lift help 81 k10

[81square]

Going to be lifting my 81 k10 2 inches and putting 33s on it when i get back from Basic Training and AIT in 6 months or so, and wondering if I will need a transfer case drop, extended brake lines, sway bar drop, or anything like that. I am planning on purchasing the rough country 2 inch lift with rear blocks and front springs. Any input appreciated. pic of my truck below.

[sweetk30]

rough country is stiffest springs out there = ride suck and cheep price .

go tuff country for a off the shelf kit .

and call up offroad design there a great company to deal with for all in 1 kits . anything from mild to extreme setups.

[abig84]

for a 2 inch i doubt you will have to change anything. only time i even started running into problems was at a 6 inch lift, even with the 6 inch lift i was able to keep the stock brake lines, though i did cut and twist the metal brake line brackets 90 degrees so they were facing downward to get a bit of extra length.

only thing im not sure on is the sway bar as i always just took mine off

[81square]

Originally Posted by sweetk30

rough country is stiffest springs out there = ride suck and cheep price .

go tuff country for a off the shelf kit .

and call up offroad design there a great company to deal with for all in 1 kits . anything from mild to extreme setups.

Thanks for the info, I've thought about tuff country before because ive heard its a much better ride, but from what Ive seen in pictures the tuff country 2 inch lift doesn't look like it really lifts it at all, unless it's just from the pics ive seen. And I've also seen people say that the rough country 2 inch lift isn't that bad of a ride.

[79Silv4x4]

Thank you for your service!

You won't need anything for a 2" lift. However, since the truck is getting on in years, and adding 33s will put some additional stress on things I would look at adding a steering box brace from ORD, it's a bolt in.

[akart]

I just did this w/ORD.What a PIA. got springs from ORD which are Denvers not ORD. They sent me the wrong length rear spring. I had 52's and they sent me 56's, had to move my rear shackle perch 4",that was painful. No suspension changes needed but my castor is now 2 to 3 degrees low on the front and it feels like I am herding chickens. So I now have couple of 3 degree wedges to install which looks like the front springs have to come out to put a new line-up bolt in. Also my front springs are hard against the frame @the shackle and I was sent front shackles 1/2" longer. Got to put those in now. I bought all the stuff like bushed hangers and lubing bolts and a steering brace. Had some labor cost but this is going over 3K. I would not do this again or recommend ORD as I had to do all the research and then argue w/them. Still have to play w/shock length as the 2" lift was more like 5 in the back. All I wanted was a better/smoother ride. This fix did not work.
Your truck looks great leave it alone and save your self a lot of trouble.

[sweetk30]

who did you talk with at ord on your problems. ? ?

been dealing with them for years and tons of money for my builds / friends / customers . . .

ord special springs are built to ORD SPECS by dever spring yes .

somewere someone goofed or got mix matched info .

i even had a part problem my fault and i called them and they sold me a new one at the price i paid for the original i screwed up from over 1.5 years before . long term project . they didnt have to discount it but they did and i was happy .

for a basic daily driver / mild offroader just stick with off the shelf stuff . if you want crazy flex and old school to ride like new school then yes custom springs are the way to go .

its tobad the orignal poster of this thread is in cali . . . me in ny . . . i have a brand new 2.5" lift front/rear springs / shocks i am not going to use . but others have asked on shipping and even fastenal is not doing cali deliverys from my ares .

[akart]

Originally Posted by sweetk30

who did you talk with at ord on your problems. ? ?

been dealing with them for years and tons of money for my builds / friends / customers . . .

ord special springs are built to ORD SPECS by dever spring yes .

somewere someone goofed or got mix matched info .

i even had a part problem my fault and i called them and they sold me a new one at the price i paid for the original i screwed up from over 1.5 years before . long term project . they didnt have to discount it but they did and i was happy .

for a basic daily driver / mild offroader just stick with off the shelf stuff . if you want crazy flex and old school to ride like new school then yes custom springs are the way to go .

its tobad the orignal poster of this thread is in cali . . . me in ny . . . i have a brand new 2.5" lift front/rear springs / shocks i am not going to use . but others have asked on shipping and even fastenal is not doing cali deliverys from my ares .

Good for you w/your ORD experence. I dealt w/Chris and the owner Stephen. I am a stupid old man and know very little about lifts and I put myself in ORD's hands. I first measured my back springs full across and asked what measurements they would like me to take, I got: We know what you have and we do this all the time then I got that the springs must of been changed. Like the spring pearches "are" original riveted in. They don't want to send me the right springs. Stephen said that that was what those springs were set up for. So I get to modify my truck to there springs. They want "Me" to move the rear spring pearch.Then it was around and around until I had to figure it all out,way more than I wanted to do. And a year later I am still at it. I find them arrigant and they would not admit that anything is there fault. It is all my fault. And I am at the point w/them that they say they don't know and I obviously know more than they do. Well now I may.

[cadillac_al]

I don't know why ORD wouldn't pay return postage to fix their mistake. They must be going down the tubes and are barely hanging on if they are that cheap. I put 2" EZ ride springs on my K20. I can't remember the brand name now. No other mods were needed and it drives fine but there is nothing EZ about the ride unless other springs are much stiffer. The ride was actually about the same as the stock springs and no K20 rides that soft anyway.

[Matt Man]

These trucks will always ride rough simply because of the design. However, the biggest difference I made to my truck is to get rid of the quad shock setup, it made the biggest difference.

Anyway, I would suggest the 2" ez ride springs from Tuff Country as well they have one of the lowest spring rates and are high quality. This is a good read:
https://ck5.com/forums/resources/spring-rate-table.14/

[Stephen Watson]

As with most situations, there's more to the story. If anyone has questions about how we handled this situation we can talk about it directly.

Hope the OP got his truck lifted by now and can have some fun with it!

[Max1775]

Originally Posted by Stephen Watson

As with most situations, there's more to the story. If anyone has questions about how we handled this situation we can talk about it directly.

Hope the OP got his truck lifted by now and can have some fun with it!

Amen to that. Bashing on a forum is uncalled for, especially a company with a good reputation like ORD (and no, I don't work for them or even know the guys). Nobody's perfect and if a problem occurs I'd think the right thing to do is handle it between the 2 parties... Just my 2 cents.