BARN TO BITUMEN
Fresh out of the dirt, now dropped in the weeds!
This gorgeous fresh out of the barn 66' C10 of Steve's came into us for a complete Stage 1 Air-ride system. A very tidy unmolested example running its factory v8 and 4 speed manual, unassisted drum brakes all round on coil springs. Our Stage 1 kit consists of tubular front upper and lower control arms, relocated shock brackets, 2.5" drop spindles, front upper airbag plates, airbag c-notch, SLAM trailing arm x-member, panhard-bar kit, a complete Airlift Air Management system, with twin VIAIR compressors running 7" bags on front and 6" bags on the rear. This kit is designed to get the front and back as low as possible before running into interference issues ie, tires hitting inner fenders and differential hitting the bed.
We started dismantling the rear suspension, ready to remove the bed and weld in our c-notches. Our c-notches were designed to run with either a coil spring or any airbag on the market today and give an extra 2.5 inches of extra suspension travel, which will bring the differential up under the timber bed with 5mm of gap. While up on the hoist we discovered a few issues we brought up with the owner including the lack of body mounts left and some leaks in the differential, typical for an old truck like this, so those were added to the to-do list.
To finish off the rear end suspension components, one of our SLAM trailing-arm x-members were installed. The factory crossmembers hang too low and was the lowest point on the truck. Our x-members also have adjustable trailing arm brackets so we can correct pinion angle up to 3 degrees, and best of all it bolts into the factory holes.
Onto the front end, we swapped out the front crossmember as this truck was sitting on a C20 frame which had an early style crossmember with bolt in lower control arm cross-shafts instead of the later U-bolt design. Luckily we had one in stock and freshly powder coated so in it went. The control arms went in along with our upper airbag plates, the Airlift 7" airbags, the 2.5" drop spindles and the front end disc brake kit.
With all the suspension components in, the Airlift Air Management system was installed and wired in. This system uses height sensors on each corner to self-level the truck when driving, keeping a consistent ride height and quality even if the owner puts weight in the back or on one side. The height sensors are a universal kit, so custom mounts were made relative to the suspension travel. We mounted the ECU under the bed on a plate that also houses the relays. We also mounted both VIAIR compressors on the chassis rails on our compressor mounts.
The factory 12-bolt diff was leaking from the pinion seal so we rebuilt the unit with all new bearings and seals. Being a C20 chassis, the rear cab mounts were a sheer style mount instead of the later bolt-through, button style design, this design isn't reproduced so they needed to be cut off the chassis, luckily we had the later-style cab mounts in stock so the entire component was replaced.
As a finishing touch, we designed up and 3D printed a controller mount that fits on the dash and hides the connector cable. We are big fans of the Airlift system as the controller shows you pressure and height at each airbag aswell as tank pressure.
Checkout the video below of the truck airing out from full height.. plus some photos of the truck at full height and in the weeds!
If your interested in an air-ride system for your truck, get in contact with us and we would be able to steer you in the right direction. Also check out our parts for 63-72 Chev Pickups by clicking on the button below!