[84Chevrolet]

ok i know that mostly people here are interested in hotroddin cars...but c'mon, give the chevy guy some help. i have an 84 chevy 1/2T. i have 31's and i ofcourse wanna go bigger. i want 33's. in order to do this i think im needin atleast a 2" lift. im thinking a 3" though. what do u guys think? also im thinkin of just using the lift blocks for the leaf springs. i have leafs in the front and back. can i use blocks in the front and back? ive heard its illegal to put em in the front. i dont know. remember...money is kinda an issue...im a 17 year old with a lead foot. :mwink:

 

[weirdbeard]

I have been looking at 3" body lift kits for my Yukon. They are usually under $200 and install in a few hours. Much cheaper than a suspension lift.

 

[84Chevrolet]

but i can get a 3" lift for the leafs for like $35. and install myself.

 

[Jim's70]

While it may only cost you 35 for the spring lift...I'm guessing add-a leafs from a local spring shop...don't forget you'll have to extend brake lines, steering geometry will be wrong without a drop pitman arm, drive shaft angles will be wrong, if not too short all together. These issues could make the truck undriveable or result in expensive damage later on. I'm not a big fan of body lifts, but on the cheap, they are probably the best way to go. Is the body rusted out?? Body lifts are more labor,but if doing it yourself , would be the cheaper route. Rot becomes the big issue with the mounting bolts coming out and all the fun that entailes.You will also have to cut out the bottom of the fan shroud, extend the 4wd and trans linkage and possibly get longer rad hoses. In short, I don't see you doing it the "right way" for 35 bucks, but it's your truck, I just don't want to see anyone do it half-***** and get hurt
Jim

 

[84Chevrolet]

thanks for the advice jim. but why would i have to cut the shroud and stuff? sorry im new to the whole lifting stuff. im really interested and want to learn badly...im already planning on buying a new pitman arm. the body isnt terribly rusted but has some. i guess i need to look at the brake lines. i dont really want to buy new ones, and cant really afford them at the moment. so if i lift it w new tires, ill probly try to get by for a lil while w/o replacing the lines. i dont like how body lifts look so i dont want to go that route. they make lift blocks to be placed on the leafs. and comes with new u bolts. thats what i was talking about. idk if thats what u were talking about.

 

[Jim's70]

The fan shroud is mounted to the rad support, which in turn is mounted to the fenders. If you went with a body lift, it would basically lift the shroud up as well while the engine stays lower. You would have to either make brackets to lower the shroud to be centered over the fan or trim out the bottom of it so the fan dosen't hit it.
As for the spring lift blocks, in the rear is fine. In the front they are illegal in most states. The side loads put on them while sterring and braking make them shfit and work their way out...imagine how much fun that must be at 60mph with the ft axle floppin in the breeze. If your main mission here is just to get 33's on it, have you thought about trimming the fenders and installing something like bushwacker pocket flares. They look tough and will give you the clearence you need.
Jim

 

[84Chevrolet]

ya man eventually i want some bushwackers. they look sweet on any truck i think. i dont want a body lift but u have a really good point with the shroud/rad/etc. ya ive heard that theyre illegal too. i wasnt for sure. ya that would be sucky if that happened to the front end. i want some kinda lift, not just chop the fenders. what should i do with the front end since i cant block up the leafs?

 

[Blazin72]

You'll have to put lift springs up front. A front spring/rear block lift kit really isn't too unreasonably priced. A good front spring/rear block or front spring/rear spring lift kit usually comes with most of the things you need to do the job right. Suspension work is one area you really don't want to try to do cheaply. Putting an engine together cheaply might cost you an engine but a cheap suspension could cost you your life. Longer brake lines usually aren't too expensive. You might be able to get away with the stock brake lines on the street but if you start flexing your suspension then you're going to run the risk of ripping them off.

A friend of mine has a 4" lift and 33" tires under his 71 3/4 ton Chevy and it looks very good sitting at that height.

 

[84Chevrolet]

ya im hoping i can get away with stock ones for a while. do u have any suggestions on brand of kits or brand of kits not to use. the whole life-risk is a good point.

 

[Blazin72]

Skyjacker, ProComp, Rancho, Superlift are all popular...

 

[ChevyFreak71]

if you have junk yards in your area where you can go out and pull your own parts, you might want to give that a try before buying a new lift.. the lift kits for the older chevys cover alot of years so they are out there. the last time i went to the one by my house, there was an older chevy with 4'' susp lift.. it had every thing you would have needed including the longer shocks and raise steering arm.. good price too, because they only you charge you for the leaf springs and parts not as a lift kit.. thing is, if you chose to do this is make sure everything is good cond.. dont know if i would take the brake lines though. just my opinion..

 

[84Chevrolet]

A friend of mine has a 4" lift and 33" tires under his 71 3/4 ton Chevy and it looks very good sitting at that height.

do u know what all he had to do...new brake lines, longer pitman arm, etc...

and can i buy tires from any place online. are they basically all the same quality, aside from the occasional blemish or cosmetic defect? i found a set of tires on tirepackage.com that are a lot cheaper than anywhere else i can find...

 

[Jim's70]

I learned the hard way about the cheap tires. Usually they are "rejets".Aside from a cosmetic blem, the set of 38's I got for my Blazer were unable to be balanced due to severe heavy spots in the casing. There really was no way to tell until they were mounted and tried balancing them. The vibration was horrible, almost to the point that I coudn;t drive the truck over 30mph without shaking the teeth out of my head. I can't remember the brand name, but I know they were an "off brand" . I think if you stay with a good name tire, they should not be bad.

The idea of searching local boneyards for a lifted truck sounds pretty good to me. Make sure you grab everything that you can and it will help keep the cost down. Anything over 2 inches and the correct thing to do would be the raised steering arm off the d/s knuckle and make sure you get the wedges that are between the sping and axle. They set the pinion angle. As for the brake lines..you can aqueak by (and you didn't hear this from me...not the recommended way) by pulling the clips that hold the metal line when it connects to the rubber, and pulling some of the metal line through to give it a lil slack. I had to do this while I waited for my extended lines to come in. I was nervous everytime I stepped on the brake..but I had to get to work also. By doing this you now have the metal line rubbing against the tab that is supposed to hold it from rubbing. It dosen't take long for that to rub through ....now you have no brakes.

I know you are looking to do this on the cheap....but some things are just worth saving for and doing the right way. If you can scrounge up the springs and stuff from a boneyard, then spend a few bucks on the brake stuff, It would work out great...but try not to take any shortcuts. Remember..your bumper will be 3 inches higher when you hit that civic...it just ain't worth it IMHO

Jim

 

[84Chevrolet]

and make sure you get the wedges that are between the sping and axle. They set the pinion angle.

Remember..your bumper will be 3 inches higher when you hit that civic...it just ain't worth it IMHO

Jim

are you talkin about the leaf springs or coils? cuz i dont have coils. only leafs front and back.

lmao...actually it wouldnt b that bad to take out a civic at that height...until i get my new insurance bill.

 

[ChevyFreak71]

you can lift the rear of your truck with a 4'' lift block that fits between your axle and leaf spring, it comes with most lift kits. the lift block is at an angle to piviot your axle alittle to keep your driveshaft and axle inline so you dont wear out u-joints.. another trick is to look on your transfer case skid plate/ cross member, where the bolts hold it to the frame there are like 1'' spacers on top of the frame. if you unbolt them and move the spacer between the the frame and skid plate it drops your transfer case about an 1'' and that helps too. as far as balencing bigger tires goes, in the past i mounted 44'' tires and had problems with them too.. what i did was called around to places that mounted huge tracter tires, they have stuff thats in a powder form like sand (can't remember what its called) but what it does, if i remember right, is at slow speed it gathers in the low spots inside tire and as you speed up the spinning of the tire keeps inplace and balances the tire. it worked well and i never had to worry about knocking the weights off while 4x4 which would knock the tires out of balance.. the truck i built had 4.11 gears/ 44'' tires, top speed was around 70/75 mph and no vibration, anything over that speed i'm not sure of.