1990 GMC V1500 Lift Kit Advice?

[71johnnyblazer]

Looking for advice on a lift kit. The suspension is all stock now. I would like to run 35" BFG All Terrains and not be the tallest just the most comfortable while driving. Light trail use at best, mainly HWY. I'm open to all suggestions and advice. Thanks ahead, John.

[sweetk30]

Best 2 off the shelf ride are BDS or TUFF COUNTRY.

4 inch AND 35 inch tires is good .

Blazer @ 4inch lift kit should have a c/v drive shaft at rear and set pinion angle .

Suburban should be fine .

Bilstien shocks are the HOT ticket for ride quality .

www.offroaddesign.com has TONS of quality parts and custom leaf spring packs if you want the best .

[James Lamb]

I have a 1989 Suburban 4 x 4. The stock tires are tiny 235/75/15 = 28.9 inches. There's an enormous amount of wasted space in the wheel well. I kept the stock rims, went to 31" x 10.50, essentially got a free 1 inch lift. And just that was enough that even at 6' 1" I have to step up into the truck, and really ought to install step bars. There is still a lot of clearance inside the wheel well. I use my truck actively as a paleontologist, although for mud, not rock crawling. I've never seen any need for more lift. With the 31" tires it has plenty of ground clearance, slightly lowered rpms - I think right at 48 fewer tire revs/mile, and is not so high as to completely screw with whatever "aerodynamics" (ha) a square body has, or require changing drive shaft angles, premature wear on bearings, etc.

Are you sure you need 35" tires? If it's want bigger tires I understand.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

By springs that have the most leaves per desired rate.

This allows more movement in length of the springs, and helps with quality of ride.

Also dialing tire pressure allows the tires to absorb or deflect some which is a good tuning factor. You can only go down so far, and you maybe doing some testing.

On my K20 rclb I had 35 pounds offered me the best comprise on 285/75r16 e rated AT Tires. I would add air if I was hauling anything since they would squish down a bit.

[James Lamb]

For ride quality that's good advice. I recently replaced the tired old rear leaf springs on my truck with some from General Springs - come with bushings already installed. It not only lifted the rear back to level but made a significant improvement to the ride without spending a lot of money.

[OzarkRunner]

'90 V1500 here, BDS spring lift, 35" tires. Rides great on the highway, but would recommend going for nicer shocks - that's the next thing I'm going to do.