Front leaf springs too high
 

Help. I've installed a 2" Tuff Country lift kit on my 72 K10. New springs in the front and blocks in the back. Before and after measurments actually show 4" of lift - much more than I wanted. Anyways, the front of the truck is about 1-1/2" higher than the rear, you can kinda see it in the picture. How can I fix this without raising the rear? I've read about taking a leaf out of the front spring packs. Any thoughts? I've also thought about just buying new stock front leafs....

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

That's a GOOD looking truck. It's almost exactly what I'm building, same color and all. If the spring pack is correct (2' lift) and it actually lifted it 4 inches something has to give? Maybe your initial measurements were actually low due to spring sag and it was sitting lower than when it was new.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

I can really buy into that. The truck had the original springs on it. That's why I'm thinking I could buy new STOCK springs and get the front to settle down a bit. But I've been doing some reading and it seems fairly common for guys to remove the bottom spring out of the pack and it does the same thing, just saves a few hundred bucks. Any thoughts?

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

How many leaves does the spring pack have?
Another option is to just drop in a big block. The extra weight should even it out:metal:

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Three springs in the front packs, but I'm keeping my engine..... :lol:

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

My skyjacker 2.5" lift did the same thing, not quite as tall as yours but it has a 2" rake to it now like it needed 4" blocks in the back.
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Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Beautiful truck you have there -- the stance is great, I'd leave it just like it is. The front springs will probably settle just a bit with time. My K20 ended up like that after the 2.5" Softrides. I kept my rear AALs and never installed the rear blocks. I actually like the look with the nose up a bit, somewhat like a pre-runner or desert racer look.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Beautiful truck...and I love the stance just the way it is! But it is Your truck...and I dont think you would be happy with stock springs...it doesnt look like you have an excess of tire clearance. Those are 33" arent they? I have a 4" lift on my 71 1/2 ton with 35" KOs and have about the same amount of tire clearance as you do. I would hold off and drive it for awhile and see how you feel about it.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Thanks for the compliments guys. More than likely, I will drive it for awhile and see what happens. IF I really don't like it (which is were I am right now) I will take one leaf out of the front spring packs and try that route.....

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

I'd add a leaf in back rather than take one from the front...

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

I dont think I would take a leaf out of a 3 spring pack...if I were you I would call Tuff Country and explain whats going on and see what they say.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Just installed a 2 1/2 inch Tuff Country lift on my 70 Blazer. Looks exactly the same. Not sure I like the way it looks, but it definitely rides much better than it did with the original springs which were hammered.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

That is a beautiful truck!!! But the stance is horrible. So bad that you should probably just sell me the truck and then I'd just leave it cause it looks killer! :lol: Seriously.. it looks fabulous man. Very, very nice.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Regardless off the measurements,that lift looks appropriate for the tire/wheels. It gives healthy/ample clearance w/o looking any higher than necessary...just right. I prefer the nose up a bit myself. The rear up higher than the front is for 2wds,IMO. This is how 4wds have always sat from back when lifts first came out. They look stout and proud. The front requires more clearance than the rear. You'll find a 4wd that sits slightly higher in the front will ride and handle far better. Just look at off road racers. It tosses the weight to the rear and the rear just follows the front. On crowned 2-lanes your truck won't feel like it's being tossed to the side of the road,like with the rear is raised. It will brake better,too,with more weight transferred to the rear (fronts are way heavier) and nose diving/rear lifting will be compensated more.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

I drove the truck last night and the ride is incredible. Far better than I had expected. Anybody looking for a lift, in my opinion the Tuff Country is the way to go - VERY plush ride for a 40 year old 4x4 truck. Maybe I'm just being anal about the stance. I think I will just drive it for awhile and see what happens. FYI, my 13 year old son now really wants one of these after last night's test drive. That kid had a perma-smile for about five miles.......:metal:

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

That's awesome! Makes it worth every penny,huh? I really like the Tuff Country suspension,too. My '72 GMC is still original with seriously negative arched front springs and beat shocks. One tire is also worn from being on a truck with bad ball joints. I have the Tuff Country stuff,wheels,and tires for it,just need a chance to do it. I love the feel of all that fresh stuff done.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Looks good to me and I agree with Special-K and Stocker. I love the two tone. I'm debating that green or staying with the light olive.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

I agree with driving it for a while. The springs may settle in and drop a bit. I have had several of their lifts and I have had good luck with all of them. Truck looks really good.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

That is a great lookin truck.
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Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Well, after a full week of driving, I think I'm just going to leave things alone. I don't know if it's me or what, but the front springs have seemed to settle just a bit. Check the picture, the truck almost looks level. Once again, the ride is awesome. Super smoothe for an old 4x4. Thanks for all's opinions!

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Looks good. Might consider one of these zero rate springs for the rear if you want to level it out all the way.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

The wheel openings on these trucks raises more in the front than the rear...maybe to allow for steering clearance. Look at the distance from TDC if the openings and the upper trim. Notice the front is closer. That may be what makes folks think the front is up more than it really is. I think it looks great...still.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Looks nice... you could always add a 1" zero rate spring in the back... those will also allow you to move the axles forward or backwards to center it in the wheel arch..

ORD and DIY4x.com have them..

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

The stance is perfect!

Mine sat a little high in the front for a while. Hammering it over the rows of speed bumps at Home depot settled it down a bit:lol:

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

special-k is right. The wheel openings are different....even though not by much, but it can make the truck look taller in the front when it actually sits level. I think your truck looks perfect like it sits. Very nice truck.

You can always park it on level ground and put a bubble level on the rocker panel to see how it really sits. Make sure the wheels are straight ahead also, so the caster will jack up the corner of the wheel that is turned outboard.

Thing looks good to me. I kinda like the 4x4's a touch higher in the front anyway.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

That looks terrible! Drop it off at my house and I'll take care of it and return it in a year or two:metal:

This is one of my favorites to be honest :)

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Ryan,
first off ... Great Truck!! As far as your difference in height front to back ... did I read that you used a new spring pack in front and old springs with blocks in the rear?

If that is what you did, I can almost guarantee you I know what the problem is. I have been installing Tuff Country products on 67-72 trucks and Blazers for many years now. Each time a "block / spring combo" is used by customers there is a disparity in finished height. If I were you, I'd replace the stock rear spring packs with the #19470 52" Springs with NO blocks, and it will give you a matching ride height to the front. That is ... if you installed the 2" lift front springs (#18260) NEW from Tuff Country. If you installed the #18261 up front, then you are running a Heavy Duty front spring pack.

Let me know if this helps. Great truck ... keep up the great work!

72longbed

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

[QUOTE=72longbed;5567554]Ryan,
first off ... Great Truck!! As far as your difference in height front to back ... did I read that you used a new spring pack in front and old springs with blocks in the rear?

Yes, that's exactly what I did. Believe it or not, the truck seems to be "settling" down a little in the front after putting a couple of hundred miles on it. Thanks very much for your information though....

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Truck looks fantastic!

Something else to check though, is if you tightened the spring hanger and shackle bolts with the axle drooped, or with the weight on the ground? If you tightened them with the axle drooped, it is actually putting the bushings in a bind and essentially preloading the front suspension. Driving around for a while like you have might allow that to settle out, but loosening and tightening those bolts with the weight on the ground could settle it some as well if you did not do it that way before.

And as mentioned, the 2" lift springs may have replaced stock springs that had sagged an inch or two over the last 40 years...I know on my 78 K30 that was used and abused for 30 years as a brush truck, it had sagged some and my 4" Tuff Country springs added about 5" after settling.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

That makes sense. I did tighten everything up without a load on it. If I get some time over the weekend I'll loosen and re-tighten and see if it will drop some. Funny thing is everyone but me likes the height of the truck. Had I had it to do over again, I would replace the old stock springs with new stock springs. The truck is about 2" higher than I would like. Anyways, here's a couple of pictures I just took this morning. You can see it still sits just a touch proud in the front....

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Ryan, You nailed it man. Truck looks great! I'm putting the same Tough Country 2" lift on my 71 GMC K10 Super. I was going with 8" rallys and 32X11.50 tires, but after seeing your truck I'm thinking about the 8" steelies and 33X10.50s. Question for you, did you have to use extended brakes lines with the 2" lift? I'm getting conflicting answers on this. Thanks, Frank

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

I can field that one. I put 2.5" Softrides on my K20 several years ago. Stock hoses were plenty long enough.

However, I did replace them recently, only because they were 40 years old. Got the standard replacement hoses from NAPA and they are slightly longer than the OEM hoses, so no problem. You don't need any mods unless you lift it 4" or more.

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

I don't know, looks like your eyes may be foolon you, did you measure front to back to see if a difference, when I did mine I used new leaf packs front and back and the back looked lower too then I measured and was hardly any difference at all and a month later is exactly the same, the darn front wheel well being bigger just makes it look like more too. Sure is a beauty though. Thanks for sharing.:mm:

Re: Front leaf springs too high
 

Again, thanks for all the compliments. I did not extend the brake lines as there is more than enough room on my truck. I think the truck gives a optical illusion as to if the front is too high or not. It really depends on the ground it's sitting on. I haven't put a wrench on the truck for the past month, just have been enjoying driving it. We'll see what happens over time....