Tuff Country lift for CUCV

[silveradoreb]

I am about to buy an 84 CUCV pickup. Its a long bed with H2 wheels and tires and a 454. I want to lift it 6" and cut like hell for 39.5 Iroks. Will the Tuff Country 6" for 3/4 ton work? I am guesssing it will cause they both use 56" springs to my knowledge. Also will I need any steering components, like the D60 block or Pitman arm or anything. Sorry, last one, I am used to my IFS so dont know alot of SFA stuff, should I go with the HDs or ez ride. I will drive it on street and eventually put a warn 9.5 ti on the front with a small bumper? Thanks so much.

 

[86Cucvbeater]

I am about to buy an 84 CUCV pickup. Its a long bed with H2 wheels and tires and a 454. I want to lift it 6" and cut like hell for 39.5 Iroks. Will the Tuff Country 6" for 3/4 ton work? I am guesssing it will cause they both use 56" springs to my knowledge. Also will I need any steering components, like the D60 block or Pitman arm or anything. Sorry, last one, I am used to my IFS so dont know alot of SFA stuff, should I go with the HDs or ez ride. I will drive it on street and eventually put a warn 9.5 ti on the front with a small bumper? Thanks so much.

If the springs on a 3/4 ton are 56in. then they will work. I'd suggest an ORD 4in. shackle flip and 2 in. springs though. You will get more flex and it will ride better that way. For steering I'd suggest getting the ORD crossover kit but if you can't afford it, a dana 60 block or extended drag link would work ok. Before I went to crossover steering I used a dana 60 3in. block and i could turn all the way right but not all the way left even after adjusting the draglink. So after running that for a while I decided crossover was the way to go and now my steering is great.

As for the front springs I would go with the HD's if your set on stock length 6in. lift springs. I put 6in. skyjacker softrides on the front of my CUCV and with the diesel they sag about an inch and don't flex that great either so I'd say it's not worth it for softrides. That's assuming your 454 is similar in weight to the 6.2 and I think it is. Hope that helps and post up some pics!

 

[silveradoreb]

Thanks alot, that was very helpful. BTW, any pics of your rig, it looks awesome?

 

[86Cucvbeater]

Thanks alot, that was very helpful. BTW, any pics of your rig, it looks awesome?

Glad I could help. No recent pics, but when I'm done mounting my 44's, tuning the suspension and driveshafts, putting on rear disks.. basically when it's ready to go down the trails again, I'll post pics in the garage.

 

[Stephen]

Basically, just do what he said. About the only other thing to consider is for more rear suspension action you could go to the 64" late model GM springs but to do that you would have to ditch the sidesaddle fuel tanks and you may not be ready for that yet.

 

[86Cucvbeater]

Basically, just do what he said. About the only other thing to consider is for more rear suspension action you could go to the 64" late model GM springs but to do that you would have to ditch the sidesaddle fuel tanks and you may not be ready for that yet.

I was planning on getting some TC 3in. lift 64's from you Stephen.. although I wasn't under the impression that I would have to ditch the saddle tank and move the front hangers forward. Here's a pic of the alcans on my truck now. They measure exactly 59in. like that and by switching the shackle flip brackets to the oppposite sides I should be able to swap in 64's and have a much better shackle angle. The shackle should kick back 2 inches if the TC's are infact 64in. at ride height. Would that be too much? Of course this would move my axle back some but that's what I want for now to better the departure angle until I bob the bed or take it off completely and chop the frame down(it will be at least a year before I do that). What do you think?

EDIT: This picture was taken with four 44in. tires on steel rims in the bed. With no weight back there, the shackle is close to vertical. So it really sucks..

 

[Stephen]

I'm not sure how that spring is built now but the center pin on the 64's is centered so if you put them in place of a factory 52 or 56" spring, you'll move the axle back about 6" from stock. That's the reason I guessed you would want to remove the side saddle tanks, the front brackets couldn't move forward with them still mounted. If you're looking to move the axle back, the late model springs would work great.

 

[86Cucvbeater]

I'm not sure how that spring is built now but the center pin on the 64's is centered so if you put them in place of a factory 52 or 56" spring, you'll move the axle back about 6" from stock. That's the reason I guessed you would want to remove the side saddle tanks, the front brackets couldn't move forward with them still mounted. If you're looking to move the axle back, the late model springs would work great.

The center pin on those springs is centered as well. I think the 64's should work fine if I can mount them without moving spring mounts or having too small of a shackle angle. Driveshaft modification is already needed for other reasons so that cost isn't a factor in my spring decision. I'll use zero-rates to move the axle forward if the springs move it too far back.

 

[Stephen]

I think you many need to move the flip bracket back a little but otherwise you should be in good shape. Even with it backwards and in the 56" holes and with a long shackle I think the shackle will be a bit too flat.

 

[sweetk30]

i swaped 64" on my long bed. if you leave the front hanger in stock location i dont think the rear will have frame to mount to.

pic is with the axle centered in the fender. and yes the angle isnt correct yet. i moved both hangers to keep axle centered.

 

[86Cucvbeater]

I think you many need to move the flip bracket back a little but otherwise you should be in good shape. Even with it backwards and in the 56" holes and with a long shackle I think the shackle will be a bit too flat.

Ok, what's the limit on shackle angle? I would like to get as much droop as possible without the possibility of the shackle locking up on me. I really don't want much compression. Thanks

 

[Stephen]

To keep the axle centered, you can probably use the stock 56" mounting location and with a longer shackle may even be able to run the flip in the "stock" position (shackle point forward of center). If not, turn the flip around (mount on opposite frame rails) and it should work well. At that point I'd look at moving the front mount forward about 5" to move the tire back a little in the wheel well and give you a bit more shackle angle.

Optimum shackle angles can really vary but in general you're going to want the shackle to be roughly 30 degrees back from vertical when the main leaf is flat. So to figure your shackle mount point, run a straight line back from the main eye the length of your main leaf. Lay the shackle forward about 30 degrees from perpendicular to your imaginary main leaf, then set your ride height by rotating the whole mess around the main eye of the spring.
You could fudge that 30 degree number a bit more if you want but the compression rate is going to get really progressive (stiff fast).
This depends on lots of stuff like whether or not your spring will ever compress to the flat position or beyond or if it maintains an arch even when it's maxed out.