Spindles vs. drop LCAs

I'm looking for about a 3" static drop, don't plan on ever bagging the truck. Since my suspension is pretty beat up right now my plan was to do a complete overhaul of everything, belltech 3" drop leafs in the rear but I wasn't sure the best way to go in the front what are the pros and cons of LCAs vs spindles? I don't want to be burning through tires really fast either by having some crazy camber.

If you only want a 3" drop I would save a lot of money, crank the torsion bars in the front, 3" blocks in the back, and remove the bumpstops front and back. You're not going to have that much camber with that drop, besides bad caster wears tires a lot faster than bad camber.

I can get 3" by just cranking the torsions?

Yeah I'm not sure how much you can get by cranking torsions but I bet its over 2 inches. The problem with the 2in drop spindles is that you have to run a 17in rim. I have no idea on the drop lca's. They are pricey but I haven't heard anything bad about them.


If you flip your lower ball joints and reindex torsions I bet you be pretty damn low. But she will ride a lil rough.

You can get 3 inch's and more with cranking down on the torsion bars, you will have to re-index them. But that will depend on how big of a wheel and tire you are running to. I've had both drop spindles and lowered lower control arms. With the drop spindles you have to run a larger wheel then stock most the time it needs to be at least a 17 or bigger. Lowered lower control arms lets you keep stock wheel and tire. Both drop spindles and lowered lower control arms will give you better ride then just cranking down on the torsion bars.

Here is another post talking about re-indexing if you go that route.



Quoted from "sleepyspeed"

"anyways to re-index the torsion bars you need to get the front end up in the air and the tires off the ground. the tension adjustment bolts for the torsion bars are just about under the seats alongside the frame rails. they take a 17mm socket to back them off. use some penetrating oil on these bolts before trying to back them off or you will end up talking to one of us looking for new bolts.

once those bolts are completely backed off there is no pressure on the torsion bars anymore. take a sharpie or soap stone and mark a line from the torsion bar to the torsion bar coupler on the lower control arm... this will let you know were stock location is.

no take a hammer an tap the bars out of the coupler hitting the forked end of the torsion bar that the bolt run through. now it's up to you to decide how low you want. If I remember right it's about one inch of drop per spline ie: 4 splines = 4 inches lower. you will rotate the bars counterclockwise on the drivers side and clockwise on passenger side (laying under the truck looking forward)

if you go much past 2" of drop you will also need to cut off the stock bumpstops and use a firmer and shorter shock."

Thanks I will try cranking down the torsion bars first see how much drop that gives me. I'm not sure if the previous owner messed with the torsions though is there any way to reset them to stock height first?

I was wanting to know more about this too. So let me get this straight, if you install drop spindals you " have to go with" a 17" wheel or bigger?

It depends on the wheel i have run 16" wheels but the problem is with the drop spindles the spot that the tie rod connects to sits down abit more than the stock and is part of the spindle not like the stock where it is bolted to it. Honestly if you are going to lower your vehicle at all you have to concider the wear you are going to have on your front end get ready to adjust your upper control arm and if possible you might even have to shave the cross arm to push it out so your wheel run true.

so if you turn down the torsion bars down 2 inches or so the camber will not be enough to eat the tires??? im looking at getting some eskies and just lowering it slightly and don't want to eat a new set of tires to see that i should have went with spindles. with a 2-3 inch drop on 17-18 inch eskies what size tires would be a good choice??? i had a 89 hardbody bagged and had to run 205/40's and hope i could fit a bit larger tire than that. Just asking the experts i have been through the trial and error on other vehicles and want to make this one right from the get go. Also would a 4wd fender conversion have to be done to keep from scrubbing ??