just got a 66 chevy c-10. standard cab, shortwide california truck with fac. air... coils all around... 58,000 miles. cool truck anybody know the best (for the money) way to drop the ride height without loosing too much driveability? thanks i appreciate any suggestions.
Here ya go man. Everything from coil springs to air ride systems. You didn't say how much you wanted to spend so check out all they have to offer. http://performanceonline.com/store/customer/home.php?cat=407
How low you wanna go? 2-inch springs on most vehicles will retain an acceptable ride quality. After that, I recommend drop spindles. That's pretty much my rule of thumb for any vehicle. -Brad
Here's mine. Front = 2 1/2 " dropped spindles and stock coils Back = 3" dropped coils ( anymore in the back any you will have problems) Good Luck, Kathy
I dropped my '87 Chevy (same front suspension) 5" with springs and spindles, got it aligned, and it rides great, never bottoms out, can still hop curbs with it. Make sure you remove the huge factory bump stops and put in some shorter ones, that's the key to a smooth ride. Mine is 6" in the rear; you can notch the frame to go lower. You can also change to five lugs and discs when you do this swap.
Stock Jeep TJ rear coils will drop the back 2" they are a bolt-in and can be had free or cheap from 4x4 shops as take-outs.
thanks folks for the great advice... looks like spindles and drop springs are in my future. kathy, i like the look of your truck. i will post pics when i get there.
i believe if you go to ece they have most if not all youll need, but i dont have any personal experience with them
My 65 rustup is as low as kisam's, but with front coils less one coil, 75 front spindles. With stock front coils, my truck won't align correctly, can't get the camber right. I added a 7/8" sway bar with brackets from the donor 75 Chevy 1/2 ton. I want a fat sway bar fron a 1 ton. At the rear of my truck, I modified some Camaro front springs, and made "buckets" for the top and bottom. A company named So-Low used to make lowering rear coils. If you want to take the pickup out of the truck, you can use rear coils from an '80's GM mid-size. Montes, Cutlass, etc. My ol' truck corners like a scared cat, has been driven hard every day on a 30 mile twisted road.
All I did was cut the coils in the front. It's been 16 years since I lowered it so I can't remember if I took 3 or 4 coils(!). I added a heavy duty sway bar and heavy duty gas shocks (car quest) and it rides very well. I used So-Low lowered coils in the back and hate them as much now as I did right after I installed them.... All they are is a extra week spring rate, which means that anything heavier than a bag of groceries will bottom out the rear end. I also c'd the frame in the rear for clearance. I added some Helper bags to compensate for the week rear springs. The rear suspension design on these trucks is excellent...I'd recommend retaining it, if possible. I'm getting ready to tear my truck apart for it's second body off and I'll take out the 12 bolt and replace it with a 9" Ford, using the stock trailing arms. I think I'll replace the lowered coils with stock,cut, chevy coils and retain the bags to help carry the added load (pulling a trailer, etc). With the exception of the week springs in the rear, I've had absolutely no handling or alignment problems. I did a front end alignment 16 years ago and have NO uneven wear issues on the front tires. No alignments since. I run 195x15 on the front and 255x15 on the rear..78,000 miles so far. I've hauled as much as 2,000 pound of junk to the dump (thank god for those bags!) with no problems. Good luck with your truck, you gonna love..... Very versatile suspension.
MY other home away from home, is this message board: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=6 lots of good 60-66 info, however they run All styles of trucks. stock to bling and everything inbetween. Do some searching, I would say 50% of the users have lowered thier trucks!
If you are going to cut the front coils, cut 1 1/2 coil max. I learned the hard way,1 full coil is about 2", 2 full coils is TOO MUCH. This is before I lowered the back. I cut 2 full coils, then had to add a rubber spacer under the springs to get some suspension travel back.
with the new input, i believe i'll cut 1 1/2 coils on the front (thanks greenmnt.boy) and 1 coil on the back. the back will be easy with that giant trailing arm, so if it needs more, i can take another half off. cutting coils is free and spindles are expensive. really like your wheel & tire combo going on there nix66. wasn't sure the www would look good on a truck of this period but you made it work. thanks again
Nice TRuck-like the Electra bike too. How many coils did you cut out? When you cut the coils, do you have to heat and bend in the ends?
I may not have been as clear as I should. You can not cut the rear springs, they are "bee hive" type, meaning they have a taper at both ends. You can go the Jeep spring method which is about 2", or drop springs or blocks between the axle and trailing arms. On the front, I strongly recomend starting with 1 full coil first. Its more work, but may save you hastle in the end. Have fun.
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