Thinking about bagging my 66 c10. Who has done this recently? What equipment did you purchase etc? Pics? Thanks fellas!
I drive the 51 mercury in my Avatar EVERY day ! I have never owned a "late model car" just keep in mind most of these so called "traditionalist" drive a prius or a Tahoe! This board is full of traditional rods and customs , that often blur the lines...a mild custom with air ride yet done in a traditional style and appearance is no different from the hot rodder with a 40 Ford coupe with a sbc under the hood or an air conditioner. I have been doing this for over 20 years now and this is not my hobby It's my life style and that my friends is "Tradition"in the truest since of the word. Now then on with those bagged c10's.
There not bad I 've done a few. Buy the kit and do it. If you have the meens build the cups and braketts and save some coin.
are you bagging it for ride or hight or both?? if your trying to get it low its worth the frame c notch kit as well did a buddys 64 and we could shake hands over the roof it was that low and were both 5-10 lol
I just picked up a 60 c-10 with air bags. I would definetly suggest the C-notch in the rear. Also some drop spindles up front. Mine doesn't have either, so it's next on my list ~Dustin
Here it is fully aired down. It could be much lower in the rear if they had used the stock cup position, but they put it almost a foot higher on the arms. ~Dustin
It's way easy and budget friendly too because it can be done using all the factory suspension pieces. No drop spindles, no channel' just a bunch of measuring, cutting and welding if you posess the necessary skills. This is my current hooptie. It is back halfed with completely fabbed suspension in the rear, but up front is just modified stock offerings. PM me and I will give you my number and get you on the right track.
did you z the front? i know on the few 70's-80's chevs that i have bagged, the front crossmember hangs down about 3" to low to get it to lay frame. on my first one i did i z'd the front and a c notch on the back and it layed down fine. back to o.p., the cups are cake on the front. flat plate on the top and a short cup on the bottom. and the back is fairly easy since it already linked
this is mine, laid out low $$ with almost all stock parts. front is dropped spindles, bags and zeed 2 inches, and pushed forward a few inches too. i also narrowed the a-arms .75 each side. rear, i flipped the center crossmember to raise the trailing arm mounts, zeed the rear frame 2". no notch whatsoever. raised the bed floor 2". 2600 bags bolted in the stock spring location on stock arms. no lowering blocks either. i used a speedway panhard bar. relatively short tires help too 225/70/15 i think in the back. it sits a bit higher now in winter with the taller snow tires. i basically went as low as i could and keep using it as a real truck with a flat bed floor.
Did some work on my old 60. First pic is axle to the frame,you cant go lower wit original frame. 8,20 firestones mounted,and as you also can se the tire is placed to far back in its original position. I shortened the arms aboute 2 and the boxed them in the back to get the wheel to fit rigth. Then i did a kickup,i used springs from some BMW wagon,cant rememder the exact model but it would be easy to replace with bags. Also used a 70s firebird rear axle. Used the stock panhard bar and mounts. Just made som brackets to weld on the axle for the springs and moved the mounts for the u-bolt from the old axle to the new. as you can se i also put a beam between the kickup as i used for the upper mount for the coils and to add some strength.
Yes, the front is Z'd with a the ends of the crossmember sectioned about 2 1/2 inches. The control arms and spindles are stock but the upper arms have been pie-cut to correct the severe ball joint angle at full drop. My last truck, a '62 had the same front suspension with stock trailing arms out back and the bag over the axle. It too sat flat on the ground. Both trucks run 30" tires rear and 28" tires front with room to go taller if desired.
I Z'd the front on my '64 because I wanted to be low and have decent ground clearance. This truck is going to used to haul stuff on occasion, so it's not bagged. I did a bunch of very subtle stuff to the suspension, like moving the lower controls arms forward 3/4" to gain caster, I centered the front wheels in the wheel openings, and flipped the rear trailing arm brackets, just to name a few. If you want to bag one, they are about the easiest vehicle you'll ever bag. Plates or cups in the front, bag brackets for the rear. You already have trailing arms and a panhard rod style set-up in the rear, which is optimal for an air-ride. They ride bitchin' if they're done right. And yes, you'll have to notch the frame, and if you want it all the way on the ground, you'll have to change the inner front fenders and move the bedfloor up. I have a build thread on my '64 (and my '55) on 67-72chevytrucks.com. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=446527 That site kicks ass if you want to see some really cool early Chevy trucks from stock to wild.
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