Lift questions. Just curious right now.

[vortec]

it's said that the springs from the 88-99 (gmt400 platform) trucks will swap onto the blazer and flex/ride better. then, do a shackle flip. flips can go beyond 4" of lift, depending on shackle length. zero rates are available from 1"-2" (that i've seen), but 1" is the tallest for use on the front axle. so, it adds up to:

rear:
-stock GMT400 springs
-shackle fllip with longer shackle for 5" lift
-2" zero rates
= 7" lift with good flex

front:
-6" lift springs
-1" zero rate
=7" lift.

sounds like a good start, to me. but, yes, i'd expect driveshaft mods and brake extensions to be a necessity at that height.

 

[MuddinManny]

Okay, well I e-mailed that company that you posted the link to and asked. My 4" lift looks like it's pushing the drive angles pretty bad. And my t-case linkage got out of line when i lifted it? Is that anything to do with needing the lower the t-case or lengthen the shafts?

Thanks Manny, I appreciate your help.

Something is way out of whack with a 4" lift and you have FUBAR'd driveline angles and a misaligned t-case linkage. Any pics of the set-up. Sounds like your suspension needs a check up from the axles up. That definitely isn't right.

Manny

 

[walla2k5]

Something is way out of whack with a 4" lift and you have FUBAR'd driveline angles and a misaligned t-case linkage. Any pics of the set-up. Sounds like your suspension needs a check up from the axles up. That definitely isn't right.

Manny

I agree with Manny. You can go 6" no problem with driveshafts. I "clearenced" mine at the Cardon Joint, to keep it out of a bind. Misaligned t-case linkage ???

 

[87BrnRsd]

First of all imho there is a lot of misinformation going around in this thread.

You should not have to get your shafts lengthened. That's why I said for you to contact Jesse. He'll tell you for sure. On a 6" lift you should not have to get shafts done.

I will start here. Jesse at HAD is a very knowledgeable guy to talk to but you cant just expect to call him up, tell him your lift and he either be able to say your shafts will work, or that they wont and they will need to be lengthened x.xx". There is no definite answer as to whether you will need to lengthen your driveshafts or not. Obviously if your going up 8 or more inches you will need to. If your going 4-6" it just depends. If you do enough searching on this site, then this question has been asked many many times before. The general conclusion is that every truck is different. Some can lift 6 or more inches without problems. Some run into problems at just 4". My advice is not to buy a lift based on what driveline modifications you need. First decide how much lift you actually need. No reason to go 10" if your not just running deep mud....unless you want the look. The smaller the lift (4-6") the better its going to perform offroad. Period. Taller lifts dont flex as much. Get a truck with 10" of lift in the rocks and your asking for a roll over.

My 8" lift did not require any mods to the drive shafts so I can't see why 6" would for you. I have friends who have 6" lifts in their blazers K-5 and no extensions were necessary.

The thing about this is the extra sensitive slip yolk 208. I see your running one Manny...you should know. The slip yolk design doesnt allow for much angle. I personally lifted my 87 K5 with the 208 right around 5" and the 208 wasnt having it. I had wicked driveline vibrations. I had to both lengthen the rear shaft, and add a cv joint to fix the problem. The front was ok. I saw Manny that you told someone who lifted their truck 4" and had driveline problems that they had other more serious problems...thats just not true. EVERY truck is different. The only way to know for sure how your truck will be is to install the lift and test drive it. You can speculate all you want before the lift goes on as to what will happen, but you wont know for sure until after its lifted. Im not saying it will definitely have bad angles, but im also not saying that it wont. It is impossible to meausre how much you need to lengthen (or not for that matter) before you put on the lift. Decide how much lift you want, put it on, drive it to see how it goes, then take measurements (if necessary) from there. We can discuss this all day on here but it wont make a bit of difference. Its just plain stupid to choose a lift based on your driveshafts.


With that said, I didnt mean to come out and try to bash your statements Manny. I just felt like the information you were giving wasnt completley accurate. I dont want this guy to go out and think he can slap on an 8" lift with no other mods when that often isnt the case.
-Harrison

 

[87BrnRsd]

The tcase linkage he spoke of shouldnt have anything to do with the lift. The tcase and the linkage are both being moved by the lift. Im willing to bet something else is wrong there.....linkages often fubar themselves.
-Harrison

 

[87BrnRsd]

4" of lift for 37's??? Uh, prolly just my personal preferance but I'd shoot 6" lift in the front, 6" springs in the back. I'm not saying a shackle flip is a bad idea, but I'd rather go with a solid spring. 4" IMHO is NOT enough to clear and you will do some fender crunching and tire damage.

4" for 37's is about perfect. 4" is gonna flex a helluva lot better than 8" thats for sure. Why would you rather go 4" all springs instead of a shackle flip??? Same amount of lift, the shackle flip is going to perform better both on and off road. It will ride better on the street and flex better off. Im running 37's on 4" bds front springs with a zero rate, and a 4.5" rear shackle flip and it clears just fine. Sure I had to do a little fender cutting, but I would rather cut the fenders a little to run 4" with 37's, than run 10" to clear them and roll it as soon as I got really off camber.

Maybe I'm still old school. Time to get more modernized I guess. I just love big, but not stupidly built trucks!

Im having a hard time seeing where you are going with this. Are you trying to say that using a shackle flip or 4" to clear 37's is "stupidly built?" If you are...im sure there are a ton of people on this site, including me, who strongly disagree with that statement.
-Harrison

 

[MuddinManny]

4" for 37's is about perfect. 4" is gonna flex a helluva lot better than 8" thats for sure. Why would you rather go 4" all springs instead of a shackle flip??? Same amount of lift, the shackle flip is going to perform better both on and off road. It will ride better on the street and flex better off. Im running 37's on 4" bds front springs with a zero rate, and a 4.5" rear shackle flip and it clears just fine. Sure I had to do a little fender cutting, but I would rather cut the fenders a little to run 4" with 37's, than run 10" to clear them and roll it as soon as I got really off camber.



Im having a hard time seeing where you are going with this. Are you trying to say that using a shackle flip or 4" to clear 37's is "stupidly built?" If you are...im sure there are a ton of people on this site, including me, who strongly disagree with that statement.
-Harrison

Hi Harrison,

I don't take it personally. I'm glad you chimed in. I just can't see how lifting a K5 6" would cause this much problems. I have friends who have K5's with 208's that size and they have not had any issues. That doesn't mean that one truck will and another won't. It is never my intent to mislead anyone. That's why I suggested he call Jesse and ask. Jesse will help because that's the kind of guy he is.

No where did I say that using a shackle flip was stupid. It's not. I'm just old school. Why go through all that effort and creat more moving parts on a rig that is a mall crawler, occassional trail and mud truck? I could see if he was a hardcore or even medium rock crawler, but by what Nad wrote, it sounds like he wants a decent stance truck that has some offroading capabilities, and he to lift with the least amount of money.

A stupidly built truck to me is 12" suspension, 3 inch body, Fubar'd steering, 10 bolt axles and 44"+ tires. You know, the kind we all laugh at that are sold on e-Bay. NOT a well designed rig, using all forms of technology available to achieve the individuals desired result. I should have made that a little clearer. Again, my bad.

Nad already explained that he no longer has stock springs. The lift springs he has are FUBAR and need to be replaced. A complete kit for his rig, with all springs around, would be cheaper than going the route of springs, zero's and shackle flips to do the same thing.

I'm sure 4" will let 37's run, but you're talking fender cutting. No other way possible. I'm not closed minded to other methods of lifting, but again, there seems to be just a difference in style in how to go about it. Nothing wrong with that. Just difference of opinions with this particular rig.

I gave the link to let Nad see what's available from one supplier. He took the initiative to research a little and went to superlift. No one kit is all inclusive and eliminates little things. You're 100% right. If I came across that you could get this or that, slap it on and you're good to go, then I apologize. That's not where I was going. I was simply testifying to having friends who have similar trucks to his, and they didn't have issues with a 6" lift. That's what Nad wants: a 6" lift.

Nad, hope I didn't chase you down the wrong road. Harrison, it's all good, man. I appreciate your candor and jumpin' in. That's teamwork.

Manny

 

[87BrnRsd]

No problems Manny. I also know people running 6" with no problems. And I know just as many if not more (myslef included) who did have problems. It all just depends on the truck really.

Using a shaclke flip doesnt create any more moving parts. Its actually just a better all around design that the compression setup that our trucks came from the factory with. I dont know what gm was thinking there. I suggested this method because its usually cheaper and performs better. I would actually rather run used $50 junkyard springs with a nice shackle flip that lift springs because of the spring rate and factory shackle design. But thats just me.

I completley agree that 12" with 3" body, 10 bolts and 44's is stupid. Your right.

Im positive you werent tyring to give bad information....and you didnt....you definitely helped answer his questions...and then some. Thats why this site is so great. There are so many knowledgeable people on here and so many differing opinions that you can see pretty much every problem or question you run into from many perspectives. Anyways...good teamwork....thats what makes this site so good.
-harrison

 

[nad]

Yeah, first of all, I'm going about this without fender trimming. I want to keep the clean look as much as possible, until I knock into a few trees. Then I'll start cutting it up.

I believe the linkage problem I'm having is not associated with the lift, but it started happening after the lift. Since I lifted it 4", I haven't had any driveline vibrations or anything of that matter. Just that transfer case problem. It will violently pop out of 4LO or 4HI and nearly cause whiplash.

I'm not even sure my truck is at the full 4" of the lift kits potential, I bought the kit used from a guy up the street who bought it and used it probably back in '89-90. Right now I'm working on getting a running motor put in it, then after I save up some more money, the 14BFF, D44, and whatever lift I go with will go on.

Also, I would go with Harrison's route of lifting, but ANY type of block on the front axle is illegal here in missouri.

And I e-mailed Jesse, he has been very helpful. He said no matter what, whether I lower my t-case or not, I will need driveline mods. He said he's almost positive I would have vibes, and need to use a C/V rear shaft.

I'm glad someone else chimed in on this, as it's making for some great points, and I'm learning a lot. Thanks guys.

 

[JEBSR]

I would have to agree with both of you as well. I have installed a 6" on several rigs with no problems with drive shaft length or any other issues. However I when I installed the 6" springs on my blazer it would work, but the slip yoke was just not long enough to safely wheel it without taking a chance of the shaft pulling out while flexing. Blazers are especially picky with lifts due to the short wheel base. Just make sure you plan for the worst and hope for the best.

 

[nad]

I guess I will just do what Harrison says and wait till I buy the lift, then see what type of problems we run into. If I have vibrations, I'll have to drive straight to a shop to get 'em lengthened I guess. Thanks guys.