Lowering RAM1500 4" & 6"?

[Homeboy981]

I am a noob here and cannot find out much about this. Here is my situation:

1997 Ram 1500 with 15" rims and WIDE tires (295X50s) it turns almost as good as my Porsche! The problem is I have 6" in front and 11" in the rear from running those 15s. Tires are cheaper which good since I have: 5.2L with headers, 3" exhaust, no cats (sorry I am allowed to here), chipped, Air Raid Intake and a lead foot! Been through a lot of tires! However, if I can 'get it out of the wind' a little more by lowering it will be even better.

Here is what I have found. The Axle needs a Flip Kit in the rear. However, the hangars seem backwards (the FRONT goes DOWN and the back goes UP). Sooo….can they be reversed? The bolt pattern match up and Dodge put 'big rivets' in there to hold them…can I grind, hacksaw, or torch them outta there and re-use by inverting them? Combine that with the Axle Flip and it should give me 5-7 inches lowered in the rear! Do you need to hack the frame to go that low? It seems so.

I can post pics if you like but it seems like an easy and elegant solution to reverse those and then tack weld and use HUGE bolts to hold them in. Then, I can use the Shackle kit I bought at Autozone to fine tune the height. I am not trying to go too low where I need to replace the shocks. AND I need it back on the road fast! It is my support vehicle with 185,000 miles on it but it is still running FAST & LOUD! just a little too high in the turns!

Thanks in advance.

 

[BigSloth]

I'm not tracking as to what you're wanting to do with the cut/reverse.

As for the flip kit and more drop, running more than 5" of drop in the rear requires a C notch in the frame. Anything more than 3" and I would strongly suggest new shocks for lowered applications, its not a matter of bottoming out, but the valving in the shock varies as it compresses more. Ride quality will suffer without them.

 

[Trapper]

Flipping the hanger and a shackle will only get you 4" in the back. The rivets are terrible to take out, good luck, then you can use 1/2" grade 8 bolts to flip. If you go flip kit you'll get 6" on just the flip kit, throw on the shackle and you can get 7"

Will need new shocks for even 4" lowering, will also need a c notch for your desired 7" drop. Not sure on your wheel offset, may need to trim the lips on the box side.

For the front, use spindles with a drop coil. I used 2" coils, then trimmed to dial in the height, people get freaked out by cut coils, I noticed no difference, I cut 1/4 coil at a time until it was perfect. May rub in turning, no big deal, cut up the fender liners or take em out

It's gunna handle like a go cart, even without a rear sway bar, have fun! I was 5/7 for probably year and a half before bagging, the ride wasn't super because I didn't notch high enough, but man it handled amazing

 

[Homeboy981]

Flipping the hanger and a shackle will only get you 4" in the back. The rivets are terrible to take out, good luck, then you can use 1/2" grade 8 bolts to flip. If you go flip kit you'll get 6" on just the flip kit, throw on the shackle and you can get 7"

Will need new shocks for even 4" lowering, will also need a c notch for your desired 7" drop. Not sure on your wheel offset, may need to trim the lips on the box side.

For the front, use spindles with a drop coil. I used 2" coils, then trimmed to dial in the height, people get freaked out by cut coils, I noticed no difference, I cut 1/4 coil at a time until it was perfect. May rub in turning, no big deal, cut up the fender liners or take em out

It's gunna handle like a go cart, even without a rear sway bar, have fun! I was 5/7 for probably year and a half before bagging, the ride wasn't super because I didn't notch high enough, but man it handled amazing

Well said! I understand it now. I went ahead and did the shackles but it is not nearly low enough. I can start to see what you mean about the shocks! They are pretty harsh with only a couple inches off the regular ride height.

The 15s are pretty WIDE, I can take a turn about the same speed as my Porsche - just have a little more body roll. Another thing I noticed is when I apply the brakes it wants to hop a little more. Besides that, I will have to try the flip thing and let you know how it goes!

Thanks for the replies!

 

[Trapper]

You may want to check if your shocks are bottomed out. After I lowered to 7", I never changed the shocks from when I was lowered 4", rode like complete garbage. Found out they were bottomed right out and truck lowered another 1/2" once removed. Shorter shocks and I was good to go. At 7" drop I went to bilsteins. Took some measurements and sent them to bilstein, they sent back a part number fitting my specs. Boom ordered. Also check for bumpstops, they'll need to be dealt with.

When I took the box off to bag it, I noticed that my one shock mount was actually cracked from driving around on bottomed out shocks lol.

Good luck! And don't forget pictures!