Lift gurus help: 64" spring swap for oh8

[DTL]

I've been trying to educate myself on lift kits for the M1008 and I have some questions about converting to the late model, 64" springs in the rear. I already have a set of these springs laying around my shop, so that's part of the draw for me. I was looking at the ORD shackle flip rear lift and need some help and tips with what I may encounter with trying to use this setup. I'm only looking for 2.5-3" of lift. Will this change the wheelbase of the truck or can I keep everything in the stock locations, get the amount of lift I want and gain the flexability of the longer spring too? What am I missing?

Thank you!!

 

[True Knight]

I would call up ORD and see what they have to say. Very knowledgeable people when I called them.

 

[dstang97]

Buy a lift kit and do it right.

 

[original]

Dead on - a kit is the only way to save yourself some major headaches.

 

[DTL]

What do you mean by "do it right"? The addition of the longer spring is to increase articulation, not as a means of lifting by itself. Everything I've read so far is that folks are going to longer springs in addition to a lift kit. ORD mentions that they can accomodate longer springs with their shackle flip setup, but they didn't have details on their site. How is that not "doing it right"? I thought everyone here was in love with ORD???

 

[dstang97]

What are you gonna use this truck for? Hard core wheel then yes build it for that. The longer springs will articulate, but you will probably have to move both hangers. to center your axle in the correct place. Don't quote me on that because im not familiar with the 64's. With suck a small lift why not buy a off the shelf kit or use blocks?? That is a ton of work just to use the 64's plus you'll probably need a lift on top of that to get your 2.5/3 inches.

 

[DTL]

The truck is just going to be a toy. It'll go to the beach, carry my dirtbike to the desert and to general light-duty pickup stuff. I have a late-model 1-ton dually that pulls my heavy trailer and a farm truck that goes to work with me every day.

I don't really think I "need" the 64s, I just stumbled across the reference to them and I have a set laying around so I thought I'd look for a little end-user advice before I call up the folks who make their living selling this stuff to folks like us. Sounds like it's probably overkill for what I want. I'm not a fan of lift blocks, but normal lift springs in the rear may be a better/simpler option for me.

Thanks!!

 

[True Knight]

To keep it simple just go with a kit. And if you buy new springs you truck will ride better too.

 

[Cucvnut]

What he wants to do its very common in the pirate 4x4 world that site might have more info than here.

 

[Yeti]

Go over to the coloradok5 forum, 63" chevys as they are usually refered to are common over there. They work good ride nice and flex great. If you have some fabrication smarts and do a bit a of research it will work great. Ord kits work with them and your lift sounds about right. Note Generally they are half ton rated but thats not to say you cant mix and match springs.

There are a lot of guys running 63" rears with a flip kit and stock rears up front. gives roughly 3inches of lift.

Good luck.

 

[DTL]

Thanks for the leads guys. I'm a partner in a fab shop, so I'm not too worried about having to do a little modification to the frame. We're already planning to pull the bed off for prep and paint, so that'll be a great opportunity to size it up.

 

[True Knight]

Well you're set then! Share pics of the build!

 

[MudderMilitia]

I have them in the rear of my K-5 blazer trail rig. If you want the same wheelbase, you have to move the front mount forward. I have a 3-leaf pack + overload with 1" Zero-rate, 4" ORD shackle flip and 7" long DIY4X shackle. I think Im in the neighborhood of 4-5" lift. So far I havent noticed any spring wrap but I know other people have had this problem. I do have the parts to build a traction bar and eventually it will be installed

 

[DTL]

I was sizing it up yesterday and it looks like moving the front bracket is going to be the trick. The fuel tank is directly in the way. I could shorten the tank, but I'm not sure it's worth the work. How much is there to be gained by going to 63s vs. 56s? For a weekend warrior that may never see many rocks, I may just stick with what I've got. My only other issue right now is that the rear of the truck is over-sprung as it sits. I either need to remove leaves from the pack I have or prowl the yards for the correct springs.

 

[MudderMilitia]

In that case I wouldn't bother. 56s flex pretty good, just pull a few leaves and you should be set

 

[DokWatson]

B-52 (Beyond 52's) (81-87 Chevy)

I would stick with 52's or 56's for the amount of lift you want

64" would be a big honkin spring up front.

Edit: Nevermind...thought you were talking about a front spring swap.

 

[rnd-motorsports]

A spring center bolt is cheap remove 2 or 3 but not stacked remove 1 then skip on and remove 1 like that try 2 leafs try it . will make it ride a little better but will leson the weight it will carry I think a 4'' lift spring in front and a shackle flip in the back with your 36'' tires you will love the results.

 

[DTL]

That's most likely what I'll do for now. I've got a lead on a set of inexpensive junkyard springs, but if that turns out to be a bust, I'll just pull a couple leaves out of these. Are there any leaves I should avoid removing? (besides the top one, of course )

 

[rnd-motorsports]

No not really just remember the longer ones effect weight capacity more so then the shorter ones I would take the second or third from longest then the first or second from the shortest leave the zero rate or the thicker one on the bottom and see how you like it just my