Pedal to the Metal
May 9, 2024
THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
Caddy Stu
Richard Larson and his wife, Jane, have owned a number of custom cars and trucks in their time, but they never really thought they would have so much fun building and owning a custom 53 Studebaker pickup. There was no plan to find a Studebaker; the truck simply found him. I lived across the street from a friend who owned a repair shop in town, Larson told us. Over some time, he had collected six or seven cars and trucks that he hoped to restore some day. One weekend morning, his wife informed him that she planned to plant an orchard in the area where the vehicles were being stored…and in one week. He had to get rid of his collection. I asked about the Studebaker pickup and he said if he could get $200 for it, it was gone. Well, it was gone.
Installation Tips For Those Tough Spots
Most every pre-’48 car came with fender/body welting, consisting of a simple combination of a narrow strip of vinyl (or similar material) folded over a small-diameter woven cord and glued shut. Its purpose was, and still is, to insulate one piece of body metal from another when bolted together—not an electrical or temperature insulation, but essentially to eliminate squeaks and rattles, and to prevent paint from chipping (or cracking) as the two pieces flexed and vibrated together under normal road use. Generally referred to as fender welting, this product can also be found throughout certain car models; used to mount grilles, running boards and bumper gravel shields.
CANDY COUPE
It all started when Jacky White found a basket case ’32 Chevrolet coupe. The old Chevy may have come home in pieces, but at least the pieces were very good. The coupe was complete, and for a 70-year-old body, it was in excellent condition. After getting all of the pieces back to his home shop, a quick inventory indicated that the car was complete, from the cowl lights and bumpers to all four steel fenders. In short, Jacky White had everything he needed to build a ’32 Chevy street rod.
Spotlighter
AVALANCHE!
Bringing an ’06 Chevy Avalanche Down to a Respectable Ride Height
We wanted to not only show how easy it is to bring one of these sweet rides down to the ground, but also how great they look with this kit installed. The Belltech components are straightforward and do not require much more than simple hand tools to install, although an air impact wrench will make the disassembly and installation go much more quickly. T
Author
Josh Kaylor
Photography Courtesy of Belltech
The Evolution of the Chevrolet Avalanche
Since the introduction of the Chevrolet Avalanche back in 2002, truck designers and builders have looked differently at modifying and customizing these sport-utes. The Avalanche has had a strange history; initially, it suffered a lot of resistance from buyers for its excessive use of molded, add-on, plastic composite bottom panels that run along the bed and the side. Since eliminating these rather obtrusive-looking panels, the Avalanche has been gaining in popularity, and even though GM made the move to save money, it certainly did clean up the looks of the truck. A number of these trucks are beginning to appear at shows around the country, as well as at off-road events (since there is also a 4×4 version available).
Belltech’s Latest Project: A Lowered 2006 Avalanche
While attending the SEMA Show we happened across the newest addition to the Belltech family, an ’06 Avalanche project, which obviously initially began life with an altitude adjustment. This took the form of front drop spindles and coil springs, followed by lowering the rear with coils and shock-mount relocating brackets. This is Belltech’s primary business—lowering trucks—so these kits are very well engineered and designed not only to improve the looks of these massive rides, but also to retain great ride and handling quality.
Installation and Results
We wanted to not only show how easy it is to bring one of these sweet rides down to the ground, but also how great they look with this kit installed. The Belltech components are straightforward and do not require much more than simple hand tools to install, although an air impact wrench will make the disassembly and installation go much more quickly. This project Avalanche began with the front spindles and springs, which took roughly four hours to install, while the rear required two hours of installation time for the new shock mounts and coil springs. The new components greatly improved the looks of the Avalanche, and now it’s time to look for the proper set of wheels and tires to fill the wheelwells.
BEFORE
The new Avalanche has lots of cool attributes, but it sits a bit on the high side for most tastes. Belltech corrected this problem by offering a lowering kit for both the front and the rear, and it was installed in only a few hours
1. The distance between the center of the hub and the fender lip measures 24 inches. Note the massive gap between the tire and the fender. The Belltech kit will solve this problem.
2. Begin by unplugging the ABS sensor. Place the plug away from any moving parts that could damage it.
3. Once you have removed the ABS sensor plug and bracket, the brake caliper must be removed, but not disconnected, and placed to the side out of the way so no damage can be done to the caliper or the brake lines.
4. The caliper mounting bolts may be tight due to the factory installation. Use a breaker bar or large-handled ratchet where necessary.
5. The installers decided to hang the caliper using a small piece of welding wire. This will reduce the chance of damaging the brake hose.
6. The sway bar must be removed to allow the lower control arm to drop.
7. With the brake caliper safely removed, the upper ball joint cotter pin and spindle nut are removed. The Avalanche spindle jam nut needs to be broken loose.
8. An impact wrench is used to remove the two bolts holding the shock to the lower control arm.
9. Next remove the tie-rod ends from the spindle. Depending upon your vehicle, a ball joint/tie-rod separator tool may be needed.
10. After removing the tie-rod bolt, the upper shock-mount bolts are removed. The three nuts are located atop the shock tower beneath the inner fender.
11. Once the upper nut is removed the entire shock/spring assembly will be lower and removable.
12. Since the upper ball joint nut was already loosened, the nut was removed along with the lower nut. This allowed removal of the stock spindle and brake assembly.
13. A transmission jack is placed beneath the lower control arm to keep it from swinging down and to make reassembly easier.
14. After the spindle is removed it is flipped over, and the bolts holding the brake cover and rotor assembly are removed.
15. This is the brake hub/rotor assembly. This will be reassembled and mounted onto the new Belltech spindles.
16. The new aluminum Belltech spindles are 2-1/2-inch dropped spindles. They will help the Avalanche achieve the desired stance.
17. A spring compression tool is used to remove the factory assembly. Be careful, as there is a ton of pressure on these tools when compressed, and be sure to use a suitable spring compressor.
18. The entire assembly is laid out neatly on the floor. All the factory parts, with the exception of the coils, will be reused, including the coil isolators and the shocks.
19. Once the spring assembly is broken down, a new set of lowering springs is inserted into the assembly and securely tightened.
20. The coil spring is placed into the assembly along with the isolator boot, with the retaining plate followed by the hardware. A compressor such as the one here is available at your local auto parts store.
21. Be sure to torque down the spring assembly to factory specs.
22. The new spindle is bolted back up to the factory brake hardware using the original bolts.
23. The new spindle and brakes are placed back onto the upper and lower control arm, and the ball joint nuts are reinstalled to hold the assembly together.
24. The outer tie rods are bolted back into place. If any of the boots are beginning to show premature wear, now is the time to replace them.
25. A small corner portion of the brake backing plate must be removed to clear the newly lowered frontend. A cutoff wheel makes quick work of removing the excess metal.
26. The shock/spring assembly is repositioned and bolted back into the mounting holes in the shock tower.
27. The ABS bracket is bolted back into place and plugged into the harness. With the front complete, the work moves to the rear of the truck.
28. The first parts to be removed at the rear are the shocks. Begin by removing the lower bolt followed by the upper, and remove the shock from the truck.
29A & B. The Belltech crew used a large impact wrench to break the lower sway-bar end-link bolt loose. Once it is loose the sway bar is removed from beneath the truck.
29A & B. The Belltech crew used a large impact wrench to break the lower sway-bar end-link bolt loose. Once it is loose the sway bar is removed from beneath the truck.
30. In order to keep the rear ABS sensor wiring from being damaged, it is removed from the factory clamps and routed out of harm’s way.
31. Once the wiring, shocks and sway bar are loosened, the rearend will drop, allowing the coil springs to be removed.
32. The difference in height between the two coils is very apparent. The new Belltech units are wound tighter, which retains strength in the coil. These new coils will provide a much nicer ride and lowered stance.
33. Before inserting the new coils in place, shock relocation brackets are bolted in to correct the geometry of the shock. Without these the shocks will not function properly.
34. The Belltech shock relocation brackets include all of the necessary hardware for this installation, including high-grade nuts and bolts.
35. The new lowering coils are placed back inside the cups and bolted into place. A transmission jack is positioned beneath the center of the rear axle to aid in raising the rear to more easily reinstall the coils and shocks.
36. The factory shocks are bolted back into place using the new shock relocation brackets.
37. Since the truck sits lower than factory height, the original bumpstops now hit the trailing arms. These will be replaced with quality poly units.
38. Removing the stock bumpstops can be tricky, but with a little work they will come out. The stock stops were tossed in the garbage.
39. The new poly units are far more durable and resistant to the weather and road chemicals. They are also much shorter for improved clearance.
AFTER
After a weekend in the garage there is no mistaking the Belltech lowering kit, as it made a dramatic change to the style of this Chevrolet sport-ute.
