Need Help With 6" lift

[Matt87chevy]

As the title says, i need help with a 6" lift kit for my 87 V10 Chevy. It currently has a 3" body lift with 33" tires. I want to put a 6" lift kit and hopefully fit 38" or 39.5" tires. I was wondering what else i would need to buy other than what the lift kit would provide, like transfer case lowering kit, dual steering stabilizers, and maybe some 3/4 or 1 ton axles. I don't really plan on doing alot of off-roading until i do upgrade the axles, but do you think the 1/2 ton axles would hold up decently on the road until i have enough money to upgrade? Thanks

[Yukon Jack]

Tires in that size are awful heavy - will be taxing to the brake system and without a gear ratio change - your gonna hate them!

Could you drive with them on 1/2 axles - sure - but lots to consider with that large of a tire.

How wide are you considering and what is your current axle ratio?

[Matt87chevy]

I'm currently running the stock axle ratio which is 3.08 and I'm going for about 15" to 15.50" wide with the tire.

[special-K]

I think with 9" of lift you can run that size.but,prolly being on the wide side and not clear when twistin`.38s in 13.50(I think that`s the narrower one) would work best.It`s really not a good combo you have right now.I`d do axles/lower gears,lift,and tires all in one move.

[Russell]

I ran a Diesel truck with 35s and 2.73s (pretty similar gearing to 38s with 3.08s) and the diesel bogged all over the place, barely maintained highway speed. I had a 5 speed manual trans in there, and couldn't put it into overdrive at all without loosing speed. I'd suggest running at least 4.88 gears with 38s for decent driving.

Would your axles hold up? Probably, need more torque to break things

[Matt87chevy]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll be putting a GM 14 bolt rear and a dana 60 front if i can find some for decently cheap. Also, do you think that my 350 TBI would be bogged down that much with all of this added weight. It'll either be me building a 383 stroker before i add a lift and axles, or if the 350 can hold up i'll keep it and get the lift,axles/lower gears, and tires all in one shot? Thanks

[Russell]

You could run your truck with a 4 cylinder gasser if you geared it right! More important to have good gears so you can utilize your engine's available power than to build a monster engine to try and make up for poor gearing.

A TBI 350 is a fairly pretty strong engine in the bottom end. Not a monster by any means, but more than enough to turn a set of 38s on 3.08s. The truck is going to be VERY sluggish on the street however, and you'll get terrible fuel economy. When you hit the trails and put it into low range, the truck will not be half bad.

I'd suggest upgrading your diffs before doing anything with the engine, you may find that a set of 4.56 - 4.88 gears in 3/4 ton differentials will have your truck driving pretty well. If you drive it with the 3.08s for a while, you probably won't even feel the need to upgrade your engine after the gear upgrade because it'll feel like a rocket in comparison

[Matt87chevy]

I think that I'll probably upgrade my axles first, then see where i wanna go from there. Now my dad says that he wont help me rebuild the motor if i lift it. I'll probably still lift it anyways and hope the the 350 will last until i got enough money.

[special-K]

That`s the best way.Then,you`ll slap new big rubber of something that can take it rather than get it right by the time the tires are worn and you`ve fixed alot of broken stuff with money you could have put towards the right axles.The right gearing is most important.look at what old tractors did with 25hp.

[Matt87chevy]

Well I looked around some more and i found these shackle-flip kits, they seem cheap and provide a nice lift. Do you guys happen to know any details about these things. If i was to add a 4" lift kit with the shackle flip would it stack and combine both lifts? thanks