De-Lift or Not? 72 K20

[72-c20]

it's a 72 K20 with a 4" lift. (Blocks in rear). (see sig)
it has 33's on right now, but on 15x10 wheels.
I'm going to 16x7 wheels, and possibly 285/75R16 tires. tires should help highway driving with the 4.10 gears.

The end goal for the truck is to be a tow rig for my car trailer and wheeler, and some daily driving. I will eventually be adding AC to it as well.

the de-lift in back is "easy" enough, just remove the block and put regular U-bolts back on it.

the front I'm guessing I either need to get a set of original springs, or remove some from the existing lift pack, and put on a stock pitman arm.

it's got a nice heavy bumper in back, but I'm thinking of getting a chrome on to match the JY one I picked up, and having a decent frame receiver hitch put on it...

opinions? de-lift, or keep it. how to do the front.?
are 3/4 ton springs diff between 2wd and 4wd?
SPID lists Heavy Rear Spring as an option.

are front leafs diff between 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton?

[FormerMember]

Originally Posted by 72-c20

it's a 72 K20 with a 4" lift. (Blocks in rear). (see sig)
it has 33's on right now, but on 15x10 wheels.
I'm going to 16x7 wheels, and possibly 285/75R16 tires. tires should help highway driving with the 4.10 gears.

The end goal for the truck is to be a tow rig for my car trailer and wheeler, and some daily driving. I will eventually be adding AC to it as well.

the de-lift in back is "easy" enough, just remove the block and put regular U-bolts back on it.

the front I'm guessing I either need to get a set of original springs, or remove some from the existing lift pack, and put on a stock pitman arm.

it's got a nice heavy bumper in back, but I'm thinking of getting a chrome on to match the JY one I picked up, and having a decent frame receiver hitch put on it...

opinions? de-lift, or keep it. how to do the front.?
are 3/4 ton springs diff between 2wd and 4wd?
SPID lists Heavy Rear Spring as an option.

are front leafs diff between 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton?

Really need pics, but lifted trucks alway behave differently.

That said, I am lifting my tow rig project 6"

I assume you mean rear springs and they are different heights.

[TyJ]

Don't know the difference tween 1/2 and 3/4 but I can tell you I am runnin 285 75 R16 with 2.5 skyjacker softride lift and it would definetly rub at stock height on those tires, atleast mine would, those tires only measure about a half to 3/4" smaller than 33"

[79oldj]

I would definitely lower it to stock or close to stock height. Lifted daily drivers eat parts simply because of the extra wear and tear caused by different drive train angles especially u joints. Also your engine is working that much harder to turn larger tires. Especially on a tow vehicle. I drive a shortbed 4x4 with a 4" lift and do replace a lot of drive train parts. Just my personal opinion.

[Wreckless_71]

79oldj sorry I have to disagree with you man. A lifted daily driver will be just as reliable as a stock hight rig if it's done the right way. The lift kits are designed to adjust properly for the pinion angles, as far as U-joints go all you can do is keep them greased and make sure to buy decent ones. They're a wear part they're ment to break or fail so that you aren't twisting your driveline out from under there. If you're gonna lift a truck and slap some bigger tires on without re-gearing you're not gonna get good gas mileage, and your engine WILL be working harder. Do it right and re-gear while you're under there messing around and you won't have to worry about your engine working any harder than normal. And if it's a tow vehical only then gear it a little lower. I guess if you really look at it lifted, lowered, stock, they all eat parts. These trucks are 36-41 years old, they just didn't have the same technology as we have now. It boils down to what you want to do with YOUR truck..?

[Bnugg]

79oldj I'm gonna have to disagree with you to.I've been driving my jimmy with a 4" lift and 35" tires for 2 years now and never had a problem.Do it right and put the right gears in it and you'll have no problems.

[72blazer_mud_bogger]

if you decide to go back to stock i would trade you front leaves and cash for your lift