What do i need to lift my 1987 v30 dually?

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coolseanj

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I have a v30 dually 4 door. I have never lifted a truck before and i need advice. I would like to do a 6in lift. What will i expect and what will i need to do this? What will i have to modify?

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ali_c20

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Get a lift kit, it should contain all parts regarding suspension (springs, shocks, u-bolts, blocks ). Lift springs for the rear axle are better than blocks. Blocks create more leverage and give you more axle wrap. Lift springs are stiffer. A new pitman arm for your steering box matching the lift height.
New longer brake hoses. Some axle shims to get the right angle for your driveshaft. A longer drive shaft. New steering damper.
That's it. Roughly.
 

Rusty Nail

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If I may, CoolSeanJ, I believe it appropiate to further comment with personal experience.

I dunt know if u care or not but welcome to the innernet.

See there was this one time, at band camp, nah- I had a job downtown and was forced to use a parking garage for a couple of MONTHS.
Ida been screwed raw no lube
Because dude it was rude
On a six inch lift my Blazer wouldnt go.
But everything was cool with tha fo.
Inch lift and 33s shaved close like a razor.
From a handy guy with tools in the know.

Fo sho?
Ucgh gawd man thats way too much rapping i gotta go
Need some help just holler like befo
 

bucket

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The requirements for a 6in lift are going to depend on how you use the truck and how much you care about ride quality. But bare minimum, you are looking at front springs, rear 5.5" blocks, extended brake hoses, longer shocks, a 3" steering spacer block and a modified front drive shaft.
 

bucket

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Oh, and wheel spacers to go between the rear duals. Just about any taller tire is going to be wider than the stock tires too.
 

Craig 85

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FYI a 6" lift on a K30 will be the equivelent to an 8" in appearance due to the taller frame of a K30. My 3" lift on my K30 is about a 5" on a K10/20. Before I sold my K10 I made some measurements to compare to the K30. That truck had a 4" lift and the main horizontal body line was an inch lower than the K30. Both were Tuff Country lifts and tires were 32.8" tall on both trucks.

I would decide what you want to do with the truck. I know I'm 6' tall and I wouldn't want to go too much higher if you want the bed to still be usable for day to day hauling, etc. I could have easily run a 35" tire with my set up, but I wanted it to still fit in my garage.

4" Lift '79 K10
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3" Lift '85 K30
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bucket

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What tire size did you have in mind anyway? The nice thing about a dually and the narrow tires is that you can easily clear more tire height with less lift. 4" is all you need to clear skinny 35's or 36's. I've never measured it, but I think stock for stock, a DRW K30 has a narrower front track width than a SRW K30.

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shiftpro

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FYI a 6" lift on a K30 will be the equivelent to an 8" in appearance due to the taller frame of a K30. My 3" lift on my K30 is about a 5" on a K10/20. Before I sold my K10 I made some measurements to compare to the K30. That truck had a 4" lift and the main horizontal body line was an inch lower than the K30. Both were Tuff Country lifts and tires were 32.8" tall on both trucks.

I would decide what you want to do with the truck. I know I'm 6' tall and I wouldn't want to go too much higher if you want the bed to still be usable for day to day hauling, etc. I could have easily run a 35" tire with my set up, but I wanted it to still fit in my garage.

4" Lift '79 K10
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3" Lift '85 K30
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Craig every time you post of pic of that silver and white shorty I **** my pants. STOP IT!
 

shiftpro

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I would never ever use lift springs over 4". The extra arch certainly gives you a stiffer ride.... like LESS articulation. But fear not, there is a perfect solution in reverse shackle technology. See ORD or DIY4x4.

Like Craig said, a 6" lift on a one ton is like an 8" lift on a K1500. Consider a 4" lift and if you want more use 1" body lift. Not 2" or 3"... gay and
causes problems down the road.

Awesome truck btw... just as it is.
 

Craig 85

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Craig every time you post of pic of that silver and white shorty I **** my pants. STOP IT!

@shiftpro get some Depends before you continue. It was actually gray and silver. The paint was badly faded. Here's a different angle.

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jrlichina

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I have a 1990 V3500 that I did a 4" lift on. I bought the pieces separately because that just happened to be the cheapest way. 4" front Superlift springs, 4" Superlift rear blocks, 4 Superlift shocks, 1 3" Dana 60 Steering block. You also need to space down the driveshaft center bearing like an inch. I also have special steel wheel spacer for the rear tires since they are wider than stock.
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Arkansas_V8

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Ahhhhhh blocks! You pansy posers! 4" springs and 37s.
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Lol, whatever it's yours. I love em all anyway.
 

jrlichina

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I didn't go with springs because it's a work truck for me (note dump insert). I have special 9/1 5,000 lb. rear springs on the truck. It handles 10,000 lbs of load like it's 10 lbs.
 

Arkansas_V8

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I didn't go with springs because it's a work truck for me (note dump insert). I have special 9/1 5,000 lb. rear springs on the truck. It handles 10,000 lbs of load like it's 10 lbs.

Still gonna wrap(a lot worse than spring only). Even more so under load.

Something like this kit to prevent that from breaking stuff.
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https://www.offroaddesign.com/radius-arm-traction-bar.html
 
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