Lifted Prerunner '68 C10

[1968chevyprerunner]

I have a 1968 C10 that I have just started disassembly on. The truck was my wife's grandfathers and is perfect for restore. All it is going to take is a few patch panels, painting and done. My question is this.....I want to lift the truck high enough to get 34" tires under it and give it a "Prerunner" look. Before disassembly I was running 31" tires with stock springs with no probs. Has anyone tried this before or have any advice. I was told that using 3/4 ton springs would give it approx. 2 " additional lift. I think I'm going to need around 4" to clear tires.

[matthufham]

i don't think that's enough to achieve a pre runner look. here's more what you need.

[Rokcrln]

That is a sick truck! Do you have any more pics or info on it? I was just thinking about building one of these. Alot of my friends are into sand rails and run down at pismo beach. I started off my fabricatiing life on buggy's about 20 years ago and I have had enough of sand up every crack where it does not belong. So I was thinking of building a high travel 2wd 67-72 for a recovery/ play rig for out in the dunes. Here is a pic of a rock buggy I have been building in my spare time between customers. I would be looking at doing a stock cab and glass everything else. LS1 built up just a bit, A/C and nice plush seats. It would have a full tube frame and 24" plus travel. All this is just in my head but that is were it all starts right!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[1968chevyprerunner]

WOW......wish I had the money and skills to do that......Still wondering what it takes to get a 2WD 4" lift on a '68.

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by 1968chevyprerunner

WOW......wish I had the money and skills to do that......Still wondering what it takes to get a 2WD 4" lift on a '68.

Sorry got side tracked For the rear you can just go with blocks and up front look up a local spring shop and you can drive your truck in their as it is and drive it out 4" higher. Cost should not be too bad. Your front tires will suck in just a bit due to the dropped suspention arms and you will need a re-allinment. The problem with going to a 3/4ton sprring is yes it will lift you a bit but not 4" and it will not ride good at all. my $.02

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Prerunner1982]

Ok I wish I had found this post earlier. There are obviously not many lift kits for anything pre 88, the ones that are available are just lift coils and control arms.. which are ok, but limit your droop.. and a properly tuned suspension need both compression and droop to be effective. BUT the design of the front suspension does not lend itself well to just lift coils. To lift the front and still keep a decent amount of wheel travel (compression and droop) lift spindles would be a good choice, HOWEVER as far as I know, nobody currently makes any for pre 88 trucks... AIM did but havent heard anything good about them.. HOWEVER (again) I have seen a thread on using 88+ control arms and spindles on 67-72s... so you would most likely be able to do this and use the 88-98 lift spindles. On the back.. if you have coils you could go with spacers or longer coils.. and if you have leafs you could go with a shackle flip and net about 4" of lift. The front on these trucks is the main problem.. and you cant really get a good amount of lift and good suspension travel without custom fab... of course in prerunner/baja/trophy trucks you really dont want alot of lift, just alot of travel.. the lifted 2wds are really all for looks anyways.. here are a few pics I have maybe a bit of inspiration..


I have quite a few more, unfortunately this is the only 67-72 I have...

[rynstvy]

do you know you extended the cab in the 1st pic it looks good

[oneoff81]

The 67 extended cab has 4 " lift spindles and 2" lift coils and is for sale for a great deal

[special-K]

I`d go with the 88-up stuff you can buy and make it fit,which I don`t believe will be hard.I agree with Prerunner1982.Do you have coils in the rear?If yes,Cool!I`d have long coils or use coil-overs with the trailing arms.Should be good up to 4-6" w/o custom arms.The rear generally doesn`t need to go as high for best handling.

[tjchevy1965]

HEy pre-runner1982...how did you lift that ext-cab?? I have searching all these posts for how to lift my 65 chevy c10 swb but no concrete answer. Hoping to get some insight from ya

[gringoloco]

Coils out back, just flip the axle under the arms. 3" lift-FREE.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

well if youre just going for the "prerunner look" then put the axle under the arms and some springs and in the front do some spindles and springs just for tire clearence and youll be good to go but if youre going to run it and want it to work right then its going to take some work and thinking and planning to get it perform at its best


im going to be turning mine into a prerunner but its going to be fully functional with long travel and the whole 9yards but that wont be for a while and when i have another car to drive

[tjchevy1965]

The axle flip is a little more work that i am looking to do, also I already have larger springs out back and I am a little weary about going more with a spacer due to the driveshaft loop through the frame...can I get an aftermarket loop that hangs lower?? UP front I would like to raise with spacers because I already have HD coils..how much with that effect the ride quality on the street ?? I really just want bigger tires...don't really care about all out offroading

Thanks

[tjchevy1965]

Also you said putting spindles up front...what year spindles and what else would I need? My frontend in pretty much all stock except for HD coils

[Zeke]

Might get the look you want with a body lift kit.

http://www.performanceaccessories.com/

[GREASEMONKEY72]

in order to put on new lift spindles youll have to go with 88 and up spindles but also have to put an 88 and up crossmember on your truck and you can always fab a bigger loop to allow the driveshaft to hang lower so you can put the axle under the swingarms

or you can just do a bodylift with about the same amount of work

[724x4a/cchevy]

Here's some pics of one that i found on here a while ago. Not sure who's it is though.
Justin

[drbyrdman]

I love my 67 . But I love offroading more. I would love to make my truck into a prerunner!!! Love what a nice word! I love beer!!!

[special-K]

I like the pre-runner idea.I`d look lost in one so far from the nearest desert,though.

[stepn67]

Hey drbyrdman, where'd you find the long travel kits for a '73. These would bolt right up using the rest of the 73-87 components.

[bucannon]

hey you can use 88-98 lift spindles to lift a 67-87 truck with 3/4 ton lower control arms, but since your using 88-98 spindles you need to use 88-98 rotors and calipers.

im doing this conversion on my 86 and hopefully ill be done soon i will post pictures.

[292farmer]

which year lower 3/4ton control arms do u use? the 67-87 or the 88-89? thanks oh yeah how much lift do these lift spindles come in? thanks!

[bucannon]

which year lower 3/4ton control arms do u use? the 67-87 or the 88-89? thanks oh yeah how much lift do these lift spindles come in? thanks!

you use the year of your trucks 3/4 ton lower, it just accepts the larger balljoint of the 1988-1998 spindle

and they make 2 inch, 4 inch, and possibly 6 inch but im not sure

[MickMc]

Working on my lift.
Yes, 88 up spindles
68 3/4 lower A arms


Mick

[292farmer]

ok sweet thanks guys, that works out great as my trucks a 3/4ton now. ok sorry for long post, but i got a few more questions.
do i order upper and lower balljoints for 88-up? or just lower, and reuse my upper(i mean order stock type 72')
i'm going for 4in i'm thinking 2in from spindle, and 2 from custom springs to help improve suspension travel and ride. will the springs provide more up or down travel? or does it depend how made?
do i need to alter steering any? i know on my 86 k20 i needed a new pitman are and idler? or does the lift spindle not alter that? i didnt look like it did in the pics i looked at but want to verify that now.
also on a kinda related note, has anyone put a steering stabilizer on a 2wd, manual steering truck? mine kicks back abit, was thinking that might help but being manual steering maybe the stabilizer would fight me?
thanks alot everyone!!