What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

12'' superlift leaf springs

J

jdp

Registered Member
Joined
May 27, 2011
Posts
35
Reaction score
0
Location
lynnwood, Washington
so i can get a set of 12'' superlift springs for a killer deal right now for my blazer, but i was wandering if any of you guys have experience running superlift with such larger arch, wandering how they ride and how well they hold up.
and wouldnt it be possible to remove a leaf or 2 to and give it a softer ride and flex batter?
 
What's your plan for this rig? It's going to ride like a Sherman tank. What size tars you gonna run?
 
I have ridden in one truck with those exact springs. They ride like crap!

taking leaves in and out can be tricky at best, you could end up with a way softer ride and less lift or break your springs

One of the biggest problems is the fact that xover steering is a must with a lift that tall. Even then you have to use every steering correction possible. Raised block under the arm, biggest drop on the pitman arm.
 
well i would like to be running 44s, i want it big, but i also want to get some flex out of it. i would be doing the 12in leafs up front and 8in springs in the rear with a shackle flip. but i was thinking maybe pull a leaf or two from the front leaf to soften it up a bit and get more flex out of them
 
jdp said:
well i would like to be running 44s, i want it big, but i also want to get some flex out of it. i would be doing the 12in leafs up front and 8in springs in the rear with a shackle flip. but i was thinking maybe pull a leaf or two from the front leaf to soften it up a bit and get more flex out of them
Click to expand...


I'm no spring expert but I play one on the internet...............

In all seriousness I don't think you are going to get much flex out of a 12" spring no matter what, and pulling springs is going to get you down to like a 8" lift anyway.

Ever search for 52" spring swap? :D

Using a lifted 52" long spring may be just what you want. I am not sure how big of a lift you can get with those, but a stock 52" spring ( they are the rear springs on a blazer or half ton pickups) you get a 3-4" lift. If you could find a 6" spring do a zero rate a slightly taller shackle you would be real close to 12" and a lot more flexible
 
I had 8" springs on my blazer and it looked good in the driveway
It rode like crap I run heavy equipment for a living and the blazer with 8" springs was a harsher ride than any thing i have ever run.
 
My pops blazer with the 12" superlift springs. They rode like crappy poopoo and had about as much flex as a......shopping cart.
DSCN0759.jpg

DSCN0717.jpg

DSCN0736.jpg
 
I had 12 in front superlift springs and it rode like a dump truck. I went with a 52 inch front conversion. I slapped on a set of 6 in rear superlifts on the front and now it rides great and flexs pretty nice for a big mud truck. Droped the truck down between an inch or two. 8 inch rears may have kept it the same height
 
blazinzuk said:
I'm no spring expert but I play one on the internet...............

In all seriousness I don't think you are going to get much flex out of a 12" spring no matter what, and pulling springs is going to get you down to like a 8" lift anyway.

Ever search for 52" spring swap? :D

Using a lifted 52" long spring may be just what you want. I am not sure how big of a lift you can get with those, but a stock 52" spring ( they are the rear springs on a blazer or half ton pickups) you get a 3-4" lift. If you could find a 6" spring do a zero rate a slightly taller shackle you would be real close to 12" and a lot more flexible
Click to expand...
hmm well check out this link http://www.fourwheeler.com/featuredvehicles/129_0606_1987_chevy_k20_truck/index.html0

this is the truck that kinda inspired the build of my blazer, from the looks of it his rig seems to flex pretty good and i really like the stance of it. im thinking about doing the same suspension setup he has or close to it, and he has the same superlifts that i can get for really cheap right now.
i know what you mean about riding like a dump truck though my sisters 74 truck we put a 6in all spring under it and even that is harsh and has no flex at all

anyways check out that link and tell me what you think about that setup
 
jdp said:
anyways check out that link and tell me what you think about that setup
Click to expand...

Magazine articles are interesting in the fact that they capture a moment in time. I can't say whether taking leaves out is going to affect the springs much. He does flex a little, but I have seen some rough riding trucks flex like that. You can force springs to do that. But its not nice articulation its very forced not easy.

But I have never been one to stop a guy from trying something. My suggestion with the lifted 52 or 56" springs will end up costing you quite a bit of money. Well actually 12" springs will end up costing alot too.

If the springs are cheap and you think you can make it work go for it man. I hate rough riding trucks, which is weird cause all I own for trucks are leaf sprung chevys.
 
Dont do it. If you want a tall truck that will flex then swap the front to 4in lift 52s. This will net you about 8-9in, give you that tall stance and will give you up travel.

Honestly 12in is too much even for 44s. When none of the height of the tire is in the fender you know you're too big.
 
blazinzuk said:
Magazine articles are interesting in the fact that they capture a moment in time. I can't say whether taking leaves out is going to affect the springs much. He does flex a little, but I have seen some rough riding trucks flex like that. You can force springs to do that. But its not nice articulation its very forced not easy.

But I have never been one to stop a guy from trying something. My suggestion with the lifted 52 or 56" springs will end up costing you quite a bit of money. Well actually 12" springs will end up costing alot too.

If the springs are cheap and you think you can make it work go for it man. I hate rough riding trucks, which is weird cause all I own for trucks are leaf sprung chevys.
Click to expand...
yea thats a good point there. well i guess ill be test dummy on this subject ha the springs are cheap enough that if i decide to go a diff route afterwards then i can resell them and make profit so i might as well go for it

but i have always been intersted in the 52'' spring swap but never really looked into how to actually do it. i always thought it was more hasle then benefit, but now all i hear is good stuff about it. could you give me some info about it? also is there prefabbed hanger kits?
 
Look at diy4x, the b-52 kit, makes it a bolt on affair. That bracket kit will also let you use 56s which came in the back of some burbs and all one ton trucks.

When going with a big lift the biggest advantage is the fact that it is a longer spring so the overall arch is not as much. Typically speaking the higher the arch of a leaf spring the stiffer.

Most of the work that comes with a 52/56" spring swap comes from the steering, this swap moves the axle forward so you have to do xover, with even an 8" lift I would consider crossover steering a necessity, so you are left with torching out some rivets to bolt the b-52 kit on. To really get all the travel of the longer spring you will want to do some sort of extended shock mount and bumpstops are a good idea too.

52/56" swaps are going to afford a rider that is way softer ( even with aftermarket lift springs)than just about any lift spring out there even the shorter lifts.

Another cost involved that you won't have with 12" springs is the need for a long slip driveshaft, basically because it will flex like crazy. You can limit flex and just extend a stock driveline for a while if you need to.

On a big lift I don't see many reasons to just go with stock length springs
 
blazinzuk said:
Look at diy4x, the b-52 kit, makes it a bolt on affair. That bracket kit will also let you use 56s which came in the back of some burbs and all one ton trucks.

When going with a big lift the biggest advantage is the fact that it is a longer spring so the overall arch is not as much. Typically speaking the higher the arch of a leaf spring the stiffer.

Most of the work that comes with a 52/56" spring swap comes from the steering, this swap moves the axle forward so you have to do xover, with even an 8" lift I would consider crossover steering a necessity, so you are left with torching out some rivets to bolt the b-52 kit on. To really get all the travel of the longer spring you will want to do some sort of extended shock mount and bumpstops are a good idea too.

52/56" swaps are going to afford a rider that is way softer ( even with aftermarket lift springs)than just about any lift spring out there even the shorter lifts.

Another cost involved that you won't have with 12" springs is the need for a long slip driveshaft, basically because it will flex like crazy. You can limit flex and just extend a stock driveline for a while if you need to.

On a big lift I don't see many reasons to just go with stock length springs
Click to expand...
wow that actually sounds alot easier then i was thinking ha
and i was already planning on doing x over steering and different shock mounts

soo if i had an 52'' long 8in superlift spring and did the swap then how much actuall lift would that give me?
 
jdp said:
wow that actually sounds alot easier then i was thinking ha
and i was already planning on doing x over steering and different shock mounts

soo if i had an 52'' long 8in superlift spring and did the swap then how much actuall lift would that give me?
Click to expand...

With that size leaf spring, it would give you approxanmently 12-13 inches of lift give or take.
 
tyler__820 said:
With that size leaf spring, it would give you approxanmently 12-13 inches of lift give or take.
Click to expand...

Don't be so sure. I did 4" lift dodge 52's and got 10+ inches of lift. When I spoke to Kert @ DIY4x he said his experience with 4" lift Chevy rear 52's gave 9"-10" lift. 8" lift 52's may give 14" or more lift.
Give Kert a call or a PM, I'm sure he will know what you can expect from different springs with the b52's.
Here's my build so far, Kert chimes in @ post 20. CLICKY
 
Yep, the trouble with swapping rear springs up front is a margin of error. The math will tell you one thing but reality is another story.

A stock rear netting approx. 4" maybe 5" depending on the spring pack itself. Most of the springs we are refering to are older springs so there is a tendency to run into variations right off the bat. One guy will get 4" the next will get a little more or less. 4" is about the standard though.

Mixing in a lift spring does a couple different things. First up, Most likely, its a new spring and has all its arch. When you first put the spring on, it will sit a big higher than anticipated simply for the fact it hasn't "settled" yet. There'd be more than a few that have responded to that taking a corrective action only to have to undo it later when the springs settles and takes a set.

Next thing to take into account is the lift number as advertised, is for the rear of that particular application. Using it in the front causes the numbers to be off by a percentage. The bigger that advertised number is the larger the error becomes.

The last thing you'll find is that one manufacturers 4" is not exactly the same as the next.
 
In all reality what Kert said is totally true.

When swapping in lifted 52s you are going to be around a number. I have seen stock 52s give 3" of lift to nearly 5"

The fact you want a very tall lift is one that encourages me to the fact that you could do this.

I would do a 6" lift 52 plus shackles. If still not tall enough do a zero rate, if you take the standard 4" plus the 6" the springs are supposed to have plus zero rate and shackles you should come out at about 12". If the springs are taller than just delete the zero rate, or use shorter shackles

With the 52" swap it moves the axle forward some so that helps with tire clearance too.

None of this is a hard and fast rule. I have only done 1 truck with lifted 52s and a buddy did his that way,

We had both used 4" springs and came out with about 9" of lift. Both springs were brand new but different brands, one settled down to about 8" of lift the other settled to about 7.

The big advantage of the 12" springs are its been done a thousand times. so not too many variables.

I had a blazer I used 5" superlift springs from the rear of a 95 dodge, came out with about 10" of total lift.

Lots of variables when going the road less taken
 
well hell i guess ill just stick to my original plan for now and down the road if im not totally happy with my setup ill try that using some 8'' 52s i have.
thanks alot for all the info guys!! ive never found good advice untill joining here


also where do you guys get drivelines built for a decent price? im in lynnwood washington and there are a couple local shops here but they have all quoted me pretty high prices. any suggestion?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom