6 inch lift

[hartbraker]

I'd love to throw a 6 inch lift on my 86 one ton.... HOWEVER, I DO NOT want to mess around with drive shafts popping in and out and having to lengthen

well, not really. If anyone has put their 6 inch lift on, I'd love to hear what all you had to mess with besides the brake lines and steering box... oh and the shift linkage.... just interested in hearing about the drive shafts... the more information the merrier.

Thanks guys

[Jonboy]

You will probably have to drop the transfer case some to help it out. It's been years since I have done one. You might post on the 4x4 baord to get a little more traffic.

[hartbraker]

They do sell a transfer case drop bracket.... which is much cheaper than having my drive shaft lengthened... but that should take care of all of my problems? The front drive shaft wont have any issues?

I'll post there too, thanks for the info

[Mr. 250r]

I don't think the shift linkage will change because your basically pushing the frame up by the axles only not raising the body off the frame like a body lift as for the driveshaft you might have to get custom ones not sure I have a transfer case drop and its basically like 1/2in metal spacers or something not anything complicated but if your going with drive shafts look up tom woods or high angle driveline
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[Blue Chevy 1987]

shift linkage will be fine. when i did mine my kit came with the transfer case drop as well. my front driveshaft was fine. my rear was fine but i had already put my 14 bolt axle in an had a little longer driveshaft made cause i was lifting it.

[DetroitDan]

just did 6 inch front springs in mine, my driveshaft does not need to be shortened, it's fine. Probably because I didn't upsize the tires. I did have to pull the driveshaft out because it binds a little at the cv end. Theres two little raised parts that bump against the center part of the cv when it turns, and without locking hubs it turns all the time. I'm just going to grind down the lips, I'm sure they don't need to be there.

[liftlawssuck]

I always lengthen drive shafts even with smaller lifts. You might be able to get away with not lengthening your rear if it's a long bed. But I still would. I haven't seen any front shafts fit even after a 4 inch. Even if it did fit it would at it's extreme end. I shim the axles to help driveline angles. I don't like dropping the transfer case. Puts undo stress on motor mounts and other things. Should be fine with all linkage except if your planning on using a body lift as well. You either have to put a raised steering arm on or a drop pitman arm on. Either one will work fine. My truck has seen a lot of wheelin and never had a drive shaft issue with 6 inch suspension, 3 inch body, and 38's.

[Mccoleman830]

Mines has a 6" Tuff Country lift with new springs all the way around, no blocks. Don't have any problems with my drive shafts binding or not enough length. I do have the supplied transfer case drop down brackets installed.

[dman1982]

i got a 6 inch rough country and i lowered my transfer case just from switching the bolts around, it lowered it like a inch, driveshafts were fine, new springs all the way around,...kinda funny i ordered a 4 inch lift and got a six...

[trevor73402]

You wont have any issues at all with a 4", thats just crazy talk. On a 6", it seems some habe driveline issues while others dont. As far as a transfer case drop, your truck already has a set of steel spacers under it, unless someone has removed them. Just drop your support bolts, get the spacers off the bottom, then reinstall with the spacers between the bracket. They are on every truck/blazer from the factory unless they have been removed.
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[East End K5]

Originally Posted by trevor73402

You wont have any issues at all with a 4", thats just crazy talk. On a 6", it seems some habe driveline issues while others dont. As far as a transfer case drop, your truck already has a set of steel spacers under it, unless someone has removed them. Just drop your support bolts, get the spacers off the bottom, then reinstall with the spacers between the bracket. They are on every truck/blazer from the factory unless they have been removed.
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Yup. I think this was intentional (spacers) for chevy to install factory lifts as per request. I don't believe this puts added stress on the frame at all...I too did this to put my 2wd donor cab onto to the 4wd frame to get the floor pan clearance since there is no hump on the 2wd cab...

[67_SS396]

If it's a mall crawler, you might be fine without lengthening the drive shafts, but if you end up off road and try to flex any, they will need to be longer.
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[hartbraker]

Trevor, I've tried to use those spacers before when I removed the transmission once.... I forgot how it came apart and was experimenting when I was reinstalling; however, when I did that... it tilted the motor enough that the fan was against the shroud.

I'm thinking I'd be better off to just lengthen both drive shafts, but I really dont wanna spend the money. I already have a 4 in lift on there with some really beefy springs ( 2 leafs added to the rears, and 1 to the fronts). And NO there are no problems with a 4 in lift... never heard of anyone having any.

But 6 in are different. I've heard it go both ways as well. And ya, if i'm gonna invest over 8 grand in a truck... it's going to be used as a truck in the mud, so better safe than sorry is the answer then???

[ghettoluxury]

If you all ready have a 4 inch lift why dont you just add a 3 inch body? It makes life so much easier when working on things.

[hartbraker]

I'm not a huge fan of body lifts, I guess it's just personal preference... Suspension is a lot more durable, and I'm not sure I want the gaps and the showing fuel tanks and what not....

I'd just rather have a 6 inch lift. Body lifts are just really cheap, aside from that they're a pain.

[Your41Plague12]

I have a 6" Rough Country on mine and a 3" body lift also. The driveshafts will work with a 6", albeit mine is a long bed. If you have a short bed it will need lengthened. If you wheel though, they should be lengthened. There are a lot of splines showing on mine, but they work. The body lift honestly does make things easier to work on. I can swap the spark plugs without opening the hood, and if you ever need to swap an engine or transmission, the bell housing bolts aren't as impossible to get to. I used a transfer case drop on mine, and while it made the rear driveshaft angle better, it made the front a little worse at the transfer case. If you're going to wheel your truck, I wouldn't do it. I would just lengthen the driveshafts and get some good U-joints or even upgrade to CV shafts. That's my two cents.

[hartbraker]

Here's what I decided to go with... SORRY the pictures took so long.

It's a 4" skyjacker suspension lift. I added 2 leafs to the rear springs and 1 leaf to the front springs. Then added 1" of body lift for a little tire and hood clearance. And to show off/maintain the frame since it's in such good condition. So i'm damn near 6".... it's a hop skip and a jump into the truck now and I love it. Here's a pic:

[DetroitDan]

I read somewhere that taking the spacers out and flipping them at the transfer case mount is a very bad idea, it puts a bunch of strain in a small area. They had pictures showing cracks in the frame originating from right where the spacers touch the frame.

[hartbraker]

Well, I never had to change a thing. Let the crossmember in it's factory location and I've never had a single issue. But, since we're on the topic... those spacers aren't any smaller or bigger around than the bolt that's originally putting stress against the frame, so it shouldn't be any more or less stressful to the fram than the factory location... Just a thought