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Oh to lift or not to lift... I cant decide

Lift envy, I wont have.

The toy is a K5 with 8 inch lift... 44s... doubler, etc.

This is daily driver and daily driver only.

I am thinking 2 inch or 2.5 inch and 33s.



I am 6ft... dont care about standing on the bumper or tire for the engine compartment. The higher it goes... the easier greasing and oil changes are. :D
 
Hey

four_by_ken said:
Lift envy, I wont have.

The toy is a K5 with 8 inch lift... 44s... doubler, etc.

This is daily driver and daily driver only.

I am thinking 2 inch or 2.5 inch and 33s.



I am 6ft... dont care about standing on the bumper or tire for the engine compartment. The higher it goes... the easier greasing and oil changes are. :D
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Yeah I hear that point. I DD my Dodge Cummins 4x4 and its only got a leveling kit and I dont want anymore height just because its meant to haul my ass, my toys, and my family around town and on long trips.
 
hey

LIFT ENVY, LMFAO. I got a buddy thats like that. Mines on 1 tons and 38's and 8" of lift, he has a half ton on 38's and 10" of lift and he always has to park next to me and say something smartass about how his truck looks bigger and more badass:haha:
 
Akjimmy907 said:
LIFT ENVY, LMFAO. I got a buddy thats like that. Mines on 1 tons and 38's and 8" of lift, he has a half ton on 38's and 10" of lift and he always has to park next to me and say something smartass about how his truck looks bigger and more badass:haha:
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HA! I'd love to see him wheel his with you and find out who's rig is more badass! I'm sure you would eventually be towing him off the trail :haha:!
 
I will throw in my 2 cents, I just removed my 4" rough country front springs, hecketthorn (sp?) shocks, raised steering arm, and procomp 4-6" lift rear springs. My truck rode like butt and had too much rebound. It was evident that it was the springs because with a heavy load it rode ALOT better. Also, when I put the lift on several years ago I removed the anti-sway bar. The truck leaned ZERO! You could literally slide it sideways on dry pavement (dont ask) or take a sharp corner to the point of understeer and the truck would not lean. My truck 74lwb pavement pounder that does all the normal truck stuff, just no wheelin. I now have factory replacement front springs, stock steering arm, 5 leaf 80's model 1/2 ton 2wd rear springs with the overload removed (they have teflon pads), and a 2" bodylift with 33x10.50 BFG KM2's and bilstein shocks (yellow and blue ones) and the truck rides phenominal. It handles the crappiest of road conditions, pot holes, big bumps, dips...whatever. It is like a whole new truck. My wife thinks that it rides smoother than our 2009 Ford Escape and our 2006 Trailblazer SS. It does however need its sway bar put back on again. A fast turn or evasive manuever results in a great amount of body roll. I have a big front bumper and a 9500lb winch. I really thought about going with a 2" EZ ride front spring, but was afraid the truck would not ride good still so I went back to stock and bilsteins an d absolutely love it. New stock springs are also MUCH cheaper than 2" tough countries. Once again this is just my opinion...

The truck still does have a good stance and looks awesome, but it is wierd seeing it now with 2" lift and 33's when it used to have 6" of lift and 35's...
 
The 33's will make the gearing high with 3.08 gears. I went from 31's to 33's w/ 3.42 gears in a 91 and was not real happy with the the change. Still drove fine, but definitely could tell the difference climbing hills and starting out from stop. Next set of tires were 32".
 
Huggerorange, I think your problem was that you used Rough Country springs. I don't know about the ones they make now, but in the '90s and early 2000s, their springs road like complete doodoo. They made them way too stiff for some reason. I put some 4" RC springs on the front of my '80 Toyota that felt like they could have worked on a dump truck. I actually ran that truck with no sway bar and no front shocks because the springs never moved. I don't think they would have moved if I had went out to the dunes and jumped the truck. Removing the Heckethorn (Rough Country's house brand of shocks) made absolutely no difference in the ride.

Now I have Tuff Country EZ Rides on my GMC pickup. They ride better than stock to me. TC got the spring rates just right. Rough Country got their name for how rough your truck will ride after you put them on. I just bought them back then because they were the cheapest I could find and I didn't have any money. I thought all lifted trucks rode horrible. Now I know better.
 
andyblack said:
Huggerorange, I think your problem was that you used Rough Country springs. I don't know about the ones they make now, but in the '90s and early 2000s, their springs road like complete doodoo. They made them way too stiff for some reason. I put some 4" RC springs on the front of my '80 Toyota that felt like they could have worked on a dump truck. I actually ran that truck with no sway bar and no front shocks because the springs never moved. I don't think they would have moved if I had went out to the dunes and jumped the truck. Removing the Heckethorn (Rough Country's house brand of shocks) made absolutely no difference in the ride.

Now I have Tuff Country EZ Rides on my GMC pickup. They ride better than stock to me. TC got the spring rates just right. Rough Country got their name for how rough your truck will ride after you put them on. I just bought them back then because they were the cheapest I could find and I didn't have any money. I thought all lifted trucks rode horrible. Now I know better.
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I dont doubt that a bit and I bought my rough country lift for the same reasons and thought the same thing about the ride as you. Glad to hear about your experience with the EZ rides. I had to have a 2" body lift because I made this truck 4wd and it provided the necessary clearance for the transfer case. My bumpers are built for the body lift and I even moved the fuel tank up so everything looks good. I like the additional clearance for maintenance and repairs and I have electric fans so I didn't have to deal with one of the main complaints of a body lift. It was the perfect answer for me, but it sounds to me like the OP should buy a set of TC EZ rides for the front and do a shackle flip or block in the rear. I am running the stock replacement 2 leaf front springs and they ride great, I'm not sure I could have said the same for the stock 3 leaf HD front springs. How do the EZ rides and TC HD springs compare as far as ride goes?
 
I've never ridden in a truck with the HD springs, but if you are going to run a heavy bumper and winch, you will want them. Before I put 200 lbs. of winch and bumper on the front of my truck, it sat level. But after I put those things on, it now sags in the front by about an inch, maybe a little less. That's with the EZ Rides.
 
Ken, it looks like you could get 33's in those wheel wells now! I like the look of trucks sitting low on big tires. I've been thinking lately about not lifting my K5 anymore, but putting a set of the 2.5" Tuff Country springs on the front and do a flip in the rear with 56s and trim to run 35's. With a clocked t-case I think I'd have plenty of ground clearance and it'd be low and stable. The only issue is trying to get crossover to work on only 2.5" of additional clearance.
 
four-by-ken:
I'm not familiar with the M1009 suspension, or anything for that mater, sorry.
But if the front leafs are still reverse arched, you can do what I have, super cheap too.
Find a junkyard, grab some 3/4 front springs off a truck. Install the fronts, they are arched in a good way :) and give you about 2- 2.5" of lift. Use your stock rears with a 3" block. My truck came this way from the PO. You could use 1/2 fronts too, but might want 3/4 for the diesel. It rides very nice with the 350. example with 32" tires:
http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p33/B450r/truck/?action=view&current=1097s.jpg
 
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