more lift for 98 z71

[jamal]

I have a 98 z71 with a 6" suspension and 3" body lift. I want a few more inches lift so I can put on a set of 42" swampers. How can I increase lift? The trans cable is at its limit and a few other pieces prevent a body lift of more than 3" so I really need a suspension. I can get the rear up, but what about the front?

[74Jimmy]

Milwaukee Sawzall time.... & bushwacker fender flares.
Do they make a 8 inch superlift kit ? Donno...

[JIMs70GMC]

solid front axle swap. yep, use a kit from offroadunlimited.com to swap in a 10 bolt or dana 60 and change transfer cases or swap in a high pinion dana44 or dana60 from a ford and retain stock transfer case.

[JIMs70GMC]

http://members.cox.net/spanky02/SAScomplete.JPG

http://outlawoffroadva.com//Gallery/sas12.jpg

[ryan68]

Either a solid front axle swap or a bigger CST lift or Full Traction make make a bigger lift as well. They don't look pretty though cause they are 8-12" IFS drops. Depends on how much you do wheeling, especially with 42's.

[jamal]

Originally Posted by 74Jimmy

Milwaukee Sawzall time.... & bushwacker fender flares.
Do they make a 8 inch superlift kit ? Donno...

I would but I have a stepside, and cant find the rear cutouts

[jamal]

Originally Posted by JIMs70GMC

solid front axle swap. yep, use a kit from offroadunlimited.com to swap in a 10 bolt or dana 60 and change transfer cases or swap in a high pinion dana44 or dana60 from a ford and retain stock transfer case.

That looks expensive to me. I will check it out though. I can already fit 40" tires with 9" of lift so I may just stay with those. I just wanted a little bigger tire. I never take it to the mud just a looker.

[jamal]

I am thinking of building a 5" bodylift to replace the 3". Can I get a longer shifter cable for my factory column shift? That is the only problem I see besides making bumper brackets. I really want the straight axle conversion, but all the reading I have done left me with unanswered questions. I am not sure of what all is involed as steering, and wheel lug pattern is concerned. Would it be easier to swap body over to an older frame with leafs on all corners?

[GMC71k20]

5" b ody lift is scary

[b454rat]

If you have any fab'n skills, you can make your own brackets. ORU is a major waste of money. I bought one for my 89, tho it was nice to just drill and bolt, it ain't worth it. I'm sorta making some brackets for my 97 to run 52" springs for a cheap and easy lift, and an easy ride. Like Jim said, get a Ford front end, that way you don't have to change the transfercase. A freind of mine has one out of a 3/4 ton, has the heavy duty hubs, 4:10s, flat tops. This would be fine for a street pounder or mild wheeler. To keep you 6 lug, find a GM Dana 44 and swap everything from the knuckles out. Now you have 6 lug, and a front end that won't explode. (Which is what is gonna happen to that IFS VERY soon!!!)

AND DON'T EVEN THINK OF A B/L THAT SIZE!!!! NOT ONLY IS IT GAY, IT'S INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS!!!!

[jamal]

ok, body lift is out then. when do you plan on doing your '97? What about the steering? Great info, and thanks. If your selfmade brackets work let me know. Would you be willing to sell a set? What are the 52" springs from?

[b454rat]

Things have changed for the worse, so I have to sell my 97. I was gonna lift enough to clear 38s. If I can sell my car, then I might keep it, and then do the swap. But I really want to sell both so I can pay my bills and save some money. The springs I was gonna use were just stock rear springs off a 1/2 truck, blazer or suburban, whatever my buddy had close to being torched off. He owns a junkyard and I can get alot of stuff for nothing, or a case or two of beer. (I deliver beer). I have to get a set of springs first, to see where the centerpin is, if it's centered, then it won't be that hard to fab up a set of brackets. But when I do, I could sell them, and make a couple extra sets and take them to Bloomsburg next year.

[jamal]

I am interested if you have a set for sale. Just need info on how to set steering up.

[special-K]

IMHO,I wouldn`t put more than a 33" tire on the stock IFS,lifted or not(you still havestock susp. w/IFS lift).I may do a 4"lift to clear my 285/75s better and get a tougher stance.But,I wouldn`t even do 12.50/33s on IFS,that`s me though.I would go to the solid axle conversion.These newer GMs are expensive to lift,that`s the way it is.Remember,35"is maximum recommended tire for Dana44 or 12-bolt axles.You can use upgrade axle shafts and u-joints on an 8-lug and get more beef,but that`s money and just helps the 3/4t axles survive more w/35s.This is my advise,do what you like.Just know that there`s no cheap solution and going full-tilt to swapping 1t solid will be cheapest in the long run if your gonna `wheel those big tires.

[jamal]

I know stuff will tear up, and big tires really abuse the moving parts, but I like a big truck, and am handy with tools. Like right now I have to replace ball joints on both sides, and brakes but it is worth it to me. When I bought it the motor was blown (built it up to approx 350-365hp) and the transfer case went out and fixed it, now tranny is going out I suspect it is also due to big tires. I bought a pro super kit, and am beefing the tranny up to handle it better but this one hung in for 100k. I am going to change to a straight axle later, but if I didn't tear it up I wouldn't have anything to play with I understand your point but love my truck and even want it bigger. I am running 35x14.50 but want a 38 or 40. 38" tires actually fit, but need to lower gear ratio a little the last ones pulled the motor down a little.

[special-K]

I like big trucks,too.Sounds cool.

[b454rat]

Steering is the easy part. Whatever axle you use, you will need a crossover arm for the pass side. This is the easiest to do on a Dana 60 cause you unbolt the cap and bolt on the steering arm. On Dana 44 or 10 bolt, you need to get a flat top knuckle, have it machined flat, and have three holes drilled in it. Basically it has to look like the drivers side arm. Arms for either one are around $100. Couple ways around the pitman arm, which is off the steering box. I used a stock arm off a 1/2 ton 77-79 Ford 4wd. Can't use 3/4, way different arm. With that arm and just the crossover arm, my draglink is almost flat, which is what you want. I'm running just about 6" all together. If you go bigger, you will need a spacer to put under the arm, and maybe a drop down pitman arm old number is SUP-1104. But it's for the 77-79 1/2 Ford, they run about $60. For the draglink, use a tierod off mid 80s 1/2 and 3/4 ton 4wds. It's 3 pieces, and the center tube is what you want. Get the axle in at the height you want, then measure pitman arm to steering arm, in both directions, and then cut to length. Dont' forget to figure in the draglinks. Besides the crossover arm, I have about $20 in my crossover.

[jamal]

Great info. You said yours is lifted 6" but your truck looks a lot bigger than mine and I have 9"s of lift. What size tires you running?

[full foot notch]

IIRC , ORU uses the factory brackets from the 3500HD truck, all bolton stuff from what i have seen

the ORU kit is going to be around $900 plus shipping
the 12"superlift springs are $300 for the pair plus bushings


alot of people i know around here use a square tube crossmember, either 3x3 or 4x4 plus the tabs for the leaf springs which equate to another 3 inches, so 7 inchs of lift in the crossmember, and the fab shackle mounts on the rear of hte front

as for the rear, depending on the leaf spring length, if its 52 eye to eye, the biggest off the shelf is 8 inches, or if your like my explorer which is 56 inch eye to eye, the biggest is a 6inch lift , if you want to get custom made springs for the length you want, its either going to be $500 for the pair or $1k for the pair (i cannot exactly remember since its been a while since i inquired on spring price)

either way, your going to prolly spend close to $2k to lift it to really clear the tires you want to

and for some math, the 42s you wanting to go with, the R is 21 if the D is 42(if its a true 42(like the tire size it advertises) like most of the interco tires i have seen) , so say you run a 38 right now, that is only mathmatically a 19, so theoretically it would be 2 inches outward one way (IE 2 inches higher from the ground and 2 inches closer to hte truck)

[full foot notch]

the front hanger and shackle kit(from chucks trucks)

the center locating pin to center locating pin is 32 pin to pin, which is most every straight axle chevy pickup

[jamal]

That is awesome. Great kit. Doesn't look too hard. You guys are a lot of help. This don't look like $900 though. Do you sell your kit? What did you make the back brackets out of? Square tubing? So, really the only thing is to find my front end and go to work. What year differential has the high pinion and of coarse drivers side driveshaft? Or is it better to change out xfer case to pass side?

[full foot notch]

that tube crossmember is NOT the ORU $900 kit, that tube crossmember is the 4x4 tube crossmember with the mounting tabs

as for the axle, the one that is going to work with the driver side pumpkin is the 78-79 ford Dana 60, which is going to cost you between 1k-1500(at least here in FL), and finding those has been hell for me, i think it would be easier to switch over to a pass side Tcase(i think either 203 or 208) and run a chevy D60, which can be found easily and for around $800 for hte axle

[jamal]

do the xfer cases bolt right to my 4l60e? I knew that was your set up, but by looking at how you fabbed your kit, the oru kit would not be worth $900 to me. I believe I will do something like what you have. BTW if anyone wants to trade a set of 38" or bigger tires for the super swamper radials I have I am interested. They have about 75% tread or better and ar 35x14.50x16.6 and I am looking for same or better condition with width atleast 14.5 on a 16.5 rim. I am willing to outright or I can give boot. Mine cost 1370 just a few months ago with maybe 1500 miles.

[full foot notch]

i think it might work, something about the 203 and 208 should bolt up to a 700r4 and from what i remember, the 4l60 is pretty much an electronic 700r4

also, you can buy the tube crossmember and shackle set up from chuckstrucks.com , its a local shop near me, but ya can call the shop and order the parts and they ship thruout the US

[b454rat]

Those pics in my link are old ones when the trucked was still lifted. Then it had about 12" plus or minus and running 40s. (that measured 38.5") I will get some new pics of the truck as it sits now. Running 4" springs in the front, and stock rears with a shackle flip and lowered front mounts. Sits level, flexes decent, but haven't driven it yet cause it still needs shock. Ass end bounces all over the driveway. Got a set of 315s for a good price and Bloomsburg, once I put some nicer rims on it, won't look too bad. But it's still a play truck, tho it will be my d/d. Incase anybody wants a truck, selling my 97 that is in my pics link. I took some dimensions of the ORU kit and put them on paper, they are the ones that I want to make for running 52s. Does anybody know if the center pin is centered on 52s?? I want to put them on the front of the 89 so I can sell the ORU kit next summer at Bloomsburg.