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That looks way better. How did cutting the coil affect the ride in the front?
You’re actually doing all the stuff I’ve been debating doing myself so thank you for being the guinea pig lol
So far it feels exactly the same and that was the goal.
I cut one half of one coil. It's damn near nothing.
The thing with the front is what every you do to the strut assemblies length changes more at the wheel. Best I could calculate it's a 1.66 multiplier so if you take 1" out of the coil you get around 1.5" at the wheel/measuring the fender off the ground. I got that from moving the bottom of the strut mount to the bottom of the control arm. The strut pad is 0.5" and the strut pad is 1". That's 1.5" but when I moved it I got 2.5" of drop at the fender (to the ground). If the strut connected at the wheel instead of halfway across the control arm the measurements would be 1:1 instead of 1:1.6
I took about .6" off of a coil that's around 10" compressed. So in other words I see that as the coil still being at least 95% there so no real noticeable changes.
And I don't mind being the guinea pig. I love testing theories and not following the crowd. It came out excellent, and cheap!
Another benefit of doing it this way is I can still use OEM shocks. I've ridden in trucks with drop shocks and they suck. They rode like dick and the shocks didn't last long. I've had adjustable shocks before and they leaked. And all those types are a lot more expensive than some good KYB stock replacements that ride excellent and last forever.
It's all easily reversable too. If I need to I could probably find a set of stock springs near free, and they were real easy to pop off and back on with a basic coil compressor.
Put 5 people (including myself) in the truck over the weekend and hooked up the boat and went to the lake. Truck did excellent. I didn't cut the rear bump stops and with no weight in the truck there is about an inch of clearance between the rear end and the bump stops so I wondered if I would feel them, best I could tell all I could feel was the boat and I didn't feel it much.
I really like what you did here. How bad was installing the drop shackle? Can you get some ground to fender measurements?did you also get those shock extenders? Part number?
I really like what you did here. How bad was installing the drop shackle? Can you get some ground to fender measurements?did you also get those shock extenders? Part number?
Man the drop shackle is a pain in the *** if you get the ones I did and try to do the 1" hole, if you just get 1" ones it shouldn't be too bad. You have to remove the tow hitch assembly to get the lower shackle to frame bolts out, the hitch isn't hard to get out though. There are two "hidden" bolts on it that attach to the bumper though. 6 big bolts 21mm, 4 nuts that are 18mm, and two bolts that are 13mm.
The shackle bolts and nuts are 21mm.
The U bolt nuts are 21mm
The front upper strut mounts are 18mm and the lower mounts are 15mm
The pain in the butt part about the shackles is getting the bolts out of the leaf spring, you have to jack up the rear end after you pull the lower shackle bolts out to get the uppers high enough to clear the frame and come out, but the leaf springs hit the bed before they get high enough. They hit the bead on a pinch rail/seam so you gotta take a hammer and hammer those seams over to get the extra 1/2" clearance you need. And if you get the right shackle to begin with the pain in the *** stops there and it's not too horrible. But if you get the shackles I did and try to put them in the 1" hole it's a motherf#####.
My fender heights are
LF - 34.75
RF - 35.00
LR - 36.75
RR - 37.00
Oddly the truck is higher 1/4" on the right side, but I've seen a lot of people say their car leans a little one way or the other, but after I did the shackles and before I cut the front springs it was actually .5" higher on the right side. However I do not know how far off it was when I was bone stock. I forgot to get a measurement before I messed with the lift blocks.
What is your fender height?
When I measured I held the tape from the ground straight up and centered it over the center cap of the wheel and measured to the bottom of the fender trim.
The shock extenders are not in yet, I ordered them at pep boys. Brand name is ride effex (same brand as the shackles I got at autozone) and the shock extender part number is 13-6540. So far I think it would be just fine if I didn't use the extenders, but I still plan to, just waiting on them.
My local pep boys had to order them from a pep boys in new mexico. Apparently they only have a hand full of these left in the nation.
All the other extenders I saw were around $80 so I hope these work out. They are $22 on sale at pep boys.
Here is a picture of mine with the bell tech rear 3 inch kit. Removed block and used the 2 inch hole. Sits almost exactly level. Have had it like that for about 2k miles (only 5300 on it now) and it drives exactly like it did before. Still want to go down 2 more in the front and rear. Have not towed anything with it so far. Happy to see yours pulled that boat fine.
05-04-2018, 05:47 PM
