How High

[biggreenchevy]

How high can I go before I need longer drive shafts? Its a 73 3/4 ton long bed with A corp 14blt and a Dana 60 front Its got a th350/203 transfer case and 36s.

This is how it sits now with a 4inch and 36s I want to go to a 6 with maybe a 2in body an 36s



I think the front is where im going to run into trouble cause the slip yoke is just to the teeth.
What is your guys experiance with this

[duallyjams]

Open up the fender opening and do a 3" body lift and leave the suspension alone, just a thought.

[vtblazer]

Seen em need it @ a 4" lift but alot depends on the usage.
I added some to mine when I did a 4" but that was a different application.

You'll want to lengthen both doing a 6" lift IMO, the lift may or may not include a t-case drop.

Most excellent stock drive train!

[Roper]

Those hubs look awful small. Are you sure thats a dana 60 up front?
If that has a dana 44 I wouldnt go bigger than 33" tires.
Anyway if everything is stock on your truck 4" is as high as you can go usually without custom shafts. I agree with the other guy. If your 4" suspension is in good shape I would rather trim fenders than throw away a good suspension to get anotherone with slightly more lift.
What do you have for gear ratios? Unless your running 4.56 rear ends I wouldnt go with 36" rubber. Not for an off road truck which looks to be the way you use yours.
Another thing is the higher you go the more tippy your rig gets if you have to get sideways on the hills. For this reason I wouldnt want a 6" lift and 36" rubber. 4" and 33" rubber that I have now is bad enough. Plus when you get to high your truck, well there are other practical reasons why to high comes at a cost. Depends on what you use your truck for.

[sav_x69]

how can you tell if its a dana 60?

[Chevy1TonFun]

Originally Posted by Roper

Those hubs look awful small. Are you sure thats a dana 60 up front? If that has a dana 44 I wouldnt go bigger than 33" tires.

I disagree! I have an 87 Blazer that has a 1/2 ton Dana 44 with 35" swampers on it and haven't had any problems. I also have a 72 Cheyenne with a 3/4 ton Dana 44 with 39.5" IROKs and again haven't had any problems. Those axles will handle 36" with no problem.
For the drive shafts my Blazer has a 6" ProComp lift and we did need to extend the drive shaft a few inches. It cost about $100 to extent the drive shaft depending on the shop. You should be fine in the mud or trails. I see jeeps and toys with 6" and 8" with 35's and bigger tires doing just find on some steep angles. Again with a wide and long wheel base with a 6" lift and 36" tire you should have no problem with any terrain you take on. I would just take baby steps, before taking on a vertical incline.

[DESTRO]

I went with a 6in lift, 1.5 front shackles,and a 3 in body with 38x15.50 tires with no problem.

Mine was a longbed, Coworker did the same with a shortbed and had troubles.

[special-K]

I never lengthened any driveshafts with 4" lifts on any 60-84 trucks I`ve had.When I did a 6" lift on my`72 K/20 I needed to add 2" to the rear shaft to keep the spline centered in the yoke.The front could use an inch,maybe.But,not enough to worry about.It`s only about $100 to have the shaft altered.

[Yukon Jack]

Originally Posted by sav_x69

how can you tell if its a dana 60?

Here is a Dana 60 front axle.



If I recall correctly, all Chevy Dana 60's will have 3 u-bolts and on the passenger side there will be two bolts rather than a 4th u-bolt securing the axle to the springs.

[vtblazer]

Biggreenchevy, where'd ya go?

Lots of good info here, you still interested?

[kris's66lwb]

those hubs look small for a dana 44 my 44 has huge hubs and yes it is a 44 . the easyest way to tell is to look on the housing close to the tubes for a cast 44 or 60 like mine has a big fat 44 cas into the housing

[Chevy1TonFun]

Originally Posted by kris's66lwb

those hubs look small for a dana 44 my 44 has huge hubs and yes it is a 44 . the easyest way to tell is to look on the housing close to the tubes for a cast 44 or 60 like mine has a big fat 44 cas into the housing

The original hubs (spicer) are bigger and some of the aftermarket remain to stay the same size. Like biggreenchevy and myself we have the early dana 44 which for Warn it requires that style hub. I hope that clears up any confusion.

[biggreenchevy]

yeah im still here just got side tracked...
Ive thoght it was a 44 since i built the truck but since 4 or five people all say that it is a 60... i can not find any numbers on the casing saying either, odd eh,

all the other axles that we have have it marked 44 clear as a bell by the webs on the dif, but we do have 60 (that is marked) that got trashed and it had the same hubs as these with the bolt on warn lockouts i dunno

I havent had any probs withe the 36s yet tho they dont have much bite left... ive read thru severel mags that 36s is the limit if not pushing it.
and it is geared at 4.56.... emm highway gears. Wat was i thinking?

the reason i asked about the lift is cause my back passenger spring is sagging and it would be a good excuse to get new springs for the back to get rid those damn cheap blocks(wheel hop)

I have lots of 3/4 springs set aside maybe i should find the best set of them and get add a leaves??????

the fenders are already trimed to fit the 36s at 4inchs too.

does anybody have any suggestion on rear springs alone

This truck is gonna get used mostly offroad and once in a short while pulling...
and will be street driven.
thanks for the input
chris

[biggreenchevy]

I forgot one thing has anyone used ords shackle flip?
how well do they work as far as flex and ride height?

[special-K]

I haven`t used a shackle-flip on one of my trucks.But,it costs about the same as a set of springs.Sounds like springs are what you need.

[FormerMember]

Originally Posted by special-K

I haven`t used a shackle-flip.But,it costs about the same as a set of springs.Sounds like springs are what you need.

I disagree there... flip is about 170bux, good lift springs can be 220 each and not flex as well. I've used both, and in some instances on the same truck.

Shackle flips are good for cheap lift and they give a decent ride. The also only lift one side of the spring, so they do mess with pinion angle a bit. You can correct that with shims or cut off the old spring perches and weld on new ones.

I've used both ORD and Diy4x. I like the Diy4x for the 67-72 Chevy trucks because it grabs the under side of the frame in addition to just bolting on the side.

As for the D44/D60 issue, count the bolts that hold on the steering arm to the knuckle. If it's 3 large bolts in a line, it's a 44. If it's 4 small bolts in a square pattern, it's a 60.

[special-K]

Did you read that he needed rear springs?$170 for shackle-flip vs $200 for a pair of springs is "about the same" in my book.Cheaper to go with lift leafs if stock ones need replaced.They cost no more than rebuilding stock.

[PrerunnerRob]

Easiest way to tell if its a 44 or 60 on these trucks is to see if it has ball joints or king pins for the front knuckles. 60 has king pins.

[FormerMember]

Originally Posted by special-K

Did you read that he needed rear springs?$170 for shackle-flip vs $200 for a pair of springs is "about the same" in my book.Cheaper to go with lift leafs if stock ones need replaced.They cost no more than rebuilding stock.

Yes, I did. Good lift springs 200+ EACH. (Just bought 4" rear Skyjackers, 221.00 each). You need the good springs to keep the load capacity and ride. Otherwise a four inch lift, cheap spring will knock your tooth fillings out. http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

Looks like they went up. 259.00 each.

New stock springs 100-200 a pair. Plus the shackle flip 175.00, with a stock ride and you're still cheaper..

[special-K]

I didn`t know the cost of springs had more than doubled since I bought EZ-Rides last year for less than 1/2 of what you quote for one spring.

I appreciate your education on what I would never have known from modifying 4wds since 1977.Not that I asked.I run Tuff Country EZ-Rides and they give an excellent ride over stock and flex all I need since I,like 90% of 4wd owners,don`t rock crawl or need excessive wheel travel.I also,haul with my trucks and have noticed no decrease in ride height.They do squat more with a load as any more flexible spring will.So,will the flipped shackle.The Rancho 9000RSXs compensate for that when set on "hard".
Here`s a bit of a load from moving out of my shop:



I gave my advise.You gave yours,and then some.I figure the choice can only be made by the one who asked.

[FormerMember]

Originally Posted by special-K

I didn`t know the cost of springs had more than doubled since I bought EZ-Rides last year for less than 1/2 of what you quote for one spring.

I appreciate your education on what I would never have known from modifying 4wds since 1977.Not that I asked.I run Tuff Country EZ-Rides and they give an excellent ride over stock and flex all I need since I,like 90% of 4wd owners,don`t rock crawl or need excessive wheel travel.I also,haul with my trucks and have noticed no decrease in ride height.They do squat more with a load as any more flexible spring will.So,will the flipped shackle.The Rancho 9000RSXs compensate for that when set on "hard".
Here`s a bit of a load from moving out of my shop:



I gave my advise.You gave yours,and then some.I figure the choice can only be made by the one who asked.

Nice truck.

Steel prices increasing every day make anything with more steel more expensive. Got to love the ever industrious Chinese.

As far as education, I stated my opinion, you stated yours, either is equally valid, considering we don't know what the original poster's intended purpose is. There's always a choice to be made, depending on function. I was also answering the original posters question. The springs I posted are not really a rock crawling or great articulating spring. They're an all around, good but generic spring. He was certainly asking about flex, so suspension travel or ride quality seems to be a concern. I was also responding to the poster's information request, not trying to "educate" you.

Experience is always interesting. I've been a part of the 4wd community for years and owned a 4x4 shop. I also tend to build 2-3 personal rigs a year. Currently working on 2 of my own, helping with 3 others, all frame off rebuilds, "restomods" if you will. One will be a lifted tow pig, the other is a fun toy wheeler. The tow pig is a shackle flip with custom springs with stock lift. The blazer is a shackle flip with lift springs.

As for ride quality and load handling, I have done mixes of everything on various rigs. If I can keep a decent ride and have it cost less, then it makes sense to go that way. If he's lifting his truck, he's got something in mind for that increased ride height. A flatter spring with a shackle flip will out flex a lift spring. Simply less distance for the spring to flex and provide wheel travel.

to the original poster:

The less arch you have in a spring, the better off you are in the rig. Decreases sway and body roll, increases ride quality. OEM leaf springs these days are thinner, flatter leaves with more in the pack. The old school design leaves were very thick, high arched spring.

A shackle flip will not squat more. It's the principle benefit of the design. Increasing the drop of the brackets or shackles allows a flatter spring that has less squat requirements.

Granted some feel that a shackle flip can decrease tow capacity, as a flipped shackle can provide more leverage against the frame. This is why I like the Diy4x shackle flip, as it ties into the bottom of the frame as stated earlier.

[biggreenchevy]

I do have other stock springs i can put on it. so I think ill buy the shackle flip.....

but do you think i should just bolt it in and should i weld after that

is there any reason not to, the bolts will center so it'll be lined up and i cant think of any reason why i would have to move it later.

Just thinkin out loud.
Wat do you guys think?

[FormerMember]

Originally Posted by biggreenchevy

I do have other stock springs i can put on it. so I think ill buy the shackle flip.....

but do you think i should just bolt it in and should i weld after that

is there any reason not to, the bolts will center so it'll be lined up and i cant think of any reason why i would have to move it later.

Just thinkin out loud.
Wat do you guys think?

Never weld vertically on the frame. It creates a stress zone that could snap the whole section of the frame off. It's why you see most frame repairs with a "fishmouth" plate over a butt weld. They look like <>

[special-K]

I`ve just bolted the shackle-flips I`ve done.I use grade 8 nylocks and lock washers.