Installing the front struts on the bottom of the a frame to dropped it down a 1". Anyone else know about this?

[jjoe419]

I heard of people installing the front struts on the bottom of the a frame to dropped it down a 1". Anyone else know about this?

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Welcome to the Forum from NH.

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I hope that you will become a participating member in the Forum's discussions.

Pics of the truck, please.

Yes, that can be done. Make sure that you use grade 8 or higher bolts.

 

[Scrappycrow]

Based on others' posts, you're going to get more like 1.5-2.0" of drop from doing this, as the strut tie bar centerline is 3/4"-1" away from the center of the mounting tabs.

Front strut “flip” as a lowering option

For the DIY guys, here’s another option to lower the front of your truck. The strut normally mounts to the top of the control arm. You can mount it to the bottom to lower about 1.5-2” without any spacers. Want to go even lower, add spacers until you get the drop you want. 3rd picture is the...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

 

[kbuskill]

This ^^^

Rough Country sells a 2" drop kit for the front that consists of Grade 9 hardware and a 1/4" spacer.

 

[LSCALADE]

Please dont do that! Your entire front end which is every bit of 3000lbs or more is going to be suspended by 4 tiny bolts, if one fails the other will as well, if this happens at high speed do you really want to test your survival chances? Grade 9, grade 10, does not matter, they will get a tension pounding with every harsh compression and will develop cracks and eventually let go.

This is the genius repair shop that changed the struts on mine before I bought it, thought It was lowered but it turned out the strut was mounted on the bottom side.

I fixed it immedietly and this is the proper height.

Fast forward this is what it looks like bone stock with 18" wheels.

 

[Rocket Man]

Yes; I did that to mine and its fine as long as you use the correct hardware. It’s not 4 tiny bolts, it’s 4 big bolts and people have been driving with their rigs set up like this for years with zero issues. I used grade 10 and have no worries. I have the aluminum control arms which are thicker and my drop without any spacers was 2”.

 

[Doug118]

Please dont do that! Your entire front end which is every bit of 3000lbs or more is going to be suspended by 4 tiny bolts, if one fails the other will as well, if this happens at high speed do you really want to test your survival chances? Grade 9, grade 10, does not matter, they will get a tension pounding with every harsh compression and will develop cracks and eventually let go.

This is the genius repair shop that changed the struts on mine before I bought it, thought It was lowered but it turned out the strut was mounted on the bottom side.

View attachment 458953

I fixed it immedietly and this is the proper height.

View attachment 458954

Fast forward this is what it looks like bone stock with 18" wheels.
View attachment 458956

Don’t spread false info. No one has ever had a quality bolt fail when flipping their struts

Grade 9 and higher bolts are stronger than the aluminum control arms themselves so you’re telling me that no one should ever drive their truck because their control arms are brittle and weak?

 

[Caddylack]

How does this mod affect alignment?

Can you still use OEM upper control arms and OEM camber plates?

 

[mikez71]

2" of lift or drop could probably use a toe adjustment..(maybe that's all you'll need?)

It always amazes me how little material is needed sometimes (regarding flipping struts and being suspended by bolts)
Bilstein shocks just have that thin little c-clip that holds the bottom of spring.
My old toyota sequoia had flipped balljoints on the bottom, meaning all the weight/force is trying to pull the balljoint apart..
(Though they have been known to fail in bad way)