Lowered Trucks: tech and info....
 

This is a section that is being constructed for LOWERED truck talk. We will be discussing many aspects of LOWERING your ride. As well as showing off your LOWERED ride. Many members of the LOWER CLASS CLUB will be draggin' thru... So feel free to ask questions and post ideas and what ever you feel pertains to this section ..... please keep it to LOWERED expectation.......thank you

also feel free to join my club LOWER CLASS by clicking here if your ride has already been lowered....pics are a must....thank you

also id like to thank offroadteacher for all the help with this.....thank you

Oh how to lower a truck with 4x4?

if thats what you want we can help you ....

mines a 4x4 and I did 2" drop shackles from moes performance for the rear, and I loosened the T bar bolts 2 turns to lower the front 1.5"

so is it alot harder to lower the truck with a 4x4 cuz i wanna do it to mine maybe a 2in in the front 4in in the rear. how expensive would that be? and would the 4x4 work just like as it did before or would it mess up in the long run? id ont see why it would mess anything up but who knows i've learned alot and been proven wrong way to many times on here.. Trail and Error baby WOOOOT! lol

truthfully I want to be able to drop him in the summer and lift him in the winter... for the drop nothing extreme for the lift maybe the equivelent to leveling kit 1.5 rear 2.5 front... do they make a kit that will offer both or am I gonna have to buy separate stuff them change it every season?

I would just do the cranking of the T bars for winter, and loosening of them in the summer. you'll just get to know your alignment shop really good. and just swap out shackles at the same time. it would be the cheapest way.. or go buy the $600+ lowering kit and remove it everywinter... but that sounds like a PITA

before
Attachment 102512

after
Attachment 102513

yeah i think changing spindles twice a year would suck. practice makes perfect. sounds like jonny is on the right track for what you want

lol wat are u guys talking about. if u wanna change ur ride height quickly with the flip of a switch get some air bags like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx5Vqh881a4

or this thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuJ2xL1hBis

i wish. 3 kids = budget. i would love to slam my truck when i park it.

WOW prices have came down since the last ime i looked. 1600.00 for a cpmlete air bag set up. maybe attainable

http://www.airbagit.com/product-p/fbs-dod-56-kit5.htm

ya ur right i forgot the air bag setups are really expensive. unless u have like a midsize truck like the dakotas or something.

but ya the air ride is also useful so that ur ride can fit into the garage.
but clearing speed bumps and parking lot entrance/exit slumps are the best uses.

So what bumps stops are you guys using? The ones I have are flat and worn out. Im bottoming out if I hit anything hard. Sounds like metal hitting metal.

Wanting to drop down!
 

I just picked up a set of 09 Ram 20's for 450 bucks, barely even used, could still see all the painted surface ont insides of the rims. I bought a set of tires with them also, 265 50 20. I like them alot but wanting to close the gap in the wheel wells. I was told the truck has a two inch leveling kit in the front so my questions are these. How much of a drop should I use? Whats the best course of action without using drop spindles and flip kits? I had a slammed Silverado with a 5/7 drop and I loved it but boy did my ass pucker a lot!!! LOL What setup did you use 1lLowRam ???

Wow, I wonder. Does the airbag setup eliminate the torsion bar? Is that the only kit, Or does anyone make them?

I bought mine the way it sits. I wish I knew.

Jarhead, a 2 inch leveling kit mostly means that the front was lifted with spring spacers. without goin with the flip kit, ou can get the belltek 3" rear leaf springs and 2 inch front springs.. so that will still have a stock rake and be a bit lower, but not that much for 5 bills there..

here is a pic of mine now lowered 2 front 5 rear

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo113/ricco291/4.jpg

Thats what I was thinking, I should have gotten taller tires but these were only $550, Regular price was $850 so I went with them. Im thinking about selling the wheels and tires and getting different ones or dropping the truck.

Are they the Crome stock 20s? Wanna trade? Mine also have brand new tires.

seems like a waste i guess... dropping a 4x4.... maybe airbags would be the way to go for me that way I could lift it and stick some 35's on it.... drop it and use my stock tire size.... but whats the maximum airbag height and drop... i think ive seen 4 inchers but thats the biggest I have ever seen

Sorry, they are the stock painted alloy rims. Not too crazy about chrome wheels, and I think your a bit far away lol

Well damn. I d take the painted ones too. But sounds like you are far away.

nice truck candybusa.

yea I agree, airbags are the way to go. All you have to do is have two sets of wheels, off and on road. ive seen bags with 3 compartments. I'd say 15 inches on suspension travel. Check out airbagit.com

So about those bump stops...Whats everyone got? I need new ones bad.

im not runnin any right now. just took the rubber out the front, still have the cups. and as for the rear i took those out completely. i bottom out often, but im gonna get some adjustable air shocks for the rear for haulin stuff and that will also solve the bottoming out issue...

lowered
 

so can you give us newbies some details on what you used etc... i want to keep as close to possible the stock ride, its bad enough where i live. and i want to keep it as cheap as possible with-out being cheap. if you know what i mean, i wont make a mod if i can not do it right. thanks

i have a DJM 2/4 kit on my ram, custom shackles in the rear so its about 2/4.75. Nitro drop shocks out back and factory up front. it rides great, sometimes i forget its even lowered... until it bottoms out while im drivin. as long as i drive carefully i can avoid it. id say thats pretty good for no bump stops or notching! i am gonna "trim" the front up a bit for better clearence. better to have it and not need it than the other way around.

since lifting a truck decreases mpg significantly, would lowering a truck slightly increase mpg?

no your using the truck right same tires same power wind drag and such the only way to save gas is buy a gasmiser a yaris or something......lifting is more weight bigger tires and adding alot of weight in just the lift itself....

was that a serious question? i gotta know!

sure, I guess

and i thought i was just really stoned......but i answered...all i can say now is wow....

:icon_laugh:BWAAHAHAHAHAHA... *cough cough hrmmm.. sorry:icon_goofygrin:heehee

So when you guys lowered your trucks, did you do anything to the suspension to give it a better ride or are you just using the stock components still? I've been really thinking about doing a slight drop on mine but want to upgrade a few things to give it the lowered look.

jay how hard is it to install drop shackles? been seriously thinking about doing it

I have to disagree with the statement that lowering doesn't help gas mileage, By lowering a vehicle you change the areodynamis enough tio lower the air drag under the vehicle. Only way you might not see the difference is because of all other factors that cause gas mileage to gain or decrease such as wind, temperature, elevation, etc. . For example, if you add a tonoue cover you have less air resistance than without, but on the other hand you add weight to the vehicle thus counteracting the gains, but none the less you can get higher mileage per tank but also in given situations lose mileage. Did that make sense?

Drop shackles are a piece of cake if you have the right tools. Acompressor and an air gun are your friends lol.