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Lift Question

4wood

4wood

1/2 ton status
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Jul 27, 2003
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Location
Atlanta, GA
Ok, it's time to give the old girl a suspension lift. Here is the big question, though: How high can I go before I need to get longer brake lines, shocks, drop the t-case and regear? My research seems to indicate that 3" is the cut off, so I'm thinking I will get 3" springs for the front and a 2" shackle flip for the rear with a 1" add-a-leaf. Suggestions? Comments?

Thanks.
 
a kit like skyjacker and superlift has all of that (shocks,springs,misc) to complete your lift.A 4" kit sounds like what you need. As far as regearing that depends on the tire size you plan on running not lift...........................
 
yes, ORD sells both a 2" and a 4" shackle flip. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
if you want a cheap lift Ill be selling my 4inch superlift soon PM me if interested
 
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Ok, it's time to give the old girl a suspension lift. Here is the big question, though: How high can I go before I need to get longer brake lines, shocks, drop the t-case and regear? My research seems to indicate that 3" is the cut off, so I'm thinking I will get 3" springs for the front and a 2" shackle flip for the rear with a 1" add-a-leaf. Suggestions? Comments?

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unless you have lots of flex in your suspension, you can go up to 4" with the stock length brake lines. You are prolly running with an anti-sway bar, so your stock ones should be fine... for now. With shocks, you'll need some longer ones. I really like DT8000s myself... they are good n cheap and they work about as well as any low-priced shock will. Whatever you do, avoid super stiff shocks like the RS5000. Dropping the tcase... not sure about 87s, but my 85 had factory 1" spacers on the tcase x-member that you can use to lower the the thing a bit. This will help with driveline angles and driveline lengths... but if you have lots of suspension flex, your shafts will need to be lengthened. If I was you and on a tight budget... this is what I'd do...

front springs: 4" BDS springs from www.jdsoffroad.com
pitman: find someone here on ck5 than has gone x-over and get a drop pitman cheap
rear: 4" shackle flip from ORD
tcase: use factory spacers if ur rig has em, if not various lift companies make little spacer kits.
u-bolts: go to a local spring shop, they can make em cheap
shocks: DT8000s from summit, oughta be $35-ish each, free shipping.

with that stuff you can lift 4". For Phase II of your lift...

ORD HD front shackles with greasable bushings
ProComp stainless brake lines
lengthen driveshafts if needed for max flex
ditch the factory anti-sway bar

which will round out the lift nicely.

j
 
Ok, so tire size determines the need to regear. What tire size necessitates regearing? I would probably go 35x12.50x15. What ratio would I need then, 3.56?

Would I get better flex if I did a 2" shackle flip and 2" springs for the rear than a 4" shackle flip? As for the sway bar, I found a sway bar disconnect kit for $87 that will accomodate a 2" lift that I was planning on getting. I suppose I could use spacers or something to modify for a 4".

As far as the driveline, is it necessarily better to get a high angle driveline than dropping the t-case? If I don't have the aforementioned spacers, where can I get some shackles?
 
Did you mean 4.56, not 3.56? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I would think your necessary gear ratio would be based on your transmission (3 or 4 speed) and whether you would want to be able to use an overdrive gear effectively on the highway or not.

As far as lowering the TCase, my X-Member (87 /forums/images/graemlins/burb.gif, NP208) just has 2 1"X1"X +/-6" peices of hollow? metal on top of the frame rail where the X-Member is bolted, with the X-Member bolts running through the metal piece, which has holes to accomodate the X-Member bolts. Remove the bolts holding the X-Member, remove the spacers and put them between the X-Member and Frame, resulting in a 1" lowered TCase. If you dont have these spacers, it would seem all you really need is 2 sturdy hunks of metal of identical size and shape (ideally /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif) with holes drilled in them to allow the TCase X-Member bolts to go through. I bet this could be done on the cheap.
 
Dropping the tcase in this manner would slightly change the angle of your forward drive train. Is it enough to be cocerned with pinion angle? Does the dshaft need to be shimmed for pinion alignment?
 
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Ok, so tire size determines the need to regear. What tire size necessitates regearing? I would probably go 35x12.50x15. What ratio would I need then, 3.56?

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4.56... would be closer to optimal, but it depends on which tranny/tcase you have...

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Would I get better flex if I did a 2" shackle flip and 2" springs for the rear than a 4" shackle flip?

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no, in general, the more a spring is arched (for lift) the stiffer it is.

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As for the sway bar, I found a sway bar disconnect kit for $87 that will accomodate a 2" lift that I was planning on getting. I suppose I could use spacers or something to modify for a 4".

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or just get the ORD one for 4" lifts... forget the price, but it aint very expensive.

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As far as the driveline, is it necessarily better to get a high angle driveline than dropping the t-case?

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in general, you want your tcase tucked up as high as you can get it so it doesnt drag on rocks etc. Some posers lift their rigs 12" and then drop the tcase 12" so their drivelines will work... well, whats the point in that?! custom drivelines can be expensive but IMO they are worth it. You could prolly save some $ by getting some cheap shaft parts from a junk yard (yokes, CVs etc) and have a local shop make you a shaft with the parts u supply. I dunno, Im sure some peeps here have done it. i took the easy/$pendy way out and got some HADs. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

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If I don't have the aforementioned spacers, where can I get some shackles?

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the spacers are inside the frame rails if ya have em. not sure what ya mean by shackles... but the best way to lower a tcase without those spacers is to a) buy an aftermarket tcase drop kit, b) make or have made some of ur own spacers, or c) have a custom x-member made.

j
 
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Would I get better flex if I did a 2" shackle flip and 2" springs for the rear than a 4" shackle flip?

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no, in general, the more a spring is arched (for lift) the stiffer it is.



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Suppose I want a middle ground between off-road performance and towing/hauling capability (for which stiffer springs would be ideal). Would the 2" shackle flip and 2" springs be the best bet in that case?
 
If you have a 700R4 I would go with 4.88's, I have 4.10's right now and even with my very torquey 406 it still would be nice to have lower gears. lots of guys will say 5.13's but then your getting too low for your Overdrive to work effectivly as a "gas saver" gear on the highway.
 
I personally would go 5.13s just to be ready for future investment, but 4.56 or 4.88 would be fine too. If you're gonna stay on 35s, 4.88 would be fine.
 
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Would I get better flex if I did a 2" shackle flip and 2" springs for the rear than a 4" shackle flip?

[/ QUOTE ] no, in general, the more a spring is arched (for lift) the stiffer it is.

[/ QUOTE ] Suppose I want a middle ground between off-road performance and towing/hauling capability (for which stiffer springs would be ideal). Would the 2" shackle flip and 2" springs be the best bet in that case?

[/ QUOTE ]

anyone?
 
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