Vannin' Home Forums General Discussion Generic How To ..... lower a chevy?

well after my van going to my friend and back and then another fallout with code enforcement lol i finally found a spot i can keep it. i sold one of my other cars and just parked it. but i saw a slammed chevy on craigslist and it gave me the itch back.. i want to slam it. i also bought a engine gasket set and a trnas filter and gasket. next up body work woo hoo.

anyways how can i lower this on the cheap?? with out cutting springs..

Can't offer advice on lowering but glad to see ya back and congrats on being able to keep the van.

Spindle in the front (same as the pickups, and flip the rear in the back.

explain what cheap means to you

Hey, does cutting the springs make it ride like crap? (I know that's the cheapEST way to lower it....) I imagine it would. But I've never experimented with that. However I was thinking about doing it just cause I'm Cheap with a capital "C".

Yes it does and depending on the spring shape it could also make the springs unstable in the spring seats.

You can get away with one coil, that will keep the spring 'clocked' in the correct position.

The best way is with spindles so the geometry stays the same. If you need to go lower than that, dropped spindles along with a cut coil and some dropped cup lower arms will make it about as low as you can go w/o cutting.

If you take too many coils out, the ride/load carrying are the least of your problems. You will have to pack so many shims in the upper arms to get the front back in alignment that it would not be safe to drive (unless you modified the upper arms.

Why not Air Ride it?

You could ditch the leafs in the back and use a universal weld on parallel 4 link.

But the easier way would be to use a StrongArm tubular trailing arm system.

Up front I would use the CoolRide setup w/ the upper and lower StrongArms.
Then just pick out a compressor system.

That would be one of the best ways, but he did say CHEAP.

^True,

Save up and do it the right way down the road maybe? would be worth it in the long run.

Cheap would mean no c-notching the rear.
So:

hmm. very good points. i dont wanna cut the coils, just cuz im scared to. but ive done drop spindles before and since they are probably only a few hundred dollars ill probably do that in front. but then for the back all i can think of doing is taking one leaf out, im not gunna be towing i gave my trailer away and im gunna take the hitch off the van too. but i have never taken a leaf out due to thinkin it eff up the ride... i guess looks before ride now huh lmao

What the rear needs is to add a leaf. It works like this: (1)flip the axle, which will lower it too much causing the housing to bottom on the frame then, (2)add a leaf (or two) to raise it back to the height you're looking for.
The flip will drop about 4.5" to 5" then the extra (or re-arched) springs will get back 2.5" to 3.5" leaving you a net drop of 2" to 2.5" or there abouts.
There was a post about this a while back I believe.

well i went and looked at my front suspension just now cuz it looks as low as the van that says its lowered on cl lol. so does this look right or is it lowered maybe? what is that thing in the spring and can i take them out?? there is one on both sides the passenger side one is all the way at the top tho. also my front tires stick out about 1 inch past the fender so i gotta find new rims i guess to get the look i want but i still like these lol... anyway pics

front driver side. i used the a-arm to jack it up so the spring is compressed in the pick.



the front does look a little lower in front then some vans but the back doesnt.. what do you think??


here is a better pic for side profile on it.



oh btw dont worry before i go drivin this thing alot everything is getting pressure washed, re greased, and painted too.

Here's a shot of a drop spindle.

The tie rod will be lower that the spindle and the caliper will be as high as the upper ball joint.

Front wheels will be fun to find. I'm running 205's to miss the fender. Anything lower than 3" and you'll need positive offset's. I need 7" wide with 4" BS so I can go to 215's or 225's to better fill up the fender. Don't have the $$ right now so I'll run the 205's for a while.

This is sitting on nearly new coils.

The thingie's in the springs look like rubber load levelers.

They are used when the spring is old and sags. Take them out and it might come down a bit.

Take them out and it will probably come down a lot... look at the gap between the other coils on that spring - when you pull it out, that coil will drop to about the same amount. Looks like maybe 1/2" to me in your picture.

The previous owner was likely looking for the cheapest possible "repair" to a really messed up front end situation... If I was you I'd give the ball joints and tie rod ends a really close examination. Short of weakening through excessive corrosion, springs don't wear out without similar wear occurring elsewhere in the suspension.

Check your wheel alignment too... this throws things off a bit, usually in camber.

Clear skies!

Your front suspension can come way down. Here's a pic of my 72. Cut coils is all I have done. Rides good,& doesn't eat up tires. Brad

thanks for all the pics and advice everyone, ye im planning on replacing all te tie rod ends and stuff just from how old they are anyways. new springs are expensive lol. i think ill leave the ride height as is as of now but where did you get your spindles from catfish?? might as well start saving for all of the suspension components and do it all at the same time after the body is to my liking. and i gotta save for new rims too lol.

Have you called Espo Springs'nThings?

http://www.springsnthings.com/

The front springs for your van were $75-85 a pair in my couple of year old paper catalog...

They also sell tie rod ends, ball joints, bushings, etc... You might be able to do a one-stop shop with them.

Hmmm... I just noticed they also carry speedometer cables... that might be handy to keep in mind for future reference!

Clear skies!

hey thanks! wow i cant beleive someone remembered my speedo dont work ha, actually i found out why, the po had some glass pack put on and the speedo cable was laying on the driver side and melted the plastic part all the way across about 3 in. across so im guessing thats why its not workin but dont know for sure. springs i found are $91 for the set at autozone i shop there cuz its 2 blocks from my house lol

I have any 87 G20, and I was looking it over. In the rear has anyone ever moved the front of the leaf up higher on the perch? Mine has really tall perches and I just thought you might be about to move the mounting hole up higher, and re-aline the axle? I know thats one way to lower a full size truck of the same year. They make shorter perches that you have to mount to the frame. But with the van it looks like you could just re-drill the hole???

I've wondered about that too. I've seen what you're talking about on my GMC. Never tried it on a van but, you're right, the pinion angle might need a shim.

I have mentioned this a few times on this board. You can redrill & move the front of the rear leafspring up in the frame hanger.
Howard's Future Shock Chevy van had this done in the 70's. They also cut the spring perches off the axle & rewelded to get the correct pinion angle back. You could use a shim I suppose. I would stay away from alum. shims. Steel is better.
Another thing is that you only get half of the distance that you move the spring up in the hanger. IE..Move it 2" & you will get a 1" drop. Etc. Good luck & keep us posted.Brad

Thats a good idea about cutting and rewelding the spring perches for the axle.

i'VE lOWERED 2 chevy trucks, by cutting the coils (with a hacksaw) 1 Full coil leaving them at the correct clock position. I bought regular Dropt Sus shocks, and they rode Good. They make different degree shims to change the pinion angle without cutting perches.