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General Site Info => Welcome => Topic started by: fitz on December 27, 2008, 11:58:23 pm
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Hello,
Ive been looking around on your site for awhile getting ideas for my truck. It's a 81 Chevy stepside with a 8'bed. It has a SB 400 with TPI along with a 12" Superlift suspension with 44" Super Swamper tires.
My plans are to remove the lift kit/tires and install a 4"lift with 33"tires. Once it is lowered to a reasonable height I will use it for my daily driver/tow vehicle.
Thanks in advance for any advice I receive along the way.
Fitz.
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um how you doin buddy lol, nice truck welcome from MD
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Welcome from Ohio. Hate to see ya take off the lift, sure looks good.
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Welcome from Tennessee. Looks great the way it is 8) I wouldn't change it but if it is going to be your daily driver I can understand.
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Welcome Fitz.
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what size rims are those
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The wheels are 15" x 14" and the tires are 44 x 16.5 x 15. It runs a 8 lug dually rear and a 10 bolt 6 lug front. The truck was never 4 wheeled with the 44's. It wasn't driven much with this set up so the 10 bolt held up.
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welcome, nice pickup. i'd leave it with the lift and tires.
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Welcome from NW Indiana, nice truck
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Welcome from West Texas. Looks cool
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Very nice truck. Where in Mass are you from? If you plan to drive it I would lower it a bit too and run 35"s I think anything over 6" on the street just gets useless especially in New England.
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Thanks everyone for the welcome,
I'm from Halifax Ma. (South Shore). I'm thinking of a 4" lift with 33" tires but I do have a set of 35" BFG's on American Racing slotted aluminums I might try once the 4" lift is installed. I just don't want to run the risk of 35"s catching the front fender lip. I have a brand new Rancho 4" lift so it should clear, but those fenders were new from G.M. when the truck was restored and I don't want to dent them.
The 44"s are just too big to be driving on a daily basis.
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I would try the 35"s
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Hey Fitz, great lookin truck. I have the stock version of your truck. Did you build it or buy it as is? Is there a fuel cell between the rail or was the tank relocated to the other side?
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Welcome from the north, New Hampshaa. I would leave it the way it is except install a Dana 60 up front. Get a smaller truck for you daily driver I say. But I am sucker for taller is better, even if it does affect driveability. Gotta have the cool factor!
You wouldn't hapen to know a guy name Karl Vezie would you?
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I bought the truck off of a friend of mine 3 years ago so I can't take the credit for it although I did help along the way. He finished the build 5 years ago but it was one of those deals that once your done what do you do with it? He would put it in the July 4th parade and take it to a few local car shows but the lift laws in Mass are fairly strict.
I planned to lower it down right when I bought it but it kills me to do it after all the work that went into it. I've been driven it around town for awhile but I figure why push my luck. I want to make it a D.D. and tow vehicle to get my camaro to New England Dragway.
The gas tank is from a Suburban with a TPI fuel pump in it. I will have to swap it for a Blazer tank when I go from a 12" lift to a 4" lift because it will be too close to the rear end.
I got a Dana60/14 bolt with 3.73 gears for it, but before I found them my friend already rebuilt a 10 bolt/14 bolt combo for me with 4.10 gears. They have new bearings/seals/dust shields/backing
plates/drums/rotors/calipers/ and are all sandblasted ready for paint.
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I can understand you wanting to lower it to drive daily. I had a Blazer with 44 x 19.5 Boggers on the same size wheels you have and it wasn't the most stable thing on the road. Too tall of a tire for 15" wheels. If I ever went that tall again I'd have to use 16.5" or taller.
Welcome from the north, New Hampshaa. I would leave it the way it is except install a Dana 60 up front. Get a smaller truck for you daily driver I say. But I am sucker for taller is better, even if it does affect driveability. Gotta have the cool factor!
You wouldn't hapen to know a guy name Karl Vezie would you?
I would definately explore getting another tow vehicle before changing what you have.
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If I lived in a state with more forgiving lift laws I would leave it alone. In the nice weather I drive the camaro all the time and I have a 2000 Chevy crew cab 2500 4x4 as a D.D.
After 3 years it's time to finally put some real miles on this truck. I don't think it has 500 miles on it since it was completed 5 years ago.
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Fitz, I had the same issues with lift laws I used to have 44" swampers regretably I sold the 44's and got a set of 38.5" I was going to take some of the lift off but after I sold the tires I've always wanted it bigger again. Heck my wife is on me all the tme to put bigger tires on it again (gosh I love that woman) I think eventually I will get 46" Mickey Thompson's. By the way thats a sweet camaro also how about some details on that baby.
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JRconnieK10, How did your truck go down the road with the 44"s?. This truck bounces up and down the road front/back and side/side until you hit about 20-25MPH and then it somewhat smooths out. Did you ever see a backhoe drive down the street and bounce all over the road? Thats what this truck does.
Ive owned lifted trucks before and they never gave you that unstable feeling this one does. I put on some mismatched smaller tires I had sitting around on it today. 36" swampers front/35"bfg's rear and took it for a quick ride. It looked foolish but driving it was a night/day difference. It still drove like a lifted truck but it didn't sway/bounce nearly as bad.
I'm still collecting a few of the parts I need to do the 4" lift. I will post in "members projects" once I start to tear it down.
The camaro has a 350 with vortec heads, turbo 350 with a manual valve body, and a Dana 60 rear end w4.11's. Best time so far was 13.1 in the 1/4 with the old motor in it. Waiting till the spring to see what this one will do.
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Hey Fitz, my 44's did that too . I believe it's because they were bias plied. If it sits for awhile it will create flat spots.
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Mine aways rode rough for about 10-15 miles cause thay would flat spot after sitting til they warmed up because they were bia ply tires after they warmed up though they were fine for a lifted truck. I could run 65-70 mph with just my wrist on the wheel no problem unless I got in the ruts or groove in the road because the tires were so wide. I had changed the speedo gear so it was accurate with the tire size and gear ratio so I'm sure thats what I was doing. I used to take it to Indianapolis to the 4wheel off road jamboree. I would check the balance of the tires and also I had another set trued to make sure they were all perfectly round some times they get like egg shaped, sounds wierd but it can make it ride rough as heck. the new ones I put on are radials and they ride really good.
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My 38s do the same thing for the first 5-6 miles, and then it isnt to bad. I am switching to the radial 35s anyway, becaus I dont want to do a body lift to keep the 38's, and dont want to buy another lift either. I you lower it, you may have to replace the drive shafts. I know I my front one lengthened with just a 6 inch. Have you checked into that yet.
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Choptop, Ive been checking out your extended cabs for some time now. I'm impressed.
I wish the driveshafts were the only thing I had to change to take out the lift. Ive made a list in my head so here we go.
-As I mentioned in an earlier post I will have to change the Suburban gas tank to a blazer tank.
-Replace the front 10 bolt/ rear dually axles (5.13 gears) with rebuilt 10 bolt/14 bolt with 4.10 gears.
-Change the rear spring hangers because it is now set up with 1 ton pieces for the dually rear end.
-Remove the tranny/transfer case. Its a wild set up. It's a 2WD Turbo 350 (rebuilt with shift kit) with a 9" driveshaft connected to a divorced new process gear driven transfer case. This set up let the driveshafts be at the proper angle for the 12"lift. My Friend who built the truck will swap out the output shaft in the 350 to mate up with the 205 transfer case he already rebuilt for me.
- Replace most of the brake lines because they are set up for the current lift.
-Relocate the twin oil filter set up because it sits over the front axle(it will not clear with a 4" lift)
-oh ya, shorten the front driveshaft/lengthen the rear.
I'm sure I'll find more obstacles along the way. I'll post in the project section once I get started.
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Wow, thats impressive. That truck sounds like it was built properly the first time, not many are. A friend of mine had a 79 shortbed with 44s and while it was fun to ride in, we took it on a 300 mile trip and were both sick of it by the time we got home, so I can understand dropping it for a daily driver. Course, I dont climb as well as I used to, which is why Im going with the 35's and just the 6 inch. It's plenty.
Thanks for the compliment, my trucks are works in progress,(arent all of them though???), but they are my rehab at the end of the day and help keep me sane.
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Welcome to the site! Nice truck too. I agree on trying 35's for a driver.
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That is a sweet lookin truck. I like it, but I understand the need for change. It would be a little rough trying to climb in and out of that thing all the time.