52" front, 64" rear swap ?

[Garvin]

I'm in the process of swapping 1-ton running gear under my '72, with a DIY B52 kit(front) and shackle flip with late model 64" springs in the rear. My question is, with the added flex what size total lift should I run to keep the rubber off of my sheet metal if I want to run 37" tires?

[snj8198]

Im not sure what stock 64" springs will net for lift on the rear but the shackle flips have been getting me 4"'s. The 52's and the FGB52 kit for the front gets about 4-41/2" of lift. I clear 35's with 2"s nicely so I bet 4" may do it for 37's. I bet the combo nets a nice ride on highway and will be slinky off road.

[Garvin]

Your talking about 4" lift springs added to the DIY items?

[snj8198]

no. Stock 52" springs with the DIY4X FGB52 kit yields roughly a 4" lift over stock height.

[Garvin]

Right, over stock. But I'll need another 4" to clear 37 right?

[snj8198]

I doubt you will need 4 more inches over the 52 swap in the front and the shackle reverse on the rear. That is about a 4 inch lift by it's self. Another 4"s would put you 8" over stock and that's not necessary to clear 37's. I have a 2" in my '71 and I clear 35's on 16x8 wheels. I did cut my front cups off the fenders but I'm not sure if there would have been a clearance issue or not. Under full articulation and wheels cocked it may make contact when wheeling but not under most situations.

[Rede]

2" lift will clear 33's and 4" lift will clear 35's...both without trimming.

So you may need 6" total to clear 37's.

Check a few suspension vendor sites and see if they have a tire fitment guide...?

[Garvin]

I appreciate the input. The truck started life as a 2wd C/10. I won't be back to the U.S. until the end of the year. I was wanting to get every thing figured out and ordered before I got home so I would not be waiting on parts. But it looks like I will have to wait and see where it sits with 37s and the stock springs before I order the Deavers for it. I've also been thinking of running 56" springs on all 4 corners. I just hate waiting on mail order parts when time is limited. I'm running a LS1/4L60E/208, It looks like 4.56 gears will still be decent for highway driving.

[Rede]

If you're close and just need an additional 1.5-2" you can do an el cheapo "hockey puck" but lift.
Just drill the centers out large enough to go on your bolts and use a beefy grade 8 washer on the back.

I bought an 82 3/4ton with one of those body lifts and fit 33"x10.5" tires with no problems excpet when flexing the frame pretty hard the fan would start grinding on the shroud.
I trimmed the bottom of the shroud a bit more and didn't have an issue after that...not the propper fix, but worked in a pinch.


I had a '01 trans am with an ls1 with a thunder racing 224/224 cam, LT's, ypipe and 3200 stall.
Good enough for 12.4 at the track

I'd love to put one of those in a short box and make it into a Sunday cruiser.
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[Garvin]

I wanted to stay away from a body lift. The LS1 I picked up came out of a 02 camaro. Supposedly it ran a low 7.40 in the 1/4 mile before they pulled it. But who knows. It was a good story, I just hope it doesn't knock when I fire it up.

[Rede]

Do you know what the previous owner supposedly had done to the motor?

What's the head the heads casting number? (241 is stock but some aftermarket ones use stok cores and work their magic on them. Most people go with ls6 heads which is either 243 or 317 IIRC)

You can also pull the valve covers off and see if the pushrods have been upgrades or if they're still the cheap ass stock stamped units. (stock ones won't handle a lot of abuse or higher rpms like 6600+ before bending and ticking)
Stock valve springs were singles and most higher end cams, even a good street/strip friendly cam use dual valve springs.
One more thing you can check is the TB is you have it. Should be like 72mm, same as the intake opening...they're one of the first mods for alot of people.
Factory instake should be a black LS6 for that year, bubi don't know the part number...google shoul know.
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[Rede]

I forgot to mention that stock compression is 10:1 as well if you're doing a compression test and factory head gaskets usually are grey and made out of some googy grey **** if you try and peal the heads off (most people go with multi layered metal head gaskets) or if you try and lift a corner sticking past te heads.
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[Garvin]

The heads on the motor are the 241 castings, A set of 243 came with the motor when I bought it. I don't know about any thing else on the motor except supposedly there is a 613 lift cam hibernating in side it. The rockers are stockers, springs are dual rate. I got the Mac Mids that were on it also. The guy I bought it from kept the tranny(4l60e) for his car. He told me when his tranny guy pulled it apart for inspection, it had about 3k dumped in to it. The plug wires that came on it had ground straps. ??? Factory throttle body was ported and polished. It has the factory LS6 intake, Stock injectors. The ECM has definitely been tweaked, the Vats has already been removed. So I know it was at least tuned for the cam.

[Rede]

Sounds like a nice start.

the stock 4L60E trany would be "okay" for around 400-450hp in a car, but for te extry truck weight and just to be on the safe side, I would look for something a little more beefed up or you can use a stock 4L80E and beat it all day long. Stock 4L80E should take 500-600hp.
you could either have the PCM programed for a standard and shift the trany (any auto trany) manually or you can have it programed for the 4L80E.
Another option is a stand alone programable controler which is around 500us (don't recall the company name)
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[mcmlxix]

I think the B52 kits move the front wheel centeline forward. Someone makes a Zero rate block with offset spring pin hole to re-center the axle in the wheel well... thats on inch there... Then get the ORD 1" aluminum body lift. It perfect for that little extra and gave me extra room to route my power steering hose. Also old body bushings can cause you to lose an inch of clearance, so make sure the body mounts are good.

[greguw]

The 52's work great but you will hace to play around with steering linkage , crossover steering ... think the b52 is a 2.500 wide hanger design ... some times you may have to play around with spring bushing configuration .
I used deaver for a few builds and they make custom springs with the front part of the spring in the stock pin location , the rear portion of the spring is longer and you relocate your rear spring eye under the front body mount ... its a 52.500 spring .
Then you don't have to touch your front hanger .

[Garvin]

I put a 5.3L/TH400 in my dads 84, tuned for a manual. I don't really care for it. I'm trying to talk him in to running a 4l60e/4l80e. I'll probably run the one I have until it grenades, then replace it. The ECM I have is already flashed for a 4l60e, plus my harness is also 4l60e.

greguw,

How do you like the deavers with the B52 kit?

[greguw]

The deavers were built for the weight of my build and ride , I have used them in the past and had a pretty nice ride . The main reason for most guys using the longer spring is the if your really 4 wheeling ... I have seen many guys take a old set of rear 52" springs put them in the front and end up with a truck thats fine for crawling of things but way to soft for the on road use .
Seen 56" spring do the same thing ... Cross over steering is going to be a must with any spring length .
You can get a nice ride with a set of BDS springs , they make a thinner leaf and that gives a pretty nice ride using the stock 48" stuff ... I ran a 6" BDS and it rode really nice on a K30 SRW .
You still may have to play with caster but not like running the 52" .
Thats just another option .

Weird thing with the b52 front hanger , seems once you attach the front hanger the rad support is not parrell to the mounting bushing anymore ... seen a few guys with this issue ... I usually just make a thin degreed shim to correct thats . once your in that area you should add some support to your steering box area . These frames are pretty flimsy even the K30's .
Check out my cummins build in the Blazer / Suburban section , I have some pics of the frame I did with the B52"

[Garvin]

I've checked it out a while back, very nice build. I already planned on running a crossover steering set up, possibly a hydraulic assist. I found some nice arms from Artec that I like. Hopefully my dad will have all four corners sitting on stock 52" springs by the time I get back to the states. It will make it a bit easier for me to figure out what I will need to order from deaver to clear 37" tires. I found a CUCV for sale close to my parents that has a D60 with a limited slip and a 14bolt with a detroit locker and 4.56 gears. Hopefully Pops can pick it up before any one else.