Lifts and Such

[superskone]

I am getting a '78 J-10 and I want to lift it, but I know absolutely nothing about quadratrac. What would I have to do to the t-case to keep the quadratrac setup with about a 6 inch lift?
Also, this is the first time I am doing this to my own vehicle, so could someone tell me what I am going to need to do to the rest of the truck to compensate for the lift? And what things would I need? What kind of lift do I need to get, or where do I need to get one?

Thanks for helping the newbie.

[superskone]

By the way, it is completely stock right now except for the oversized tires, has the 360, auto.

[Gwamp]

First, do a search of the forums on lifts. then you can see all the fun all the rest of us have had! smile.gif I think that Rusty's offroad makes a 6 incher for your truck. Here is a link to Rusty's

Rusty's (http://www.rustysoffroad.com/)

Read some of the other posts on his lifts before you decide to buy one though. Have fun and welcome to the forum.

[superskone]

I've heard bad things about rusty's. I'm looking for a lift that will perform on and off the road well. I live in St. Louis so when I go jeepin' ill probably be going to Potosi, MO (about 2 hours away). This will also be my daily driver

[Gwamp]

As far as I know he is the only one that makes a 6 incher specificly for your truck. Maybe someone else on here knows somewhere else who does. I suppose you could have them made at a spring shop. That is what I am going to have to do with my J-300. That or modify the spring perches. That operation is a long aways away so I am not worried about that part yet.

[Stuka]

Ya, Rusty is the only one that makes the 6" lift witht he exception of custom jobbers. I like my front springs, just the rears didnt work because it turns out 75's still had the old suspension setup. So they where about 1ft to long ;p

[Gwamp]

I am in the same boat as Stuka with regards to the springs. smile.gif They are in my basement at the moment. I will find a rig to slap them under eventually though. Rusty's springs are fine, it is just his shipping dept. quality control that blows. I went and played in the mud a bit this weekend and they were great. Much better than that ageing junk that was on my rig before.

[Michael]

I think I am with all the other Rusty's owners...

It is the best thing I ever did to my wag....

Flexes great. Rides good.... Just awesome.

[superskone]

I'll check them out

Thanks guys!

[superskone]

Does Rusty's lifts have a fairly smooth ride on the street? I want something that does well on the road, cause this will be my daily driver.

[River Beast]

Have you thought of doing a Spring-Over-Axle conversion (SOA)?

Cheapest way to gain 6-7" of lift and maintain your stock ride...

Just throwing ideas out there...

This requires a bit of fabrication skills on the part of the owner, but not as hard as it seems

[Gwamp]

Mine rides fine on the street. Much better than it did before. Amazing what new shocks, new front leaf springs, and getting rid of a set of AAL's will do. Or you could do the SOA That Riverbeast is talking about if you really want to go for some height.

[superskone]

Hey RB, what would I need to do for a SOA? Or have you started making them yet? Wouldn't I need new leaf springs too? What all would I need besides the bracket?

[desert_freak]

Superskone, I'm sure Todd will drop in later today but to answer a few questions, yes he is making the kits and has sold many (I have one :D ). For the Rear: You will need to do a little grinding of the old brackets, and I believe a little drilling (haven't installed mine yet). You can use you original springs and Todd is still using his stock brake lines, e-brake cables and driveshafts (with some relocating of the brake cables) and he has more lift what we are talking about with the SOA alone. Now the front will require some work. For that you will be welding new perches on top of your axles and typically will be doing some grinding of the old perch. There are pinion angle issues that is better left for another more detailed discussion (search archives) and a dropped pitman arm and shocks and/or relocation of the shock mounts. That's a 30 tour of the major items. I know it sounds like a lot but will cost about 1/4 of what ah new Skyjacker softride system costs w/shocks (ballpark of $1200 to your door).

I'm sure others will point out the items I left out.

P.J.

[superskone]

So, how much work is involved in puting on one of Todd's kits? is the welding on the front end on the frame or the axle housing?

[River Beast]

I will answer all your questions here tomoorow.... I promise!!! I gotta get some sleep!!!

[River Beast]

MORNING!!! :D <yawn>

SOA's are not hard, just time consuming. The biggest part of the SOA up front is proper placement and position on the front axle...why... one perch is on the axle tube, the other is on the diff housing (cast iron). This requires a bit of knowledge in welding. The most important aspect is making sure the perches are level, or equal distance from the TOP OF THE AXLE TUBE. This will require grinding the cast a bit and shaping the new perch to fit on top of the cast housing where the perch will sit. If they are not equal distance, your rig will lean to the driver's side.

IF you use stock springs you really don't have to worry about rotating the pinion up at all... so you can weld the perches on parallel to the OEM perches...even if you weld them parallel and feel you need to angle it up some, you can buy shims to angle it up, but don't go over 3 degrees... it will severely affect the steering geometry.

The rest of the front fabs are a cake-walk...brakelines can be replaced with 77 GM 1/2 lines that are 19" long and $20 ea at Autozone..or you can fab some drop brackets for the OEM lines. A 4" drop pitman arm will help with the draglink and bump steer issues will be a minimum. Shock will have to be replaced with longer ones.

My rear shackle inversion kit is a completely bolt-on kit that required a 4" angle grinder to remove some metal supports, a drill and common hand tools. My kit gives 7" of lift for the rear to compensate for the SOA up front and you don't need blocks either (I HATE BLOCKS). The added benefit of my kit is the extra droop you get out of the rear since the shackle is now inverted.

The other mods that are required for install of the rear kit are relocation of the E-brake hardline thru the next rearward hole in the frame, longer shocks and/or relocation of the mounts (may not be necessary to relocate) and extended rear brakeline.

My kit takes about half a day to install and comes with VERY detailed instructions.

I hope this answers all your quesitons, if not, let me know of any particulars. ;)

[superskone]

So would I be able to go back to stock later if I wanted to?

[River Beast]

Actually..yeah, you would.. with a small piece of 4" angle iron to be bolted into the front mount and back to the bottom of the frame (the small piece you remove to mount the bracket).

this is entire reasoning behind the concept of the kit design being a bolt-on kit... the rear you can even leave on if you revert back.