73-87 Chevy guys...drop question

[c1500]

well i have a 85 suburban that is all stock except for the 3/5 drop and being totally shaved.. i realized many problems when lowering this vehicle that suburban and truck frames werent as close as i had thought.. my dad has just purchased a 87 2wd crew cab dually with a 4speed manual and a 454..he called me while i was in class, left a message and at the end he said " its clean and i wana slam it to the ground".. we are going to put a flip kit on the rear and springs and spindles on the front..what heigths would you recomend..i want a 5/7 drop for it, but we might still use it to haul a trailer or something every once in a whiel..would a 4/6 be better for this..and for the rear, we will get helper bags..any advice..thanks..ill post pictures of it when i get home..

and also..does anyone know how well a 5speed out of the obs trucks will, if not directly bolt into this dually? i wouldnt mind getting a little bit better gas mileage..thanks

[gearheadnate]

I would do a 4/6 with air bags in the rear to help maintain the GVW capability, and you could keep some decent rubbers on it.

I did a NV4500 swap in an 87' sc dually in the shop truck for the last company I worked for. My boss did the reserch on it and I think he said he got the trans from a '96 the swap was pretty straight forward. I made a new cross member for it because the stock one was cracked and I didn't even try to see if it could have just been moved back.

Or you could put in a 4L80E in it with a stand alone trans controler.

[c1500]

when you say pretty straight forward, what do you mean? does the bellhousing bolt right up or did that need to be changed? what about the drivesaft..did it need to be shortened? any info on the 4 speed to NV4500 swap would be great..thanks Dylan

[gearheadnate]

All that we did was shorten the drive shaft and up grade the clutch. Now I'm not sure if the clutch was upgaded for capatablity or just cause we had it apart. Also the crossmember needs to be relocated. The clutch slave cylinder bolted right up, but I think you need the slave cylinder rod that goes between the slave cylinder and the clutch folk.