how many have lifted 2wd's?

[chevyjr73]

i was thinking of lifting my 86 2wd and was wondering how many have done it and which way did you go, body or suspension. also what size tires and rims. thanks.

[Eyegore]

I'm thinking about it, my question is going to be - how high will I need to be to get 32"s under it w/o triming fenders and who makes a kit since fabtech carries only a 3". I'll have my son who use to work for a suspension co. who lifts truck to the extreme see what he can find out.

[Prerunner1982]

chevyjr, mine isnt lifted but i am running 32x11.50 ATs. It is pretty well equiped fullsize spare, dual fuel cans, recovery equipement.. only thing i am really lacking is a locker and winch.

eyegore, all you should need for 32"s is HD front coils to level out the truck.. i only had MINIMAL clearance problems which involved rolling the upper fender lip which is un-noticable...

[Eyegore]

Prerunner, what about the rear, blocks? Also when I had the 82 before it was dropped and then stolen I had heavy duty springs on the front, brand new, it hardly was enough room for 32's after the springs broke in. What about a body lift, would that do it?

[Prerunner1982]

rear is stock, you can fit upto 33"s back there.. i think 8t5silverado is running HD front coils as well..

a bodylift would be fine, but i dont like the gaps, and you will have to extend/adjust your steering, shifter linkage, lower radiator shroud, fuel filler hoses, body to frame wiring, fab bumper brackets...etc....

[8t5Silverado]

I've got the Moog HD front coils too. It leveled it out with the rear. I think I could get away with 32's if I stayed on the road...but will probably only run 31s.

[Zilverado]

I like the lifted look as well.

Mine started as a regular 1/2 ton. I swapped out the rear leafs and front coils from my old '77 "Heavy-half" truck. Went from the standard 3-leaf setup to a 7-leaf. Gave the truck just a bit higher stance. Still not high enough though, cause I'm just running regular tires on the original 15" rims.

IMO a truck should look like a truck. To me that means lifted.

[ste-pel]

IMO a truck should look like a truck. To me that means lifted.

I agree

[79BIG10]

Ditto. I love a lifted truck 2wd or 4wd it doesn't matter. When I do my front rebuild I have some larger springs to use unless I find some even larger ones

[Prerunner1982]

Originally Posted by 8t5Silverado

I think I could get away with 32's if I stayed on the road..

are you try to insist that i dont off road?

[MylilBowTie]

What about some 32x9.50s or something like that? Would that help not being as wide?

[Prerunner1982]

probably help clear the upper fender lip... but to me, they would still look goofy.. to each thier own.. i really didnt do much to the upper fender, just enough to not cut up the tread..

[chevyjr73]

right now i'm running 31x10.5x15's with no problem at all. everything is completely stock. looks like 32's would probably fit ok but 33's would be pushing it. does anyone know exactly what comes in the fabtech lift kit? i know the back would be fairly easy just putting the blocks in but what has to be done to the front? the fabtech website isn't really specefic or have a pic of ther kit that goes on the 73-87's just the 88-98's and up.

[chevyjr73]

another pic.

[MylilBowTie]

Im thinking its just the lift coil springs and ball joint spacers pretty much for the lift part up front besides the longer shocks. Rear uses lift blocks, longer Ubolts and longer shocks. 31x10.50 are fine up front with stock coils, so long as the coils are to worn out.

Here is mine with some 31x10.50 that are 29.5 tall with HD coils.

[chevyjr73]

i also see skyjacker has a lift kit for this truck from stylin' concepts for $253.95. said it includes new coil springs and rear u bolts and blocks. 2.5 inch lift. how hard is it to change the front coil springs?

[MylilBowTie]

Brake caliper has to come off and tied up out of the way, upper ball joint nut, lower shock bolt. Jack stand, good floor jack, coil spring compressor for trucks. Some do it without the coil spring compressor but its a lot safer with it. It really not that hard. I got really lucky and everything come off without any problems. Its really not all that hard as I thought it would be.

[MylilBowTie]

Make sure the coil spring goes into the pocket in the lower arm and the upper sleeve.

[chevyjr73]

so none of the ball joints have to come completely out? just undo the nut?

[MylilBowTie]

You need to take the cotter pin out then remove the upper ball joint castle nut. You dont have to mess with the lower one. May have to remove the outter tie rod end but I got away without having to. I will give the lower a-arm more room to lower. I just push mine down some and the coil went in.

[1974gmc]

heres some more stuff

[Prerunner1982]

beware of AIM products.. they cant even post the right product with the right description.. one says 4x4 spindle and shows a 2wd.... you wouldnt buy a car from a dealer if the ad said a chevy camaro, but showed a ford mustang would ya?

[chevyjr73]

do you think putting a 3 inch suspension lift on would throw the alignment off? would it cause premature tire wear? i would think 33's would fit okay with a 3" lift.

[79BIG10]

I'm going to be redoing my front end and would love some good lifted parts for mine. Jon can you give a list of some good parts for me to use on a lift fo all around?

[Prerunner1982]

chevyjr, after as suspension mod you will need to get it aligned, premature tire wear? possibly, but if you use the stock control arms, your going to have a problem with ball joints wearing out. Also, you may run into problems with the tierods wearing quickly due to the extreme angles.

basically all lifts you are going to find are going to be lift coils and ball joint spacers. The more expensive kits come with tubular control arms, but unless the ball joint mount has been properly angled you will have problems with ball joint wear due to extreme angles.

the BEST lift is a spindle lift, but nobody makes those for anything pre 88.. I havent had a chance but plan on seeing how hard it would be to run 88-98 spindles on our trucks. When i get some money and time (unless someone else does it first) i will certainly post here with a small write up and price list. WHen i get "rich and famous" i plan on redoing the whole front end with a custom suspension, more baja type..