Suspension/Tire Question

[HIGHROLLER]

New to these square body trucks and I see alot of setups that you guys are running but alot of them seems like there is some trimming/cutting to the fenders. Im not technically looking for the biggest tire I can run, but if I was to run a 6" suspension and 3" BL what would be the most proportional tire setup. I dont want it to look anorexic but not gawdy either.

 

[crazy4offroad]

Is it going to be a street queen or a trail boss?

 

[HIGHROLLER]

Well I'm not calling it a street queen but its not gonna be on a lot of trails. There's not any around here anyway. It will be a hunt truck and used around the farm. So, call it how you see it haha.

 

[burbdood]

Do yourself a favor and forget the body lift. I had a friend of mine who had a Jeep Wagoneer with a body lift on it. One night we were going down a trail and we had to cross a ditch that was pretty deep. My Blazer went through no problem but he hit it with a little too much force and sheered the bolts right in two. The body shifted forward and caused a God awful amount of damage to all kinds of things. So there he sat, front wheels in the ditch, nose of the truck in the dirt and his pride dissapearing like a scared cat in the night.

I just have never liked the idea of raising the body off of the frame of my rig and trusting 3" tall pucks to keep it in place. There's just too much leverage on those mounting bolts if you hit something. Not to mention all of the modifying you have to do to fuel fillers, wiring, steering linkages, tranny linkages, etc., etc., etc.

A good 6" suspension lift and a little fender trimming and you can clear 36" to 37" tires. Just the lift and no trimming, you can clear 35's no sweat. If you do go with the B.L. and the 6" lift, you can clear 38's, maybe 40's if you don't flex the suspension too much.

 

[skysurfer]

I would check what's inside the differentials first. A truck turning all four wheels on stock suspension will go farther than one that's lifted but running open diffs.

 

[crazy4offroad]

Keep in mind when your tire size increases above 35" they become harder to balance, and by the time you get to 38" tall tires you better really like your truck to put up with the ride quality you'll have. If I were you I would go 4 or 6" of lift, NO body lift as mentioned above, and 35 to 36" tires. 37" Goodyear hummer tires might even be an OK choice. Then, aslo as mentioned above, put a locker in the rear/ limited slip in the front and go pretty much anywhere. Put a winch on the front and be practically unstoppable.

 

[HIGHROLLER]

Thanks for the input guys. I see where a body lift could get sketchy if I hit something hard. So 37s will clear on a 6 inch lift? Also every where I look at a 8 inch lift they talk about all kinds if driveline modifications and steering and one even said exhaust. Could some explain the work that goes with a 8 inch lift. Just overall unsure which way to go with the truck now that cons of a BL have been brought up.

 

[HIGHROLLER]

Forgot to add the truck already has a 4 inch lift and 32s. I'm on my phone so I can't get a pic on here but there is one on my intro post if you wanna see it.

 

[skysurfer]

Looked at the intro pic, that's already a nice setup and would be awesome for the offroad use you mentioned with C4O's suggestions.

8" lift? I sense your real goal is a tipsy mall-crawler so I'm outa here.

 

[crazy4offroad]

8" lift you have driveline angle issues to address, and the front can be a real bitch depending on the trans you have. The steering angle really becomes a bitch to deal with higher than 6", and once you think you have it fixed with raised steering arm, lowered pitman arm, or whatever combination of parts gets it done, when you hit the trail the geometry of the factory steering setup becomes useless in a trail trist in one direction or another, depending on the twist. Then you have to go crossover steering. Believe me you're better off with 6" or less lift, 36" or less tire size.

 

[sean1960]

Don't rule out a 3" body lift and 6" suspension lift combo. The 6" suspension lift will a-void the pitfalls of the 8" lift. The 3" body lift is one of the least expensive ways to lift a truck. I have a friend that had a 76 square with a 3" body lift and 8" suspension lift running 40" monster mudders. We were all out playing, he was in 2 wheel drive because his front driveshaft was broken again (common with 8" or greater lift). Anyway he was trying to climb a hill and ended up rolling it down the hill. This was a very large hill and the truck rolled several times, my friend got beat up in the roll, but the truck body never separated from the frame. The body lift bolts bent but the body did not come off the frame.

 

[hirschdalechevy]

I have had 3" body lift's on two of my square's and I beat the hell out of them with 0 problem's
As far as lifts 6" easy , 8" have to mess around with drive shaft's

You could go 6" syspension and a 2" body and be at 8" , easy clean set up and run 37's

I would also like to see a stock truck with locker's out in the lake bed mud or deep snow where we go , ( sorry not going to happen , locker's or not)

 

[bucket]

Safe or not, I don't like body lifts. The bumper gaps are horrible, plus you have to hack the fan shroud and lengthen a bunch of other stuff. And who want's to deal with rusty body mount bolts? And if it's a K5, you lose the tailgate tension rods. Ever try to close one of those without rods and with only one hand? That's a lot of crap to deal with just to keep from messing with drive shafts Plus, a fresh shaft made for an 8 inch lift is going to hold up better than reusing a worn out stock shaft with a 6 inch lift.

So, a body lift that provides a little tire clearance... or a suspension lift that provides tire clearance AND frame clearance? I know which one I'll always choose.

 

[hirschdalechevy]

Safe or not, I don't like body lifts. The bumper gaps are horrible, plus you have to hack the fan shroud and lengthen a bunch of other stuff. And who want's to deal with rusty body mount bolts? And if it's a K5, you lose the tailgate tension rods. Ever try to close one of those without rods and with only one hand? That's a lot of crap to deal with just to keep from messing with drive shafts Plus, a fresh shaft made for an 8 inch lift is going to hold up better than reusing a worn out stock shaft with a 6 inch lift.

So, a body lift that provides a little tire clearance... or a suspension lift that provides tire clearance AND frame clearance? I know which one I'll always choose.

Some people like them and some don't but on my two square's raising the bumper's and tank's was to easy , (most people did'nt know I had a body lift) and lowering the fan shroud was a piece of cake to.

I have even ran 1" body lift's just for that little bit more fender clearance.

I do agree , new drive shaft's are the way to go , but costly.

 

[Cowboy Cadillac]

I run a 3" body lift and have no issues. I would prefer a suspension lift but the PO intalled the lift. It is all based on your pocketbook, the look you want and how you intend to use it.

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