Lowering a 4x4 correctly

I'll measure my other truck in a while. This is a 1 ton so the rear had a couple more inches on my 3/4 ton i know for sure.
QA1's are pn: TS901 an TS902.
 
I have nothing to contribute here except to tell Chase and Rick that their trucks are gorgeous!

Jason, is yours stock ride height now? I think ive only seen like one picture before.
 
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BRE said:
I have nothing to contribute here except to tell Chase and Rick that their trucks are gorgeous!

Jason, is yours stock ride height now? I think ive only seen like one picture before.
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The front is, the rear is just about 2" lower by flipping blocks

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Looks good Jason, but I think your right. Lowering down a bit more would just finish it off.
 
joelc79 said:
Jason,
i run 305/50/20 420's, QA1 adjustables all around, 1/2 ton 4x4 coils, and 4 leafs in rear.
Front fender-well opening is at 37", rear is 40".
I may remove one more leaf to make it exactly level, it will do you just fine.
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DDually said:
I think he means he measured to the top of the wheel well opening and got 37" in the front and 40" in the back.
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Correct, tape measure straight up from the ground to the top of wheel well.
I have fender flares if you mean it looks different or not..

And my stock Mega cab measures 40" in front and 43" in rear for reference.
 
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CorneliusRox said:
x2.

I know quite a bit about that stuff, and here is a little advice.

You're going to want a solid front sway bar (definitely stiffer than stock), probably add a rear one as well. In 2wd you can manage no rear sway because of the stiffness of the leafs, but in 4wd you'd definitely want one, and honestly, it'd make 2wd feel better too.

Stiffer coils would be good. You usually want relatively loose coils for drag racing and relatively stiff for slalom. You can get somewhat the best of both worlds by using progressive springs (soft the first inch, hard the rest).

In drag racing, you can use your sway bars with adjustable end links to set tension already so when the engine tries to twist the frame, your suspension is already counteracting it and keeping the tires planted. In slalom you would want to sway bar preload because you are constantly going back and forth and you wouldnt want one direction getting favor over the other.

For alignment, you are going to want about .16deg total toe in. For caster, you ideally would want zero cross caster, but for street driving, I like .3deg so that it fights road crown and keeps you going straight. If you want to get the cool ball joints that allow you to adjust camber, I like -.8 to -1.2deg for a good mix between street driving and having fun, then -2deg for pretty fast twisties, and -3.5 for full on slalom racing.
A slight toe in on the rear axle will actually help your acceleration off the line without blowing the tires off, but you'd have to get your axle bent for that and that is something I personally wouldnt do.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head right now, but I'm pretty tired. I might think of more later.
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Now with a set up like this how much will it affect the tire wear?

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Joel, do you happen to know exactly which half ton springs they are? I've found a few different ones with different free lengths and different load ratings. I wasn't sure if it would matter or not.
 
I went to my local salvage yard and asked for 3rd gen 1/2 ton 4x4 front coil springs.
 
I just wanna throw my two cents in.... I build drag and street cars primarily for a living, along with some diesel and suspension lift stuff mixed in. I do a lot of fab work and have purchased and used all of the shocks mentioned. I want you to know that the qa1 stuff is Chinese, and the quality just isn't there. Leaks, bushing wear, adjustability, parts availability (I rebuild my own) are all problems if you actually use them. Strange shocks are a much nicer product for that price range. I would say the biggest complaint I would have with Strange is the adjustability. The shock may have 32 clicks, but if you can only use 2 or 3, it isn't good. Head and shoulders above them is the Afco product. Good people, great shocks, custom valving if you buy them direct, (same price to you as with jegs), made right in Indiana. And you probably will have 10 or 15 clicks of honest useable adjustment. Ask them, but I would think the Big Gun series, intended for higher power cars, would be just right for the extra weight of your truck. Yes, the cost is double what a Strange is, but you'll know where the money went when you want to tune them. I also fully support the coilover, spring on shock setup for a quick spring rate change while maintaining ride height. As I said, my .02.....
 
4x4dually said:
Go ahead....cut off it nuts.


:hehe:
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Mines lowered 6 inches and still does everything the toyos will let it. And its still taller than every other truck in the parking lot.

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Goinbyyabig said:
I just wanna throw my two cents in.... I build drag and street cars primarily for a living, along with some diesel and suspension lift stuff mixed in. I do a lot of fab work and have purchased and used all of the shocks mentioned. I want you to know that the qa1 stuff is Chinese, and the quality just isn't there. Leaks, bushing wear, adjustability, parts availability (I rebuild my own) are all problems if you actually use them. Strange shocks are a much nicer product for that price range. I would say the biggest complaint I would have with Strange is the adjustability. The shock may have 32 clicks, but if you can only use 2 or 3, it isn't good. Head and shoulders above them is the Afco product. Good people, great shocks, custom valving if you buy them direct, (same price to you as with jegs), made right in Indiana. And you probably will have 10 or 15 clicks of honest useable adjustment. Ask them, but I would think the Big Gun series, intended for higher power cars, would be just right for the extra weight of your truck. Yes, the cost is double what a Strange is, but you'll know where the money went when you want to tune them. I also fully support the coilover, spring on shock setup for a quick spring rate change while maintaining ride height. As I said, my .02.....
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Good to know and thanks for the info.

Out of curiosity being suspension is how you make your living. Would a pin top coilover last on the street being run as a true coilover or would bearing be absolutely necessary at that point? Especially considering the weight of our trucks.

Goal weight of the truck is around 6000lbs also.
 
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I would think a urethane bushing with a bolt going sideways through it (perpendicular to the load) would be best. I am not sure if Afco makes them this way, but I know Strange does. I would expect the bearing (Heim) style ends to pound out over time considering the weight, but it would depend on driving conditions and miles vs. time. This is what I have done with a couple of lifted full size trucks, but with softer, rockcrawler style springs, so tough to compare. Changing the bearings in the ends of the shock every year or two wouldn't offend me, not sure how you would feel about that. I wouldn't want the factory style stud top shock, and I know you can buy the towers setup for coilovers with the sideways style mounting bolt, also. I would also consider speaking with King, I am a dealer and know they are very cooperative with custom stuff, valving, lengths, etc. They know what these trucks weigh, and how to keep them together while being jumped in the desert, might be worth a call to discuss what you intend to do. Also a very nice product. I can't remember if they have double adjustable available externally, but I know they can do single clickers on the reservoir...
I have a guy wanting to lower his 10 ford, but being in upstate New York, he would get laughed out of town, too many rednecks up here.....:Cheer:
 
I plan on reverse leveling my mega and doing some air bags for support when i tow.

Has anyone added a rear sway bar to a third gen? I know some 2nd gens came with them, not sure why they stopped unless they didnt do anything. My mega cab rides alright, wouldnt mind a more stable feel instead of steering around road crown.
 
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