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Jimmy 8" lift Help

S

spencer13

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Hey all my name is Spencer and I've got a...

78 Jimmy
4" Rough Country kit
-Front Springs
-Rear Blocks
-Extended Brake hoses
-Sway bar Drop
-Raised pitman arm
-Dropped Transfer case about 1.5"
33s
Front 10 bolt
-warn locking hubs
Rear 12 bolt
NP203
-Part time kit

I want to go up to 8", or maybe 8" front 6" rear because I like that sorta stance. This is what I'm thinking,

Front 8" springs
Pitman arm spacer (between arm and axle)
-Superlift
Front cv joint- machine for clearance
Rear Shackle Flip +4"
Rear block Either 4", 3", or 2" I'll play around to see what stance I like
Extended Rear Drive shaft

Main questions are rear drive shaft angles, what degree is your tail shaft at and how much did you drop your T case?
How close did you get your axle yoke angle to that?
Would extending the stock on cut it?
If not what shaft and joints should I get?
and Superlift also has a z drag link, good or bad?

Any help would be great, and tell me what you think of my plan, anything I left out, ect.

Thanks
 
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With that much lift 8" in the front I would look very carefully at x over steering.

It makes the pitman arm swing side to side on the truck via a 2 wd steering box ( bolt on) and a custom made ( offered by many vendors) drag link.

This makes your drag link much longer than the factory one and will help alleviate the bump steer problems and some wandering with an 8" lift

The z drag link actually does nothing but connect the 2 it will not help bump steer at all. only the block will help that.

On the front you may consider a 6" spring ( will ride nicer) a little bit taller shackle and an ez inch from DIY4x that will equate to an 8" lift and you could move the front axle forward a bit to help with tire clearance

In the rear if you get the angles just right you can run with a standard driveshaft. It is highly recommended to get a cv driveshaft to help with the angles.

You can mess around with dropping the t-case and stuff but that makes the front driveshaft angle worse. Blocks with a taper can help but more than likely once you decide on ride height you would be money ahead to go ahead and get a good rear driveshaft
 
i hope your running at least 38s with that lift.

I would skip the pitman arm spacer, the z bar and get crossover steering.

http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/Dana44crossover.htm

do the shackle flip with 2 in lift springs and get your 6 inches, then do a zero rate or a longer shackle to make it a little higher, skip the blocks.
http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/Zero Rates.htm

Your going to need a nice CV driveshaft to work with that lift and short wheelbase. Cant comment on what exactly you will need, but keep in mind dropping the trans case is a ba idea as it makes the front shaft angle tons worse, and lowers your t case into harms way.

the driveshafts are going to be the big money item in this lift. So be prepared to drop some cash on em.

Why do you want to lift it so high?

edit: damn you ERIC
 
What size tire do you plan on running? May I ask why would you want an 8 inch lift? Have you considered a lower lift and fender trimming? Its all your decision and do it the way you wAnt but you may run into more driveshaft issues and steering problems with a 8 inch lift. I know alot of people can run 40s to 44s with a 6inch lift and fender trimming. Good luck with your project.
 
NorCal_Chris said:
edit: damn you ERIC
Click to expand...

Ha ha not fast enough huh Chris, maybe them 42s is slowing you down!

BTW if you are going for the look, take a gander at Chris blazer its a low lift and big tires thats a different look but a cool one
 
With 8 inches you're going to have vibes with a stock 2 u-joint shaft even if you extend--which you probably will have to. I've never done an 8" on a K5. 6" was the tallest I've installed on a K5.

X2 to what everyone else said with a CV joint on the rear with an extended shaft. I had to do a CV and I'm only at 4".

You might also want to do a SYE kit on the transfer case to allow for your shaft to be a few inches longer and thus reduce the overall angle of the rear driveline.
 
ZJumper said:
With 8 inches you're going to have vibes with a stock 2 u-joint shaft even if you extend--which you probably will have to. I've never done an 8" on a K5. 6" was the tallest I've installed on a K5.

X2 to what everyone else said with a CV joint on the rear with an extended shaft. I had to do a CV and I'm only at 4".

You might also want to do a SYE kit on the transfer case to allow for your shaft to be a few inches longer and thus reduce the overall angle of the rear driveline.
Click to expand...

I do agree that you will have vibes a bit. But I ran with 9" of lift ( thats a guestimate) with just a normal u joint setup.

I daily drove that rig and went to Moab 3 times with it, thats a 900 mile round trip with over 400 miles of that being at 70 +, with out an issue. Only had a joint fail on me one time while I was driving.

I did change my u joints in my driveshaft once a year.

I also did it with a 203. The cv is a better way to go but it can be done without one, you will have some small vibrations though

One other thing I did not drop my t case
 
blazinzuk said:
I do agree that you will have vibes a bit. But I ran with 9" of lift ( thats a guestimate) with just a normal u joint setup.

I daily drove that rig and went to Moab 3 times with it, thats a 900 mile round trip with over 400 miles of that being at 70 +, with out an issue. Only had a joint fail on me one time while I was driving.

I did change my u joints in my driveshaft once a year.

I also did it with a 203. The cv is a better way to go but it can be done without one, you will have some small vibrations though

One other thing I did not drop my t case
Click to expand...

cool, thanks for the reply,
was all 9" suspension?
did you extend your drive shaft, or move the axle forward?
 
spencer13 said:
cool, thanks for the reply,
was all 9" suspension?
did you extend your drive shaft, or move the axle forward?
Click to expand...


It was all suspension, I cut off all the original suspension mounting brackets and made my own, used 5.5" lift superlift springs from the rear of a 96 Dodge all the way around, they were 60" long pretty much.

All my axles were moved. Front driveshaft had to be the longest slip I could find for inexpensive and it still didn't work.

Mine was not even close to anything stock

Its the blazer in my avatar

But I did measure it off a stock blazer once and I figured out I had 9" of suspension lift.
 
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