Getting ready to fab up the mounts for the rear suspension. I started with a bare frame. I installed a volare frontend and plan on using the volare leafs as well. I want to have the truck level and as low as I can reasonably go for a daily driver. Can someone tell me what the frame clearance (bottom of frame to the ground) is for a lowered truck like I described? I do plan on doing a C notch

 

Gary, it's not so much the ground to frame clearance you need to be concerned with. You can lay the frame on the ground if you air bag the truck. For a daily driver, you concern is the distance between the axles and frame (clearance of travel) That's where the C notch helps, because it give more travel and clearance yet allows you drop the frame lower to the ground. If you go too low, you need to be concerned about drivetrain, such as exhaust pipes, transmission pan, rear end hitting the ground and ripping things apart.

 

I guess I am not looking for clearance I just am wondering where to mount the hangers at to get the ride height ballpark for now. I won't be using air bags or anything. Just trying to get an idea of how far the frame sits from the ground on a lowered truck.

 

Gary:

I was told you need 3 inches of clearance between the axle and the frame with weight on the actual springs.. Here are some pictures of my setup:




i put the axle on top of the springs, removed about 2 leafs out of the set, and put a c-notch in the frame.

ben

 

Gary,

My Chrysler rear end is mounted above the springs and I do not have a C-notch. But, the Chrysler springs I'm using have more arch than the Ford springs so perhaps that is why I haven't needed one. I have about 4 inches of clearance. My truck is not ground scraping low in the rear but fine for a daily driver. I was going for close to a stock height in the rear.

 

Gary....my truck is lowered, and also has the Volare clip. I measured mine at the very front/rear where the bumpers attach....Front: from the floor to the 'bottom' of the frame= 9 inches.........Rear: from the floor to the 'bottom' of the frame= 14 inches. Check my gallery to see the results. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks, that give me a great place to start from.

 

GaryE,
This can get quite complicated with all the variables, but, I'll describe what I did on my '55 F100, M II front and 8.8 ford Rear. It should be noted that I didn't the final tire and rim combo to start with.
1. I set the frame with MII front on jack stands.
2. On the MII front I temporarily replaced the shock and springs with a steel bar. Set the length of this bar so that the bottom of the lower A-arm was level. This is where it should be when fully loaded. The spring rate or airbags will have to be adjusted accordingly.
3. Then I needed to decide what tire /rim combo I wanted front and rear. The overall tire diameter was needed for the following steps:
4. I then took the jack stands supporting the front of the frame and set them under the front spindles so they were half the front tire diameter above the floor. This puts the front end at final ride height.
5. I then slide the rear axle under the frame on separate jack stands so it was centered half the rear tire diameter above the floor.
6. Then I installed the cab, fenders, etc. to see how it was looking.
7. I then raised and lowered the rear frame, not the rear axle, until I got the stance / rake I was looking for.
8. I then measured the distance between the top of axle and bottom of frame and determined that I needed to C-notch the frame to provide 3 1/2" to 4" of travel.
9. Now with the frame, MII and rear axle at ride height I had to decide what to do with the rear suspension. This is were it gets complicated. If you have an existing rear suspension with known geometry you can apply this to the new frame and suspension height. If not you have to find out what the geometry is for your suspension system of choice (leafs, coil springs, coilover shocks, air bags, etc.). Then weld up the bracketry according to that geometry. Ultimately I decided to go with Nascar type arms with air bags. I've got the arms constructed,but , haven't figured out what air bag / bracketry I'm going to use yet.

As you can tell there is no easy answer to your question. But with some common sense and a little calculating you can work it out.