Lowering option without a block???

[Alvarez1112]

What options are there to get the rear of the truck lower than 3" without adding a block. Assuming a 3" lowering leaf is used the only option I can think of is to recess a slider up into the frame rail and raise the rear of the leaf spring itself. Does that seem like a viable option? What problems if any would this cause as far as suspension geometry is concerned?

[Alvarez1112]

An after thought, what about raising the front of the spring?

[Rickracer]

You could do both.....I'd keep the angle between the two the same though...:cool4:

[Alvarez1112]

You could do both.....I'd keep the angle between the two the same though...:cool4:

I just need to figure out the best way to do it!

[Rickracer]

I think the slider idea is a good one, keeps the spring rate more linear. As far as the geometry, you would definitely have to adjust the pinion angle. :cool4:

[Alvarez1112]

I've got a 8.8 I'm building so I'll just adjust pinion angle before I weld up the perches

[excaliber]

I'm just gonna throw this out there, I was looking into it when I was planing on narrowing my frame,

you could use the shackles from a first gen Blazer, they are totally different than a truck,
you could use the left on the right side and vise versa, and weld them inside the frame,

the way they look factory they would let the truck sit a bit lower in factory locations,


but you could weld them to the inside of the frame, and raise them a inch or two.

as for the back, if you move the front to the inside of the frame, just make a "L" bracket boxed in, and mount the sliders to it on the rear.

the down side is you would have to relocate your spring perches on the axle.


here is a Blazer's factory shackles. (from what I remember, they look like they would lower the truck even in the factory locations.)

but you would loose 3 inches of tire space, so I would mount them on the inside of the frame by flip flopping sides.


http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt306/1989_S-10/stuff%20for%20%20the%20board/yj2.jpg

[Alvarez1112]

Thanks Excaliber! I'll have to look into that. It would be cheaper than adding a crossmember and new front spring hangers

[Alvarez1112]

Now that I think about it, the frame would need to be boxed before adding the blazer front hangers. No big deal but it adds a little work

[jameskirk1]

You can get a 4" lowering leaf from Western Chassis (or you used to could anyway).

There is a thread on Yellowbullet regarding flipping the S10 hangers from side to side and re-mounting them upside down - I don't have a truck to look at now :(

If you need any additional pics of the blazer mounts let me know :)

Oh yeah, the main reason for lowering your rig this way it it keeps the geometry better for a caltrac or slide-link setup - I also want to mention that the blazer/s10 chassis is very different - the blazer frame hangs ALOT lower than the truck frame for people that are checking out this thread at a later date :)

[Alvarez1112]

I read through the thread on the Bullet the other day, but I have a first gen and the springs are directly under the frame which require new hangers mounted inboard.