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Lowering my 87 dodge d100

87dodge106

87dodge106

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I have an 87 dodge d100 and i was just curious on how to lower it. ive looked around and stuff and looked at lowering kits but im not exactly sure which way i should go and how to do it? any suggestions?
 
You can use 1 Ton LCA's & change the balljoint or use Dodge van LCA's & drill the strut rod holes the rear you can do a number of ways. Here's my RC with van LCA's & a rear axle flip

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Good info RCAddict. I was gonna start looking online for that very stuff to tell him but you got this under control.:hail:
 
You can lower it using a combo of different things. A popular way to do the front is using the LCA's along with a modified early Dakota drop spindle from Bell Tech. The rear you can do a bunch of ways flipping the front spring hanger & using a drop shackle for a 73-87 Chevy truck. Flipping the axle the way I did either using weld on perches or using a axle flip kit for a 73 up Chevy truck. How far do you want to go down? Here's the pics of my front & rear.

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thank you, i am not completely sure yet though how much i want to drop it. i do like the look that RCAddict ramcharger has to it. the way my truck sits now it is higher in the back than the front and i dont like it. i used to have the air adjustable shocks in the rear but i replaced ythem and it still sits funny i will be sure to check out what u have told me and post pictures after it is done
 
sit your truck at height on stands & drop it down until it sits where you want it with tires & wheels standing in the wheel wells. Measure before & after & let me know & I can give you an idea of what you need to do. Bob
 
I had originally bought Bell Tech spring hangers for my '86 longbed, but wanted a truck that will handle. Really handle. Like go play with Corvette's handle. So I took them off, and I ended up drilling the front spring mounts off the frame, moving them up, and drilling new holes for them, then I cut off and welded on new spring pads. My buddy that works for Tulsa Spring and Axle tells me that flipping a rear is very detrimental to the springs life and ride quality. Certainly many people do it, and probably just as many don't notice a difference.
I hadn't considered using van LCA for my truck. How much will just using them lower the front? I still need to drop my '87 shortbed!
 
I don't see what's detrimental the springs. The weight is still supported from the bottom & the size of the axle perch isn't that different. I move the hangers on the frame too to tune ride height or go all the way down with. I move front & rears. How did you move the hangers up use a lowering shackle plus do a flip with C notching the frame? The flip is good for 5" the shackles for at least 1 1/2" the moving the front hanger is good for 1/2 the distance moved. There's 4" of travel in the pic above with just the flip. The van LCA's are good for 2-3" depending on how good your springs are. The 1Ton or 4000# front axle is good for 1 1/2-2 1/2" pictured

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Here's how I do my down stops to keep the spring in the pocket. This is something that hardly anyone does

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The 1Ton LCA's allow you to use the factory sway bar. Use them with a lowering spring from a 94 up & a Dakota drop spindle & you can go lower than my RC & burn corners.
 
No, I didn't need to "C" notch the frame, and I still have plenty of clearence. I'll try to take some pix of it soon and post them here. I put new leaf springs on it, de-arched a bit. I've got Chisholm lower control arms on it right now, which drop it 2", but I don't like the way it changes the ball joint geometry. I had custom coils springs made for the front as I couldn't find anything commercially available for it that'd drop it more. So my coils are also 2" shorter than stock, but with a proper spring rate, unlike a cut coil. I made my own upper control arms by radically modifiying the stock ones. They are ugly as sin but for now get the job done. I think before its over I'm just going to take the truck to Fatman Fabrications and have him put one of his front suspensions on it. I've got a little bump steer I'm not sure I'm smart enough to work out of it....
 
They make offset bushings for the uppers. I've built uppers too & also moved the mount outward on the frame. The Dak Spindles work well. Balljoint angle does get real crazy either. My next one will drop 6" at least in the front & 10" in the rear with this

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All good info here. Sorry I've not been around to participate recently. Busy, busy with work (military aircraft/warfighter support). Anyway, I'm about to get moving again on some of this work, I need a new rear for my '86 longbed, and am looking at a late model rear with discs and an LSD rear in it and just changing the mounts to simplify things.
I still have to do both ends of my '87 shortbed, but first I'm pulling the /6 out of it and putting in an interim 318/904 combo.
While I was up in Indy at Indy Clylinder Head's indoor swap meet and trade show last month (my brother bought a full race 408 for his '72 Scamp from them) I finally saw another truck using an idea I had some time ago: they had the early '70's flat Dodge truck hood, that has recesses in it similar to the '68-'69 Road Runner hood, and it loos so much better than the later hoods with the raised prow on them. So, I lucked out and found a perfect older hood, which I'll now make a tool off of so I can produce them in carbon for both my trucks.
 
15 years ago I built a hood using a 68 GTX hood for a donor I sold it at Carlisle a few years ago
 
the old leaf spring jeeps were factory spring under as were chevy s10's blazer's the mini ones at least and toyotas as were all muscle cars
 
Hey RCAddict, Im wondering if you could tell me what year van LCA's would work for a 1979 Dodge D150 to lower the front. Also where could I find the flip kit for the rear?

Thanks

RCAddict said:
You can lower it using a combo of different things. A popular way to do the front is using the LCA's along with a modified early Dakota drop spindle from Bell Tech. The rear you can do a bunch of ways flipping the front spring hanger & using a drop shackle for a 73-87 Chevy truck. Flipping the axle the way I did either using weld on perches or using a axle flip kit for a 73 up Chevy truck. How far do you want to go down? Here's the pics of my front & rear.
Click to expand...
 
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dodge79, RCAddict mentioned using a flip kit part for chevies that will work for the Dodge on the first page of this thread, and it costs about $35-40 bucks. Truth is, however, all you need to do the flip is is get anther set of Mopar spring perches, which you can get from Jeg's or Summit cheaper than that chevie flip kit (they're only $12.99), and weld them directly under the spring perches currently on your rear end. If you aren't a welder, take it to someone who is. If you make sure the new perches are welded in parrellel to to originals, you should have no issues with pinion angle. I'd say you'll need the square type "U" bolts for that, and then you'll need shorter shocks. That's it.
That's it.
 
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