I'm just curious if anyone has cut a ring out of their springs and how much of a drop they got. Also, if it affected their ride quality very harshly or not?

I've got a 1981 f150 flare side that needs a facelift...

Thanks,
Tonto

 

Okay, I'll bite. I don't know that it will alter the ride quality, but it will definitely alter your tire wear and may make alignment difficult, if not impossible. Dream beams would be a better way to go, because they don't alter the alignment geometry. They will give you a 3 inch drop. I'm not sure how much of drop cutting one ring out of your springs will give you.

Good luck with your project.

 

Way back before my dream beam days I torched 1 coil, aka collapsed 1 coil. On my F150 flairside it actually made the alingment better with almost no change in ride. The biggest trick is having something set up to gauge the drop and when it starts lighten up on the heat quickly. If you keep heating it at the same rate the drop accelerates and you end up way too low.

Kenny

 

You can't raise or lower the front of the twin-i-beam suspension without affect the alignment and tire wear. If the alignment was better after the drop, then it was out of alignment before.

You may be able to drop it or raise it about a 1 inch, and they can still get it in at the shop. Your best bet is to take the complete suspension out and put something else in that is easier to work with. Street rod people do it all the time.

 

My 86' has positive chamber (top of tire sticks out). This doesn't seem right to me. Do all the TIB trucks do this? Im a chevy guy. I think lowering the front of my truck slightly would be a good thing for the chamber, but might throw out the toe.

 

The top of the tire sticks out because either the alignment is way off, or the ride height is too high.

 

Chamber is non-adjustable on these trucks with factory suspension. Are you telling me that my truck's chamber was this bad from the factory 27 years ago and never has been fixed? Its completely stock other than I took a factory sway bar from a parts truck and installed that. I think that raises the height the thickness of the sway bar mount which is insignificant. Maybe I should lower the front somehow?

 

They were notorious for eating front tires in the early 80's. Most came with + camber from the factory (yes, I am old enough to remember, I worked on the lot and my father sold the heck out of the pickups). When my suspension was stock, from the factory (aka Dad's pickup) it could get maybe 15,000 out of a set of fronts. We dropped it roughly 1 to 1.5 inches with the coil torch and the tires easily went twice as far.

Chamber is adjustable, but it was done by bending the I-Beams. The later verions with ball joints were easier to adjust and thus usually came with a better stock setting.

If it were me, I would put a magnetic protractor and bar vertical on the rim edge. Then I would torch the spring until I read -.5 degrees. You could need something to reduce friction so the tires slide (I use 4 pieces of formica, face to face with grease between them, 2 under each front wheel).

The better way would be to cut coils. Start at 1/2 coil and keep refitting/cutting until you get that -.5 to -1.0 degree.

The best way, and way mine is now is a conversion to later ball joint beams (I used dropped dream beams for the 90's era). This way, I dropped it like I wanted and I ws able to align it to the last/best specs of the 1996 version.

Kenny

 

The thing is I really don't want a "lowered" truck. The back is already sitting 2" above the front. Lowering the front until -.5deg is achieved would force me to have to put drop shackles in the rear. Which may not be a big deal since I can take the shackles I have and ask my friend to weld some extended pieces of metal to them for the drop. I would rather go up than down though.

 

Then your option is to either convert to a ball joint front end or find a beam bender in your area (good luck...not a soul in Spokane WA area would do it).

Maybe a Big Truck alignement place could do it. They use the same method to set chamber on the tractor/tailor and even class C trucks.

Kenny

 

I thought my 86 has ball joints.

 

I thought the 86 had balljoints too. The upper balljoint doesn't mount in the axle, it mounts in a sleeve which mounts in the axle. This sleeve is egg-shaped, and when you turn it, it puts the upper balljoint in different places. You have to "shoot" for the best results, getting caster and camber all in the same shot. You can get different sleeves which have different amounts of eccentricity. And I believe some of the fancier alignment machines will tell the mechanic what sleeve he needs to get both into spec.

 

ughh....chevy's are so much easier.

 

Sorry dude...I forgot you were working on an 86. You can disregard most of my ramblings for I am an idiot!

You have a bit of adjustment in the upper ball joint. The twisting sleeve is available and a good bet. Granted, that version changes chamber and caster at the same time.

I don't know if it is the same as the later ones but if so, you can get those from a Moog dealer in the chamber and caster settings you want. Mine are printed on the the top something like +1 -1. I would set the magnetic compass like I said earlier and see how much I need to pull out. Then clean your bushing and see if it has any marks on it from the factory then subtract what you need from it. Again, this is for the last verison made and I don't remember the exact changes over time. I know the first ball joint setup (late 81/82) was different than the last version, but how, I don't remember.

Good luck...with the ball joints you have the cance for success! I would still shot for -.5 chamber for best tire wear.

Kenny

 

I think I will buy some drop shackles for the rear, and make some 4x4 spacers to prop up under the frame and heat up the lower coil until the frame rests on the 4x4 post. I can cut the post .25" at a time or more until the chamber is right. Then the truck will have a more level stance but keep all the factory suspension intact.