BTW that's just IMO.
DID you have to cut your fenders to fit those 39s ?
Also I have 2" add a leafs with 4" blocks in the back so maybe that's why I notice the wind a bit when on the highway. maybe even some of the towing issues.
I was going to replace that with 6" springs but I cant find any just 4"
Ah! You were talking all the way round and under too! I was simply going with driveline fatigue.
I agree with almost everything you said there except for one...the steering arm. four inches was tall as they make but at least back in the day a two inch spacer could be bought to go under it. Maybe it wasn't the greatest of ideas but it was effective at reducing bump steer, actually it eliminated it entirely.
I only had to trim the rear of the front openings at the bottom about 2" at an angle. Quick sawzall work or cutoff wheel work. Didn't come close to the mounting bolt IIRC.
Gotta remember that at the time suspensions where pretty much in their infancy. Weren't no such thing as aftermarket store bought rear lift springs when I got mine. They could be custom built of course. So I had the 4" springs with a 2" or so block to make it level. I also had the trailmaster anti rotation traction bars on it. I found they are still made, or something similar anyway, and they worked well for what I used them for. But they broke often due to the horsepower I had or something.
As for towing with a heavy load? I can't say, a 12' uhaul doesn't carry much after a Harley, a console TV and bed frame are put in it. Maybe 2500lbs. 3000 max overall. Never hauled much in the short box other than firewood while camping and the three wheeler.
As for the height to work in the engine compartment...nope, not from the ground. The only way was with my knees wedged onto the front bumper or sitting inside on the fender or standing on the rim or top of the tire. Try sitting in a new truck!
When I went from 4" to the 6" I didn't lengthen the front driveshaft either but I had an entirely new rear one made. I used the largest tubing the shop could find commonly used u-joints for (5" IIRC). The drive shaft yoke was larger than the 14 bolt yoke so I used a jump joint. Never had any problems that weren't self inflicted by lack of maintenance on my part.
However, I let a fellow wheeler borrow my truck down on the Black River when a monster truck we were wheeling with got a flat. They ran back to camp to get the equipment necessary to change the tire. My buddy was driving (the fellow wheeler) and he was drunk, as we all were normally on the river, and he hit a large gravel berm at speed. A pretty good one it seems because they told me they felt like the hang-time was about ten minutes.
. Any way he gets back and gets out of my truck, reached in the back and brings out what was left of my front driveshaft.
The splines broke at the tube. I immediately crawl under under the truck to see the other damage...hmmm..couldn't be from MY truck, yet it was from my truck unless they were the best liars on the planet. But since I'd known my buddy since grade school I finally decided they were telling the truth. How the underside of my truck wasn't destroyed by the broken driveshaft, the jump, and more so the landing, is beyond me. But there was NO other damage than the driveshaft. He took it into town and the local garage had one that fit for $25. I let him buy it for me just out of the kindness of my heart.
That's a GMC for ya, they take a beating and keep runnin.
Anyway, getting in and out when I owned that at the ripe old age of 24-29 it was hard getting in and out. And when folks grabbed the door to give themselves an assist I yelled pretty badly them. The doors IMHO where not made that kind of weight bearing. I told em to grab the A-pillar with one hand and the back of the seat or the B-pillar with the other. After they did it that way they found it was just as easy.
