38x14.5x16

[AJMBLAZER]

I've got 1" of lift up front, stock rear suspension, cut fenders, and narrow 38's and I'd have to say 50% of the folks who walk up to Big Ugly think it's lifted at least 4".

 

[Croatan_Kid]

You're my hero

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Well, that means someone other than my two dogs and my nephew think I'm speshul.

 

[spink7124]

Ask and ye shall receive,
Everyone likes pics anyways, and the first ones are the requested measurements; the first being from the ground to the top of the hood.

I have custom bumpstops in the front so that measurement is from the top of the spring pad on the axle to the bottom of the frame. Same thing for the rear, top of the spring pad on the axle to the bottom of the frame.

The last picture is a measure of my belly clearance, my t-case is clocked flat and I have almost 26" of clearance from the ground to the belly.

Keen observers will note that my truck is about an inch and a half higher in the front that the rear; I am gonna take the cut down add a leaf that I have in the front (a little bigger than 3/4") and move it to the rear, its just a lot of work.

Also apparent is my lack of front drive shaft. I am not a web wheeler, a couple of weeks ago I pulled the front tires and came down hard; my driveshaft didn't have enough slip and busted the transfer case in two. So its at the shop getting more travel added.

 

[spink7124]

More pics!
Just some shots without it flexed up so you can see how it sits and get a better idea of how the fenders are trimmed.

Also check out my rear bumper, I took 6" out of the middle and 3" out of the bottom of each end to taper it up and make it look a little cleaner.

Lastly, I included a frontal shot where you can see my leaf pack, the zero rate, my cut down add a leaf that is getting moved to the rear, and the shims I used to set my pinion angle. The super beefy tie rod has 3/4" rod ends, is an inch and three quarter in O.D., and has a 3/8" wall thickness...no more bending stock tie rods!

If you guys want anything specific speak up and I'll see what I can do.

 

[Croatan_Kid]

That's so freakin awesome....

 

[srodocker]

mean looking truck! nice!

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Looks good. Lots of good work there.

Did you have to hammer back your wheel well liners? I did and I didn't trim as much in the rear as you did.

 

[Crackerjax]

I dont own a cucv but my wife has a k5 we started off running 38x13x15 boggers we had to cut the fenders out pretty good and we added about 8 inches of lift .. now we are planning on 42x15x15 on allied rockathon beadlocks ... I think you can run 38's pretty easy with out alot of mods and as far as backspacing... you can use stock rims and wheel spacers if needed, you might see a litte better gas mileage due to gear reduction... thats why we are going to 42 because shes running 4. 56 gears and she drives it everyday to school

 

[spink7124]

Yep,
Forgot to add that I actually had to put a pie cut on the inside flange on each inner fender to get them to bend back far enough. I the re-drilled a hole to allow them to bolt to a flange on the body. They are basically wedged up against the fire wall.

Forgot to mention, my wheels are 16x10" with a 4.25" backspace; I think that's about the most backspacing you could get away with running that much wheel and tire.

 

[Croatan_Kid]

Any plans to be hydro assist? I can't imagine that the steering works very well when you stuff those big ol tires up in the fenders, even with crossover.

 

[spink7124]

Yeah, hydro assist is definitely in the cards.

It actually doesn't get too bound up until you get into big rocks, but when its bound up, it's really bound up.

I've been weighing my options, and I've almost decided on ordering a kit from trail gear; it seems like nice middle of the road stuff.

One of the reasons that I've been holding off is because of cost, another is that I have read sometimes hydro assist doesn't play to kindly with a hydroboost system.

Apparently the assist ram needs a lot of flow and pressure, the first of which can sometimes be lacking with a hydroboost. If that's the case, one of the only ways to remedy it is to send your hydroboost to Vanco PBS and have it "high flowed" and right now that is just too cost prohibitive.

 

[Croatan_Kid]

Mine's really not bad at all. It's a little slow, but I'm using a 2x8" ram so I wasn't expecting miracles. I spent less than 150 bucks on my complete setup and it works just like the more expensive kits that you can buy.

I haven't noticed a single problem with my brakes either.

I drilled and tapped my top cap and bought a used JKW end cap, got two 4' lines from Agri Supply and a 2"x8" Grizzly hydraulic ram, and fabbed up some 1/4" tabs and welded them to the axle tube and my tie rod. It was really simple and pretty cheap. I've got pics if you wanna see. I also did the Saginaw PS pump mod, that helped out a noticable amount as well. Hydro assist also takes all the slack out of your steering, it is VERY touchy but very easy to get used to.

 

[allrevup]

Hey spink7124, I had send you an email a few weeks back about details on your build, Thanks for the reply. You have Great articulation with some straight forwards parts. With your capabilities, steering is Xtrmly Important. Look at LEE PERFORMANCE STEERING, in Ca. before dessiding what to use to complete your X-over steering to hydro Ram, they fix others work right and have done it for decades Baja, Nascar, Core, Dakar to name a few. The Pros know then so you do not pay bogus advertising and sponsorships.

 

[dieselpony]

spink7124
Very nice setup! Truly love that rear bumper.

A few questions though: tires are 39.5/16.5/16 right?
Are the zero rate and the shim welded together on your front springs? Any steering/driving issues? I also have plans to go with the DIY4 front kit and 52 springs. Did you do any mods to the front crossmember during the xover build?

Thanks in advance and sorry for going ot.

Walter

 

[Croatan_Kid]

Nah, zero rates are just like an add-a-leaf. They bolt to the spring pack.

I'm also gunna assume nothing was done to the crossmember with the addition of crossover. You generally don't have to do anything because the draglink is bent to clear everything. At least I didn't have to do anything.

 

[dieselpony]

Nah, zero rates are just like an add-a-leaf. They bolt to the spring pack.

Sorry, think I had to be more specific - i do have zero rates in the back (with 1"offset) so I'm quite familiar with that.
What interests me is if there's not too much move in this setup (zero rates plus shims plus leafs). I'm in the need of 10 degree shims, 1" of lift and 1" offset for my rear 14b so i thought of fabricating this into one part.

Walter

 

[AJMBLAZER]

I believe kert over at DIY4x makes degreed blocks similar to zero rates. He's a vendor over on CK5 so you get the discount.

 

[Croatan_Kid]

I was just going to mention that, but yes, Kurt will mill you some angled "E-Z Inch's". DIY calls them e-z inch, ORD says zero-rate. They're the same thing.

 

[dieselpony]

Already talked to Kert. He said it is possible to use ez and shim together but they avoid it if possible and they suggest welding them together for additional insurance. That's why i would get some other oppinions.

Of course i could have asked this on ck5, but looking at the thread here with the excellent pics remembered me of my problem.
Anyway i ordered just the shims, hoping the appr. .5" of lift is enough to level it out.
Thks for the answers.
Walter