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random SAS question.

shady

shady

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I was dream building my 05 CC out of boredom and realized that nearly ALL of the SAS kits out there (specially the ones for my truck) are a minimum of 6"-8" of lift..... just wondering why:dunno: is there no way to put custom springs on or anything that provide less lift... or modding the front side of the frame for a higher mounting point for the front of the spring..?? I seen that the diy4x (only for 88-98) one goes as low as 3" of lift. but every other one I found was huge lift. I think it'd be cool to have the solid axle and 2"-4" of lift max.
 
I think its frame and engine crossmember clearance problems. the diff gets close or can hit if to low a spring used .
 
I figured its a clearance thing... but I would think a custom crossmember or something would fix that... there cant be a whole lot of differences between them and a square body once you remove the suspension stuff, crossmember, and steering. then building new of each too clear each other should be simple...:dunno: I guess with enough R&D it'd be possible but they probably figure that everyone wanting to do this wants 38's and such too. no real market for it.... I just thought it was weird. Myself if I was in the business id make the kit for zero lift if possible and let everyone pick the lift they want with their spring choice. probably a lot harder than it sounds though:rolleyes:
 
I'm doing an 01 crew cab 2500 and that's my plan/ As low as possible with 37's and drive the piss out of it everywhere. To and from trails, work, vacations for fun.

I thought I saw a single cab mid 90's with inverted springs to get it low. It was in petersons mag
 
Fabworx has a kit they call the "low boy" They did it on a 95-98 regular cab shortbed and put 3/4ton under.
 
Its not so much as the crossmember being in the way but the diff actually punching a hole through the bottom of the oil pan. You could go low but have VERY limited up travel
 
I would think if it clears on an old rig the pan would clear on the newer one too:dunno: the motor sits pretty much the same way between the frame rails
 
One of the big constraints on the 88-98 SAS trucks is clearance between the u-bolt system and the bottom of the frame. The older (67-87) frames curve up at the front for axle clearance, the newer (88 and up) frames don't because the diff doesn't move on an IFS truck.

Going to spring under is one way to help that, but we've had dozens of customers use stock height front springs for 73-87 trucks in the normal spot on top of the axle and end up with ~3" lift.
 
borrowing a pic from Russell's thread it looks like they go up some in the front... not a lot though... that's what a "C" notch kit is for :D then an engine hoop to brace it all there and you have a nice tall shock mount too:waytogo: I haven't even looked at the front frame of my 05 to see about that. just dream building anyway:haha: I cant afford to put my 5.3 in my burb, No way in h3ll i'll be able to take the plasma to my 05 anytime in the next 5 years:rolleyes: not sure id want to really. torsion keys and small blocks would get me the 2"-3" I'd like:thumb:

269985_10150710985000500_726345499_19602220_7579592_n.jpg
 
shady said:
there cant be a whole lot of differences between them and a square body once you remove the suspension stuff, crossmember, and steering.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes there can be. You basically need to front half the frame or do major surgery to gain back that kind of clearance that is inherently built into solid front axle trucks. This happens all the time with toyota guys. The IFS vs solid axle trucks have the same exact frame EXCEPT for the area in the wheel well where the suspension is mounted. The solid axle trucks had 3-4in more clearance making a SAS in an IFS truck impossible to get as low as a stocker straight front truck.
 
3" of lift is about as low as you can go and still have a little bit of up travel without hitting something.

With my D60 I will hit the oil pan before the axle hits the frame. That may not be the case with a 10 bolt or D44 and a truck with a SBC in it. Maybe you could make it sit a bit lower with a notched frame but I couldn't see it being much and you'll have severely weakened an already weak frame.
 
3" would be perfect. that's all the lift I really like. I think greg C notched his frame up front to clear the portals.. his is boxed and all that I understand but I can see were it wouldn't be hard to do it safely on a newer rig. I loved that lowboy kit from fabworx, but its not made for the 05. it'd end up being way too involved for an online minor fab install kit.
 
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Has anyone thought about a three link with coils (like on a late 70s Ford). You'd be using a Ford axel anyway. This way would not stress the frame if notched for clearance.
 
I was thinking coilovers and 4 link but 3 would probably work better
 
cowboy_tech said:
Has anyone thought about a three link with coils (like on a late 70s Ford). You'd be using a Ford axel anyway. This way would not stress the frame if notched for clearance.
Click to expand...

FYI no factory iteration of a vehicle to my knowledge has ever had a 3 link front suspension with a straight axle. The fords had and still have radius arms in one form or another and all the chrysler stuff is non tri 4 link aka 5 links.
 
shady said:
I was thinking coilovers and 4 link but 3 would probably work better
Click to expand...

4 link is no good for a truck thats going to run a steering box unless you devise some trick bell crank system. You need that panhard bar to swing the axle in unison with the draglink to prevent bump steer. Once you have a pan hard bar a 3 link is you're best possible system. Parallel 4 links with panhard bars bind.
 
I wonder if the frame width on an 05 Chevy is close to a 79 Ford. You might get away with using mostly stock hardware, like coil buckets and radius arms and brackets, to do a conversion. Just fabricate a panhard bracket on the frame. I would think it would ride better than leaf springs.
 
79 Ford is leaf sprung ;)

But, this is something I intend to try and do on my Duramax when I SAS it later. I've still gotta do some measurements to verify but eyeballing it looks like I may be able to simply mount a Dodge front suspension under my Chevy. The weights are similar enough that I should be pretty much good to go with the angles, coil rates, shocks etc... I like the link suspension more than the Ford radius arms, and the Dodge stuff will also play nice with my ABS and stabilitrac.
 
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