68 axle swap and lift

[First c10]

Good morning guys,
I did a little research on the 68 lifting problems. The parts that ORD quoted are just Tuff Country springs nothing out of the ordinary that I can see. Just that the rear are 52" and the front need spacers at the shackles. Other than that the 69-72 lift is the one to use. Tuff country has the lift kit #14612KN. It has the 52" rear springs I will try to measure my rear stock springs today and let everyone know my findings.

Msgross, I looked over your build great job. My 68 frame is not dimpled for a power steering box so I will be going the spacer route and will be updating all the brake lines and installing a new master with prop valve for the 73 front axle I will be installing.
Thanks for the comments
Scott

[msgross]

cool, I remember looking into a lift years ago but wasn't finding many options. My springs were in good shape but the bushings were shot so I just installed poly's, add-a-leaf and ORD longer shackles.

I like the look of a 4" with 33x12.5's though.

[First c10]

Hey guys been busy at work.
So I measured the rear leafs and they are 56" in a 68. Must be original because the mounts are riveted in. Anyone else have a 67-68 with 44 front leafs and 56" rears?

[mud.man.rj]

There sure are a lot of differences from 67-72, a lot of uninformed think all are the same, nice to have the help on this site, sure makes a difference for a build.

[special-K]

It seems whoever I buy springs for a 69-72 truck from, they always ask 52" or 56". I always wondered what trucks got 56" because mine have always been 52". I had 56" Tuff Country 4" EZ-rides on my '91 Suburban. They definitely have a spring for you. Those would bolt right up. I sold mine to a member for his 69-72 Blazer that he was going to move the brackets back on, for a better ride and/or off road flex

[First c10]

From what I found from talking to the lift companies the 56" were on the k20 trucks and suburbans but rare on k10 trucks. My guess it's because it's a lwb truck. Also when I talk with the lift companies they all say the 69-72 kit will fit the front of the 67-68. So my question is why don't they say it in there discriptions instead of 69-72? Confusing!

[msgross]

spring width I think...

[whtgmc68]

When I installed a 6" lift to my 68 LWB, I woulnd up calling Sky Jacker and giving them my factory leaf spring lengths and they sent me a full set of Soft Ride springs. The rears bolted right in but the fronts required the use of a 6" rear shackle. The longer shackle made the front a little higher than the rear so I installed an add-a-leaf in the rear and now the stance is perfect. I can't remember the part numbers that were on the springs since it has been 4 years since I did the lift.

I would think they could do something similar for a 4" lift.

[msgross]

zero rate springs from ORD are also a good way to get 1" of lift, and you can move the axle back to center in wheel well, while not changing ride comfort.

[First c10]

My front spring width is 3" and of course tapers to 2.5"and the axle than back to 3". All the people I talked with say just add a thick washer or get bushings with thicker shoulders to make up w difference for the width.
I have an email into suspension connection in regards to getting a kit with the correct length rear springs and front bushing widths.

[argonaut]

Today I measured the rear springs on my Dad's 68 GMC C10. Springs were 52" long, with the center pin located 24" from the front eye and 28" from the rear eye. They measured 2-1/4" wide.

I'm not 100% sure but I'm assuming that these would be the same as K10 rear springs.

Maybe this will help with something.

[First c10]

*Update to this thread*
I ended up calling Tough Country and they instructed me to call Suspension Connection(which I found out later is directly across the street from TC). They said that they don't have a package with 56" rear springs but to call SC and they could make the change from the 52" to 56" they also were able to remove the steering arm from the package and not charge me the difference in the bigger springs as I didn't need the raised steering arm because I had a dropped pit-man already. The package was delivered yesterday and thought I would updated this thread... I also started a build thread .

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=659275

[First c10]

In case anyone wants to know what I ordered to lift the 68 k10. Well it's not installed yet but it is ordered. Page 1

[First c10]

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[mud.man.rj]

Good for you, exciting cool parts are coming. I ordered ner rims and tires for my 86 4wd, but 6 weeks for all of it, hard to wait that long, $3,500 total. Will be nice to see pic's when you get it installed.