How-To Articles

This is a portion of “Altitude Adjustment” featured in Classic Trucks Magazine Aug, 2012 issue. The whole article is available at CustomClassicTrucks.com Performance Online Via their website, Performance Online offers a complete line of suspension components for ’47-87 Chevy trucks and ’48-64 Fords. Drop spindle kits are available for ’63-70 and ’71-72 trucks. 1963-70 kits more…

“The wallet friendly monoleaf front suspension can enhance the stance of your vehicle by lowering it 3 to 4½ inches, depending on the drop chosen.” Wes Drelleshak from Classic Trucks Magazine walks through an entire Monoleaf and Disc Brake Conversion kit installation. Before he started the project, Wes gave Performance Online a call to discuss more…

When it comes to performance upgrades, we all want to make the number; if we’re talking stopping distances, we want that number to be small. But it’s too easy to focus on the end product rather than the nature of the improvement. For example, we often evaluate braking prowess in terms of simple stopping distance–how more…

                   In this day and age, hot rods get driven all over. From rod run to rod run, or poker runs, or simply for a cruise on a nice day. There’s even several cross-country cruises. For those reasons, nothing is worse than stopping to fill up the more…

              So far, things are going pretty quick and smooth on Project Get Shorty. The frame is down to its rightful length, and the Air Ride Technologies suspension, sans electric work, is installed. It only seems logical to keep things moving in the forward direction. Without missing a beat, more…

Here are the basic components from Performance Online minus the rear mount/spring plates that I already installed when the car got the new rearend. It comes with all the necessary hardware and the steel parts are powdercoated black.  Traction bars, slapper bars, traction masters. All of these names conjure up images of bulky and obtrusive more…

Overall Length – From the top of the upper sleeve of the column to the bottom shaft. Tech Tip Steering Wheel and adaptor: Most aftermarket steering wheels will need 2-4″ from the gripping surface of the wheel to the top of the outer housing of the steering column. Measure and mark the dowel. This is more…

THE PICTORIAL ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS INSTRUCTION SHEET ARE FOR DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES. YOUR MASTER CYLINDER MAY VARY IN SIZE AND SHAPE. IF THERE IS ANY CONFUSION AND/OR LACK OF UNDERSTANDING PER THESE INSTRUCTIONS, CONSULT THE SERVICE MANUAL FOR YOUR MAKE, MODEL AND YEAR. WARNING: Do not attempt to install this master cylinder without bench bleeding it more…

FAILURE TO FLUSH THE POWER STEERING SYSTEM WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY When flushing the system pour some of the oil from the system through a napkin or coffee filter. If metal particles are found, the pump must be replaced. Proof that the procedure was followed must be noted on the repair order for the warranty more…

Ever wonder why those trucks you see sitting flat on their framerails have front wheels that lean inward at a 45-degree angle? The answer is camber. Camber is the measurement of tire lean in degrees. If the top of the tire tilts inward, the vehicle has negative camber. Typically, a truck at stock height is more…

You’ve got to give General Motors credit for seeing this lowrider trend coming decades in advance. How else can you explain the optional air suspensions–complete with catchy names like “New-Matic”–available from nearly every GM division back in 1958? Not only that, but since The General’s systems were prone to failure, sooner or later your car more…

It seems as time goes on, we don’t have to make as many hard decisions, in day-to-day stuff that is. We can have things “our way,” as one place likes to say. Oftentimes, we can get the best of both worlds without much of a compromise. This goes beyond fast food and runs rampant in more…

Last month, we gave you the “advanced-level” part of our ’75 Chevy lowering/suspension rebuild. From hub to hub, Performance Online not only completely went through the pickup’s front suspension–replacing pretty much every imaginable part with Spicer/Raybestos components–but also added a 4-inch Belltech drop kit (spindles and coils). Being that the Cheyenne was at stock height more…

How many times have you bought car or truck and told yourself, “I’m just going to leave this one as is and drive it?” So you do drive it for a couple weeks, maybe a month, and then something needs to be repaired or replaced. Well, that little fix, it gets you to thinking, “Man, more…