What about raising the front end?

[68 custom]

I'm new here so I havent seen alot of the suspension threads. There is tons of info on lowering trucks but not so much for raising. I have a 68 GMC 3/4 ton Custom Camper. I wanted to raise the front to match the back (about 2") so it sits level. I installed a set of 3/4" spring spacers that gave me the lift I wanted. Does anyone know what kind of alignment problems I might run into? Right now it is scrubbing in tight corners (like when parking) so bad that the tires squeal. I had it aligned but I am not real confident in the work that was done. I'm just wondering if the spacers may be messing with the geometry enough that it is outside of what an alignmrnt can compensate for.

[twich3136]

I'm really interested in this. the only solution I've been able to find is to convert to 4wd with a solid axle under the front.

i was just on this links page
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/links/browselinks.php?c=7

there are a lot of useful suppliers there. sounds like your looking for a less costly solution than replacing the front suspension. maybe someone else knows of a solution?

[68 custom]

Surfing around some of the 4X4 sites, it looks like spring spacers will make it difficult to obtain correct camber settings and they can reduce castor.
Looking at the suspension, the spring spacer is raising the the front end to the point that the rubber bumper on the upper a-arm is resting on the crossmember. This could be making it difficult to adjust properly, especially if it is causing some preloading. Also with the suspension being effectively maxed out changes in camber are exagerated with suspension deflection. I see a couple of possible solutions to this. First, installing the upper ball joint on the bottom of the a-arm instead of on the top as they are originally would move the outer end of the a-arm up about 3/8". (the thickness of the ball joint housing and the a-arm). Adding some shims would increase this distance even more and return the a-arm closer to its original range of travel. Second, the casting that the upper a-arm sross shaft attaches to is bolted to the frame with 2 bolts and riveted to the crossmember with like 4 rivets. Removing the rivets should allow the casting to be moved outboard with spacers between the casting and the frame. The rivet holes could then be drilled oversize to re-attach with bolts. The second method would also enable the relocation of the upper a-arm to obtain more castor. Does anyone see any drawbacks or things I may be overlooking with either of these scenarios?

[68 custom]

So... when I noted the tooling marks on the tie rod that I was going to use as a reference to get it back in correctly, I did not notice that there were identical marks on both ends untill I cleaned it. Needles to say I managed to get it in the wrong way. So now it is correct and there is no more scrubbing/squeeling issues. The alignment shop said that they had it in spec. But I am not shure I trust thier accuracy as there was a 20 lb. difference in the tire psi between the two front tires and I measured over a 1/2" of toe in. Not to mention the fact that they did not notice anything wrong with the toe in on turns readings. So it looks as if the spring spacers are going to work out ok.