Suspension questions...

Alright... I have alot to ask! But I need to know what it takes to ride low, safely, and smart. Because I hear about mechanical drops like spindles, and blocks, etc. which I guess some of them can screw with your tread life and alignment.

So, I'm asking this, I have 4" billet blocks. The blocks are slanted, and I dunno how they are to be installed. 4" blocks or more means I have to get drop shocks. I was thinking of the toxic shocks or monroe. Which ones do I get?

How much would my suspension and handling be affected if I monoleaf my truck? I'm also concerned that my scrub line is below the rims already.

How can I tell if my front has been lowered? I think, if anything, the torsion bars have been cranked down.

I want to lower my truck as much as possible without sacrificing my tread, alignment and whatnot. What can I do?

I do plan on bagging the truck down the road, when I get it bagged, do all the suspension things such as leafs, shocks, spindles, etc...

Any help is greatly appreciated!

slant on the blocks goes toward the back, don't go mono leafed, they tend to break, run the blocks & remove the overload leaf & maybe one or two more, you won't be able to haul a load of wood in it, but at least they won't break under just the weight of the truck.
toxic shocks are stiff, if you have the money get the bell tech nitro active ones & it'll ride like a caddy, for both front & rear.
look under the truck if the bolt that adjusts the torsion bar is way down, then they have been cranked down to lower it.about the only thing you can do here is re-index them to get back some of the spring tension to keep the front end from bottoming out so hard.
as far as tread life, once you get the truck stance where you want it front & rear, carry it & have it aligned, this will keep from wearing out your tires because of negative camber on the front & misalignment front to rear.

on the bottom of your post you said something about baggin it & something about the leafs etc, but never finished what you were going to ask........

hope some of this helps!

They angle on the block will face the cab.

JUST KEEP IN MIND IF YOU DO RUN DROP SPINDLES , TO GET A 17'' OR LARGER WHEEL BECAUSE THE DAMN TIE RODEND WILL HIT THE WHEEL

Oh, I was going to say, don't you get rid of all the suspension stuff when you bag it? I think the guy also already removed a couple leafs, not sure. I never messed with the leafs, so I dunno what you mean by the overload leaf and whatnot. Well, I suppose the belltech is what I'll get then! ANd what do you mean by re-indexing them?

So what is it? The angle faces the back or front, cause now I have 2 diff. answers! Lol.

Thanks for the help guys...

No you can run a 16" wheel with the spindles u just have to run a small spacer under the tierod end...

bagged22, you got that to work, dude i tried that and it still hit with z wheels, but ive got chassis tech spindles, what kind do you have

First off...Nice truck..Really! Got a lil rust repair needed but looks good otherwise.

As for what it looks like has been done suspension wise:

You may already be monoleafed in the rear. Look at your rear leaves, count how many are there, and see if there's one thicker one yet shorter on the bottom of the leaf stack. If there's only 1 long one and one thick really short one under there then you're monoleafed. If you install the 4" blocks between the leaves and your axles, you'll be sitting all the way frame on axle lol. Only way to prevent that is 1. install another leaf, or 2. buy some airshocks and keep them aired up enough to keep your frame and axle from hitting.

Your front has definitely been lowered, most likely via twisting the front torsions.

Basically, imo, you're about as low as you can go without baggin to have some decent ride left. You might could grind off the bumpstop bracket, and/or flip your ball joints and achieve a lil more drop and lil more ride out of it...I'm asking about that in another thread to possible try on mine

Here's a pic of my blocks, leaves (monoleafed), frame and axle clearance WITH 3" blocks and airshocks.



Without my rear shocks aired up some I would have been within probably 1/2" frame to axle.

And here's how low I was:



At this height, bumps are a slight problem...the bigger the worse they'd be . I got tired of it myself and raised it back up...for the 2nd time, but am now considering going back down IF I can get more or a ride via hackin off the bumpstop brackets and flipping the balljoints.

Good luck! You gotta good start.

Alright! Man thanks for the input! I appreciate it! I'm always looking at my truck and I still think its a piece of crap to me! haha... If you saw in my profile, you'll notice that this truck is going to be nothing to me for body repair! I got alot of small dents and blemishes, but nothing I can't solve.

I checked the rear susp. I have 4 total. So which means I can take out 2 more, right? Since I'll have the long one and the short one.

Can you explain to me about the whole ordeal of the bodydrop in the back? Because I was told that since the axle is already on top of the leafs you cannot do an axle flip for lowering and if you put in bigger blocks like the 4inchers I want on, it will actually raise it? I've been told one thing and another... Sigh...

Well, if I have 4 leafs and install the blocks that should mean I'm fine as far as clearance of axle and frame rail? If I get dropshocks how much will this contribute to axle and frame clearance?

As hard as I try, I cannot figure out what the torsion bars are! The long bars on the side going parallel with the frame rails?

Earlier today, I was thinking back on how a kid told me his friend took out 3/4 of his bump stops so it could ride lower, I'm thinking about that... But what will it affect? Ball joints, huh? Let me know how to do it when you figure it out!

Wait, I thought airshocks did'nt allow you to raise or lower your truck? I'm confused...

Haha, the more you guys explain things, the more I learn but still the more I get confused! Thanks for the comment on my truck! Yours is looking better though!

Keep readin here on this site. Use the search feature above and you'll find there are many articles where some of your questions have already been asked and answered by those here before you You'll find most of us don't mind helping a brother Dawg fan