70's Chevy 4x4 front end travel measurement

[firefighter]

I have a 1976 Chevy 3/4 ton 4x4. It has the straight axle in the front.
I installed a 4" suspension lift kit on it and thought I would space the rubber bump stops on the front end back down to the proper height.
Right now I'm measuring 7" from the bottom of the bump stop to where it contacts on the leaf spring top bracket.
Now I was never that sharp in math but 7" minus 4" worth of lift kit equals 3" of original travel limit before you would bottom out?
I know this thing rides like a tank, but is that all the truck had for front end travel originally?

Could anyone measure their truck and see what this measurement is?

Thanks !!

[thirsty]

I did away with my bump stops with a lift. I figured if I compressed my front end that much with a lift I was going to have serious issues that the bump stops would not help me with.

[Jason S]

I measured my '74 K10 with the stock worn out front leaves and it has around 2" of travel from the bump stop to the top of the spring shackle. 

My '73 K2500 with a worn Rancho 4" lift has a short piece of 2" square tubing as a spacer between the bump stop and its' bracket. Front axle travel is 3".

On either truck, I haven't noticed any wear spots on the bump stop or spring shackle plate indicating the front end is routinely bottoming out.

[bake74]

     3" should be more than enough for the bump stops, I do not believe with just springs you would get that much of upward travel.  You would have to do something special for these trucks to flex that much upwards.

[scorpion]

The correct way to determine what bump stop you need is to use something like a forklift to cycle the suspension.  Ideally you'd do this without shocks, brake lines, and driveshafts connected and you'd use the measurements to pick those as well. 

Lift all four corners individually until one of the other three leaves the ground.  Keep a close eye on things so you don't damage the body or other components that may limit travel.

Doing it this way will give you the full range of motion from droop to stuff and help you. Figure out if you're getting all you can out of what you have.  Good to know if your brake lines are the limiting component before you're 200 miles from nowhere too.

[heavychevy91]

The 4" lift on my '80 K20 came with new drop bump stop mounts. I can measure them tomorrow and let you know what i came up with

[firefighter]

The 4" lift on my '80 K20 came with new drop bump stop mounts. I can measure them tomorrow and let you know what i came up with

Yes, please do.
Thanks !!

[chevyjoe_99]

The correct way to determine what bump stop you need is to use something like a forklift to cycle the suspension.  Ideally you'd do this without shocks, brake lines, and driveshafts connected and you'd use the measurements to pick those as well. 

Lift all four corners individually until one of the other three leaves the ground.  Keep a close eye on things so you don't damage the body or other components that may limit travel.

Doing it this way will give you the full range of motion from droop to stuff and help you. Figure out if you're getting all you can out of what you have.  Good to know if your brake lines are the limiting component before you're 200 miles from nowhere too.

 This is VERY good advice.

Another thing to keep in mind if you are using the sway bar, its job is to keep body roll to the very minimum by keeping the axle parallel to the frame. This by nature limits travel severally, so its no supprise that your original measurement was 3" or so