What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Suspension lift woes

N

NerdBoy

1/2 ton status
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Posts
429
Reaction score
0
Location
Southern Illinois
Well, I finally decided to take off the 2" front lift, and replace it with the 4" springs I had. I ran into a couple of issues, though.
Apparently, my front driveshaft is too short. It is almost fully exteneded when the truck is sitting still. What should I do about this? I don't know of any good local shops that can lengthen it. Are there pre-made driveshafts out there that won't cost me an arm and a leg? Or, should I hunt down a shop in the St. Louis area that can do the work for me? I was under the impression that a stock driveshaft would be long enough for a 4" lift. Guess I was wrong.

Also, my U-bolts are too short. Are stock U-bolts generally long enough for a 5-spring pack? The ones I have have been ground off short.

I still have to do the shackle flip on the back, and now I am starting to worry about the length of the rear shaft. Has anyone else had a problem with their rear shaft being too short with a echobit style shackle flip?

*grrr* I wanted to be done with this by the end of the week. Looks like I still have a long ways to go.
 
BDS in Maryville, Illinois makes custom driveshafts. You will need to know what length the shaft has to be. My stock shaft on my K20 was long enough with a 6" lift. I have always had to have longer u-bolts for lifted (not stock)front springs.
 
For the front driveshaft, did you try lowering the t-case 1" with the factory spacers or a home made piece? The same will help the rear driveshaft quite a bit. How are your brake lines? I had major issues with the lengh of my lines after my 4" lift mostly just the front ones. I always use new u-bolts when I'm lifting/lowering anything, they're cheap enough and I hate working with rusted crappy parts! Good luck to ya with the install /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
Ya know, I didn't even think about a spacer. I'll have to go see how much they cost. That might be my best deal.
Anyone else have any good/bad experiences with spacers?

Also, the only one listed at superlift is under the Dodge parts category. It's #4310. Is that one you are referring to? Do you know if it will fit a NP208?
 
[ QUOTE ]
I still have to do the shackle flip on the back, and now I am starting to worry about the length of the rear shaft. Has anyone else had a problem with their rear shaft being too short with a echobit style shackle flip?


[/ QUOTE ]

I got on of the last Echobit flips of another member. After they were installed in my 83 /forums/images/graemlins/k5.gif I was able to run the stock shaft on the street........However it has never been offroad with the flip and stock shaft. I had terrible angle/vibration problems with the stock shaft and replaced it with a CV shaft. My pinion was pointing at the transfercase and although that joint LOOKED ok , the joint on the rear of the transfercase was horribly angled . Some people lower the transfercase to correct that joint. The length itself seemed ok on the street though. /forums/images/graemlins/k5.gif
 
I thought the same thing about my front drive shaft as well when i lifted my front, but as it turns out, it was just sticky from not being that far extended in it's whole life. I have been wheelin with mine and now have swaybar disco's, i have not had any problems with my front D.S. and have had it severly flexed with the current setup i have.

Grease it real good and let'er ride. It should be fine. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Grease it real good and let'er ride. It should be fine. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Now, there's the type of answer I was looking for. Cheap and easy. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I'll give that a shot.
 
Alrighty. A little lube, and the shaft decided to free up. I was under the impression that there was some sort of stop to keep the shaft from over-extending. It sure felt like there was...

Now, if I could just get this #$#%%^#$@ steering arm off, I would be done with the front end.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom