Random thought...86 K30 SRW...what to do to fit 37"ish with practically no lift

[AJMBLAZER]

I have Big Ugly as described in my sig and also on my CarDomain site.

I'm poor and my house needs fixing. So a proper lift and all it's associated components and costs are not high on my priorities for it. However the front tires rub the rear of the fenderwells when turning under any circumstances and I'm literally AFRAID to go offroad with it.
Not to mention my wife is 5' tall and has an interesting time getting into the truck as it sits now.
Oh, and I convinced her I needed it so I could tow with it and right now the only available hitch is 3' from the ground... Going higher isn't necessarily a good idea.


I was thinking of a 1" ORD zero rate in the front for that much lift and to space the front axle forwards an inch or so...

...then what?

Trim the fenders? How much?

1" body lift?

Longer bump stops to keep the tires off the fenders under compression?

Thoughts?

 

[muddermilitia]

I would say start with the zero-rate, then trim untill they clear

 

[BKinzey]

Remove the fenders and raise the fender wells

 

[AKbigsub]

 

[AJMBLAZER]

How much cutting would be necessary?

I haven't had a truck older than the 90's in over a decade so having all this sheetmetal around the wheel wells is kinda unfamiliar to me.

I'm sorta inspired by the Jeep J-truck that John Cappa (I think) put together in JP magazine a while back. Deuce and a halfs on at least 44's but only a little lift and respectable cutting without it looking too bad. They extended the bump stops down a noticeable distance so that the tires just couldn't be compressed up as much.
I'm not much of a rock crawler so this concept might work for me.

 

[resurrected_jimmy]

Zero rate to push the axle forward and cut the fenders until it clears. Keep an eye out for somebody selling a set of 2.5" springs as well. You may need longer brake lines. I'm not sure I would go with a body lift on a one ton. What do those tires actually measure? I thought they were closer to a 35 than a 37.

In reference to Kappa's truck, I saw more pictures of it upside down than anything else.

 

[wombat]

do you have any pics of your truck as it sits? I would say that at least a 2.5 inche lift would be required. the zero rates are a good start also... I hope you have a sawzall.

 

[tRustyK5]

I have Big Ugly as described in my sig and also on my CarDomain site.

I'm poor and my house needs fixing. So a proper lift and all it's associated components and costs are not high on my priorities for it. However the front tires rub the rear of the fenderwells when turning under any circumstances and I'm literally AFRAID to go offroad with it.
Not to mention my wife is 5' tall and has an interesting time getting into the truck as it sits now.
Oh, and I convinced her I needed it so I could tow with it and right now the only available hitch is 3' from the ground... Going higher isn't necessarily a good idea.


I was thinking of a 1" ORD zero rate in the front for that much lift and to space the front axle forwards an inch or so...

...then what?

Trim the fenders? How much?

1" body lift?

Longer bump stops to keep the tires off the fenders under compression?

Thoughts?

I'd start with reading Steve Fox's old fender trim article. It's not exactly 'extreme' but will get you started.

http://coloradok5.com/fendertrim.shtml

Personally I'd start the cut a bit higher up and make it blend into the factory angle a bit more. The big thing is to be able to push the inner fender's lower part right up against the floor/firewall and tack weld it so it stays. You'll gain 2-3" of room doing that and not take too much away from the stock body look.

You could push the front diff forward an inch or so, but then you may need to trim off the front 'fangs' off the fender.

Rene

 

[bowtiepower00]

I'd start with the AAL and move the front axle forward. Then, I'd do a 1"BL and new bushings, you'll probably get 2-3" from that. If that's not enough then worry about trimming.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

How far back can the wheel well liner be moved back? The place that I got BU from trimmed the rear of the wheel wells a bit but not much. Mainly just took the edges of the fenders off.

So might need new brake lines, okay. How about driveshafts? Where's the point with front lifts that I'd need a different driveshaft?

Why not a body lift? Guess I don't see the worry with a 1" BL. 3" no but a 1" doesn't have many issues as far as I can see.

Pictures can be accessed through my CarDomain site which is available through my profile. I'm away from home so none are handy right now.

 

[jtrux]

If you don't mind me asking, how much does one of those cost ( CUCV) ?

 

[bowtiepower00]

You shouldn't have to change anything to run the 1" AAL's. The 1" BL is said to make the rigs much easier to work on, and doesn't require any major modification. Your factory cab bushings are probably compressed after all of these years, if you install a good poly set along with the BL you'll probably see a little additional lift.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

If you don't mind me asking, how much does one of those cost ( CUCV) ?

Depends on where you get them, what condition they are in, if you buy them directly from the government or a wholesaler/rebuilder.

You can still find them stupid cheap or spend more for a reconditioned one like I did. I can recommend a place to avoid if you're looking for them.



One day the plan is at least 2" springs with the zero rate up front but right now I'm looking at just getting rid of the rubbing or making it less noticeable. The guy at goodwill's eyes were the size of saucers when I pulled up a while ago and he heard the rubbing.

"DUDE, your tires are rubbing!"

No chit man, like I didn't notice the WHOPWHOPWHOPWHOPWHOP noise...

 

[blazinzuk]

Just cut, you can leave the tops of the wheel wells alone and just trim the front and the backs of the wheel wells, if you want it to look good do a couple of tape jobs where you tape the proposed cut and don't use a sawzall unless it has a brand new blade on it. It takes more time but make sure your angles blend with each other. You can fit 37s on a stock truck with no other mods as long as they are not over 13.5" wide. In the rear you don't have trim much if at all.