3/4 ton suburban front springs on a blazer!!!

[trucknace]

Alright i have a '88 4x4 3/4 ton suburban pretty much at my disposal at my dads wrecking yard and want to start stealing from it. does anybody know about how much lift i can get from using the positive arch springs off the suburban on my 85 k5. also has any body tried the sway bar disconnect from ORD. i want to clear 33's with good flex & with minimal lift. any knowledge is appreciatied



thanks, Jeff

 

[boise k5]

 

[desertrat67]

as far as I know, all o our trucks were negative arched. If the are flat, they might be 2" lift springs, and a little possitive arch, 4" lift. Can anyone verifiy this for me? All of mine have come pre lifted, so I really don't have a reference

 

[dremu]

If you intend on mostly streeting your truck with only the occasional 'wheeling, you might do well with the swaybar disco kit.

For more frequent wheeling or if you have stiff (e.g. Rancho) springs, you might go entirely without the swaybar. A great many folks have ditched it altogether, myself included. You might get a bit more body roll but otherwise shouldn't suffer any ill effects. You shouldn't be slaloming in a big old truck anyway

DesertRat67's dead on; to the best of my knowledge, all of the 73-87/91's came negative arched, so if they're arched down at all, they're some kind of lift. How much lift you end up with on your truck is a function of many variables, including weight (engine and any accessories like bumper or winch), shackle length, phase of the moon, and the price of melamine-laced tea in China.

In other words, the only way you'll find out is to try it. Speaking of shackles, rather than the swaybar disco kit, you might check out something like

http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/hdshackles.htm

http://www.diy4x.com/suspension.htm (all the way at the bottom)

Nothing wrong with the swaybar disco -- I bought one from ORD, in fact, early on, and then resold it here -- but that might be money better spent elsewhere, i.e. the shackles.

-- A

 

[RockinChevy]

How much lift you end up with on your truck is a function of many variables, including weight (engine and any accessories like bumper or winch), shackle length, phase of the moon, and the price of melamine-laced tea in China.
-- A

No, he's not kidding. They do affect how much lift we end up with. Everything must be perfect for it to work.

 

[dremu]

No, he's not kidding. They do affect how much lift we end up with. Everything must be perfect for it to work.

I see from your sig you have front 52"s. I did mine like two months before Kert brought out his B-52's, so I built mine by hand. After that experience I suspect there are in fact more variables affecting lift -- and steering geometry -- but in the end you just go and do it, see what happens

-- A

 

[trucknace]

if i am going to buy new shackles would i be better just to buy the lift shackles and leave the springs alone? The negative arch springs just dont seem offroad worthy contenders but my last truck (79 k10 with 8 inch springs) could barely flex at all even though it had 14 inches of available travel in the front becuase they were to stiff. also regarding the sway bar i plan on frequenting my cabin this snow season and its a 32 mile drive of severely twisting mountain roads with steep declines and a 55 mph - 60 mph speed limit. no sway bar seems like a hairy situation and my truck has already got severe body roll. also these are not lift springs that i want to swap there just stock k20 fronts that came factory with a hair of positive arch in place of my stock k5 springs. the biggest reason for all this is becuase the truck is in the funny car stance, 3in. lower in the front (yeah its that stinkbugged). i just want to be able to clear and tuck 33's and keep up or out preform my brothers '95 bronco.

 

[dremu]

The front shackles won't give you a lot of extra lift, 1/2" or an inch at most. I only brought 'em up 'cuz you seem to want throw money at it. (Going much longer than stock would also screw with your pinion and castor angles, etc.)

It's been forever since I've looked at stock K20 springs, but IIRC they're not much, if at all, different from those on Blazers. The particular set you're looking at may be less worn than yours, which is why they seem less arched.

You *could* add leaves from one set to the other, the poor man's add-a-leaf. Don't think you'd see much more than an inch or two at most this way either. You'll need new U-bolts and center pins (aka grade 8 fine thread 3/8" bolts with the head rounded) and a big jug of PB Blaster or the like for that project.

-- A