1.9.21 RAKED VS. LAYING FRAME

IN SEARCH OF THE ALMIGHTY RAKE AND MY CHAT WITH CLYDE BLANKENSHIP.

There is a strong trend afoot to "lay rocker", which means being able to set your frame on the ground when parked.

I've always been a fan of avoiding being completely on-trend, and it's going to be reflected in my Suburban renovation. 

I want a gentle rake and a lower ride height, particularly in front, and it's going to be a lot of additional work to make my goal a reality. 

As I research, I already find myself pulled towards the trend as I realize that a dropped cross-member or making major mods to my OG front cross member (and the frame) is the price I'm going to have to pay to achieve my goals.

Laying frame and running a rake will require the same amount of work. Which begs the question: why not be completely on-trend and go for laying rocker?

I could be just like everyone else, but where's the fun in that? And so I will stick to my plan. 

I will do whatever is necessary to achieve my goal and avoid the "frame laying" phenomenon. I will avoid the 20" wheel trend. I will build to my tastes rather than following what all the coolest cats are doing, even if the cost ends up being close to the same.

FIFTEEN PLUS SEVENTEEN EQUALS \ONE-OF-A-KIND. 

I may even opt for doing something completely unconventional. 

I may run 15" Cragar SS wheels up front and 17's in back. I cannot find a single example of someone who has done it, which has a strange appeal for me. I can find cases of it done with larger wheels but not smaller. 

And so that's what I'm thinking of doing. 

One way to achieve a rake is to build the rake in via wheel and tire profile. It's a trick employed by both trucks shown above, only with larger wheels (20/18 in the case of the gray truck).  

Running smaller wheels would in theory allows me two luxuries before doing suspension mods. 

It gets me closer to the ground, and it allows me to run a little more sidewall height. That, combined with a front cross-member mod ought to do the trick. 

And even if I don't go staggered (17R/15/F), I'll opt for 17" wheels. Here's an example of someone who has done just that and I love it. 

CLYDE BLANKENSHIP'S C10 AND LEARNING. 

The truck below belongs to a gentleman named Clyde Blankenship. It is totally badass and has the best of everything, as in no expense spared. A Chopping block complete chassis. Accuair airbags on all four corners. 

Clyde did something not many do. He went with 17" wheels all the way around. I'd already been wanting to do this but Clyde's truck confirmed it for me. I'm definitely going the less-is-more direction. Smaller wheels a bit more tire and big. 

Being a customer chassis, Clyde has abe to go with 9" Cragars in back and 8's up front. I'll likely do an inch less width front and back since I'm keeping my stock frame and it presents limitations that the Chopping block frame does not.  

If I go with an aftermarket drop-member, I'll be able to go wider in front. But since my goal is not to lay frame as Clyde's truck does, I may go with a little more tire out back, or stagger the wheel size as mentioned above. Time will tell. 

I had a great conversation with Clyde recently and came to find he is a Chopping Blocks dealer. So with my build goals in mind, he's going to send me some suggestions. 

Happy Saturday. I'll head back out to the garage shortly and keep prepping the firewall in anticipation of spraying my undercoating. Unfortunately, it's too cold to spray at the moment and the next few days don't look like they're going to get any warmer. 

Patience. More time to blog. And mask. And clean. 

Onward! 

If I were in a frame laying mode, I could think of no better reference point than this truck. Beautiful job, Clyde. To learn more about Clyde and his business, visit his Instagram where you'll find all his info and lots of great photos.