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8 inch lift kit on 86 k20

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Cowboy21

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Hi yall i am putting my 8 inch all spring lift kit on my 1986 chevy k 20 and i think i am running into a problem i got the kit it cam with 2 wedges for the rear right and the front springs had a wedge attached to the spring already so my question is when i tried to put the wedges in the rear the center nut of the springs will not fit in that hole of the wedge but it will fit on the front springs so i ak just confused on what to do and another question is which way does the wedge face. Thanks hope you guys can help.
 
So those wedges are pinion angle shims and help correct the driveline to axle angle when you lift the truck. Usually when you’re lifting a truck the skinny side of the shim will point towards the middle of the truck.
As for them not fitting on the rear springs, it’s odd if they came with the kit. You can get different shims or different center pins for the springs. If you can post pictures it helps a lot.
 
For the rear springs the wedge will be large side rearward.
Im not totally following what youre trying to say a out the shim and center nut. Deal.
Post some pictures?
 
I’m guessing the front springs have a round Allen head bolt holding the spring pack together that fit the round hole drilled in the wedges. Do the rear springs have a hex bolt head holding the spring pack together that you’re trying to fit a round hole through? Kinda like that toy you had as a kid. You may need to either drill out the hole in the wedge to be larger or buy an Allen head holt to replace the existing bolt.
 
If you run wedges on the front springs it is going to mess up the caster angle and the steering wont feel very good. Caster gets you the return to center feel after turning. Without enough caster it will feel like it wants to wander all over the road. You have to pick good steering feel or u joint life. You can't have both without doing a cut and rotate on the axle tubes.
 
And aluminum. Shims can and do brake and cause other problems . A member here just had this happen .
 
I always took out the spring center pin and secured the shim in with the spring pack. May need longer center pin to secure the shim in with the pack, but I never liked the idea of having something between axle and springs thats not bolted in together.
 
72gmck5 said:
So those wedges are pinion angle shims and help correct the driveline to axle angle when you lift the truck. Usually when you’re lifting a truck the skinny side of the shim will point towards the middle of the truck.
As for them not fitting on the rear springs, it’s odd if they came with the kit. You can get different shims or different center pins for the springs. If you can post pictures it helps a lot.
Click to expand...

Ok so i shouldn't have shims in both front and rear because when i got the kit they had shims on the front springs already attached to the springs and the other ones were just loose in the box so i just wasnt sure what to do, right now i dont have tranny and tcase in because we are redoing everything so do i wait until i line up the driveshaft or should i just run the front ones and none in the rear. I can get some pics in a little bit, and i run the wedges front and rear the biggest end faces middle of truck right.
 
Cowboy21 said:
Ok so i shouldn't have shims in both front and rear because when i got the kit they had shims on the front springs already attached to the springs and the other ones were just loose in the box so i just wasnt sure what to do, right now i dont have tranny and tcase in because we are redoing everything so do i wait until i line up the driveshaft or should i just run the front ones and none in the rear. I can get some pics in a little bit, and i run the wedges front and rear the biggest end faces middle of truck right.
Click to expand...
You want to point the pinion up towards the t-case to reduce the angle so the small end is facing the t-case and the large end is away from the t-case. For the front the small end faces the t-case and the large end faces forward. For the rear the small end faces the t-case and large end faces towards the rear.
 
rampage said:
You want to point the pinion up towards the t-case to reduce the angle so the small end is facing the t-case and the large end is away from the t-case. For the front the small end faces the t-case and the large end faces forward. For the rear the small end faces the t-case and large end faces towards the rear.
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
The front springs are going to have shim on an 8. That will leave you about 4-5 degrees caster which is meh. Acceptable. The rear will need to be addressed when the tcase is in its place. They are included but not installed to accommodate different wheelbases.
 
obijuank5 said:
The front springs are going to have shim on an 8. That will leave you about 4-5 degrees caster which is meh. Acceptable. The rear will need to be addressed when the tcase is in its place. They are included but not installed to accommodate different wheelbases.
Click to expand...
Ok cool so i can leave tye rear out for now until i put in tcase and then i can adjust from there
 
Put it all together. You may have to change things afterwards.

Martin
 
It's not super helpful, but yeah, until you have the truck all together, so the springs are seeing the actual weight they are going to support, you won't know for sure if, and which shims you will need.

Martin
 
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