1978 GMC Sierra C35 "Project Second Life"

[SCOTI]

Agreed... Do the spindles & cut 1 coil max. Adjust the rear from there if necessary. Anything taller than a 28" front tire & you'll be removing the inner fender wells or building newer/taller ones (or buying aftermarket units).

[tc4x4]

Just to educate me, Can I simply remove the fenders and not have to worry about the strength of the structure of the truck?

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by tc4x4

Just to educate me, Can I simply remove the fenders and not have to worry about the strength of the structure of the truck?

Yes, they can be removed.
Yes, there will be less structural support but not to the point of other things failing.

If anything, the fenders have the opportunity to vibrate more w/nothing securing them @ certain points. The bigger deal is it can/will/does create an ugly engine compartment anytime you track through water that's been sitting on the roadway collecting dirt.

[slammed427]

I wonder if cutting 1.5 coils out would give more drop on the 1ton than a half ton.


This thing is turning out beautiful, and just remember the credo, thou shalt not drive stock.
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[Conundrum]

Agreed, you only want to cut one coil from your coils. 7" in the front should get you level. To get where you are wanting to be in the front with a slight rake in the stance, you can pick up some 3" drop coils and possibly cut a coil off those or see if a place like eaton detroit springs could make you a 4" coil but that'll probably be more costly and will only get you level. The other options I can think of are either more costly or more involved, one is aftermarket crossmember (plus bags) or section the factory crossmember and/or Z the frame.
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[cochino12]

Yeah nothing really wrong with removing the inners other than the battery tray is no longer supported and having to worry about driving through mud, water, etc...

Shh dont tell anyone but when my truck was static I cut two complete coils off and it drove great, didnt bottom out, and I didnt see any negative effects.

All of that being said, since you dont want to cut it up just buy some bags and an aol kit and be done with it.

[Lobie]

I have a ?? On the rear disc brake. Did you have any trouble bleeding the brakes with the calipers on the top? I've done the conversion in the past and have always put them at the 3 o'clock position. Just curious.
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[tc4x4]

I just got an offer on the truck for 5700 dollars he will take it he will take it half finished give me guidance brothers.
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[MTCK]

Cool build, I just saw this. Obviously it's up to you on where you go with it. I think it's pretty cool that you and your wife work on it together, and you're not far from having something to drive. I would keep it, drop the front and drive it. If you need to raise the back up an inch or two to make it work so be it. I like your idea of keeping the steel wheels too. I love driving my old truck, which is why I bought it. It was also pretty original, but my thought is that if modernizing / customizing it a bit gets it on the road, then it is a plus. Not a huge fan of survivors that sit in garages and get polished and not driven, but that is my taste. I hope to see it get finished! Oh and if you do keep it, throw a 4L80E in it and go to town.
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[JRANGER]

I wouldnt sell it...Just think about all the hard work you have put in it and when you get it how you want it how you feel.... Plus you cant find many good body's like that easy

[tinydb84]

I would sell it and put it towards another truck that is more done. You get more bang for your buck buying people's projects.

[slammed427]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

I would sell it and put it towards another truck that is more done. You get more bang for your buck buying people's projects.

You can also get more headaches fixing their shortcuts. I'd see this one through.
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[tinydb84]

Originally Posted by slammed427

You can also get more headaches fixing their shortcuts. I'd see this one through.
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Very true! I am fixing all the headaches on my brother's 74 right now....

[79 blue monster]

so did you end up selling it or keeping it?

[slammed427]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

Very true! I am fixing all the headaches on my brother's 74 right now....

I spent the first month I had my 74 fixing it to make it road worthy. Its part of the fun
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[tc4x4]

Hey guys,

I'm back. So I still have the truck for now. Its winter again and I have time now to work on it again. The tree service business was crazy busy this year so I had no time to work on it all summer. I drove her a couple times from garage to garage.

So anyways, I'm going with one of two options:

1) Undo the work to the rear end and lift it back up and drive it daily in summers.
OR
2)Lower the front buy getting spindles and lowering springs. I don't want to have to remove the front inner wheel wells. But the issue is the rear end. The rear will be to low for what the front will end up, so what are my options for raising the rear a couple inches?

[tc4x4]

Any thoughts on how I would go about lifting the rear end back up an inch or two.

[JRANGER]

Add leafs back?

[tc4x4]

The leafs are under the axle so i dont think that would do anything.

[canadian 4x4]

belltech sells shorter shackles

[MTCK]

Welcome back. The add a leaf might put a little more arch in the springs but would likely be negated by the axle being on top of the springs. You could add some overload airbags and keep a little air in them.
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[JRANGER]

Air shocks that you can add air too?

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by tc4x4

Any thoughts on how I would go about lifting the rear end back up an inch or two.

Tweaking the hangers up front by dropping them on the frame slightly lower might be feasible & offer some additional height but it would be minimal. I know 4x4 guys do the rear shackle flips & it yields some additional height (& supposedly improves ride quality)....

http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/shacklekit.htm
or
http://diy4x.com/cart/index.php?rout...product_id=125

Another possibilty is an air-over-leaf bag set-up. Simply add air to adjust the height you need. The down side to this is there will prob be additional spring rate that will accompany the height increase.

[79 blue monster]

my truck has the same problem, its an inch lower in the back than the front, so i was just going to put airshocks and leave it. i think the "moving front leaf mounts down" is a good idea!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by 79 blue monster

my truck has the same problem, its an inch lower in the back than the front, so i was just going to put airshocks and leave it. i think the "moving front leaf mounts down" is a good idea!

The prob is you might run out of real estate before reaching the amount of lift desired since the height increase is half of what you move it on the frame.