Belltech 5305 Rear Coils-How Low?

[M Hankel]

I've got some Belltech 5305 coils in the back of my Tahoe and curious how low it can go if I cut out the dead coils? Right now it is sitting about 33.25 in back without the spacer. The front is at 32.25 but I just ordered some drop keys to compliment the drop arms that are on already. Just looking at the coils in an "at rest"state, it appears the dead coils measure aprox 1.5-2" +/-. Just curious how low I can go in the back without cutting the sprung coils. Anyone cut out their dead coils? Would like to hear from you.

Mike

 

[NORCAL SS]

Been there done it. do you have the djm trailing arm relocators and endlink kit??? if not will hit the swaybar against the panhard bracket.

In front you wont get it to align with drop keys so you will need the camber kit from belltech and press out upper bushings.

Rear cut 2 full loops and then slap in and remeasure that will drop it about 1.25 inches. YOu can cut more if needed there are about 4 loops that are dead when full weight is on the truck and only cut from the top. What I would do is cut 1.5 loops off the bat since the first pig tail coil is very small and then cut as needed.

For reference on look
Here is a customers truck
djm upper/lower a arms
front belltech sp shocks
rear belltech sp shocks
rear springs 5" drop
275 55 20 tires
32 9/16 rear from ground to fenderlip (no bumper in back of the truck)
My 6" springs would sit at 31.5-31.75 about

 

[M Hankel]

I don't have the LCA relocation brackets but I custom made some spacers to get the sway bar mounts spaced away from the axle (swaybar ends are now parallel to the ground), so I don't think I would need to worry about swaybar contact. I've hit some pretty good speed humps here at full speed (30-35mph) and have never got any contact at all with the swaybar. I'm looking to drop the rear another 1.5 to 1.75" and the front about 1" or so.

So how low can I go in the front before needing the camber bushings in the upper LCA's? How low can I go in the front after installing them and still be able to get the alignment within specs?

After installing the drop keys, would I be able to crank up the adjusters to only drop it maybe 1/2-1"? I know there is an adjustment range but it seems to vary wildly from vehicle to vehicle.

Is anyone here using the MOOG camber adjusters for the front upper LCA's?

Mike

 

[NORCAL SS]

I don't have the LCA relocation brackets but I custom made some spacers to get the sway bar mounts spaced away from the axle (swaybar ends are now parallel to the ground), so I don't think I would need to worry about swaybar contact. I've hit some pretty good speed humps here at full speed (30-35mph) and have never got any contact at all with the swaybar. I'm looking to drop the rear another 1.5 to 1.75" and the front about 1" or so.

So how low can I go in the front before needing the camber bushings in the upper LCA's? How low can I go in the front after installing them and still be able to get the alignment within specs?

After installing the drop keys, would I be able to crank up the adjusters to only drop it maybe 1/2-1"? I know there is an adjustment range but it seems to vary wildly from vehicle to vehicle.

Is anyone here using the MOOG camber adjusters for the front upper LCA's?

Mike

can you take a pic of the rear swaybar next to the bracket where the 90 bend is on the passengers side. I did a 6 inch drop on a 04 yesterday and without the djm kit and moving it over to the pass side it would hit that bracket. Just curious what yours looks like.

Yeah 1.75 more in back id start with cutting 2.5 loops off if you need that much then recheck.

In front if you did the djm 3 inch arms and added keys for 1 inch you will see its cambered in front and the belltech bushings are the way to go and they are cheaper and come with new lock plates.

 

[M Hankel]

can you take a pic of the rear swaybar next to the bracket where the 90 bend is on the passengers side. I did a 6 inch drop on a 04 yesterday and without the djm kit and moving it over to the pass side it would hit that bracket. Just curious what yours looks like.

Yeah 1.75 more in back id start with cutting 2.5 loops off if you need that much then recheck.

In front if you did the djm 3 inch arms and added keys for 1 inch you will see its cambered in front and the belltech bushings are the way to go and they are cheaper and come with new lock plates.

I'll try to get some pics up of the spacers and that area. I made the swaybar spacers while visiting family in Montana with limited tools so they are kinda crude. Was going to make some better ones but these worked so well I kinda forgot about them.

Mike

 

[M Hankel]

OK here's a couple pics I snapped on my lunch break today. Please remember I built these on the road with limited tools at my parents house in Montana lol... You'll notice that the sway bar doesn't come anywhere close to making contact with anything. The bar hangs about 1" below the pumpkin on the rearend but it's still a good 6"-7" from the ground. Hardly enough to worry about scraping on anything.

The square tubing is 5"x5", 1/8" wall thickness. I bought the tubing from a local fab shop for 10.00 and they even cut them to length for me. The bolts/washers were about another 6.00.







Mike

 

[NORCAL SS]

oh never mind now i know why it clears. So the swaybar is below the axle fully exposed right?

 

[Knobz]

OK here's a couple pics I snapped on my lunch break today. Please remember I built these on the road with limited tools at my parents house in Montana lol... You'll notice that the sway bar doesn't come anywhere close to making contact with anything. The bar hangs about 1" below the pumpkin on the rearend but it's still a good 6"-7" from the ground. Hardly enough to worry about scraping on anything.

The square tubing is 5"x5", 1/8" wall thickness. I bought the tubing from a local fab shop for 10.00 and they even cut them to length for me. The bolts/washers were about another 6.00.







Mike

Looks just a little sketchy haha dude just buy the hardware kit. It's not that expensive..

 

[M Hankel]

oh never mind now i know why it clears. So the swaybar is below the axle fully exposed right?

Yes, right now the sway bar hangs about 1" below the center diff on the rearend. The 5x5 was the only material the fab shop had that would work but a 3x3 piece would work just fine for a 5" drop. But like I mentioned before as it is now it's still about 6-7" off the ground at the lowest point. This truck never sees dirt roads and I don't remember ever needing more than 3" of ground clearance for anything on a paved road around here. The LCA brackets on my Camaro's rearend are probably no more than 3.5" from lowest point to pavement.

Looks just a little sketchy haha dude just buy the hardware kit. It's not that expensive..

LOL,,, don't be hating on my backyard engineering lol... In all honesty this was supposed to be a temporary fix so that I didn't have to hear the thing banging on a 550 mile return road trip coming home. But,,, it has been this way for almost a year now and it's doing just fine. And I got plenty of clearance to go as low as I'd like to in the future..... With that being said, these spacers are staying.

Mike

 

[NORCAL SS]

chop those springs get her lowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww