lowering

[Lownslow]

im looiing foir a 2 inch front and 3 in back im going with drop springs in the front and blocks out back can anyone tell me the difficulty of lowering the rear end this is the first leaf spring vehicle ive owned

[dmbrisket 51]

doing the coils is about a 3 person job, you will be much better off doing drop spindles, the springs in the back are directional and can be installed 180 degrees off, one bolt on the drivers side wont come out past the gas tank, and the other 3 will be a bitch to get out anyways, they rust and plumn up to the bushing, a big air gun is needed to burn the rust off, easyst to get 4 of the needed bolts (go to a spring shop or dealer, very special hard as hell bolt) and just burn off three of the old ones, and i suggest cutting the one that is 4'' from the tank

[dave92cherokee]

Ok first removing springs on the front of an s10 isn't a 3 person job it's a 1 person job as long as you have all the tools and things that are needed and the entire truck can be lowered in 1 weekend by yourself. He is right about the bolts you will need grade 8 bolts for the rear leaf springs. If you are wanting a 2/3 drop then the best thing to do is get 2 in drop coils and 3 in drop mono leafs and also 3 in drop shocks all around as if you lower it with factory shocks and then raise it back up the shocks will have worn out and every time you hit the gas the back end will violently drop down to the bump stops. To remove the coils first jack up both front wheels and remove them, remove brakes and rotors, remove shocks, get balljoint seperator and heavy hammer and seperate the lower balljoint but be careful as when it seperates the spring will drop down quickly so make sure there's no hands or feet in the way then take the drop springs and slide them in place and reassemble everything. On the back you can either get the blocks, get the mono leafs, or easier than all that simply remove the bottom and middle leaf from the set and that will automatically drop it 3 in just make sure that you get the drop shocks for the back.

[dmbrisket 51]

removing the spring is easy, getting it back in the seat and keeping your teeth is the bitch, and in the back, you only need 4 bolts, the u bolt should come as part of the kit, and i dropped my rear end with 3'' blocks and 2'' springs, and ive yet to hit my bump stops taking off, over a speed bump is another story, a pot hole is hell, the ride will suck un godly bad, but damn, it looks good...

[dave92cherokee]

Yah springs in the front are a pain in the ass that's why it's easiest to get a pair of those cheapo spring compressors to compress it a little to ease putting the new ones in. On the 99 s10 i used to have I had 3 in drop springs and 3 in drop spindles in the front and 3 in mono leaf in the back along with 3 in blocks and belltech shocks to go with the belltech springs i used and i was riding on the bump stops until i removed them and replaced the original 3 in bump stops with 1 in stops. But the rearend dropping like I was saying will happen if you remove the bottom and middle leaf and use blocks and don't get new shocks and drive it like that for a few months and then decide either by yourself or under the influence of a cop to raise it back up then the shocks are shot and everytime you hit the gas the back end will drop. It's fun if you know how to control it you can drive down the street and keep tapping the gas making the back end bounce up and down.

[eti engineer]

The biggest problem you will have once you lower it is driveshaft wear. The S-10 driveline is already screwed up with bad angles, double u-joints and the like, especially on the extended cab version, but lowering it makes it even worse. There is a kit available from a website, JTR (Jags That Run) which can help. It consists of metal shims which go under the tranny, the center bearing and the rear springs, that can help put your driveline at a better angle, or you can do what I did and just trash the rear portion of your driveshaft and have a local, reputable driveline shop build you one from scratch. You need to take the whole driveshaft to them so they can balance it as a unit, but once this is done, you have a healthier driveshaft with easily replacable u-joints and no double u-joints. The shop that did mine replaced all u-joints in the front shaft, checked out the center bearing for wear, roughness, etc., and built the rear shaft from scratch for 300 bucks, and it has been money well-spent.

Later...

eti engineer