New favorite (custom) truck - Praise the Lowered!

[Mini-D67]

Was browsing through pictures from BlooDrag 2005 (massive truck show) and found these 2... this is officially my new favorite truck...




(Pics saved and re-uploaded)


00' GMC Jimmy, 4.5" stock floor body-drop, custom hood, shaved doors and taillights, 20/22" rim combo.... pure awesomeness


Just thought I'd share

[Greg Perkins]

I saw on monster Garage the other night how that they channeled the floor? i was just curious how you do the floor? do you just cut the floor out and move it up higher into the cabin? or what? please inform me, as i may try this someday on a hotrod

[Andrew Rudolph]

Originally Posted by Greg Perkins

I saw on monster Garage the other night how that they channeled the floor? i was just curious how you do the floor? do you just cut the floor out and move it up higher into the cabin? or what? please inform me, as i may try this someday on a hotrod

Basically you cut out the floor or bed over the rear axle and build the suspension using airbags so you can have the rear axle come up above the floor, therefore lower the vehicle. heres a picture of one of the setups out of a truck.




The front suspensions are harder because you have to get the wheels to tuck in and not hit stuff. Having one of these suspensions is the best security system for your expensive wheels. When you shut the car off, you can drop the car down on its frame and no one can get a jack under your car to steal your rims!

[Dorienne]

That's a slick car. I like it, 'cept it's too close to the ground for me. I'd be scared I'd easily scratch the bottom. >_<;

[DaBruteForceGuy]

whoa! where'd the wheels go? haha

[rocknthehawk]

It's nice...not my cup of tee, but looks like nice craftsmenship.

As for channeling the floor...I know at least on Monster Garage they didn't channel the floor, they channeled the body. The only possible way to channel the floor would be to cut it out completely, and then weld it back in on the bottom of the frame instead of the top (you literally sit between the frame rails.) For a body channel, you take the whole body off and then reweld your body mounts back on in the new, lower position. Usually when channeling a car you'll also lower it (as is the case in this truck). That rear air-bag setup posted is pretty big. Normally, you can just use a set of airbags in your stock suspension, but you may not be able to 'lay frame (let the frame of the car sit on the ground. The front suspension may be done the same way, with the inner-fender wells removed so that the tires can sit all the way in. thats basically it in a nutshell.

[Ryan Dognaux]

I think our 6 wheel drive has more clearance than that truck. That is just crazy. Sweet though.

[Mini-D67]

You have to understand that its not always that low... like Rudolph said its on airbags (rubber 'springs' that can be in flated to raise thier height) so it can air up and have all the clearance it needs to turn and whatnot...


The stock floor bodydrop consists of cutting the entire perimeter of the floor, moving it up until the frame sits flush with the bottom of the body, then re-attaching it. Its a very complicated process, but worth it IMO - no ugly frame sticjing out!

[rocknthehawk]

Originally Posted by Mini-D67

You have to understand that its not always that low... like Rudolph said its on airbags (rubber 'springs' that can be in flated to raise thier height) so it can air up and have all the clearance it needs to turn and whatnot...


The stock floor bodydrop consists of cutting the entire perimeter of the floor, moving it up until the frame sits flush with the bottom of the body, then re-attaching it. Its a very complicated process, but worth it IMO - no ugly frame sticjing out!

just because it's on bags doesn't mean it can raise up and turn perfectly. It all depends on how high the bags go.

ANd the floor bodydrop is called channeling, and you could channel it as little or much as you wanted. the purpose is to lower the car over the frame. Also, correct me if i'm worng, but isn't the Blazer a unibody? Also, on the stock blazer, no frame sticks out anyway...actually no car that i can think of for that matter. Channeling started way back in the day on hotrods (we could get into a history lesson, but i'm too tired to type it all out)

here's a couple pics of channeled cars (normally the body woud sit higher up, or the frame would show):

[Rombus]

Looks OK but not my cup of tea by far. I buy a truck to haul stuff, not to lower it to the ground.

To me, its kinda like buying a robot, and removing eveything that makes it useful


Im sorta biased since i own a Wrangler, And ive seen some real stupid looking "riced" Wranglers

[Mini-D67]

Originally Posted by rocknthehawk

just because it's on bags doesn't mean it can raise up and turn perfectly. It all depends on how high the bags go.

ANd the floor bodydrop is called channeling, and you could channel it as little or much as you wanted. the purpose is to lower the car over the frame. Also, correct me if i'm worng, but isn't the Blazer a unibody? Also, on the stock blazer, no frame sticks out anyway...actually no car that i can think of for that matter. Channeling started way back in the day on hotrods (we could get into a history lesson, but i'm too tired to type it all out)

No... this type of bodydrop involves no channeling... like I explained, the floor is kept stock, just moved up to lower the body over the frame. Last time I checked, a lot of the frame of a Blazer stuck out, same with all non-unibody cars.



In this guys SSM (Street Source magizine) profile, he said he was using Firestone 2800 series bags, which would mean he would be able to get 8-12" of lift (depending on his front setup), giving him more than enough room to turn his wheels to ful lock. It also said that his firewall was tubbed, so I would assume there would be no rubbing.

I've been into this for a while, I know what I'm talking about...

[rocknthehawk]

I'm not in the mood to argue, but how do you "raise up the floor to lower the body"? and as for the frame "sticking out" it doesn't it shows somewhat, but it's actually inside the body. check a 32 ford, that frame sticks out.

as for the bags, i said it depends. you would be correct, 8-12" would probably be plenty, and the firewall is probably tubbed so when it is lowered they don't rub.

trust me, i know a thing or two about cars.

[Mini-D67]

Originally Posted by rocknthehawk

I'm not in the mood to argue, but how do you "raise up the floor to lower the body"? and as for the frame "sticking out" it doesn't it shows somewhat, but it's actually inside the body. check a 32 ford, that frame sticks out.

as for the bags, i said it depends. you would be correct, 8-12" would probably be plenty, and the firewall is probably tubbed so when it is lowered they don't rub.

trust me, i know a thing or two about cars.

Think of it like this. Set a 2' square box on two 2' long 4x4s. Now cut the bottom square of the bot off, set the rest over the 4x4s. Now, slide the bottom back into the box so that its resting on top of the 4x4s and reattach it. Thats how a stock floor body drop works.

And (not to start anything), if you know a lot about cars, how could you say that the frame doesn't stick out on most of them?

Custom trucks are in my blood, so I'm very apt to defend/explain them when people misunderstand certain things

[tkwetzel]

From my understanding of everyone's posts here, everyone is correct and just interpreting things differently. My friend has a bagged S-10 which he can lay completely on the ground and scrape which throws sparks behind him as he drives...like the animation in Mini-D67's signature. Though he has yet to invest in a skid plate for the gas tank and has a few gouges in the stock plastic tank . Oh well...he doesn't drag it often at all. To be able to drop a car or truck that far requires a lot of work, including a lot of things that most people would never think of. Unless he fabricated new wheel wells, you would be able to look straight through the car at the front wheels when it wasn't all the way down. I am too tired to go into detail about what other things are required, but I am sure that if you are interested you could find a lot of information on the internet. If not, feel free to PM or IM me sometime and I can explain more...a few others in this thread could also probably be very insightful about this matter.

[rocknthehawk]

Originally Posted by Mini-D67

No... this type of bodydrop involves no channeling... like I explained, the floor is kept stock, just moved up to lower the body over the frame. Last time I checked, a lot of the frame of a Blazer stuck out, same with all non-unibody cars.

you said the same thing i did. the floor remains at the stock height, and the body is lowered over the frame. the name (at least to my knowledge of hotrods) is channeling. "stock floor body drop" must be what they are calling it on newer cars.

And as for the frame not sticking out, it doesn't actually stick out, but it can be seen from the side. it is inside/under they body. and as for most of them not showing, it's because most cars today are either unibody or space frame; not too many are body over frame anymore.

I'm not here to argue, but it seems like we both have a knowledge of cars, just maybe I'm using older terms referring to hotrods, and you're talking about newer cars.