C-notching the Rear & Spring Under for lower ride height?

[Ian]

Has anyone ever done or seen the rear c-notched and spring under, in order to get a lower ride height in the rear of a Bronco. I know that most of the time this is accomplished by linking the rear, but I'm just looking to get my ride height down in the rear without having to link it. I know this is normally done on most other vehicles to get more bump travel. I currently have a 13 leaf National race pack in the rear with Camburg 1" longer shackles, but it still sits higher than I would like. I have attached a few photos of some nice low slung linked Broncos for reference.

[BajaBronco13]

Ian,

I've seen a truck recently at a shop that had the front c notched. I took some pics. I'll post them later. Looks like you can again about two inches of up travel.

CP

[philofab]

My crew cab is spring under now and has way less axle wrap issues with no 2 link on it. A big problem with a Bronco is driveshaft clearance and the top of the diff clearing the bed floor. Also, I already have clearance issues with the inside of the tire and the wheel well.

[Ian]

My crew cab is spring under now and has way less axle wrap issues with no 2 link on it. A big problem with a Bronco is driveshaft clearance and the top of the diff clearing the bed floor. Also, I already have clearance issues with the inside of the tire and the wheel well.

Yeah, I know about the inner fender well issue, but I'm planning on going to a wider rearend. That and I was looking for feed back on this topic to know whether or not I was crazy for even thinking to go this direction in the rear.

[billy1911]

You can take out a leaf or 2. That would be the easiest and simple way to do it. I know it doesn't sound right buy new leafs and take them apart but this is what works.

[yogib]

We C-notched my frame in the back.Fairly easy.We used a piece of 6" 1/4" wall tube cut in half.Have a picture of the Mod on the Other Bronco site on my thread.(here,s my ride in progress)..

[philofab]

We C-notched my frame in the back.Fairly easy.We used a piece of 6" 1/4" wall tube cut in half.Have a picture of the Mod on the Other Bronco site on my thread.(here,s my ride in progress)..

Does your diff hit your floor? How much notch did you do?

[baja-chris]

Common solution is to cut out the floor for the diff and top links to cycle into then build a box to cover it. These boxes are usually about 3" high. The frame c-notch is as yokib described. If you are trying to do this with leafs then you are going to have massive negative arch which will greatly shorten the life of the leafs and create a shock tuning problem because of the extreme spring rate you end up with a full bump. I would not bother c-notching the frame with a leaf spring setup.

[yogib]

We C-notched my frame in the back.Fairly easy.We used a piece of 6" 1/4" wall tube cut in half.Have a picture of the Mod on the Other Bronco site on my thread.(here,s my ride in progress)..

Does your diff hit your floor? How much notch did you do?

I could,nt tell you if it hits right now.I still have to get my rear Deavers.And I have,nt taken it out and put it through some abuse.Work has been real slow, and coming up with a extra 600 bucks plus for the springs, just isnt happening right now.I would say its a good 2 1/2" notch to three inches extra clearance.But at least the notching is done for WHEN I get it all dialed in.

[SteveG]

I would not bother c-notching the frame with a leaf spring setup.

That's what I was thinking. Unless you used a super long leaf spring (like the 64" kit) and mounted the spring high enough to keep the spring from over compressing.

[philofab]

Negative arch is the main reason to go spring under with a notch rather than just remove springs.

[baja-chris]

Which would lead you to wanting extra long shackles then cut an opening in the floor for those and build another pair of boxes to cover those holes. It's all possible but I don't think you would fully realize the potential of a long travel leaf setup because of the short driveshaft and issues with plunge and angles.

[philofab]

Which would lead you to wanting extra long shackles then cut an opening in the floor for those and build another pair of boxes to cover those holes. It's all possible but I don't think you would fully realize the potential of a long travel leaf setup because of the short driveshaft and issues with plunge and angles.

The short driveshaft in our trucks actally has very little plunge with long travel leaf spring setup.

[DirtyMexican]

i dont know if its my lack of sleep or what but i have no idea what you guys are talking about. haha Can someone please post pics?

[BLACKMARKETBRYAN]

Common solution is to cut out the floor for the diff and top links to cycle into then build a box to cover it. These boxes are usually about 3" high. The frame c-notch is as yokib described. If you are trying to do this with leafs then you are going to have massive negative arch which will greatly shorten the life of the leafs and create a shock tuning problem because of the extreme spring rate you end up with a full bump. I would not bother c-notching the frame with a leaf spring setup.

x 2 if you are going to go through the labor of notching the frame etc etc ,may as well link it ,i had an explorer many moons ago that ate leaf springs alive ,due to the exact problem described above ,i then decided to 3 link with a 1:1 ratio set up and truck handled beautifly ,well good enough for a toaster ,but you get the point , if your going to cut may as well go a little further and set her up the way you really want to any way ,besides i have never heard anyone say they didnt like a 4 linked bronco

[Ian]

That advise seems pretty sound to just wait and link it. I guess I need to just be ok with it sitting taller in the rear than I would like for now. Thanks for all the input everybody.

[ntsqd]

I could be talking thru my shorts here (see avatar), but what if you take the normal bump travel stop point and moved it, AND all of the spring mounts up by the same distance

In other words, same travel, same spring, same degree of leaf spring 'flattening', same everything, only repositioned such that the ride height was 2"-4" lower?

Yeah, so the floor needs clearancing to do this. So what? It's a pretty advanced mod anyway. Not like a nuB is going to tackle it and have come out correctly.

[philofab]

I could be talking thru my shorts here (see avatar), but what if you take the normal bump travel stop point and moved it, AND all of the spring mounts up by the same distance

In other words, same travel, same spring, same degree of leaf spring 'flattening', same everything, only repositioned such that the ride height was 2"-4" lower?

Yeah, so the floor needs clearancing to do this. So what? It's a pretty advanced mod anyway. Not like a nuB is going to tackle it and have come out correctly.

If you do an axle flip you get a 4" - 5" lower ride height, less wheel hop, and longer spring life without moving the hangars or shackles. Less work and better result.

[ntsqd]

Less wheel hop is obvious. Why longer spring life? Just because of less hop? Beyond that I don't see any difference to the spring.

[philofab]

Less wheel hop is obvious. Why longer spring life? Just because of less hop? Beyond that I don't see any difference to the spring.

Longer spring life due to less wheel hop fatiguing the spring causing breakage next to the axle and also more arch at full bump.

This is the reason a Giant 64" kit is designed with so much arch and spring under.