What kind of lift kit would you recommend

As far as steering correction after you do a lift you can do a drop steering arm off the steering gearbox or a raised steering arm. Some say you want the drag link parallel to the ground. That is only an accurate statement when your truck is stock height.
As you raise it you leaf springs start getting an arch to them and are no longer flat, or even reverse arch. ORD states it is best to try at match the angle of the leaf spring pack.



This was after changing from a 3" lift to a 5" lift. The more flexible your suspension is the more bumpsteer you have. With these flexible ORD custom springs it was very hard to drive the truck safely down the road. The drop pitman arm wasn't enough. I put the stock arm back on and used a raised steering arm to get this:

Grit dog said:

In general, the more it costs, the better it is. If you buy it from ORD its GOOD but keep a firm grip on your credit card!
Rear, blocks, shackle flip, or springs, not a big deal, IMO, unless you're going to put some big power through it that would make the blocks inferior or need the batter ride of new soft ride springs in back.
Front, drop Pittman arm, not drop drag link preferable. Much over 4" lift and crossover steering is MUCH better. Springs, Rough Countrys ride like **** (I have em), unless you're after a super stiff set of springs.
35s, IMO 4" is min, in front. Well 3" on a 3500 since they sit a little higher than a K20. Someone with more experience than me will give you better advice.
This is 4" front and back with 35s (315-75-16) on a 3/4 ton for reference.

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Perfect setup!

I started with a Rough Country lift and stock everything else. 35” tires on 20x10 -24 wheels.

Rough Ride, kinda sucked.

Removing sway bar completely helped. So much that I scrapped it and all the hardware associated.

Rode like that for a few years.

Dropped tire pressure down to 30psi. Helped some more.

Under compression, front tires will contact the fender near the firewall.

Added crossover steering, did nothing for the ride obviously but steering was great. NWO knuckle on eBay, ORD pitman arm, steering arm and bent drag link.

Crossover steering allowed me to make the best upgrade (and cheapest). Remove the bottom spring from the pack, replace it with WFO Concepts 1/2” axle relocation plates and top plate. Was like $100 all in. Moving the axle forward 1” keeps it out of the fender. Slightly longer wheelbase on my K5 is a plus. The biggie is the way smoother ride. No change in height (ok, maybe 1/4” lower?) and it rides/handles great. Still not a Cadillac but the best lifted/leaf spring 4x4 I’ve ridden in.

I am perfectly happy with the ride now. I can even drive off road at a decent rate without getting jarred. I don’t have to creep over speed bumps anymore.

It feels as good if not better than the 2” Tough Country EZ rides on a friends Jimmy.

I guess it all depends on where you’re starting. I wouldn’t recommend buying a new RC lift just to modify it if starting from scratch, but you have options. The old “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

@wlwarnke , did you leave the sway bar off after removing a leaf too?
Our truck has some Rough country front springs that would hold up a house.
Once I get it back together I’ll mess with the front suspension. Need to move the axle forward with an offset plate as well and plan on disconnecting the sway bar, which I’m pretty certain will help the ride and not be too soft.

Grit dog said:

@wlwarnke , did you leave the sway bar off after removing a leaf too?
Our truck has some Rough country front springs that would hold up a house.
Once I get it back together I’ll mess with the front suspension. Need to move the axle forward with an offset plate as well and plan on disconnecting the sway bar, which I’m pretty certain will help the ride and not be too soft.

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I scrapped my bar. Gone. No mas.

I'd like to add that I normally, almost always think that lifted/dropped trucks look like they sag out back.
I will like to introduce the idea of making the rear different than the front.

Grit dog said:

@wlwarnke , did you leave the sway bar off after removing a leaf too?
Our truck has some Rough country front springs that would hold up a house.
Once I get it back together I’ll mess with the front suspension. Need to move the axle forward with an offset plate as well and plan on disconnecting the sway bar, which I’m pretty certain will help the ride and not be too soft.

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If you want to keep the sway bar, or add it back later for any reason either ORD or DIY4x make end links for them. This would allow the axle to move through its arc without the rigid mounted sway bar interfering.

I’ve looked at them but honestly haven’t once felt like I needed a sway bar.

None.
If you just want to go slighter taller get some 255/85-16's.
These don't hit and fill the wheel wells nicely.

Grit dog said:

In general, the more it costs, the better it is. If you buy it from ORD its GOOD but keep a firm grip on your credit card!
Rear, blocks, shackle flip, or springs, not a big deal, IMO, unless you're going to put some big power through it that would make the blocks inferior or need the batter ride of new soft ride springs in back.
Front, drop Pittman arm, not drop drag link preferable. Much over 4" lift and crossover steering is MUCH better. Springs, Rough Countrys ride like **** (I have em), unless you're after a super stiff set of springs.
35s, IMO 4" is min, in front. Well 3" on a 3500 since they sit a little higher than a K20. Someone with more experience than me will give you better advice.
This is 4" front and back with 35s (315-75-16) on a 3/4 ton for reference.

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That's a beautiful truck

cstew47 said:

That's a beautiful truck

Click to expand...

Thanks!
It’s getting better too…now time to finish it up and get it back together…

niiiiice!

2” Tuff Country EZ Rides
285/75 R16. 33” diameter

Joshua Keith said:

2” Tuff Country EZ Rides
285/75 R16. 33” diameter

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CLEAN! Nicely done my friend

the op has one of the best types of truck to lift. being long, crewys are very easy to lift with minimal work.
i got 8" springs in my crew with cut out flares, makes my 38's look small, my 42's fill the wheelwells nicer.
with a 4" lift, seriously doubt you will need any driveshaft mods. with 8" i'm running pretty close to stock shafts. rear shaft is 100% stock, my t-case is lowered an inch, and because we have 2 piece rear shafts, i put a 2" drop spacer on the steady bearing mount. i went from 4" of slip on it to 3 1/2" of slip, seriously doubt you'd ever pull the other 3 1/2" out.
front shaft is mostly stock, ground out the stops in the cv, and bought a longer hi angle slip yoke for like 100 bucks or so.
i used to run a swaybar with 3" drops, but ditched it when went cross over. and crossover is perfectly fine to use on the street, don't know why guys knock it for street use, their not "looser" or gnarly or anything like that at all. wit either the 38's or 42's on it, it steers with one finger. much better than the steering arm, dropped drag and dropped pitman i was runnin'.


if you haul loads, i would stay away from rear lift springs. i had 4" rear springs with 4" shackle flips, carrying my camper and quad trailer sagged them right out in a couple yrs.
so i put the HD 9 pack factory leafs back in with the shackle flips and added a 3" block. with 5000lb airbags added as well, it will haul anything i can manage to fit in the back.
a cheap upgrade for your brakes, would highly recommend going braided stainless, your brakes will firm right up and feel much better.
shocks? wouldn't bother with fancy expensive shocks, some good nitrogens will work fine. short of loading a ton in the back, k30 crews ride like sh!t. d60's and 14b's are a lot of mass bouncing under ya.
i prob have about $1200 in my lift, a grand on cross over and prob a grand on other lifted stuff for it-tires will drain your wallet pretty fast though...it takes dedication to drop $3-4000 on tires