You don’t sleep?
Growing up doesn't have to suck
- Thread starter iamdub
- Start date
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iamdub
Full Access Member
No rest for the wicked. lol
I get it when I can. I was screwed that particular day/night cuz the Tahoe was needed to haul a bunch of people around Friday night and Saturday so I HAD to get it all done ASAP. I worked much later than I wanted to so I got a late start. I came in, showered, made some breakfast and went right back out to go to work. I slept early and HARD after the trick-or-treaters stopped coming by.
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iamdub
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Phase 1 drop: 2/3 consisting of McG spindles and coils. This also brought new loaded front upper and lower control arms since the ball joints and bushings were worn. Also, as part of the drop, are shorter front sway bar end links and DJM rear shock extenders.
Before:
After:
The drop ended up being 1.5"/2.375". I haven't figured out why only 1.5" in the front, but it's not control arm bushings binding and I doubt the coils are still unsettled. I like the stance, so I'll aim to keep this amount of rake at the completion of Phase 2 drop.
The rear rides much firmer than with the stock coils. I can't say for sure if it's the 3" McG coils or the suspension computer firming up the shocks because it sees the rear sagging. Phase 2 drop will include drop struts and shocks, DJM rear sway bar links, DJM rear control arm relocators and some "mystery" coils that I'm guessing would bring another 1.5-2" of drop and SHOULD be a softer ride. I have AirLift bags to adjust the firmness if they're too soft. The struts will be set for an additional 2" of drop on the passenger side and 1.5" drop on the driver side to level out the Chevy Lean. I have resistors for when I replace the struts and shocks to delete the Autoride. I'll swap the shocks when I do the struts but will try them with the McG coils so I'll know what was causing the firm rear ride.
Before:
After:
The drop ended up being 1.5"/2.375". I haven't figured out why only 1.5" in the front, but it's not control arm bushings binding and I doubt the coils are still unsettled. I like the stance, so I'll aim to keep this amount of rake at the completion of Phase 2 drop.
The rear rides much firmer than with the stock coils. I can't say for sure if it's the 3" McG coils or the suspension computer firming up the shocks because it sees the rear sagging. Phase 2 drop will include drop struts and shocks, DJM rear sway bar links, DJM rear control arm relocators and some "mystery" coils that I'm guessing would bring another 1.5-2" of drop and SHOULD be a softer ride. I have AirLift bags to adjust the firmness if they're too soft. The struts will be set for an additional 2" of drop on the passenger side and 1.5" drop on the driver side to level out the Chevy Lean. I have resistors for when I replace the struts and shocks to delete the Autoride. I'll swap the shocks when I do the struts but will try them with the McG coils so I'll know what was causing the firm rear ride.
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iamdub
Full Access Member
A few shots of the process-
Gutted front:
Traced the slot in the Belltech alignment cam with silver Sharpie to mark where the frame slot will be elongated:
Used a cheap set of rotary rasps from Harbor Freight. Surprisingly, I did all eight slots with this one bit. It was pretty worn and cut much slower on the last few, but still did it. I also had to switch to a right angle drill because the angle grinder fell apart:
Elongated slot:
New control arm with factory cams:
I wanted to use the factory alignment as a baseline which would be lost with the Belltech cams. So I marked the positions of the original cams before I removed the old control arms. I also kept the original cams in their order after removing them. After elongating the slots, I reassembled everything with the old cams and turned the bolts to position the new arms per the original alignment marks. Then, I carefully removed one bolt at a time to reinstall them with the Belltech cams. The frame mounts were tight enough to keep the arm in position while I removed and replaced the bolts. With the BT cams in place, I marked them so the baseline would be maintained as a reference.
I cut a piece of angle iron to span the lips of the wheels, vertically across the middle, and stuck a magnetic angle finder on it to measure the camber before and after the spindles and control arms were replaced. The McG spindles caused a lot of toe out and about 1/2" total narrower track width. I've got the toe pretty close and it tracks mostly straight. The steering was overly responsive, so I dialed in some positive caster. The steering wheel at first was at about 9 o'clock and is now around 12:15, so I went a hair too far. But, it's completely driveable and the alignmnet will be fine-tuned during and after Phase 2.
Gutted front:
Traced the slot in the Belltech alignment cam with silver Sharpie to mark where the frame slot will be elongated:
Used a cheap set of rotary rasps from Harbor Freight. Surprisingly, I did all eight slots with this one bit. It was pretty worn and cut much slower on the last few, but still did it. I also had to switch to a right angle drill because the angle grinder fell apart:
Elongated slot:
New control arm with factory cams:
I wanted to use the factory alignment as a baseline which would be lost with the Belltech cams. So I marked the positions of the original cams before I removed the old control arms. I also kept the original cams in their order after removing them. After elongating the slots, I reassembled everything with the old cams and turned the bolts to position the new arms per the original alignment marks. Then, I carefully removed one bolt at a time to reinstall them with the Belltech cams. The frame mounts were tight enough to keep the arm in position while I removed and replaced the bolts. With the BT cams in place, I marked them so the baseline would be maintained as a reference.
I cut a piece of angle iron to span the lips of the wheels, vertically across the middle, and stuck a magnetic angle finder on it to measure the camber before and after the spindles and control arms were replaced. The McG spindles caused a lot of toe out and about 1/2" total narrower track width. I've got the toe pretty close and it tracks mostly straight. The steering was overly responsive, so I dialed in some positive caster. The steering wheel at first was at about 9 o'clock and is now around 12:15, so I went a hair too far. But, it's completely driveable and the alignmnet will be fine-tuned during and after Phase 2.
Looks so much better. Any reason you went with McG spindles instead of Belltech? Did you measure the difference between the stock and McG? Seems to me all their stuff doesn’t net the advertised drop for some reason.
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iamdub
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Thank you. Yeah, that fender gap and front rake looks way worse now that I can compare it to the dropped results.
They were part of a drop parts package I bought 3 years ago. I never heard or read of any cons about them other than the earlier ones (for NBS?) causing a small loss of turning radius. I definitely didn't lose any radius. Actually, it feels like it has a tighter radius now. I think I recall reading of BT spindles causing weird suspension dynamics on the NNBS, but I don't remember any specifics, it's been a while since I even had a reason to research. I laid them side-by side to eyeball for differences, but didn't actually measure them. Didn't think I had a reason to.
I just can't believe there's no info about this floating around. After these products being out for 15+ years, am I the only one that's ever measured to see what the actual drop is? I know so many people just throw parts on and don't think twice about it, if they even notice. I understand and accept that coils can and usually vary. But a spindle is a part engineered to perform one function and if it's designed and advertised to provide a 2" drop, then there should be no variances.
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I agree. It’s a set amount, there should be no discrepancies. When I did the drop on my 02 I measured the spindles (Belltech) and the difference was an actual 2”. I didn’t measure the fender height because I went from 20” wheels to 26’s at the same time so there was no way to compare. The 20’s wouldn’t even fit with the spindles. I can only assume the drop would have been 2”.
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iamdub
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As badly as I want to, I probably won't mess with it today since I'm still hurting from the other night. But, eventually I'll get into it again to replace the struts and I'll get some measurements then.
Had a shower epiphany last night: Maybe the LCA bushings actually ARE holding it up. I tightened the bolts with the full weight resting on them, but that was after having the struts unloaded for a few days. Maybe the struts hadn't settled yet and I tightened the LCAs at that unsettled height. What led to this theory is that I first measured a 1.25" drop, then, after some spirited driving, I measured that 1.5" drop. It's eating me alive that I can't just go out there and investigate. I'm even tempted to loosen the LCA bolts, have my chunky ass neighbor sit on the core support, then tighten them back.
wjburken
Supporting Member
I can see it now.
You: “Hey Neighbor, I need you to bring your chunky ass over here.”
Neighbor: “Sure, what do you need?”
You: “Your chunky ass, now sit right here.”
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iamdub
Full Access Member
He wouldn't give it a second thought! He's witnessed lots of rather unorthodox actions in and around my shop...
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