lower a 2002 Chevy Silverado

[Okiedokie]

My son has surprised me by saying he wants to lower his truck. He bought it new and has babied it, it is like new. Anyway he asked me what the best way is. On my F100 with Volare front I used dropped spindles, but am unsure on late models having never done one. Does anyone have any helpful experience in this area?

[jaybee]

From what I see looks like your choices are lowering springs or drop spindles on the front, Drop shackles or axle-over-spring flip kits for the rear. I think the flip kits require a c notch at the frame, but there are kits complete with bolt in reinforcing plates for the frame.

[Uncle Bob]

I've used Belltech kits on three trucks and they just work great.  Even with the deeper drops needing the C notch (nothing to be scared of) which requires bed removal, two guys can get the whole thing done in a decent days work (with allowances for alignment).  On the Ram I did last I also added auxiliary airbags on the rear to retain load carrying ability, worked great.  On the Dodge I did the Ram Slam (4 front, 6 rear), the only hitch I hit was I had to go down a size on the front tire as the stocker hit the fender liner on compression.

[Okiedokie]

I have read that dropped spindles on these trucks cause some clearance problems. Supposedly the lowering control arms are a better choice??

[Uncle Bob]

I had to do a bit of clearancing on the Dodge because of wheel backspace, but on the early 90s Chev and GMC (only 2" drop) I didn't have any issue.  I did use the custom lower A arm on a 72 about 20 or so years ago, but that was more because I believed that particular setup was the best choice at the time not for concern with wheel clearance.