2014+ Lowering / Drop Kits

Cardinals11 · August 1, 2018

Go 4/6

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SirenRed16 · August 1, 2018

There's no way the roads are worse than New England's [emoji38]

Haha where I live it bad lol. My dad had a 08 Silverado crew cab lowered 4/6 and bottomed out a lot and I don't want to go through that this my truck lol

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Nasty · August 1, 2018

40 minutes ago, SirenRed16 said:

Lower is better but our California roads are horrible and I don't want to hear the truck bottom out every time I hit a dip or hole. The kit is adjustable to i can always lower it some more

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I live in california. And im 4/7 dont be a wiener. and im in the process of getting a few things to go 5/8

SirenRed16 · August 1, 2018

I live in california. And im 4/7 [emoji4] dont be a wiener. and im in the process of getting a few things to go 5/8

That's what I don't want right there lol. I want to lower mine but also have the capacity of towing if necessary so I don't want to go very low.

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Nasty · August 1, 2018

3 minutes ago, SirenRed16 said:

That's what I don't want right there lol. I want to lower mine but also have the capacity of towing if necessary so I don't want to go very low.

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Get helper bags its just plastic in that picture. And at that time i was 4.5/7 with a 28" tall front tire. So i was lower than most 4/7. Taller tire means youll be up higher

K_Sevy · August 1, 2018

On ‎7‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 11:22 PM, pillman said:

Fantastic looking truck! Any chance you can tell me which part numbers from Belltech the kit/parts you used are? Especially the rear flip kit? I was under the impression that the mildest drop you could do with a rear flip kit was 5”?? I checked there web page but it honestly frustrates me!! Cheers

Thank you! The belltech flip kit I used was #6525 along with #6700 shackles, and 2212FF rear shocks and the rear shackle hangers on the lowest setting. It ended up being about 4.25" lower than stock, which was about perfect for what I was shooting for. For the front, I went with Belltech 25004 struts with 3 rings installed, and Belltech 2509 dropped spindles as I had the cast steel control arms. I wanted to keep some of the rake the truck originally had as I've always liked that look. It rides great and drives smooth with zero driveline vibration. (which is great since the truck had a little vibration stock)

Goinovr · August 2, 2018

On 7/28/2018 at 9:29 AM, Cf1k1 said:

After doing lots of reading both here and on the leveling/lift kit thread, I decided that in order to keep my truck more street friendly, I wanted to go ahead and drop the ass end instead of leveling the front. I ordered the belltech shackle kit after learning that just removing the rear block was not enough to level. With this being said I still have a few a questions that the search function did not turn up answers to.

In order to level the truck, is it best to use the shackle at the 2" position or is better to remove the rear block and do the 2" position for about a drop of 3"?

On some of the amazon reviews, people were reporting having issue with removing the shackle botls. Some people said that they had to loosen the bed and raise the bed or even roll the bed seem. Furthermore, there was also talks about removing the hitch so that the lower shackle bolt can be removed. Can anyone attest to the factuality of this?

https://www.belltech.com/belltech-07-17-chevrolet-silverado-sierra-1-2-ton-all-2-or-3-rear-drop-6401.html

To get the upper rear shackle bolt out you need to move/remove the trailer hitch. OR if you look where the bolt is you'll see a hole in the hitch plate. Grab a sawzall and cut straight down from the bottom of the hole so you end up with a notch in that bracket. That will let you get the bolt out and you don't have to take your truck apart and it doesn't really mess with the strength of the hitch.

Goinovr · August 2, 2018

On 7/31/2018 at 3:50 PM, Nasty said:

I have a regular cab. i bottomed out but i have bump stops now

How'd you end up doing your bump stops? I have some puck style stops I was going to bolt into the the frame rail but I think there may be a better way.

Nasty · August 2, 2018

14 minutes ago, Goinovr said:

How'd you end up doing your bump stops? I have some puck style stops I was going to bolt into the the frame rail but I think there may be a better way.

Belltech stops. Cut thread off. Used a#10 self tapping screw to the frame. that way if it wears out. I cant unscrew it and add a new one

Goinovr · August 2, 2018

14 minutes ago, Nasty said:

Belltech stops. Cut thread off. Used a#10 self tapping screw to the frame. that way if it wears out. I cant unscrew it and add a new one

nice! thanks.

Cf1k1 · August 7, 2018

Just to follow up:

I got the Belltech lowering shackles put on. Personally, I left the 1.25" blocks on the axle to keep a short rake just in case I choose to get another boat again or something of the like.

Installation was pretty straight forward. I'm fortunate enough to have a friend with a two post lift. We removed the OEM hitch and then began breaking down the rear shackles. Being it was on a lift with only one large floor jack, we choose to gain clearance over the frame rails by disconnecting the bottom shackle boat and lowering the truck onto the floor to lift the top shackle bolt above the frame. Right away we ran into a problem in that the bed seam was contacting the shackle. Back up in the air and some taps with a ball peen hammer, the bed seam was folded over and it was smooth sailing from there. Final measurements came down to 1.25" higher in the rear which I was okay with as aforementioned. Total install time with a two post lift from hitch removal to hitch installation was 2hrs 15 min with two people and mostly hand tools. Will post pics tomorrow.

*EDIT*

Also, I used to have this obnoxious ever so slight shake in the seats at highway speeds. Wasn't the typical GM shake that has been documented but something that bugged the hell out of me. That shake has also been resolved and the butttest attributes that to the lowering the truck a touch. Additionally, the ATROCIOUS leaf spring creek is gone as well. That could from getting some weight off the springs with the truck in the air but I doubt it (never noticed it resolving after an oil change). Time will tell.

Edited August 7, 2018 by Cf1k1

Nasty · August 8, 2018

Needs more low now

Dinner · August 8, 2018

1 hour ago, Nasty said:

Needs more low now

Looks great, what tire size?

Nasty · August 8, 2018

4 minutes ago, Dinner said:

Looks great, what tire size?

265 35 22 and 275 40 22

UofAZCats · August 9, 2018

Well I am in a much happier place than a few weeks ago. Just picked up the truck and it looks just how I hoped it would. Last time I took it in and they installed the Inez 3/5 kit. Unfortunately the kit was missing the reverse hanger. This left the ass end at a 7" drop. The front end was 3.5" lower. Both were more than I wanted. While the truck did look great from the side it was lower than I wanted. It was drivable but without a C-notch the back bottomed out with any real bump and the front tires rubbed with most turns. I really preferred to be closer to a 2/4.5 drop so i had a good look with all the regular functioning of stock. The new stance is pretty damn close to that.

Instead of taking off the Inez lower control arms and putting on a drop spindle my installer recommended putting in half of a lift kit to raise it 1.5" for an overall drop of 2" versus stock in front. It was much cheaper in terms of hardware and installation at this point. Ivan at Inez was great at addressing the issue with the missing part by quickly having it send to my installer. That was installed, and after a little trial and error with the different shackles, got the rear just 0.5" above the front. The rear drop was about 4.5" versus stock. The install also included 1.5" spacers to all wheels. The spacers help to reduce rubbing but, almost as important, give it a wider, cooler look. Lastly I had 1" bump stocks put on the rear, though with the back end sitting higher bottoming out should not be a problem. Before today standing on the rear bumper and bouncing I was able to bottom out (please hold any fat jokes - thank you) after a few bounces. Now I can't get it to bottom out and it certainly feels stiffer.

The front tires are aligned but the wheels still sit further back in the wheel well than I ultimately want. If I understand correctly this is an alignment related issue. Has anyone else been able to fix this issue short of removing the lowering kit?

Thanks for everyone's input when I initially panicked after the first round.