nice any bottoming out in the rear over bumps?

 

No problem with the rear, but I have some slight scuffing in the front. I removed the front bump stops and then lost them. Went to the dealer, was told they are $32 ea. which is crazy. I'll use aftermarket or make a run to the salvage yard. I'm running 285/50-20 all around which are a little wide. But I'll have it sorted out shortly with the bump stops. The roads here have a lot of dips and the bump stops are going to be necessary.

 

I had the rear end welded in this weekend. It only costs me 80 bucks. The guy welded the new spring pad to the bottom of the axle and rewelded the top spring pad that was breaking loose. Seems to be good so far.
As far as the bottoming out goes, I don't really hit when the bed is empty, but as soon as I put any load in it, the axle slams pretty hard on dips. I was carrying my rims for my car which only weigh around 200-250lbs and the axle hit the frame a couple of times.
Has anyone ever heard of Husky Springs Load Plus helper springs? I think they are only about 80 bucks. I don't know if they would help or I should just go with helper air bags.
http://info.rockauto.com/Husky/LoadPlus.html
By the way I do have some 1.5" drop shackles sitting in the garage now if anyone is interested.

 

Astock,
I don't know about that setup. I had another truck lowered that I used for work and it had helper airbags. They worked great and could be adjusted for whatever load you wanted to carry. I believe they cost about $200. I also had my new spring perches welded today at a shop I use. The owner and his son build hot rods. They aren't really into lowered vehicles, but enjoy working on modified vehicles and always cut me a good deal. They even open their shop to me to use their machine shop equipment. Good folks.

 

I had the firestone airbag helpers on the truck before, but the airbags don't fit since I lowered it. I would have to buy the slam air helper bags. I was hoping not to have to buy something else for the truck. I went from getting a great deal on the lowering kit, to having to get the rear welded, to having to buy new rims because the 17's don't fit, to needing airbags if I want to carry anything. My wife is going to kill me.

 

Hey all

blk05hemi sent me this way...said you were all a bunch of knowledgeable folks. Read most of all these postings (up till page 64)...pretty good info. My concern is that I just want to level my truck...originally was gonna raise the nose but I like the idea of dropping the tail with shackles (pretty sure I can tackle this myself). However it does seem that the actual drop will not be 2" let alone "level"....now a suspension guy at the shop told me that realistically I would see about 1". But it seems that here on this thread 1.5" is about the norm. Unless the OL spring is removed, though I don't think I want to do that cause occasionally I haul stuff around in the bed. So other than OL spring removal...is there something else that can be done. Shoot, I thought to get a level truck would be simpler but oh well at least I'm learning a lot though LOL.

 

Hey guys...looks like I am getting a used McGaughy's drop kit from a guy on another forum. I don't think it is coming with instructions, so I was wondering if I can find them anywhere or if someone has a digital copy they could email me? I had a 02 ram with a Hotchkis lowering kit on it, but the rear was new leaf springs, not a flip kit. How hard will it be to install the flip kit, and is there anything I need to know to get it done? I am excited to get it sitting lower!!

 

sweet welcome both of you to our side of things or should i say our height of things....ill start with mamba yes you can get 2" drop shackles from mcgaughy's and they will be the most of 2" drop youll get unless you can find slammed1 shackles which are harder than finding gold....those are true 2" now i haul stuff around in my truck with the o/l leaf delete i just have to be carefull how much and ive put quite a bit in there....so its really up to you on what you haul....redbeard maybe you wanna help blackmamba out and sell him your drop shaks for a better price....but im glad you found a good kit mcg's is the way to go great product ive been looking to go 2/4 myself just waiting for a better time ...good luck its all str8 forward and somebody posted that install i think on one of the pages not sure but ill see if i can come up with it...

 

I don't think there are any instruction. It is very straight forward. My kit was new and didn't have any.

http://img404.imageshack.us/i/dsc00221l.jpg/

http://img64.imageshack.us/i/dsc00222m.jpg/

http://img297.imageshack.us/i/dsc00223g.jpg/

http://img179.imageshack.us/i/dsc00224yg.jpg/

http://img205.imageshack.us/i/dsc00208compressed.jpg/

Picture worth a 1000 words. Good luck...

 

those caltracs look nice ...shoulda thrown some red p.c on em before the install but its more a function over form...still i bet they ride smooth...