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Max lift, no other changes?

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Artemis Entreri

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What is the max lift I can get out of my 91 k5 without having to change the driveshaft, or anything else?

And does it matter if the lift is suspension or body?

Thanks
 
Artemis Entreri said:
What is the max lift I can get out of my 91 k5 without having to change the driveshaft, or anything else?

And does it matter if the lift is suspension or body?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I would say a 2" body lift is stand-alone.

For suspension, you could probably do 4" on the stock driveshafts, but you really should use steering correction (raised steering arm or dropped pitman arm). You might need to lower the T-case crossmember, but that is free. You also might need some shims under the springs, which is cheap.

The problem is that once you lift, you will probably install larger tires...
 
Why would larger tires be a problem? Biggest id go would probably be 35x12.5x15 and ive got 33x12.5x15 jammed under there now, so it wouldnt be much of an increase.
 
The larger the tire, the more likely you will have to upgrade axles/steering/brakes to keep from braking things under hard use. 35's are probably about the limit for those components if you go easy on them.
 
2" suspension lift no mods needed. with mabye 1" ord body lift...
 
Artemis Entreri said:
Why would larger tires be a problem? Biggest id go would probably be 35x12.5x15 and ive got 33x12.5x15 jammed under there now, so it wouldnt be much of an increase.
Click to expand...


Please take note of blue85, this is comin from experience. I did a 6" skyjacker suspension and 35" toyo open country mts. and i went through a whole mess of problems, while your axle geometry should be fine you do need too still consider regearing your diff. are ya runnin stock 10b? they are probably 3:08, maybe 3:73. those will wear on your tranny, not too mention if your spinnin larger tires that too will wear. what ya got under thier? th350, 400, 700r4? I have a 700r4 and without regearing ive gone through three trannys but that is mostly cause im an idiot but it was all within 20k. the gears need to be considered, i went with 4:56:1 perfect setup for what i do. now your steering, mine isnt fairin tool well, its workin but some mods done then could have saved me headache now. im still runnin the stock drive shaft and my angle is just fine.

all that being said i dont even go wheeling, i just want a street rod. if your plannin on doin any wheelin anyone else would probably agree, axle upgrade, cross over steering, blah blah would be in order. point is once you start its hard to stop and what ever you end up doin, weather its just a 4" suspension take into account all the other components of the drive train you might just thank yourself in the future!:D
 
They're being a little over-dramatic OP.

4" lift and 35's will be no problem. I bought a Rough Country lift kit which was incredibly cheap and had absolutely everything needed to make my truck work fine.

If your truck pulls hard now with 33's then your gears are fine for 35's.
 
His my new Blazer post lists 350, 700r4 combo. A 4 inch suspension lift with 35's would work. BUT as others have stated other mods will be required. What gears are in your 10 bolts? I would guess 3.42 or 3.73. Either of these will likely turn your 700 into mush in short order. If you don't mind riding in third gear you trans will thank you.
 
Gears should match your tire size. What gears do you have? As long as they aren't 2.73 or 3.08, you could probably get by temporarily.
 
Jack up the back, turn the driveshaft a couple dozen revolutions and count how many revolutions the tires make (or vice versa). Then divide. If only one tire is turning, divide again by 2.
 
Artemis Entreri said:
Lol, sorry, what?
Click to expand...

Jack up only one rear tire and put the trans in neutral (chock the front tires so the truck doesn't go anywhere).

Turn the rear driveshaft to a recognizable point (probably so the yoke is straight up and down) and mark the top of the tire. Turn the tire four times and count how many times the driveshaft spins. The driveshaft should spin between 6 and 9 times. Divide the number of turns by 2 and that is your gear ratio.


As everyone else said, if you have 2.73, 3.08 or 3.42 gears with your trans (700R4) and 35" tires, you will be best to leave it in D at all times and stop using OD. Otherwise you will kill transmissions. Lower gears mean less stress on the transmission and bigger tires effectively make your gears higher.
 
Hum maybe ill wait on the lifting and bigger tires for now, it moves plenty fine with 33s and I dont have the money to replace the trans if it explodes on me, lol. Thanks everyone.
 
33's and a 4" lift look fine. Just lift it and run the tires you have now.

Mud1.jpg



Take a look at this thread to get an idea of how different trucks look....

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170627
 
I'd go 2" suspension with a 1" body lift if you didn't want to mess with anything. Just my opinion of course, but better safe than sorry if you are on a budget.

My plan on my 'burb is 2" front springs and a 2.5" shackle flip with possibly a zero rate in the rear depending on if it still sits lower or not. Should ride much better than stock.. planning to rebuild the rear springs while I'm in there.
 
Artemis Entreri said:
Lol, sorry, what?
Click to expand...

IMHO it is much easier and more accurate to check the RPO sticker in the glovebox. RPO codes can be decoded here. If you are worried that the axle or gears aren't stock, pull the diff cover and look for the code on the ring gear. The fluid could probably stand to be changed anyway. :waytogo:

Ring gear code:

P1010012.JPG



This is a D60, but most are similar. Here 41-10 indicates 41 teeth on the ring gear and 10 on the pinion. 41/10 = 4.10:1
 
Thanks alot everyone, im outside now dealing with my cap, have two small leaks in the corners where the cap mees the truck by the doors, looks like the weater stripping is folded oddly, the long piece along the bottom looks folded up before it reaches the corner and the top piece running down is folded in towards the cap/inside of the truck before it reaches the corner, hopefully fixing the stripping will fix my leak.

After that, I will take a look for the RPO sticker in the glovebox, thanks again everyone.
 
If it hasnt been messed with, there should be a metal tag on one of the rear diff cover bolts. If thats gone, i just read that you can take the number of teeth on your ring gear and divide it by the number of teeth on your pinion gear to get the ratio. As far as lifts I had a 73 blazer with 4in suspension, 3in body lift, had to drop case down with spacers on the crossmember to keep from throwing rear u joints, and shimmed rear end so it slightly pointed up, stock drive shaft plenty long enough, lots of room for 35s.
 
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