Best lift for a 86 CUCV so I can fit 37" Humvee tires I feed cows with

[hitail]

I have a 86 CUCV flatbed I have had for ten years and use with a cow pellet feeder and welder truck.I stack two 6' round bales of hay on it routinely. It really gets some use in the winter. I was going to put on new rubber because they are wore out and because they started shaking on the front axle violently at about 40 mph enough to where u have to just about stop. Is this worn kingpins (low mileage all stock truck)? This time I want to go with humvee 37" radials because of the cost and looks.

If I am understanding this right I need 5- 6" of lift but don't want cheap blocks. What shackle reverse kit is best (piyax,ord,etc) is best and how long does the shackle need to be? Also what brand of front lift springs or 52" springs work(I have old rear 78-85' chevy springs) heavy enough for the 6.2 and what is the most adorable crossover steering linkage? Guess leave the swaybar off and i have welded the steering box frame mounts but why are folks going with 2-wd steering boxes?

Gen 2 light never worked and I discovered the doghead conversion bf I read it online and I made a manual button glow plug relay also to make it crank when its luke warm

Is it true humvee bead lock rims will bolt right on without spacers to the stock axles? Figured it would require steel wheel spacers or is it easier to go with the steel 16.5 cheepie wheels? What about dished out stock dooley 16.5 rims?

Thanks for y'alls time and voices of experience...I want to do this CUCV than tackle my 85' k2500 with a lift and 37"s too.

 

[tim292stro]

Your wobble could be alignment, too much lift with spring wrap, bad bearings, worn king-pins, lack of lube, screwed up u-joints, flat spots on tires, loose or worn-out bushings, rounded out mounting holes for suspension parts (the last two on panhard bar could do it) - or a combination of several. There should basically be no "play" in your suspension - i.e. everything that flexes and moves should be by design, not just loose.

2WD steering box has the higher pitman (lever sticking off the box), the 4WD has a bit of a drop - the 2WD pitman gives better clearance for a cross-over steering. With a lift on a solid axle, a cross-over will keep the steering geometry similar even when the suspension flexes. This reduces bump steer (steering effect that happens as your suspension moves).

For a lift, if you can avoid blocks at all, it's better to do the lift with a shackle flip and the right size spring (and have the spring go under the axle if at all possible). Putting an axle on blocks gives the axle shafts leverage on the springs and suspension in general, and you want the suspension to have the leverage on the axle... (which part do you want to have in control of where the axle is - the axle or the suspension?).

If you will never street the truck, and never do turns at speed with a load, you can probably ditch the sway bar (I just don't see te need to ditch it if you aren't crawling on trails) - it's a matter of your recipe for use. I'm not personally comfortable getting rid of the sway bar, but I would consider a detachable sway bar - my use case is primarily on-road, only infrequently I would wan to do off-road (don't need it, don't want to do it - and insuring it is harder). Again, that's my use case - your mileage may vary.

 

[timarr]

I have done a few with rough country 1 ton lift kit 469.00 I add on a sway bar drop 35.00. steering stab 28.00 Then I toss the 4 inch blocks and use a Gatsby shackle flip for 80.00 . that's a total of 650 for all and some will tell you its not the best kit but to each his own.You do need 6 inch of lift, it makes me mad when I see front fenders chopped up to fit tires. my present truck was like that when I bought it and had to replace good fenders that someone took a cutoff wheel to. I have not found a cheap cross over setup yet. I run 37 s on 12 bolt wheels with 2 inch spacers front and rear so the tracking is close. without rear spacer the back would be 3 inch narrower then front.

 

[doghead]

All this has been covered in great detail on the forums.

A bit of time searching and reading should answer all your questions.

 

[Cucvnut]

Lots of posts here for lifts.

 

[still standing still cyco]

Another thing that could cause your front end issues is broken cords in the tires. I thought I had bad kingpin parts until I figd it out. In my situation if I hit multiple bumps or rr tracks in just the right way the pass front side would start bouncing up and down violently, sometimes feeling like to tire was leaving the ground. The only way to get it to quit was to come to a complete stop. Glad I don't have that problem anymore.

 

[Skinny]

Since you have a flatbed and probably want to retain a low COG with the factory overload leafs, I would recommend stock suspension with zero rates up front to push the axle forward, saw all the front edge of the fender, and go crossover steering.

 

[skysix]

what is the most adorable crossover steering linkage?

Made my day - Right up there with Penile Hitch...

And how do the cows like being fed 37" H1 tires?

 

[hitail]

First off, Thanks for all the responses- seems no matter how much I search you can never have too much info.

tim292stro lots of great ideas and I have figured out that's its not the tires since I swapped them with the ones on my 3/4 ton chevy and they ride great even thought I have had lots of bad mudgrips that get knots in the sidewalls and get out of balance.

Thanks timarr this is what I was looking for-The cheapest, best way to go. That will give me somewhere to start.

Skinnythats a good idea of leaving stock and moving the front axle forward but I do want some lift and I think the front leafs are shot all these years of holding up all that weight. I sure dont like any kind of blocks under springs bc they torque backward bad. I wonder if they make springs with offset tie rod holes...never seen any.

One thing I have not found is the best most adorable"affordable"crossover steering linkage (thanks skysix I didn't catch that)

And wither or not stock 12 or 24 bolt 8 lug humvee rims like off ebay bolt up to a stock chevy axle and just get 2" spacers or do I need to get re-centered rims that are already offset and who sales them? Does anyone sale the tires and rims already mounted with run-flats reasonable? I would buy like 10 if they was reasonable for my two trucks.

 

[hitail]

First off, Thanks for all the responses- seems no matter how much I search you can never have too much info.

tim292stro lots of great ideas and I have figured out that's its not the tires since I swapped them with the ones on my 3/4 ton chevy and they ride great even thought I have had lots of bad mudgrips that get knots in the sidewalls and get out of balance.

Thanks timarr this is what I was looking for-The cheapest, best way to go. That will give me somewhere to start.

Skinnythats a good idea of leaving stock and moving the front axle forward but I do want some lift and I think the front leafs are shot all these years of holding up all that weight. I sure dont like any kind of blocks under springs bc they torque backward bad. I wonder if they make springs with offset tie rod holes...never seen any.

One thing I have not found is the best most adorable"affordable"crossover steering linkage (thanks skysix I didn't catch that)

And wither or not stock 12 or 24 bolt 8 lug humvee rims like off ebay bolt up to a stock chevy axle and just get 2" spacers or do I need to get re-centered rims that are already offset and who sales them? Does anyone sale the tires and rims already mounted with run-flats reasonable? I would buy like 10 if they was reasonable for my two trucks.

 

[axeman]

I had that death wobble on my truck with 36" tires. had alignment checked, tire balance also. was the steering stabilizer. replaced with new all good after that. even crossing wa. state at 70 pulling loaded trailer.