Pics and steps on how to install front drop springs.

[98 SS ON NOS]

IF THE PICS DONT SHOW UP ON THIS PAGE E MAIL ME AT S10SSONNOS@AOL.COM ILL SEND THEM TO YOU

this is on my cousins 97 sonoma. i was swapping the zq8 springs for belltech 2 inch drop springs. i go with taking off the inner a arm off because its safer if a spring pops out hits the truck not you. also i keep the sway bar end link on because it gives less movement to the arm when you are putting the spring in so it goes right up

this pic here is what you should do first. take off the disk and you will see the dust shield. when you use lowering springs it moves the knuckle up so it hits the shield and makes a terrible squeacking noise and makes a mark in the dustshiled like this pic showS

[98 SS ON NOS]

i just cut the dust shield off so it looks like this. no more squaking now. put the disk back on and we are set to go

[98 SS ON NOS]

so now this is what you have when you look at it

[98 SS ON NOS]

no take off the top of the shock

[98 SS ON NOS]

then take off shock from bottom

[98 SS ON NOS]

now you have to take off the 2 inner bolts. MAKE SURE TO HAVE A JACK UNDER THE ARM IN THE MIDDLE!!! just in case when you pull the bolts out doesnt go flying down

heres the front bolt pulled out

[98 SS ON NOS]

pull the front out first then do the rear ones. here is the rear one getting pulled out

[98 SS ON NOS]

before you drop the arm down make sure the jack stand is in this position. you should put the cup fitting up top also try not to use this set up (flat part of jack under arm) i was just to lazy to reach over and get it

[98 SS ON NOS]

no you will drop the arm slowly. make sure to not stand close to the truck just in case

so the arm will look like this it will swing down and out. if something does happen the spring will stay in the pocket becasue the arm wont swing far enough down becasue the sway bar end link are still holding on to the lower a arm

here is the pic of the arm slowly coming down

[98 SS ON NOS]

now the arm has come down all the way its gonna be lose, pull the jack out pull the arm a little down and pull out the spring

[98 SS ON NOS]

here is the stock zq8 spring next to the belltech 2 inch drop spring.

now put the rubber boots on both sides and get ready to put the spring in the lower a arm

[98 SS ON NOS]

BEFORE YOU PUT THE SPRINGS IN. make sure to find the 2 drain holes on the lower a arm. the end of the spring should cover the 1st drain hole and just a little of the second one. make sure to sit them in the same both sides so it sits even

here is the hole you have to cover

[98 SS ON NOS]

no put the spring in and make sure on top that the spring sits outside of the metal circle. on bottom make sure its lined up with the drain hole and put the jack under it and start to jack up. the holes should line up. you may have to move the jack a little and when it does just put the bolt in. this part takes like 5 minutes.


here is the going up

[98 SS ON NOS]

here is the arm lined up with the bolt ready to go threw. put both bolts back in, tighten it up and then put the shocks in and tighen them up and you are ready to go

[98 SS ON NOS]

now drive the truck for about 100 miles and measure to top of fenderlips. BUT WAIT ONE SIDE IS HIHER THAN OTHER WHAT GIVES.

heres is the pic of the sway bar end link. lets say the driver side sites 1/2 inch lower than passengers side or vise versayou have to cut 1/2 inch off the passengers side metal end link or vise versa. Cut 1/2 inch off and you will notice that the bolt wont tighten all the way down, because its not threaded all the way threw. just go to a local hardware store and get a 6 inch bolt that is threaded all the way threw and a new nut to tighten it down, and put replace the stock bolt tighten it down and the truck should sit even.

[98 SS ON NOS]

hopefully i helped you guys out. other people have different ways of doing this. This way i have found out is faster, safer, and sometimes when trying to get the new spring into the lower a arm and you take the outer part of the a arm off and try to get the spring in there its a pain.


when your done with your drop you can cut about 3/4 1 inch off your bumpstops in front so you get more clearance and wont bottom out. talk to you guys soon.

next time i do a install with spindles ill take pics of that. that should be next week sometime. truck is a 2002 gmc sonoma with zq8. 120 miles on it lol


FYI- the belltech 2 inch drop springs droped the truck 3/4 of a inch more than with the ZQ8 springs
tony

[DropindaS-Mini]

oh my man you really did some info on that wow!! i give you props.


peace, steve

[sweetbutxtreme]

you da man...i've been thinkin of going with springs instead or spindles too so this helped alot.

[rmducati]

damnn, haha, major props

[AnotherSS]

damn tony! I've been chasing odd noises from the front of my 96 since I dropped it. I'll try that dust shield trick and see if it clears up :thumbup:

[Mytreme1]

Yeah...Tony da man...lol.

[Mytreme1]

Hey you got any pics of the trucks after the .5" drop in the front? I've already ordered a 3-3" coil and block kit. It'll be here next week!! Whhooo hoo !!

[wetdreams]

98 s-10 on nos------- I just sold my 89 rx7 turbo II. It had racing beat downpipe mid pipe and exhaust. also bonez intake. if u need any help with the rotary let me know. im very knowlegable about rotarys. with the 84 u probably have a 12-b engine correct?

[LowandBlazed]

Tony, I have a question. I recently had a shop install 3" drop springs on my Blazer X. The springs were belltech. The front doesn't seem to have drop much at all if any. Is it just that the springs need to settle or are they not seated properly? My truck looks a little silly right now with the back end on the ground and the front still up in the air. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[98 SS ON NOS]

SOME SIT LOWER THAN OTHERS


with 3 inch drop springs front comes down from 1-1.5 inches more than stock on the ones i did. are you sure they used the right spring??

also if they arent sitting in the second drain hole will not sit right.

what does your blazer x measrue to the top of the fenderlips with the 3 inch sprigns right now?

on the 2 i did front was at 27 3/4, 28 on the other one

[LowandBlazed]

Well the front is at 29, does that mean that the springs are in wrong or do they just need to settle? When you said the two you did were at 27 3/4 and 28 were those Blazer X's w/ 3" drop springs? If so is 29 about right before they settle? I've only driven the car maybe 15 miles since the springs were put in. Thanks for the help Tony I appreciate it I'll be back at the shop on Monday so if the springs aren't in right I can have them adjust them then. Thanks again

[98 SS ON NOS]

sorry i meant to the fenderlips. are you sure those are the 3 inch drop springs? what is the part number on the coils. also check if the bottom of the spring is at the second drainhole.

tony

[slammed01blazer]

Quote:

Originally posted by LowandBlazed
Tony, I have a question. I recently had a shop install 3" drop springs on my Blazer X. The springs were belltech. The front doesn't seem to have drop much at all if any. Is it just that the springs need to settle or are they not seated properly? My truck looks a little silly right now with the back end on the ground and the front still up in the air. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

me and tony did some height comparisons with my stock blazer.

the stock coils in the blazer Xs are actually a full 2.5" drop. thats why when you put in 3 coils it made practically no difference, just .5" xtra drop.

the stock leafs however are only god for 1" drop.

if your gonna do the front you better order some 3" arms an go back to your stock coils

[98 SS ON NOS]

see htis is what i dont udnerstaand

why would the 2 blazers come down like 1 inch and his is the same height?

[slammed01blazer]

ya give it a full week or 200 miles to settle.

they probably only dropped you 1/4- 1/2" right now and if you give it some more time theyll go down another 1/2"

[LowandBlazed]

Well I know the springs are right I checked the belltech app guide before I bought them. They are the 3" drop springs for the 4.3L Blazer 99-01.The 29 inches I measured was from the ground to the lower edge of the fender lip. Right now I would say my truck is about an 1" higher in the front then it is in the back with 3" drop blocks in the back. After the front springs settle will it be close to level? I'm not sure on how to check to see if the sprins are covering the drain holes is there anyway to w/o jacking it up? Thanks again guys

[98 SS ON NOS]

im at 25.5 in front and 26.5 to 27 in back with 4 inch drop blocks. the trucks i did with 3 inch drop blocks were at 28.5 rear. wondering why your truck sits so much lower in back??

tony

[LowandBlazed]

Mine's about 28.5-29 in the back but the front is higher for some reason. Or atleast there is considerable more wheel well gap. Is it possible that my springs in the front will drop an inch after they settle? Does it matter that's has been around 20 degrees here all week will that slow the settling process? Guys I just need to know if the front of my car will come down about an inch if not it will sit uneven and I will have to figure out how to bring the front down a little more.

[98 SS ON NOS]

the front should come down to about 28 after ware in. back you are at 29 inches now with a 3 inch block. with a 4 inch block im at 28 inches so most likly you are sitting on the bumpstops and its keeping the back up higher

[LowandBlazed]

One final question guys, there isn't anyway the front could be sitting on the bumpstops is there? I was just thinking about last ngiht when I remembered how long they look when the car was up on the lift. Thanks again for all the help, hopefully when it levels out I will post pics