School Me In Suspension.

[2High4U]

Im looking for something in the 8in or more lift without compromising the funcionality of a mostly on road vehicle, but will allow me to be very capable offroad as well. Leveling of the truck is also a concern.

I do not want to do any cutting and am planing running somewhere between 38-40 tall tires with a 17 in rim. I am concerened about flex, dont get me wrong I want to be able to flex but without taking my front fender off or the truck looking funny.

I am unsure about things like the shackle flips and all that jargon.
Aparently im not very good with this search feature.

I did consider some kind of 4 link but I think that would prolong my blazer's apartness and can be complicated.

Any ideas?

 

[m1ndless]

8inch lift? How big of tires will you be running?

 

[2High4U]

8inch lift? How big of tires will you be running?

38-40's on 17's I could go 44's

 

[m1ndless]

17 inch rims? Alright, I am done here.

I dont think you can gety 8 inches of rear lift via shackle flip... but I may be wrong. Maybe in combination with larger springs and a body lift..

 

[2High4U]

17 inch rims? Alright, I am done here.

I dont think you can gety 8 inches of rear lift via shackle flip... but I may be wrong. Maybe in combination with larger springs and a body lift..

I was hoping that the 17's would help get me to where I want to be in height.

I can only find 6in tuff country ez rides..

 

[m1ndless]

I dont think they make 8" suspension only lifts that are relatively cheap, you can always get a 6" lift and do add-a-leaf for another 2 inches, but i would just reccomend a 6" lift and go with 37's, 44's are not needed really.

 

[Chrisblazzer89]

Rim size doesnt help in lift at all, tire size does.

 

[79k20350]

Rim size doesnt help in lift at all, tire size does.

Yeah, that had me scratching my head....

It only makes a differance in tire hheight when using the metric formula... ie a 275/65/17 is bigger than a 275/65/16 by an inch....

 

[m1ndless]

I didnt know the metric system used inches?

Rim size doesnt matter with ride heigth, you can have a 22inch rim on a 35 inch tire, its still a 35 inch tire.

So 2high4u, I hope that helps. I would suggest a 15-16.5 inch rim, 17 is okay, but dont do 20's or anything.

 

[79k20350]

FYI for those out there... learn how the metric tire sizing system works...

For a 275/65/16 you

1. Take the width (275) and multiply it by the second number (percent of width = side wall height)
2. Take rim size + number you came up with (x2 cause theres the top and bottom of the tire...) Gives you tire height

So rim size affects only in this scenario, not when calling something by its size...

 

[muddermilitia]

Well since no one has helped him at all yet.

There's nothing wrong with 17s. Iroks, maxxis tires (creepy crawler, trepador), BFG krawlers are all offered for 17" wheels.

If you want 8" of lift, for the rear I would do lift springs combined with a 4" shackle flip, but as long as you are replaceing the springs you might as well put a set of 56" long springs in the rear. So if you go with lifted 56" long springs you could go with a 2.5" shackle flip with longer HD shackles.

For the front you can go with 8" lift springs but they won't flex as well.
So you could do a 52" spring swap. Swaping to these springs gives you ~4" of lift so get 4" lifted 52s and your set. But if you do the 52" spring swap you will need to convert to crossover, which you should do anyways with an 8" lift.

Thats what I suggest you do, but then again I'm going to run 38-40" tires on a 4" lift with a little

 

[slyguy_22]

Im looking for something in the 8in or more lift without compromising the funcionality of a mostly on road vehicle, but will allow me to be very capable offroad as well. Leveling of the truck is also a concern.

I do not want to do any cutting and am planing running somewhere between 38-40 tall tires with a 17 in rim. I am concerened about flex, dont get me wrong I want to be able to flex but without taking my front fender off or the truck looking funny.

I am unsure about things like the shackle flips and all that jargon.
Aparently im not very good with this search feature.

I did consider some kind of 4 link but I think that would prolong my blazer's apartness and can be complicated.

Any ideas?

Ok school is in session get out ur pencils and paper!

My rig: 89 k5 blazer
Lift Front BDS 8" Springs (very cheap i thought) Ride is great on the road.
Rear: 4" shackle flip kit and 4" BDS springs. (Ride is great alil low in rear though, i am going to put on a 1" lift block to even it out when i swap my rears.)
BDS makes a great product and are a good price.
I run 35's on most of the time (pulling the boat in the summer, they dont hum) 38's when at play no fender trimming.

Hit me up if you have anyother ?'s

 

[blazinzuk]

As has been said there are many ways to go. If you want flex trim the fenders. It can be done very cleanly, most don't even know they are trimmed.

I think a big question would be are you mechanically capable? If you have never done a lift before I say stick with the simple stuff. 8" front spring with a 4" shackle flip and a 4" spring in the back. Then be prepared to put a slightly longer shackle on it to make sure it is level or a small block.

Now if you want to tackle a bit more check out http://www.diy4x.com/ for their B-52 kit and use 4" lift springs and the 4" spring and shackle flip in back.

Even more use the B-52 kit and put lifted Chevy 63" springs (ifs chevys from 88 to mid 90s rear springs) plus the shackle flip in the back. I have a freind with this setup and it is awesome.

With any of these except the very basic one you will either have to bumpstop the front or trim the fenders. Some of these can get quite expensive too.

BTW I am running 17" rims with 40" tires and I like it.

 

[jekbrown]

good onroad + "very capable" offroad = links if you ask me. Leaf springs tend to be optimized as one or the other... either nice and stiff for firm on road action, or super soft for lots of flex offroad. No real way to get both in the same spring.

At any rate, if I was you I'd get 2 sets of 4" lift 56" springs... do a shackle flip in the rear and 56" spring swap in the front. Presto, 8"... and still somewhat flexible. Kert over at DIY has everything you need.

j

 

[2High4U]

I didnt know the metric system used inches?

Rim size doesnt matter with ride heigth, you can have a 22inch rim on a 35 inch tire, its still a 35 inch tire.

So 2high4u, I hope that helps. I would suggest a 15-16.5 inch rim, 17 is okay, but dont do 20's or anything.

Ok school is in session get out ur pencils and paper!

My rig: 89 k5 blazer
Lift Front BDS 8" Springs (very cheap i thought) Ride is great on the road.
Rear: 4" shackle flip kit and 4" BDS springs. (Ride is great alil low in rear though, i am going to put on a 1" lift block to even it out when i swap my rears.)
BDS makes a great product and are a good price.
I run 35's on most of the time (pulling the boat in the summer, they dont hum) 38's when at play no fender trimming.

Hit me up if you have anyother ?'s

Thanks I didnt really hear anything about BDS but I can take you word for it. Its just that everyone praises the ezrides alot. ill check em out.

I dont know what the heck I was thinking about the rim size making it taller forgive me =op

I would never go above 17 imo that would be gay hence why I didnt mention any bigger.
I notice that the rim looks like a CD when larger tires are on the 15's and 16's.
Just wanted to step up to a larger size nothing wrong with that.
as for the tire size i was just using those sizes for a general idea on what size I wasnt being that specific, I didnt know i needed to be.

The 16.5's i hear break the bead more often but then again thats what I hear.

I have installed a couple of lift kits cheap, used you name it but I want this to be benificial rather than for looks. I just started to look at the shackle flips and all that which are quite new toi me but what I was trying to say was I dont want the rear higher than the front.

Getting a 6in lift and using a shackle flip will give me 4 more inches totalling it to 10 on the rear, but what about the front? is there any way without losing its function?
I came to the conclusion that links are out I want to be able to get this togther sooner than later. I do want to go to the 56's in the rear but do not want to relocate all the hangers for the front.

I am building this truck from scratch and all I have to look at is a frame right now and all the piles of parts packed away.

Im getting the frame blasted probably next week and then looking onto the suspension.

well anyways thanks for everyones advice.


I have everything but the 60 for the front.
14 FF
500 cady
205
sm465