Body Drop?

Could someone explain the differences in body drops?


Traditional, Stock Floor & Channeled.


Basically I'm trying to figure out what I want to do on my 86 b2k and I'm not 100% what the benefits or draw backs to the diff types are...also if one is easier than the other, that'd be nice to know too.

A traditional body drop is when the original floor and firewall is cut and seperated fromthe cab. New rocker panels are then folded up and installed. Once this is complete the original floor and firewall are then re-welded back into place at a selected new height.  A stock floor body drop is done by removing the whole body of the truck from the chassis. Once this is done the original centre section of chassis where the cab would normally mount is cut out and replaced with a new section of chassis. The new section of chassis is lower in height than the original and will allow the body drop to take place without having to cut the floor from the cab. This will mean you can avoid loosing any head or leg room inside the cab. It also means you can maintain things like your original pedal box, heater and air con with relative ease.

 A new floor body drop is very similar to a traditional body drop but instead of re-fitting your original floor we replace it with a new folded sheetmetal floor. It is a popular option if you are looking at smoothing up and detailing the inside and/or underside of your cab.   

close man, but let me add some fuel to the fire Traditional: A traditional bodydrop is the easiest and cheapest way to get the body of that truck on the ground.  You take the interior out of the truck (carpet, seats, dash), then cut around the floorboards and watch the outside of the cab drop down.  This means the floor will be higher up inside the truck and you'll have to fill in the areas where the floor is raised with new sheetmetal.  It's the same concept as bodydropping a bed, but for the bed you cut 2,3,4" whatever ouf of the inside walls of the bed so the outside can drop down, then weld it all back up.  You'll still have to tub the firewall, drop the front frame horns so the frontend can line up with the new lower body. Stockfloor: This is the most expensive, and time consuming way to bodydrop your truck.  The cab is removed, and the frame underneath the cab is modified.  The new frame will be built shorter in height than the old frame, but thicker boxed steel tubing is used to retain strength.  The body mounts are lowered so the body can drop down over this new frame.  Now when the body drops down, certain things inside must be modified.  The transmission and driveshaft remain in their original places so the floor must be modified to clear them since the cab drops down lower over them.  The bed and front frame horns must be dropped like any bodydrop also. as for he AC/heat.  most trucks have these items placed above the passenger side wheel on the firewall, and with large wheels and needing to tub the firewall, you must either heavily modify or trash the heat or AC setups.  Some fullsize trucks have this stuff under the dash and that makes life much easier.  Channelling: This is the true old school way to lower the body down over the frame.  You simply cut long channels in the floor of the body so the frame, transmission, driveshaft, and bodymounts can come up higher into the floor.  After the body drops down you just use sheetmetal to make long humps over all the shit that's coming through the floor now.  The hotrod/ratrod guys have been doing this for 60+ years to get their cars lower in the days before drop springs/spindles/leafs etc.... all the bed/frontend stuff is the same with all the bodydrops though