6" Skyjacker Lift with 35" tires? Fitment Good?

[theblindchicken]

You know Christian it's all relative. Some guys live in the flatlands and to them 4x4 = a muddy road. Some guys use their trucks in ways that
are unimaginable to mere mortals.
Some guys (ME!) can destroy an aluminum rad from gravel roads. Like try driving 80mph down a logging road drifting and sliding on gravel,
the gravel sprays up under the engine compartment and stones make it up to the fan and 'bing' there's a pin hole in that aluminum rad.
Everyone had a different idea and location specific mods are pretty normal.
Some guys just want to rip up deep mud, and articulation is not so important and can actually cause drama in deep mud pits.

Here is my tire/lift formula that works for my general off road intensity...
Based on 35" tires...
4" springs, Tough Country at least or ORD custom multi leaf flexy buggers.
1" EZ Inch or Zero Rate (ORD again) moving the axle forward.
Make sure cab is as far back as it will move on the mounts.
8.5 or .75" rim width by 16". 4.5" (stock) backspacing.
1" body lift.
trim front fender from the side marker light down.

I can still put rubber to metal with this setup if I try, but for most of my needs I'm good to go.

Yup. So many different styles and varying difficulties. I personally prefer trails up in the forest and mountains. Mainly because that'a what's closest, but the scenery is always enjoyable.

So thats a mix of fire roads, rutted trails, and a bit of some twisties. She's not gonna be a rock bouncer, and i'm not trying to do any sled pulling either. Just be able to go where I wanna go and have fun doing it without much breaking is all I'm looking for.

 

[rpcraft]

Depending on the 33's I can usually run them on stock suspension all day long, on or offroad. I did trim the corner of the front fender some and took off those pieces of sheet metal that go between the fender liner and floor pan but that was just when the steering was at full lock.

 

[theblindchicken]

Depending on the 33's I can usually run them on stock suspension all day long, on or offroad. I did trim the corner of the front fender some and took off those pieces of sheet metal that go between the fender liner and floor pan but that was just when the steering was at full lock.

32's fit on my truck without any issue at stock height. Slight little trimming on the back of the fenders, but never rubbed when twisted up.

 

[Jason Reed]

So many good points on here and this is just the advice and recommendation I need as I go through this restoration process. So, this build will be on the street only, so after reading this, I’m deciding to go old school and simple with a 4” lift, 33” on 16x10 rims. With no off-roading, I assume I’ll be fine?

The lifts I were looking at were the Zone & the BDS 4” lift kits. Solid kits?

Jason-

 

[theblindchicken]

So many good points on here and this is just the advice and recommendation I need as I go through this restoration process. So, this build will be on the street only, so after reading this, I’m deciding to go old school and simple with a 4” lift, 33” on 16x10 rims. With no off-roading, I assume I’ll be fine?

The lifts I were looking at were the Zone & the BDS 4” lift kits. Solid kits?

Jason-

33's on a 4" should fit just fine. Try to keep the backspacing around stock 4-4.5" otherwise you may rub fender a little bit depending on how far out they're pushed.

I don't know of the Zone or BDS lifts. I went with the 4" EZ ride springs in front since they had the lowest spring rate I could find. They're meant for a small block. If you wanna run a heavy bumper, winch, or have a big block, then go with their HD Springs.

All spring lift in the rear (unless you go custom) is typically a stiffer ride versus blocks or a shackle flip since your spring rate increases to lift the truck up beyond stock. With a block or shackle flip, you use the existing springs, but you get the height of the lift. Blocks can increase axle wrap though by increasing the leverage between the axle and springs, so be aware of that.


Either way you go, I highly recommend you go with a set of greasable bolts and bushings from either Offroad Design or DIY4X. They do make a world of difference. Plus would help with getting all the shackles and everything moving.


With my 4" lift, you need a new drop pitman arm.. it wasn't exactly enough to recorrect the steering though, so i still need to fix that. You'll need some extended brake lines as well. May need to shim the front axle to get a better pinion angle too.

 

[shiftpro]

So many good points on here and this is just the advice and recommendation I need as I go through this restoration process. So, this build will be on the street only, so after reading this, I’m deciding to go old school and simple with a 4” lift, 33” on 16x10 rims. With no off-roading, I assume I’ll be fine?

The lifts I were looking at were the Zone & the BDS 4” lift kits. Solid kits?

Jason-

Good choice! 4" lift on 33s looks very balanced and 'ready'. I would still recommend Tough Country springs over BDS or Zone.... you will have a better ride.

 

[Jason Reed]

Sounds great. Thanks again

 

[Craig 85]

Since you have a 77, I've attached a picture of my last truck a '79 K15. It will give you an idea about how it will look. The first picture is prior to the swap. It had an old stiff Rancho 4" spring in front with 2" add a leafs and a 2" block in back. It rode horrible. I did a 3/4 ton axle swap and added a Tuff Country EZ ride 4" lift spring in front. I ran 4" blocks in back and never had any issues.

On my K30, I'm going to run 16x10's with 305/70R16 tires.

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[rpcraft]

I always feel like a 4 inch on 33's looks like a little too much lift. 2 inches looks more balanced. If you can find a good 35 inch tire that is wider than 12.50 a 4 inch looks great overall but I've never liked 35 x 12.50's either because of the same reason, they just don't look meaty enough, so far as the width goes, but I think there are a very few tires that are wider than 35 x 12.50 in the type of tire I like (so far as tread pattern and being a radial) so I've never really looked beyond a 33 x 12.50.

 

[Jason Reed]

Since you have a 77, I've attached a picture of my last truck a '79 K15. It will give you an idea about how it will look. The first picture is prior to the swap. It had an old stiff Rancho 4" spring in front with 2" add a leafs and a 2" block in back. It rode horrible. I did a 3/4 ton axle swap and added a Tuff Country EZ ride 4" lift spring in front. I ran 4" blocks in back and never had any issues.

On my K30, I'm going to run 16x10's with 305/70R16 tires.

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Thanks for the pic @Craig 85. I assume both the pics are the 4” on 33’s? What rim sizing were you running in both of the pics?

Jason-

 

[Snoots]

Also, OP you'll wanna get a steering box brace kit since our frames like to crack at the steering box with big tires. Should check that to begin with too.

X2!

 

[Craig 85]

Thanks for the pic @Craig 85. I assume both the pics are the 4” on 33’s? What rim sizing were you running in both of the pics?

Jason-

The first picture was the Rancho 4" when I bought it. 33x12.50x15's with 15x10 wheels. I don't know what the backspacing was. Second is the Tuff Country 4" post axle swap with 33x12.50x16.5's. Wheels were 16.5x9.75 with 4.75" of backspacing. I know the old 33x16.5's and the 305/16's are about 32.8" tall.

 

[Jason Reed]

Perfect. Thanks

 

[MAXMAN]

If you are going to run 35's and you never want them to get into your fenders, a 4" lift is not enough! I speak from massive amounts of experience, and specifically with the Skyjacker springs. In the following pictures you will see my Army truck (D30) with Skyjacker 6" springs with 35" Nittos on stock rims. That truck will go just about anywhere, and we have avoided smashing our fenders with this combo. The same truck with a 4" lift would have torn my front fenders off by now, even if I didn't use it off road. Just a simple matter of having your tire at the correct angle and entering a drive too hard can surprise you. I have had at least 6 trucks with this combination and have never had to modify driveshaft length! The second picture is "Blacky"! That truck has 8" Skyjacker springs and 37's. Zero issues with fender interference (never see's off road), but definitely needs driveshaft modifications. Tons of miles on both of these trucks, and like I said I have used these combos for a while now after experimenting with many other combos! Hope this helps.

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[hirschdalechevy]

Not a lot of hard core drivers use 6" springs anymore, they use 4" and cut the fenders. The arc on a 6" is so much it just reduces flex. 8" are totally worse, they can barely flex. Ride like **** to the point of being dangerous.

To the OP , everybody is entitled to their opinion , but ride like **** and dangerous is just not true. Since you are building a street truck only it's all about how much you want to spend and what look you are going after , (4"with 33's) cheap with very few mods , (8"with 37's) not cheap and a lot of mods.

I run two trucks with 8" springs on them right now , (crew cab , street only) and blazer street and off road and they ride great.

My crew cab is 8" skyjacker's with a 1" 0 rate under them for 9" total and a 3" body lift with tanks and bumper's raised with 12 wide wheels and 44" rubber with cut front fender's that are re boxed to look stock and a big block on the nose. My wife and I have drove this truck hundred's of mile's at 80 + mph in total comfort. I built this truck for the look I was after , (high and fat) for street not off road. Very fun and safe to drive anywhere.

My blazer has 8" skyjacker's with the 1" 0 rate's for 9" as well with no body lift on 16x10 wheels with 38" rubber and a small block on the nose , cut front fender's as well ,but not for show. The blazer I built to drive anywhere and beat the **** out of it when I get there. It has a lot of mods. , maybe more to come as we go along. My wife and I just got back from another wheeling trip , I drove the motorhome and she drove the blazer , (400 mile's round trip). **** , she blew by me on the hwy. at 75 mph in the blazer talking on the cell phone while eating a sandwich , that's how good it drive's.

I like the fat look on square's so I am into wide wheels , they are cool on the street but they are fender eater's off road. Build your square for the look and use you want and the money you want to spend on it. 4" or 6" easy , 8" way more involved and with the right spring's they ride great and I really dont know where dangerous come's into play.

Here is pic's of my ****** riding , dangerous square's , last one is my mud only tire's on 14 wide wheels.

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