Help need with lift choices and the law

this one is hideous in my opinion, but you can see how an aftermarket taller bumper can get you in the required range. and if you get one that has a slant to the front profile, it won't change your approach angle too much.

edit: there might even be a solution that involves a removable bar or piece that puts you at legal height on the road, but you can take off for wheeling.

Frankenchevy said:

you could always do all suspension lift and relocate and/or get taller bumpers. throw a front porch on that thing.

most people I talk to say you need to address the steering on anything over 2-3" lift.

roundhouse has a point about the headlights. you need to re-aim them after a big lift. nothing worse than some jack hole behind you with the low beams blinding you through your mirrors.

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that's all the rage up here. Put the leveling kit on, then don't re-aim the lights. Bonus points if you change them out for some of those super blue bastards.

CSFJ said:

that's all the rage up here. Put the leveling kit on, then don't re-aim the lights. Bonus points if you change them out for some of those super blue bastards.

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the worst is when they are flickery up and down. every bump damn near makes you epileptic.

Frankenchevy said:

the worst is when they are flickery up and down. every bump damn near makes you epileptic.

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LMAO. the true sign of that says I bought my headlight assemblies from Ebay

JBJREX said:

You bring up some things I had not considered as far as the stress on the mounts and the steering. I had already planned on the fuel lines needing some attention. I may still end up doing a body lift just because a body lift gains lift without raising my bumper or frame above the 29” rule. But this is very helpful to at least plan for. Thanks.

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Do they count the black part of the bumper or just the metal part. That’s an extra 4” if they count it. And if you thave a receiver hitch make up a mini bumper that can be removed.

Gotta buy a new house or a bulldozer or a brickbat. Keep writing tickets officer. Pretty soon the judge will get tired of seeing you for this.

How about snow plow hydraulics on the bumpers. Then you can raise or lower them as needed....

Honky Kong jr said:

Do they count the black part of the bumper or just the metal part. That’s an extra 4” if they count it. And if you thave a receiver hitch make up a mini bumper that can be removed.

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The Va law says they measure to the bottom of the bumper. And if the bumper has been moved they measure to the frame. That would be worse because my bumper is a bit bent and hangs below my frame an inch or so right now. If it weren’t for all of these laws we could have so much more fun.

What if you pie your frame, and angle the last 2 or 3 feet of it downwards? Do a tube across to attach both sides, like a semi? Mount the bumper up high with the body

How about a drop down?

It looks like a GVW over 7501 brings the bumper height limit up to 30". Are you sure your K20 isn't above that 7501 GVW? My K25 camper special is rated at 8200 GVW.

If you are planning to have teenage drivers using this truck on the road, I would want the lift to be very stable so that it does not affect highway handling. My preference would be to use a spring lift of about 4", and use 35" tires. I don't like the looks of body lifts, and I can see how they could allow for more flex under load.

Bruce

I've got a 4" lift in the front, 4" shackle flip in the back with 35" BFG KO2's. Running around town was fine, but large bumps while turning contacted the fenders.

Added a leaf and a 3/4" block helped out a lot.

Wanted more height, so added a 2" body lift. Needed to extend the shift linkage, the fan shroud no longer fits (making a custom one), need to raise the bumper or make a new one since the core support lip is about level with the top of the bumper now. Also, steering needs to be corrected. Currently only have a drop pitman arm, still need a raised arm off the axle to level out the drag link. So i've got a bit of a limitation in making tight left turns at the moment too.


Can guarantee that wont have any issues running 35's, 36's and maybe 37's since around a 5-6" suspension lift + 2" body lift.

To my best understanding in virginia, you were allowed to go higher than 31 inches on a personal vehicle, if and only if cab marker lights and the proper side clearance lights are used.

theblindchicken said:

I've got a 4" lift in the front, 4" shackle flip in the back with 35" BFG KO2's. Running around town was fine, but large bumps while turning contacted the fenders.

Added a leaf and a 3/4" block helped out a lot.

Wanted more height, so added a 2" body lift. Needed to extend the shift linkage, the fan shroud no longer fits (making a custom one), need to raise the bumper or make a new one since the core support lip is about level with the top of the bumper now. Also, steering needs to be corrected. Currently only have a drop pitman arm, still need a raised arm off the axle to level out the drag link. So i've got a bit of a limitation in making tight left turns at the moment too.


Can guarantee that wont have any issues running 35's, 36's and maybe 37's since around a 5-6" suspension lift + 2" body lift.

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Can you tell me more about your 4" shackle flip? I've been thinking about either the 4" or the 2.5" flip...

-It would bug the hell out of me to have the rear tires not centered in the wheel well. Did you use a zero rate block to move the axle back?
-Did you then have to shim the yoke back down (if you have a long bed)

I was thinking about just doing the 2.5" shackle flip, the 1" zero rate block (don't know if I'd have to move the axle rearwards) and then get my factory leaf springs rebuilt. This would be around 4" also...

Posted in another thread, but same information applies here.





I went with ORD's 4" shackle flip with their stock length HD shackles and all new greaseable poly bushings and bolts in the entire rear end. I removed a leaf or two (7+1 or 8+1 down to a 6+1 pack) from the rear 52" spring pack as well as a 3/4" block and flipped the overloads.

I haven't recentered or shimmed the rear end yet. But looking at a couple new photos, the pinion is up a little over the driveshaft. So looks like a small shim would correct that, just need to measure the angle difference and get it adjusted.

Yes, truck is a long bed and I did get a bit of axle wrap when turning a hard right and romping on the throttle. Made me start looking into traction bars or a 3/4-link setup. Currently figuring out a way I can remove the spare tire and install a cantilever rear end. Roughly 20"-22" of travel without modifying the frame and being limited by the u-joint angles.


I believe that the bushings and greasable bolts were probably the biggest contributing factor (besides removing the leafs) since the old rubber bushings were all cracked up and the bushing couldn't rotate at all. I also saw that the factory spring bushings and shackle bushings had a bit of teeth on them to grab the shackle and shackle mount that restricted movement. My guess is that GM designed them that way to possibly increase the weight capacity or to help limit the movement of a load during small motions in the suspension.