|
|
Sport TruckSep 19 '00 Write an essay on this topic.Today there are more and more sport trucks on the road. What makes a sport truck? Well, in my opinion the only factory sport trucks are the 454SS's, the Lightnings, and the Dakota R/T's. But there are a lot of non-factory sport trucks. Where someone buys a truck, then does some engine mods, wheels/tires combos, and then there is the suspension mods. It is neat when I big ol heavy truck is beating Camaro and Mustangs on the road. When people ask me why I bought a truck, I say "Well, some trucks are used to haul wood, some used to haul trailers, my truck is used to haul butt!" One of the most important things to a sport truck is the stance. Factory ride height is too high for a sport truck. With my truck, I lowered it 2 inches in the front and 4 inches in the rear. I think this is the best stance for a sport truck. If you want to go lower with the suspension, then you would have to "C" notch your frame, and I don't belive in hacking on your frame. I went with Belltech suspension components. I used the drop spindles for the front and the hanger and shackle combo for the back. The front spindles dropped it two inches, the hangers dropped it two inches and the shackles dropped it two inches. The total package price was $480 for the spindles, shackles, hangers, and drop shocks. This was my first time to mess with the front end of my truck, so I wasn't too clear on how to do this, but the instructions that Belltech gave me were very easy to read and follow. The only special tools you need for the spindles is a ball joint seperator and a alan head to get the brake calipers off. After completing the spindles, I strongly suggest to get your front end alligned. The rear of the truck was a little more tricky. For the rear, I would strongly reconmending on removing the bed. It would make this job ten times easier. Which I didn't remove the bed, so it took me awhile. If you remove the bed, you have alot more room and you are not under the truck, you are above it, which can be better on your back. It was a little harder for me to remove the shackle bolts becuase the bolts were rusted in and I had to torch them off. The other difficult thing was to get the rivets out of the hanger and shackle. I used an air hammer with a chisle on the end, that worked but tool awhile. I had to use a die grinder to cut the braket holding the fuel lines, that was the easy way. If you didn't cut the braket, you would have to remove all the fuel line and bring them through the braket, and Belltech sends you a new braket. I removed the whole leaf spring and put the hanger on the frame while the leaf spring was removed. I put the shackles on the leaf spring while the leaf spring was removed too. After that, it is very easy. Just put the leaf spring back in the new hanger, then line up the holes for the shackle and bolt it in. I suggest you getting new bolts if your truck is an older model. After you change the shocks out, then you are ready to roll in your sweet looking truck. The look and the handeling is much better than stock. There are a few downsides to lowering your truck. One thing is that you can not tow as much as you use to. Another thing is that I bottom out on bumps alot. I am not bottoming out on the frame to ground, but the leaf spring hits my bump stops on my frame. I had dual exhaust put on and one pipe is going over the rear differential, and since I've lowered my truck, the differential is putting dents in my exhaust pipe. So, I have to get my exhaust moved around, but it is all worth it. So, if you own a sport truck and you are looking for a nice stance and a better looking/handeling truck, then a drop kit is right for you. I recondmend Belltech becuase their products are quality and not that expensive. Keep on truckin'.  |
| Write the first comment on this review! |
