Which 4 inch lift?

[scottsdaleowner75]

I recently got my hands on a 1986 Scottsdale shortbed and i want to lift it a bit to fit 33's without any rubbing. My question is who makes the best lift that requires the minimum amount of other modifications? What i mean is will i automatically have to lower the transfer case? Or get new brake lines? Or a new pitman arm? Or lengthen the driveshafts? I am not opposed to putting it together right i just rather get a kit that is straight forward and doesnt require a bunch of other mods.(if that is even possible) I wont do any severe off roading but i am looking for the smoothest ride i can get. It doesnt need to be bulletproof off road racing setup just something i can take on the weekends and hit the firetrails with. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and really enjoy the forums!

[LONGHAIR]

A 4 inch kit really doesn't require much in the way of other modifications. The brakelines will need to be re-located, but they don't need to be disconnected to do it, so no bleeding. 99% of the time there is no need to do anything with the driveshafts, no transfer case mods either.
I would however get the raised steering arm. It just makes everything better on the street and off-road. It takes the angle/bind off ot the drag-link and makes for much better steering.
As far as brand names, I have always liked Rancho, but there are others. Tuff Country, Rough Country, SkyJacker, TrailMaster, etc are all good.

[msgross]

as stated the amount of modification will be based on how high you go... some kits are more complete and offer those extra items, but you could easily build your own kit as well...

Lifting a solid axle truck is pretty straight forward though...

[scottsdaleowner75]

Ok so the more i research this the more i see kits with rear blocks or add a leaf or whole spring pack. I used the search function and came up with the tuff country's ez-ride being the softest ride. What kind of ride would i get with hydro shocks instead of nitro shocks?

[GASoline71]

I had 4" Superlift springs front and rear with the Skyjacker Nitro shocks in a 1979 GMC 3/4 ton. Worked great! I had 35" BFG M/T's on it too... I had to do a little front fender trimming, but nothing major.

Remember to get the correct steering arm for your truck. If not you'll have all kinds of probs with steering geometry.

Gary

[scottsdaleowner75]

I was looking here http://www.ntwonline.com/73-87_1_2T_..._KITS_C824.cfm
specifically at these two kits
http://www.ntwonline.com/73-87_GM_1_...P12762C824.cfm

http://www.ntwonline.com/73-87_GM_1_..._P8379C824.cfm
It looks like both come with the steering arm, and all four shocks. Whats the difference between the two? Is Suspension Special NTW's house brand? Would these kits be all i need to get that little extra lift i am looking for to run 33's or 35's?

[GASoline71]

That is who I got my lift kit from... I had to buy the steering arm seperate though. Then again I lifted my truck 20 years ago...

Gary

[scottsdaleowner75]

I wonder which of the two kits i linked to has a more comfortable ride?

[wildwilly4x4]

for just running 33's I'd just trim the fenders a lil bit...it should barely even be noticable how much you would have to trim. I have never driven a chevy with a lift that drives worth a crap, compared to stock. And thats with all of the correct steering whatzits and all. My blazer now has a 4" lift and 35" TSLs, and it drives somewhat better with x-over steering from ORD, but it really needs a panhard bar to feel "right"...just my 2 cents.

[scottsdaleowner75]

Mostly i want to level it a bit. It has 32x12.5x15's in there now but it has a slight rake in the front. I measured and it is about 1.5 inch difference in the front. If not a full four inch lift then what would you suggest?

[RaysK20]

Your front springs and bushings are probably already sacked out in the front from age. I used 2 1/2 tuff countrys on my old short bed and it picked it up over 3 inch. I used a add a leaf in the rear but a block should give a smoother ride. The ride was better both on and off road. I used RS 5000 shocks from rancho. No steering mods were needed and the stock drive lines still fit.

[wildwilly4x4]

Originally Posted by scottsdaleowner75

Mostly i want to level it a bit. It has 32x12.5x15's in there now but it has a slight rake in the front. I measured and it is about 1.5 inch difference in the front. If not a full four inch lift then what would you suggest?

Offroad Design offers a "zero" rate lift that would be perfect for leveling it out, and NOT changing the ride characteristics. It basically looks like a lift block for the front..( BIG NO NO!), but it works like an add-a-leaf...as in it bolts in with a new leaf spring bolt. I'm not sure on the sizes they offer, but 1" is what comes to mind.

[blazin]

i have skyjacker 6 inch springs in the front of my blazer with bds springs in the rear. both are great springs... bds are alot cheaper and they make a great product.

[Mr-Jack]

the ride quality or COMFORT level depends on the spring rating and shocks...there's a write up around here on spring rating and how to determine what type of spring rating you'll want. it's on my laptop...unfortunately, i'm not on my laptop or i'd look it up

[scottsdaleowner75]

i checked out the ORD add a leaf/block and i may go that route. although through alot of online research and questions i have seen the 4" lift running 35" tires without any issues. so i could just do that as well. i would prefer larger tires so i will be ordering the rough country kit tonight.

[starter02]

Originally Posted by scottsdaleowner75

i checked out the ORD add a leaf/block and i may go that route. although through alot of online research and questions i have seen the 4" lift running 35" tires without any issues. so i could just do that as well. i would prefer larger tires so i will be ordering the rough country kit tonight.

I also wanted the 4" lift kit from Rough Country, so I order it last friday the 12th. And found out it is on Backorder until mid April. So good luck getting one of the 4" kits from them unless you want to wait that long. My problem is I already started tearing my truck apart when I thought it would be delivery this weekend...

[scottsdaleowner75]

i found it through other retailers so if their site is updated then i should be OK. But thanks for the heads up. I probably wont order until i get the engine back to factory configuration with all the smog crap on it. Which will be about a month.

[Oilbrnr]

I really like the Tuff Country's I put in my Blazer. I did a shackle flip in the rear with 2" TCs and 4" in front with the zero rate. Bought everything from ORD, and they were great to work with. Used their greasable bushings too.

[Mr-Jack]

Hey Don,

How much did those TC 2" lift springs actually lift the rear of your truck with that flip? i'm thinkin about doing the same thing and wanted to know. just trying to figure out if the TC 2" lift springs are centered or not Do you know by chance

[Oilbrnr]

Mr-Jack, I'd say that the two combined came to around 5-5.5" of lift. Originally, I tried to save some $$$ by re-using the original rear springs. Six months later I noticed that both had broken leafs. With the new 2" TCs I needed the 1" zero rate up front to level things out.

FWIW I also replaced the brake lines, dropped the rear parking brake brackets, extended the front driveline, CV and driveline extension in the rear and put a raised steering arm on. Still needs x-over.

[Mr-Jack]

interesting...so you think with the flip and 3" springs the rear would get around 6-7" of lift in the rear?

[Oilbrnr]

Yup.

Realize that flips have their pros and cons. As does larger arched leafs.

Depends on how you are going to drive the truck.

[Mr-Jack]

what are the cons of a flip? you referring to axle-wrap? i'll be driving mostly on the street, but will see the offroad as well lightly for the most part, but i want it capable of rugged terrain when needed. this will be a nice truck after i'm done, but i want it to be a capable truck as well. not just something that looks good sitting on the pavement

[Oilbrnr]

Pinion angle changes, in my case enough that I had to put a CV on the rear driveline. More work to install than just springs, on a K5 you'll need to drop the tank. They also change the handling characteristics while cornering.

[Mr-Jack]

Not trying to be a smartass, but lifted trucks were never really built to handle well when cornering.

I am not concerned with the drivelines cause i'm replacing them anyways. I plan on pointing the pinion straight at the output shaft of the transfer case and welding new spring perches on anyways, so i'm not concerned about any of that. i'm more concerned about keeping it level. front and rear