Critique my build plans

[Stomis]

Starting point is a 1987 Stepside Chevy

Mildly rebuilt chevy 350/sm465/208 , 10b front 14b rear. 4in rancho lift with blocks in the rear. 3in body lift.

The plans are to take off the 3in bodylift to start. I plan on swapping the stepside for a fleetside bed.

Now the good stuff.

Locked d60 front
Locked 14b full floater rear
Either 4.10's or 4.56's

1ton cast iron sm465
205 case

1.5" lift shackles in the front
shackle flip and longer shackles in the rear

either 37/38x14.5 TSL's or 40 groundhawgs (measure to 38's)

Fender hacking.

I'm trying to keep it low on the lift side to retain driveability and not-get-pulled-over-ability.

Aim is 5.5in of lift overall.

Thoughts?

 

[smalltowncowboy]

what kind of wheeling do you do?

do you know how heavy groundhogs are?

 

[Stomis]

Mud and trails. I'm probably gonna opt for 38 tsls over hawgs.

 

[smalltowncowboy]

i prefer a manual tranny in my tow rigs but on the trails and mud i prefer an auto. in the mud your clutch can fill up and not work or worse. also on the trails some places a manual will give you trouble taking off.

 

[Stomis]

Yeah I'm a diehard for stick though... Have no plans of getting rid of it.

 

[spoolnaround]

How much street driving do you do? Everyone I have known that runs the Hawgs has loved them, plus they wear really well. Your package sounds good with the exception of the lift shackles. Consider new springs or the zero rates.
I run 38.5 SX's and have 7"-8" of lift and my tires get into the firewall pretty good every now and then.

 

[noahrob]

I had 38" Ground Hawg Radials...great tires, until I killed one...still go three...Also the SM465 is tough as heck, but can be a real pain once in a while...Also, your build plans look good, but the devil is in the detail my friend...measure twice, cut once...

 

[Stomis]

Yeah I have a buddy that runs hawgs on his yota and they just seem to clean like crap. If I can get a cheap set (which I'll probably be able to) I will run tem til I can afford TSL's or Boggers.

I might stay in the 36-37in range though to keep breakage low. Its gonna be a while til I can get a one ton set though...

 

[BGKYK5]

You might want to go lower than 4.56 with a 38-40" tire if you are re-gearing. I plan to run 4.88s with my 38" tires and I am worried I might wish I had gone to 5.13s. If you plan to get CUCV axles with 4.56 gears already, then it might not be on top of the priority list to re-gear yet though.

 

[noahrob]

Just as a note...I run 4.56 and with the 38's and the 465 it was pretty good, for me. I run 40's now and need to go to 4.88 or 5.13...

 

[Stomis]

Yeah I'm not one for low low gearing especially with a healthy rebuilt 350 and the sm465. I know alot of guys will tell me thats not good but I'm suppose to be 4.10's with 36's and I think 3.73's do the job alot better.