'87 V1500 2" Lift Advice

[Shorty81]

I like it Redfish. Good job.

 

[Joshua Keith]

@Redfish Looks much better, man. You made the right call. Hell of a truck.

 

[Redfish]

@Ron Sebastian @Shorty81 and @Joshua Keith I really appreciate the compliments. The Truck gets a decent amount of attention when I drive it around and I have to admit I enjoy that. But you guys KNOW what these trucks are supposed to be, you know what it takes to make them look this way and what it takes to make them functional. When you guys say The Truck is looking like it is supposed to...that really means a lot to me.

My son is fired up for Cruisin the Coast and wants me to take him riding in it tomorrow. I hope to USE it tomorrow but cannot schedule an entire Play Day, there is too much work to do.

 

[akchevrolet]

Im with you not a fan of nose up or down really would rather be level. And it definitely looks better.

 

[Craig 85]

I'm about to the the same thing to my front springs, but for different reasons. My Tuff Country HD springs are just too stiff, even with a 454, A/C and dual batteries. I'm taking out the forth leaf to make it an EZ Ride.

Your truck looks great, I only wish mine had more paint on it. I really don't like my patina look. Most people don't realized other than paint, everything on my truck is brand new.

 

[Redfish]

I'm about to the the same thing to my front springs, but for different reasons. My Tuff Country HD springs are just too stiff, even with a 454, A/C and dual batteries. I'm taking out the forth leaf to make it an EZ Ride.

Your truck looks great, I only wish mine had more paint on it. I really don't like my patina look. Most people don't realized other than paint, everything on my truck is brand new.

My 18 year old son who has no frame of reference told me today, "There is only so much you can do to make this truck ride smooth." I was thinking to myself, how the h*** would he know? But he is actually sort of right. A solid front axle with leaf springs is never going to ride smoothly.

I am sort of ashamed to admit that "Looks" are a big part of what I wanted from this old truck. I absolutely hated the nose up attitude and that was eating away at my enjoyment of The Truck. Dropping the nose put it exactly where I wanted it.

I have to say that the ride with the Skyjacker soft ride springs was MUCH better than what I remember from Dad's '77 GMC 4wd and light years better than the '84 full sized Blazer Mom had. That Blazer...it was awful. It used to literally beat the radio to pieces. I drove the truck around today and removing the bottom leaf made a HUGE difference. I cannot believe how much better it rides. It is amazing how much better it drives when both front wheels stay on the pavement.

A Word of Caution!!! Springs are, well they are springy. Before you remove the nut from the bolt that holds the spring stack together you may want to put a C Clamp on the springs. They will JUMP and send that nut into orbit.

 

[Craig 85]

A Word of Caution!!! Springs are, well they are springy. Before you remove the nut from the bolt that holds the spring stack together you may want to put a C Clamp on the springs. They will JUMP and send that nut into orbit.

I've removed add-a-leafs before. Using clamps is mandatory if you want to keep your body intact.

You're right about straight axle trucks, they will never compare to the new trucks. I can say my last one ('79 K15 short bed) was about the best riding Square I've had. It had a 4" Tuff Country EZ Ride front with ORD's sway bar disconnect. In the rear was the OEM springs with a 3 or 4" block. That suspension actually flex and absorbed bumps.

I believe by removing the one leaf in these HD springs in will bring back the ride quality to the front. Tuff Country said it's the only difference. Surprisingly, the 1 ton rear leaves aren't that bad. When I had the pack rebuilt, I had them remove one leaf from the middle. I still have the overload on top of the spring pack if I ever load it down. I think its the 56" length that helps the ride on this one.

 

[Bextreme04]

I've removed add-a-leafs before. Using clamps is mandatory if you want to keep your body intact.

You're right about straight axle trucks, they will never compare to the new trucks. I can say my last one ('79 K15 short bed) was about the best riding Square I've had. It had a 4" Tuff Country EZ Ride front with ORD's sway bar disconnect. In the rear was the OEM springs with a 3 or 4" block. That suspension actually flex and absorbed bumps.

I believe by removing the one leaf in these HD springs in will bring back the ride quality to the front. Tuff Country said it's the only difference. Surprisingly, the 1 ton rear leaves aren't that bad. When I had the pack rebuilt, I had them remove one leaf from the middle. I still have the overload on top of the spring pack if I ever load it down. I think its the 56" length that helps the ride on this one.

I'm about to add my bottom leaf back in. My front rides nose down right now and since the 454/4L80 are about to go in, I figure it will need it. It rides fairly well right now, but is definitely not level. I have 60" suburban springs in the rear right now with an ORD 2-1/2" shackle flip and will probably swap them out for a set of GMT-400 2500 63" truck springs. I'm hoping the combination of the softer and longer truck springs plus the extra leaf back in front will level it out some, but I'm worried that the HD springs in front will kill the ride too.

 

[brooksman9]

@Redfish if you had it to do over would you buy the kit with the rear springs instead of blocks and if so why?

 

[waterpirate]

Not Redfish, but I will jump in. For me the thought of putting blocks on well worn springs was a non starter. Having seen some blocks get wonky from a poor install was another reason I opted for the spring lift, front and rear.
Eric

 

[brooksman9]

My rear springs are new(er). Have a 4" Rough Country I am going to get rid of. Just cancelled an order from Tuff Country today as they cannot supply the 2" lift I asked for (rant to come elsewhere). Looking at going with the Skyjacker but don't want to be nose up either. I see where the spring/block is 2.5" and 2" but the spring/spring is 2.5" and 2.5". Just curious on opinions. Thanks.

 

[Redfish]

@Redfish if you had it to do over would you buy the kit with the rear springs instead of blocks and if so why?

First, the blocks were already installed on the factory rear springs when I bought The Truck. There was a 3rd leaf added to the front and there was nothing about that set up that I liked.

This is what that looked like:

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If, IF the blocks were not already there I may have considered springs instead of blocks. That would probably ride a little bit smoother than my current setup.

Honestly though, I would probably have gone with blocks anyway and not because of cost or laziness. I wanted this Truck to continue being a Truck. I want to be able to carry a full load of oak firewood or anything else without looking like a dog dragging its a$$ on the ground. One of the things I remember being proud of in the '70s and '80s was how much weight our truck could haul without squatting. Hell, I STILL feel that way about my 2500HD!

I read that I could improve my ride quality but I would lose my carrying capacity. I talked to some local folks who assured me that was their reality.

I will add that if I were going with anything taller than 2 inches of lift I would NOT go with the blocks. Anything over 2 inches would be springs because if it sits that high I cannot put anything heavy in the bed anyway.

 

[Redfish]

My rear springs are new(er). Have a 4" Rough Country I am going to get rid of. Just cancelled an order from Tuff Country today as they cannot supply the 2" lift I asked for (rant to come elsewhere). Looking at going with the Skyjacker but don't want to be nose up either. I see where the spring/block is 2.5" and 2" but the spring/spring is 2.5" and 2.5". Just curious on opinions. Thanks.

You might try calling Skyjacker directly. I actually spoke to a real person who actually knew what I had and what I was trying to do. You may not be as fortunate...

 

[brooksman9]

Thanks. I will. Tired of dealing with the kid in his basement from Suspension Connection/Tuff Country.

 

[brooksman9]

Also, did you happen to measure the difference before and after of removing the front helper spring?