New Lift Kit Needed - Advice Needed

[Thundergun]

Lots of good info, and very interesting!

I ended up going with a 6". For the steering i got a 4" raised steering arm and a 2" bent/dropped drag link.

Its just a weekend cruiser so it should be good... right?!

[Greybeard]

It will work that way, it's not the best but if you are not concerned about the steering wheel jumping around every time you hit a pebble on the pavement you should be good to go. Lot's of folks cover the problem up by installing a steering damper shock or two. That is like putting a small bandaide on a bullet wound, it does not solve the problem. Two inches of offset however is not terrible. The world won't come to an end. The truck will sometimes want to go into the left lane on it's own though. It's the four inch dropped (bent) drag links I rail against, they should be outlawed completely for the street just like front lift blocks were. There is a reason geometry was important in school.

One other thing, having things equal also helps extend the life of all the steering components, just because you can compensate with the steering does not mean all that jittering fore and aft movement of the drag link stops.

[Thundergun]

Ya, originally i had the 4" dropped drag link with the stock steering arm. Super lift said it was good.

But it just did not look right. So i got rid of it, cuz it just didn't sit well sith me.

So i'll have to read back through your post, but did you propose an alternative to the 4" steering arm + 2" drop drag link? I couldn't find a 6" steering arm or a dropped pit man arm.

Also, i do have one steering dampner. I'd like to upgrade to the double set up - for function, but it looks cool too!

Right now, the steering is pretty good, but the tie rod ends need to be replaced, so it's a little funky. Once i replace those, i'll have a good baseline.

I also haven't put more than 500 miles on it, so i can't say too much about the bump steer yet. Still a work in progress ... lol..

[Greybeard]

The ideal solution is a level drag link at rest. It's no secret that the Chevy steering isn't the greatest achievement in the automotive world but it is strong and worked good enough that they kept it for over twenty years.

Two theoretical inches out of level isn't all that bad, I just believe that with the cheap price for the parts to make it the best possible, why not? Steering is rather important in my book, right up there with brakes. ORD http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/steeringcorrection.htm sells a dropped pitman arm. I remember when I switched mine out way back when the pitman shaft had no alignment spline, so if yours does not be very careful to to put it back on in the exact same position as the stock one or you will lose lock to lock steering or possibly damage the steering box internally. Those recirculating balls in the worm gear can only move so far. Which reminds me of another mod I did...

The steering axle under my truck was a Dana 44 so the later 10 bolts might not have this capability, anyway, the steering stops for lock to lock are simply 3/8" bolts on the trailing end of the lower knuckle, I turned them in about two turns and it made a pretty good difference in turning ability. Just make certain that the rubber does not contact the string (or anything else) at any point in it's vertical travel at full lock. I believe the 10 bolts have cast in pieces that function as stops. Maybe mine were modified with the bolts before I owned it? Either way, a short box is meant to have a small turning radius. I never did serious rock crawling so over twisting the front axle u-joints did not seem to be a problem, in five years I never broke one. However, my truck did show signs of binding in the u-joints at full lock under power so keep that in mind also. A little die grinder work fixes that problem.

[roundhouse]

We have a 4" lift and got rid of the horseshoe
Drive better with the stock one


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