52" front springs

[mudman83]

I want to get a 4 lift for my stock balzer. It is a daily driver, but i will be wheeling when ever i can. My goal is to make it safe to drive on the street but also capable offroad, but nothing too crazy yet. I want to put 56" springs in the rear with a shackle flip and put 52 or possibly 54" springs in the front. I plan on adding Rancho 9012 shocks at the same time. Is this a good idea for a daily driver? Is it possible to keep the front axle in the sotck postition when changing spring length? Or would i probalby be better off just buying lift springs for the front, because i heard 52" up front cause alot of bodyt roll while driving?
Thanks for the help,
Kyle

 

[Silver84k5]

prolly just use stiff shocks, and hook up a detachable sway bar, for on road driving, if it bother you taht much.,,

52"s will move your axle 2 inches forward. You can use an offset 0 rate block on the front, and move the axle back an inch and a half... Use the zero rates on the rear to level the truck out. youll be right around 5 inches of lift. hack the fenders put on some 39.5's and youll be read to rock ;P

 

[Hossbaby50]

I don't think 52's on a DD truck is a good idea. Flex is not all it is cracked up to be sometimes. You don't need to run an insane amount of flex in AZ to be able to four wheel here. I thought about the same kinda path you are when I was doing my front lift and I was warned that having a sick amount of front flex is not all it is cracked up to be sometimes.

Marv Springer told me several times that if I was looking to get alot of flex to search for it in the rear suspension, and not to go to crazy with the front suspension. I headed his advice after looking at all the con's to the front flex issue. There are alot more con's then there are pro's in my opinion to having a large amount of front flex. It does have its place and is cool to see but is not necessary.

My front suspension in my truck is not super flexy and the downtravel is limited by the short shocks I run. Sofar I have not been limited by not having a killer amount of front flex. The rear springs in my truck flex pretty well. I have almost as much travel as a shackleflipped truck with 56" springs.

I know your trying to do this on a budget and have 52" springs is free but there are alot of hidden costs with 52's. Your driveshaft will probably be to short which means you would have to get it lengthened. But then the CV probably won't have enough flex in it and the slipyoke won't have enough slip. This means you need to get a custom long travel driveshaft (expensive)or swap to square tube which can be tricky. Your brake lines will probably be to short which means new ones. Your stock steering setup will probably not work because it would have to shorten up 2", and if you moved the axle back to help with the draglink length issues you still run into the fact that the draglink won't handle that kind of flex. This means you need to limit your downtravel to keep the draglink from breaking or you swap in crossover steering.

Then you also have the issues of the shackles being moved and needing longer shackles. Then sway issue on the street is a problem.

I honestly think that getting a good set of lift springs is alot better idea and a cheaper one in the end. It is your choice though.

Harley

 

[Hossbaby50]

P.S. Procomp has 14" and 15" travel shocks available also if you need a little more travel then the 99012's. They are alot cheaper too although they are not adjustable.

Harley

 

[jekbrown]

My front suspension in my truck is not super flexy and the downtravel is limited by the short shocks I run.

a shock is not designed to be a limiting strap. I agree that crazy flex on a DD probably isn't the best of ideas... but with the proper use of bump stops, limiting straps and anti-sway bars I don't see a problem with 52s in a DD. Most rigs already have bumpstops factory... just relocate them so they work with whatever suspension you set up and you're good there... limiting straps are cheap too. Trick anti-sway setups like the buggies are all using these days are prolly mad $pendy... but they do work and its an option.

I know your trying to do this on a budget and have 52" springs is free but there are alot of hidden costs with 52's.

agreed. I am putting 52s up front right now... but I already had x-over.. a high end driveshaft, long travel shocks etc etc. Its a cheap mod if your rig is at the point where you have the "standard" ck5-offroad rig upgrades. If you are starting from stock, then yeah... cha-ching!

j

 

[Silver84k5]

good points. but if the flex is too much just run some limiting straps, and adjust your bumpstops....

you hit the nail on the head with the hidden costs, and the nickle and dime ****.

 

[jekbrown]

there is definitely nickle-and-dime costs everywhere you look on my rig. One thing to consider with the cost issue though... is that it is often cheap to make a leap to hardcore early rather than wait and step up to it. For example, I (in my younger and dumber days) actually spent money beefing up a 10b front and 10 bolt rear... regearing them etc etc. On my part, that was dumb... cause I knew I had the bug and it was only a matter of time before I went 1 ton and all that money I put in the 10bs went down the drain. Another example is steering. Some people go through the effort of adding x-over to their 1/2 ton stuff... a year later the dump it all cheap cause they are going 1-ton. I guess what I'm saying is that it pays to look at the long term. You have to ask yourself where you want your rig to be years from now. If you have no idea, then fine... do the baby steps. If you just know you're going to be upgrading it all the time until it looks like Steven Watsons rig... might was well play it smart and spend the $ to make big jumps in upgrades rather than all those (collectively) expensive baby steps.

j

 

[Hossbaby50]

Jek, I know shocks are not intended to be limiting straps. It is just one of those little things that I haven't gotten around to yet. Eventually I will do it right. Gotta get the major stuff done before that though you know.

Silver, Even with limiting straps DDing a truck with super soft suspension sucks. For a trail only truck I think limiting straps would be a viable option but for a DD I wouldn't do it. I ran 2.5" lift springs up front without a swaybar and it had alot of body roll even with dual front shocks. I can't imagine 52's.

I know Therobzilla runs a super soft suspension in his truck and it was a DD for a long time. He had to run Rancho 9000's and have them turned all the way up to be able to street drive the truck. Without the shocks maxed out it wasn't streetable. I drove his truck a couple times and even with the shocks maxed out it still has alot of body roll.

Harley

 

[jekbrown]

yeah, good shocks will definitely help. I'm going to run Poly's BBCS15 monotubes with mine... oughta help. Either way, we'll see... a full writeup on the subject is almost done...

j

 

[mudman83]

OK thanks for the input. I will probalby just go with the four inch lift springs up front and wait to put the 52's up front until i go 1 ton and make it a trail only rig which will probably be a long time form now since i am rebuilding my 6.2 this summer and then starting college.

Kyle

 

[Natedogg]

52s or 56s

i want to run 56s up front. i need about 11 inches of lift will 4 inch 56s get me close i have 7" shackles already but i want to have a better angle. any input

 

[blazinzuk]

Just make sure you use high quality springs,and having ridden in a truck that uses 52s up front without a swaybar it really isn't that bad. Its just the level you are willing to sacrafice too. I can live with a very flexy suspension(60" leafs) and bias tires on my DD but some poeple can't. Hopefully you can find someone with a similair setup that is close to you so you can figure out what level you are willing to go to.