Hotchkis?

[Guest loneranger]

Wanting to get some opinions on dropping my truck 2/4. Seeing how most everyone use hangers/shackles and either spindle or shorter springs in the front, I asked the tech person there what I should do. He told me that they offer a 2/4 drop package that includes: shorter coils for the front, new leaf springs for the rear, new sway bars front and rear. Cost is about $950. He also said that doing hangers/shackles to drop the rear is a cheap way out, but not the best. That I should replace the stock leafs with the Hotchkis units. When I asked about front drop spindles, he said shorter coil springs is the better way to go. I have no doubt about Hotchkis reputation being one of the best, but I'd still like you guys' real world experience and thoughts on what he told me.

 

Thanks!

[tdrumm]

Hotchkis is the best, hands down, especially if you want better handling. I wouldn't drop my truck any other way. Check Tbyrne, they have the Hotchkis Total Vehicle System for $870 for a regular cab. Sometimes he has sales on their stuff too if you can wait it out.

[ranchhand]

hotchkiss is VERY stiff, i know 2 people that have had that drop and have wanted a different kit after a few months. if you can live with the stiffness, go for the hotchkiss, if you want to save a few bucks, and keep a factory like ride, then go with the front LCAs and the rear hangers and shackles. personally i have coils in the front and shackle/hangers in the back, with STOCK shocks, and i love my ride.

[BuiltNotBought]

you might wanna check into DJM or belltech they have great setups.

[SS Crew]

DO NOT USE BELLTECH SPINDLES!!! I made the mistake of using those on my other truck and lost my ability to make sharp turns. There were some drive-thrus that I had to back up and reposition my truck to make it through. Also if you were making a turn and hit a bump, there was a hellacious screeching noise that turned out to be the brake caliper rubbing on the upper control arm.

 

I also had the 2" drop coils before that. That was fine, but there wasn't enough alignment adjustment, so my front tires wore on the outside edge. That was why I spent the bucks and went with the Bell Techs - wrong move.

 

The way to go from what I've heard is the dropped A-arms. I haven't done those, but I haven't heard anything bad.

 

Good Luck

SS

[jthokie92]

So far on my 2001 GMC Sierra 2WD Ext. Cab I used Eibach components. I dropped the front using 3" coil springs, 4" rear using shackles and hangers. The parts only cost me about $280 because one of my friends works at the local Firestone and has contacts to get me stuff at his cost. The kit also came with pinion angle shims to correct the drive line alignment after the drop (i.e. no driveline vibrations after the drop.) I had kept my stock shocks for about a year or so after the drop and the ride was fine, except recently I upgraded my wheel/tire package from 20x8.5" Detata Profiler Wheels with Goodyear Eagle GTII 275/45-20 tires with 20x10" Driv Torque Wheels with BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW II's 295/45-20 tires which are awesome. I did have one problem though with the bigger tires, it made contact with the edge of my fenderwell whenever I hit bumps and dips in the road and put small cuts into my new tires. , I just ordered earlier this week and had installed this afternoon a pair of Belltech Nitro Active shocks which are much stiffer than the stock ones. I never noticed how much my stock shocks bounced compared to the Belltech's. I just picked up my truck and haven't driven much yet, but I can tell it definitely rides much better by replacing those shocks. So far I'll check if it fixes or minimizes the problem with my tires contacting the fenders on bumps and dips. My other alternatives is finding a slightly smaller size tire for the front and/or bending the inside of my fender well lip up a little bit so it stops putting cuts into my tires...

 

Oh by the way, I also had my buddy at Firestone install the drop kit for $200, so the whole drop cost me a little under $500. I wanna put the truck on bags, but don't have the money for it right now. Good luck on picking a suspension kit. So far I don't have any complaints with my Eibach springs, hangers, and shackles...

[99Silver6.0]

DO NOT USE BELLTECH SPINDLES!!! I made the mistake of using those on my other truck and lost my ability to make sharp turns. There were some drive-thrus that I had to back up and reposition my truck to make it through. Also if you were making a turn and hit a bump, there was a hellacious screeching noise that turned out to be the brake caliper rubbing on the upper control arm.

 

I also had the 2" drop coils before that. That was fine, but there wasn't enough alignment adjustment, so my front tires wore on the outside edge. That was why I spent the bucks and went with the Bell Techs - wrong move.

 

The way to go from what I've heard is the dropped A-arms. I haven't done those, but I haven't heard anything bad.

 

Good Luck

SS

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Belltech came out with new spindles modeled after the McG setups. No worries about decreased turning radius with them.

[SS Crew]

DO NOT USE BELLTECH SPINDLES!!! I made the mistake of using those on my other truck and lost my ability to make sharp turns. There were some drive-thrus that I had to back up and reposition my truck to make it through. Also if you were making a turn and hit a bump, there was a hellacious screeching noise that turned out to be the brake caliper rubbing on the upper control arm.

 

I also had the 2" drop coils before that. That was fine, but there wasn't enough alignment adjustment, so my front tires wore on the outside edge. That was why I spent the bucks and went with the Bell Techs - wrong move.

 

The way to go from what I've heard is the dropped A-arms. I haven't done those, but I haven't heard anything bad.

 

Good Luck

SS

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Belltech came out with new spindles modeled after the McG setups. No worries about decreased turning radius with them.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

I hope these are updated from after June 2002. If not you're gonna be sorry, the Belltechs I had were junk.

[99Silver6.0]

DO NOT USE BELLTECH SPINDLES!!! I made the mistake of using those on my other truck and lost my ability to make sharp turns. There were some drive-thrus that I had to back up and reposition my truck to make it through. Also if you were making a turn and hit a bump, there was a hellacious screeching noise that turned out to be the brake caliper rubbing on the upper control arm.

 

I also had the 2" drop coils before that. That was fine, but there wasn't enough alignment adjustment, so my front tires wore on the outside edge. That was why I spent the bucks and went with the Bell Techs - wrong move.

 

The way to go from what I've heard is the dropped A-arms. I haven't done those, but I haven't heard anything bad.

 

Good Luck

SS

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Belltech came out with new spindles modeled after the McG setups. No worries about decreased turning radius with them.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

I hope these are updated from after June 2002. If not you're gonna be sorry, the Belltechs I had were junk.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

 

Old post I know. The 2508 Belltech spindles are new as of September 05.