Here's some pics of my 92 I bodied. It's basically 3" traditional with the rockers cut and plated. Personally, if you're gonna go through a body drop, go past the pinch, just looks so much better, in my opinion. Anyway, hope this helps a little....

 

I didn't even realize the full scope of what you were suggesting there until just now. This little tidbit is key as the body mounts are before and after the door opening, so if I do like you said I can go to any angle I want with the fillers. Thanks for the tip!

Thanks for the pics Still2hi. What did you do about the front crossmember/radiator hose clearance problem?

Also about going "past the pinch weld", I think the way I have it set up it should lay out on the rockers. I have a piece of tube spanning the framerails stuck out far enough to set the cab on.

Between the framerails and the tube I put in 3/4" blocks for the pinch welds which I will later hammer over flat. So in theory it would lay out on the pinch welds with the frame 3/4" off the ground, so no need to go any further, unless I miscalculated somehow?

 

If fully laid out your frame is 3/4" off the ground, correct. If you lay flat frame, you wouldn't need the 3/4" blocks for the pinch. You would just cut the body and it will drop to the first part of the body that touches, which would be the pinch. If you hammer the pinch flat, then the truck will lay on the rockers.

 

That was all very confusing. My set up is right though, right? It should lay out on the rockers... I think... I could always cut more out of the back wall and the firewall, I just don't want go any farther than I need to because of clearance issues like what is going on with th front crossmember.

What about the brackets and the front crossmember issue? What did you do there?

 

You're gonna have to z the frame, I know you do on 89-95's. Right where the frame starts to go up in the front fenderwell it will be z'd there about an inch or so, then z'd again at the front frame horns so the frame lays but the front crossmember clears. Mine was z'd about 1.5". This allows clearance for the front xmember.

How far of a bodydrop are you wanting to go?

 

I am trying to achieve a 2 1/4" drop. I was hoping to do it in one z of the framerails immediately behind the front body mounts, but I am trying to figure out what to do about the brackets that are right in the way. Could you shoot a pic of your lower radiator hose for me please?

 

I can once I get home, if I have one. My radiator has been out for a while, but I'll check. So you're just gonna do one z?

 

I had thought that was all that was needed for the front. If I am wrong about this it is not to late to change the plan by any means. I am still cutting the back wall of the cab and the cuts inside the doors and the firewall are going to take a while to get all layed out and cut. I am taking my time, trying to get it right the first time. Pics of your frame setup would be helpful. The radiator probably doesn't have to be in place for me to see whats going on, but if it is in there, all the better. Thanks for the help!

 

If you z the frame where you're talking about doing, that's fine. What's gonna happen is the frame from there forward will move up however much you z, let's say and inch. Your core support, bumper, etc. attaches to the frame horns in the front. Your fenders attach to your core support. Without z'ing the front down an inch, your fenders and stuff won't line up. If you go 3" up by the body mounts, you gotta go 3" down at the frame horns. I'll send you some pics.

What I did on my body drop was lay frame flat on the wood beams, cut the body and let it drop to the wood, then weld it back up. Pretty simple, but my frame was already z'd, my firewall was tubbed for 20z, and it laid flat frame. When I did the body drop, I dropped the cab 3" and had to re-z the front horns 3" also so the body would line up properly. So I have a pretty gnarly z up front,...

 

I have a ton of pics on myspace. myspace.com/stll2hi

 

looks good

 

Ok, so I didn't get quite as far as I had hoped today, but I had pretty lofty goals to start with.

I got the floor pan cut on the sides by the doors and the back wall of the cab cut and a 2 1/4" strip cut out of the back panel.


These trucks have tons of pieces for the dash... Sheesh.

There were two PITA hoses running to the heater core through the firewall. Normally to break a hose loose I will stick a flathead screw driver in to break the seal, but these were up against the firewall and I couldn't get to them. I took a torch and heated up a screw driver and made a tool to hook under the hose and pull back to break the seal. It worked really good.


I spent a lot of time just figuring stuff out today and I have a much better idea of the plan, but there are still some things I need to get figured out. I think I will have a more productive day tomorrow now that I have all the dash and heater pieces out of the way.

 

sorry dan, i had forgot to mention z'ing the frame. without a z the frame near the front body mounts (the ones by your feet) will sit about 3/4" off the ground, while the front engine x-member will be touching. i recommend z'ing it before the body drop is finished. its not really too hard and will let your truck truly lay frame. on yota's it need to be z'd between 1.25-1.5". the front will need to be dropped the same amount as the frame its self. so if your body dropping it 2.25" the front would actually need to be the 2.25 + 1.25-1.5". the is a good tech article on seths site. www.twistedminis.com go to the forum and look under the tech articles.

 

Ahhh OK. It took a minute for all that to sink in and make sense but I got it. No problem. I'll z the frame as you specified. Glad you guys caught that for me! Thanks a lot!

 

Wow, so if I raise the motor an 1 1/4" and lower the front body mount 1 1/4" and 2 1/4" than my body will be 3 1/2" lower in relation to my engine. Am I going to be able to make short enough motor mounts for my hood to clear the air cleaner?

BTW, why didn't you guys tell me this is hard work? These floor pans don't cut out themselves... I feel like I am going out for my sawzall certificate... (I'm totally just kidding about not being warned it was gonna be hard)

 

i believe 1" drop motor mounts will let the hood clear. its definitely a lot of work. but think about it like this. a shop will charge you $3-4k to do the job, by the time your done there probably won't be $200 tied up in it, just you labor thats free! and once you know how to do it you can make some dough doing it for people who can't do it themselves.

i hate sawzalls. i couldn't make a straight cut to save my life. i usually use a 5" cutoff wheel on the grinder. even on my chop top it was all done with cut off wheels.

 

I hate sawzalls too. If only I could use a portoband... I am sick of breathing carborandom dust from the grinding wheels too. My favorite tools for cutting body metal although it has obvious limitations is this handy thing here:


It worked great on the back wall of the cab and some portions of the area inside the doors. Anywhere that is a single layer of sheet and doesn't do too sharp of a bend you can cut. It is a hell of a lot better than the jerky action of the sawzall or running a grinder in the right applications.

I wasn't seriously complaining about the work involved. I love it. Some people get frustrated working on vehicles but I really rarely ever do.

 

if you make a port a band that will cut the floors i'll buy two! by far they have to be one of the best tools for in the field.

 

I think there should be sawzall championships on ESPN to see who can cut the straightest line cuz I sure as hell can't!! Burnz is right, I think after metal and all I was into my body drop for about $150. And I got quoted $4500 to have someone do it!! Speaking of Seth, depending on your motor type, he has lowered motor mounts that he sells that are 1.5", if I'm not mistaken, maybe 1". I was going to use them but he hadn't had any made for a V6 yet. I know his site is Twistedminis, but not sure of the exact address, hell he might be on here too, I'm not sure.

 

I want to fab some 1 1/2" dropped motor mounts, but in order to drop this much I might have to adapt the crossmember that spans the framerails under the oil pan. I am thinking something like this \\==// made from tubing of the same size (or roughly the same size) as the stock crossmember. Just cut out a foot or so of the stock crossmember and replace it with the notch piece. Then set the motor on a 1/2" shim or so on the oil pan on the crossmember and tack the motormounts together bolted to the frame and engine, just make the pieces that go between the plates to fit with the 1 1/2" drop. It might be easier to go with a 1" drop though if it would mean I didn't have to modify the crossmember. As long as my hood will close. I don't have to be able to put the hood on by Friday so I have some time to figure it out. I will make the body drop to fit the engine in its stock location. I just hope I can keep room for that massive heater assembly. Hmmmm, maybe I will make the body drop for the engine in it's dropped location to save room over the tranny for the heater. Better decide though. I am almost ready to do the firewall cut.