[aardvarcus]

Thank you for your reply.

Good point about the overload air bags. Right now the rear suspension has the potential for 7” of travel, but the truck has these massive 4” rubber bump stops, netting only 3” of travel. I thought however much I dropped the rear I would trim the bump stops as well. That way I would have the exact same cargo capacity until I hit the stops. It would be better for aero for the truck to sit level under load as well. So with overload air bags if I dropped it to level empty, and it sagged several inches under load, I could air it back up to level. The bed is so high that a 3” rear drop would bring it probably 4” further down, making it more useful.

When I put the air bags under long term, I was referring to the “make the whole truck go up and down like a lowrider” airbag systems, which would work in series with the current suspension. For the size of this truck, the ground clearance is pretty pitiful, but the center of gravity is very high. Makes me a tad uncomfortable on the turns, though granted it needs new sway bar bushings and shocks. I would love to drop the whole truck (from stock -2” front -5” rear) for onroad, and then when offroad air up the bags to raise the truck back up (from stock +2” front, 0” Rear). Biggest issue is the bump steer in the IFS would make me significantly lose my alignment when raised up, and my front drive shafts would constantly be operating at an angle, and I am not confident in the durability of said system.

Very good point about the hanger door seal, that wouldn’t really count as any loss in ground clearance. I did not realize they made brushes up to 6.” That is a new material in my arsenal, and would certainly come in handy smoothing flow around tires.

One reason I wanted the belly pan would be to smoothly transition that out to some “step bars” by making the belly pan stick out a few inches past the bottom of the truck. It would also give me a good location to mount tire fairings. It would also provide minor protection to the underside of the truck, though it wouldn’t really be thick enough to protect from anything major or it would be overly heavy.

I may try (again) to seal up the panel gaps on the current front bumper/clip as a temporary solution. I already tried with flexible rubber and pipe foam insulation, but most of them came out after just a few miles of use, and I had to remove ¾ of them because I knew they wouldn’t stay. I want to plug the gaps around the headlights, the top half of the grille (this part removable), and the 2” gap between the lower grill trim and the top of the bumper. Here is what I was considering for my second attempt. Sticking strips of thin black plastic sheeting (trash bag) into the panel gaps, and then shooting it full of expanding foam (Great Stuff Pro). When it hardened, I would remove it from the gap (plastic prevents bonding to parts), trim it and shape the front of it as necessary, and paint the front of it for protection, with it still having plastic on the sides and back. Then I would stick it back into the gaps and do something to hold it in place. This was also my idea for the cab to bed gap. The foam would allow for minor movement, but be close enough to the appropriate shape that I don’t think it would want to fall out like the pushed in foam pieces wanted to. Any thoughts on this area?