laguna
+1y
Been lurking around here, GM Square Body, 67-72, etc, etc, for awhile and figured I should finally sign up up here and start chatting away.
Been a square body crew cab dually lover for a long time, ever since I was a toddler and my old man would sit me on his lap and let me steer his 86' around the local hockey rink parking lot. So I know a dropped square body dually is going to be my next project.
At work we've got three duallys built as shop show trucks, but their all lifted 4x4s, so this whole lowered thing is a little new to me. I've done alot of static drop stuff, but going to air is something I havnt done before. I know I'm going to want it on air, as our local roads are so horrendous that I'll need to raise her up to a driving height to get around, and we've got 4 miles of gravel roads to get to work.
I havnt found a project truck yet, as these old square bodies are very rare up here (Canada). Our winters rust out and destroy these trucks so I've been on the hunt for a truck for awhile, but I have a pretty good idea what route I'm looking to travel when I finally do find the perfect truck.
-73-87' Crew Cab Dually 2wd
-89'-91' front clip/grill/headlight swap
-20's or 22's, not super low profile tires, but still something modern looking.
-on air, able to drop it down but still have a drivable ride height.
-salvage LQ9 6.0L, standard trans.
Aside from that alot is still up in the air. And alot is still undecided. The biggest question I have is when it comes to Z-ing the frame. I'd like to be able to dump the air and get it fairly low to the ground, but I dont know if Z-ing a frame is an undertaking I'd like to tackle, but maybe I do have too...I'm not sure.
Another question is how to go about dropping the rear. I know I'll be notching the frame and building a mounting setup for the bags, and I was thinking a 4-link and panhard would be how to do it, but I'm definitely open to suggestions on that as I've seen alot of other setup types.
Same with the front, I'm assuming it just means building a set of bag mounts/cups in the arms, and possibly a drop spindle...but again, open to suggestions.
What I want in the end is something that is daily drivable, can tow the car trailer (IMCA dirt car and my Chevelle project, so not heavy, hitch pull), handles highway drives and city cruises nicely, and can still look good parked at a local car show.
Any information and direction would be appreciated.