CK5
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What am I missing ?

I bought the COMPLETE 4" kit from ORD back in January 2013. Great kit, great company, high cost lol.

That truck is long gone and I'm working on something else these days. If I could go back in time I would have done a shackle flip w/ 56" junkyard springs in the rear, DIY4X B52's w/ 52" junkyard spring up front, crossover steering, hydro assist, limit straps good bump stops and maybe some drivelines. Funny thing is this is exactly what I did to a '79 K5 (I used an A-Bomb instead of B52's) and got rid of that last November after stripping all of my parts back off and bolting up the factory stuff. All that stuff is sitting in my garage awaiting installation on my "New" '79 K5... such a vicious cycle lol.

I paid some good coin for that ORD Kit and feel that I could've netted more lift and a much flexier suspension for that same price or possibly less than I spent on the kit.

I would definitely recommend ORD's U-Bolts, those are the only U-Bolts I'll buy.
 
Also I would recommend just cutting the perches and putting new ones on, Ruffstuff sells a really nice pair (I have a set for a 14FF in my garage) for a good price.

Cut the old ones off, smooth the area over with a flap wheel and set the new ones on. set pinion angle by rotating the axle under the new perches with the spring plates tightened down enough to keep everything in place but loose enough to rotate the axle then tight everything down all the way when it's where you want. tack the perches and loosen everything up and finish weld them.
 
I am not looking for a kit I am doing mine in pieces from some great vendors!

Understood, I was just stating that I bought their kit and if I would have know more about what I was doing I would have went a whole different direction and pieced everything together, especially the spring part of the suspension... I think I pay $50ish for a set of spring at the local bone yard, beats the hell out of $400 to $500 springs.

Also, I was not happy with the 4" tuff country springs that I got from ORD, they seemed stiff to me even after breaking them in, way more frame flex vs. spring flex than I liked.
 
Yards here for 56" want either to much or there buried deep to get to and waste ton of time.

This is more of a all around rig that might see a trailer twice in next 2 years if that. Some say 52's are not good for street
 
Yards here for 56" want either to much or there buried deep to get to and waste ton of time.

This is more of a all around rig that might see a trailer twice in next 2 years if that. Some say 52's are not good for street

I hear ya, I always have to do some searching to find a decent set of springs and they're a pain to pull when they yard doesn't let us use cordless angle grinders and zip the stuff off... 20 to 30+ year old rusty hardware holding everything together on a vehicle that's held up by the 2 wheels welded together junkyard jackstands... get's sketchy as hell sometimes lol.

I've heard mixed reviews on the 52's up front, I've heard of the death wobble and body roll when cornering but it wasn't enough to persuade me against doing the swap. I've always taken the sway bar off of all the K-trucks that I've bough anyway.
 
I will ask the dumbass ? why can I not take apart a front drive shaft from a K5 and join it with the rear driveshaft?

Pic i saw on CK5

From what i am reading nope won't work. But could you get just a slip yoke etc and reuse your driveshaft without buying a whole new driveshaft?

driveline.jpg
 
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Will I? I'm also increasing the vertical distance, I figured it would be a wash. FWIW, I have been running the stock height with the 14bff without issue. But that's seeing very little axle travel.

Suffice it to say that I'll be taking a whole lot of measurements in the coming months. :haha:
Maybe not with the burb...

Keep it in mind though
 
I will ask the dumbass ? why can I not take apart a front drive shaft from a K5 and join it with the rear driveshaft?

Pic i saw on CK5

From what i am reading nope won't work. But could you get just a slip yoke etc and reuse your driveshaft without buying a whole new driveshaft?

View attachment 216786

That's similar to the slip-yoke CV shaft that @Deuling is running. You'd hafta ask him whether that's custom or a modded stock shaft. :dunno:
 
Also I would recommend just cutting the perches and putting new ones on, Ruffstuff sells a really nice pair (I have a set for a 14FF in my garage) for a good price.

Cut the old ones off, smooth the area over with a flap wheel and set the new ones on. set pinion angle by rotating the axle under the new perches with the spring plates tightened down enough to keep everything in place but loose enough to rotate the axle then tight everything down all the way when it's where you want. tack the perches and loosen everything up and finish weld them.

FWIW, I cut off my perches with a torch, cleaned up the perches and the axle tube, and welded them back on. It was a few minutes' worth of extra work, but it really was a pretty minimal thing to do. Not sure why everyone buys new ones, the OEM ones are fine IMO.
 
I hear ya, I always have to do some searching to find a decent set of springs and they're a pain to pull when they yard doesn't let us use cordless angle grinders and zip the stuff off... 20 to 30+ year old rusty hardware holding everything together on a vehicle that's held up by the 2 wheels welded together junkyard jackstands... get's sketchy as hell sometimes lol.

I've heard mixed reviews on the 52's up front, I've heard of the death wobble and body roll when cornering but it wasn't enough to persuade me against doing the swap. I've always taken the sway bar off of all the K-trucks that I've bough anyway.

I ran 56's on all 4 corners of my 6.2 K5. D60 on 38s and daily drove it for 2 years. no sway bar, no hydro assist. just cross over steering. never had any death wobble and body roll was nothing. one of the best tracking old chevies I've ever driven.
 
I ran 56's on all 4 corners of my 6.2 K5. D60 on 38s and daily drove it for 2 years. no sway bar, no hydro assist. just cross over steering. never had any death wobble and body roll was nothing. one of the best tracking old chevies I've ever driven.
How did you like it with only the crossover, did you ever take a look and notice any cracking on the frame where the steering box bolts up?
 
Still no answer to if I have a full float 14 bolt in my 87 K5 will this affect driveshaft length etc with the shackle flip 4.5 from DIY4X? Or just lift and find out the answer?
 
Watched a couple you tube videos on the shackle flip that talked about the driveshaft being too long after the 14ff swap and the shackle flip. These were specific to the K5. Likely you'll need some type of zero rate/easy inch or a driveshaft mod. You won't know until you do it though.
 
Hopefully just a zero rate/ez inch and can move it back without lifting it more. Your right seems going to have to lift and see where it is at!
 
Hopefully just a zero rate/ez inch and can move it back without lifting it more. Your right seems going to have to lift and see where it is at!

You do yours now while I'm still gathering ideas. That way I can learn from YOUR expensive mistakes instead of making my own. :D

:haha:
 
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