roughly 4" and had a descent ride. Jerry
In my 64 I cut all the coils all the way around two loops off of the front, two loops off the back. I've done several of these trucks like this and mine still ride pretty good.
Caballo I'm using blocks on thew rear. Made mine from 2" steel tubeing, and some scrap 1" tubing for the U Bolts to pass through. Total investment 5 bucks and a half hour of my time. The U bolts will be the expensive part, they'll probably run me about 20.00. But 2" probably isn't enough for ya, mush more than that and you'll have to notch the chassis. The rears springs are a bitch to cut, but the fronts are nuthin. Probably if you crawl under and look the bottom coil is already broken off. These trucks are real prone to have the bottom coil broken off. Another trick you can use on the rear is to move springs behind the axle. You'll have to fab up some mounts but its really no biggy. You can drop the mount below the axle and drop it a ton that way.
Bags w/ c notched rear by previous owner. Truck is receiving patch panels and paint right now. New wheels and tires too. If I were to do it, I'd skip the bags and have custom springs made (not very expensive and a nice ride), and notch the rear. If you want to go way down, maybe dropped spindles too.
Jerry's comment really tweaks my interest about those '71 Chevelle coils, cheap but not ghetto. What else guys?
I lowered my 66 Chev C-10. It has a 1976 Chev front suspention in it. All I did was cut the coils untill it sat where I wanted it to. It ride great.
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