Eliminating 4" lift.......questions

[gunrac]

New to the forum, but have been around the ol' chevy's for a few yrs..........Hello all!

I recently picked up an 85' 3/4, 4 wd.........Never doing a lift job, i am looking 4 info to get it back to stock suspension

It has a 4" block lift w/factory springs......and 3 extra springs was added to the front........

Here is the question........What other things am i going to run into to get everything correct?

Will i need to replace the shocks, brake lines or steering arm?.......Will i need to do any other suspension changes?........ Will i need to roll the rear end or worry about replacing drive shaft?

Like i mentioned......this is all new to me and looking for some good advice on change over...........THX 

[Jason S]

Howdy from Oklahoma and welcome to the site.  You might think about posting an introduction in the new members forum.

Basically, you need to correct the amount of springs for the front and pull the blocks from the rear and install the correct (non-lift) shocks. Additionally, you should use new u-bolts all the way around.

As for the brake lines: if there were longer brake lines installed when the lift was installed, you should check to ensure they don't kink or rub when the lift is removed. You may or may not need to replace the lines.  If the rubber brake lines are old or showing signs of cracking, then it would be a good time to replace the lines.

Most lift kits use a tapered lift block for the rear axle to compensate for driveline angle changes.  Unless the spring mounting pads have been relocated you should be okay with just removing the lift blocks.

Does the truck have a raised steering arm?  With a 4" lift, it may or may not have had the raised steering arm. 

Also, this would be a good time to have the springs re-arched by a spring shop to return them to their original temper.

[gunrac]

Thx 4 the reply Jason......

The steering arm is the same as the other 2 stock trucks i have, cool there......

New u-bolts are 16 bucks each, local. Not sure if i want to deal w/the springs right now.......no sign of cracked leafs.........After a bit of checking, i can replace the springs for about half of what it would cost to have them re-arched, also believe they are to pitted up for anyone to want to screw w/em'........

The inside of bed is very clean......doubt that it has done much hauling......I just need a decent wood hauler that rides good empty.........thats my main reason for removing lift.......besides that, who want's to throw wood up any higher then they need to....

It's a very rough ride, i don't see that the shocks are doing anything as it is........Mine, near as i can figure, would be roughly 17" +/- collapsed, end to end. They are a bit longer then my other 2 trucks, which are not the same length.........Now to figure out which and what length of shock i need, once i take out the lift out.......any thought on this?......thx

[pholliday1]

10-4 on not throwing the wood any higher, removing the rear block will not improve rear ride quality due to the fact the spring rate will stay the same however if the xtra front springs that were installed   had a higher spring rate then yes removing them will improve ride quality. you can have a spring that is arched more than a stock spring and both can have the same spring rate...... depending on how the lifted springs were made. One of the biggest silent killers of ride quality on our square bodies is when the spring shackle bolt and spring hanger bolts rust or "seize" to the inside metal insert in the spring eye, anyone who has tried to seperate a spring eye bolt from its mounting spot  will tell you that those bolts are real happy inside the spring bushing where there at. also inbetween your springs should be some nylon friction pads that help springs from becoming rusted or "frictioned" together. You can get real good ride quality if the trucks suspension componets are allowed to move the way they were designed to. Usually seperating these bolt putting some type of never sieze on them and reinstalling them will help alot.

[gunrac]

Makes a lot of since............Seen a site thats sells complete bushing kits fairly reasonable.......... thx 4 the tip