Suburban small "lift"

[socal k1500]

Here's my 96 Suburban. It has 3" blocks on the rear, and when I bought it the previous owner had the torsion bars cranked to the max (ride was horrible and steering was very sloppy and vague). I cranked them back down about 1.5" and got it aligned. Now the ride is tolerable and the steering feel is much much better.

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how do your CV angles look with this set up?

 

[Hipster]

It's going up in tire size that's stopping me. I don't want to go any bigger on tire. I'm afraid by the time I drop everything and decrank a 4 inch ill loose ground clearance with the torsion bars dropping. You may not be trying to be facetious but you really ain't trying to help me figure this out either. You're so stuck me going with a 4 inch(which seems to be for good reasons) that you can't figure out that like previous stated I do not want a 4 inch. I did say that I asked about a 3 inch in a previous post but in this I said I don't want to go any bigger than 2 inch. I don't want a lift at all really I just want to get high centered less and maybe lose some of the soccer mom look....

You won't understand until you go offroad with a cranked truck and every bump throws you up against the seatbelt how much doing that way sucks. If you want to do 2 inches in back you'll need more than 3 up front to level it. At that point you are talking about ONE INCH or less. Take some measurements, crank the t bars 2.-2.5 inches and go around the block and down a dirt road a few times. It's not going to eat the tires off of it in a few miles. You don't need the blocks in the back to get that far. Some alignment shops won't touch a cranked truck with the disaster it is.

Nobody else is saying cranking one that far is a good thing either.

 

[8thNote]

So do you think I could be real close to level and possibly pretty decent ride at 2 inch?

@socal k1500

Here are pics of CV axle on my Suburban. This is with about ~2" to ~2.5" lift via torsion bars on level ground.

The ride is tolerable, but it's not my daily driver either.

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[beardeddummy]

You won't understand until you go offroad with a cranked truck and every bump throws you up against the seatbelt how much doing that way sucks. If you want to do 2 inches in back you'll need more than 3 up front to level it. At that point you are talking about ONE INCH or less. Take some measurements, crank the t bars 2.-2.5 inches and go around the block and down a dirt road a few times. It's not going to eat the tires off of it in a few miles. You don't need the blocks in the back to get that far. Some alignment shops won't touch a cranked truck with the disaster it is.

Nobody else is saying cranking one that far is a good thing either.

Yeah but how much lower will my torsion bar cross member hang with the 4 inch?

 

[beardeddummy]

@socal k1500

Here are pics of CV axle on my Suburban. This is with about ~2" to ~2.5" lift via torsion bars on level ground.

The ride is tolerable, but it's not my daily driver either.

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Appreciate it!

 

[Hipster]

Appreciate it!

Tolerable is a subjective term, crank yours and see if it's tolerable for you.

 

[Hipster]

@beareddummy
This is what you want to sign up for. Take a short read.

Upgrading from 2-3” to 6”

So I’m having issues with my toe running 33’s on 20’s didn’t think it would be an issue but the handling is horrible. Only thing I’m thinking is upgrading to a 6” and running bilsteen shocks for better ride. Do I need to go back stock on my drop brackets and control arms? Curious if anything...

www.gmt400.com

 

[beardeddummy]

@beareddummy
This is what you want to sign up for. Take a short read.

Upgrading from 2-3” to 6”

So I’m having issues with my toe running 33’s on 20’s didn’t think it would be an issue but the handling is horrible. Only thing I’m thinking is upgrading to a 6” and running bilsteen shocks for better ride. Do I need to go back stock on my drop brackets and control arms? Curious if anything...

www.gmt400.com

No sir..... was actually on my way here because I decided a 4 inch lift weren't such a bad idea.... you win dangit. Now question is which lift do you suggest and why?

 

[beardeddummy]

@beareddummy
This is what you want to sign up for. Take a short read.

Upgrading from 2-3” to 6”

So I’m having issues with my toe running 33’s on 20’s didn’t think it would be an issue but the handling is horrible. Only thing I’m thinking is upgrading to a 6” and running bilsteen shocks for better ride. Do I need to go back stock on my drop brackets and control arms? Curious if anything...

www.gmt400.com

Well I did crank it level with 2 inch level, angles look pretty good and rides much better in my opinion.

 

[offroadtahoe]

Well I did crank it level with 2 inch level, angles look pretty good and rides much better in my opinion.

I use k3500 srw t-bars and the ride is tolerable.I don't like the front cross member on any of the lift kits.some are better then others but i like the bulldog look and it give's more clearance so I used bandaids as far as I can.Also you can just use a 4" lift with a RealLift torsion bar relocator and not drop the t-bar crossmember.

Note:This will not fix tie rod,cv axle or lower ball joint geometry
For 3" lifts
Kryptonite or Skyjacker C256A Upper control arm
with 2" ball joint spacer (this will keep you off the upper bumpstop) for stock wheels skyjacker with ball joint on bottom
Bilstein 5100 shocks
Bilstein steering dampner
Hellwig front sway bar
SuspensionMaxx adjustable key's (ball joint spacer allows you to crank more)
Polyurethane lower control arm bushing's
Extended cv axle's (would not recommend dropping the diff it drops it very low)
run the best ball joints' kryptonite uppers/pitman,SS170 idler bracket,proforged idler arm,mevotech ttx lowers with cognito brace's and a cunningham steering shaft

3" block in rear and is leveled
I need to update my pic since it sits higher now with the spacer and keys.