Suspension Lift

allen_the_music_man · Post by **allen_the_music_man** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:31 pm

Ok. I'm pretty tempted to just go all the way with a 6" lift...

So, I should invest in a 4.10 Dana 28 or 35? I know I won't be able to keep my stock 3.73 under there if I go with the 6"...

twobit66 · Post by **twobit66** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:37 pm

your gears depend completely on what tires your putting on it. you can have a 12" lift and if your running stock to 35's your 3.73 will be fine. the lift doesn't affect the gear ratio just what tires your putting on it.

eisle89 · Post by **eisle89** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 9:57 pm

With a truck of that age you should replace the old rubber ( worn out ) body mounts with new urethane mounts. Then replace the old rear leaf springs with leafs from a '91 - '94 Explorer, maybe the front coils too. THEN do your lift .........

DBrown · Post by **DBrown** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:28 am

there is no way your stock driveline and gears will do ok with 35's. my 3.73's with 31's sucked.

go with a D35 if you can find on for a resonable price.

allen_the_music_man · Post by **allen_the_music_man** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:56 am

Ok. So I'm gonna go with a 6" lift with 32's. Does that qualify for new gearings in the rear axle? How about the front axle?

twobit66 · Post by **twobit66** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 6:26 am

u must change BOTH axles if they don't match and your in 4x4, you WILL destroy your transfercase. the gear ratios must be the same of one axle will turn slower that the other.

as far as how big a tire u can run on 3.45's depends also on how wornout your enigne is. low gears help tired motors push bigger tires

my 3.45's with some 37/10.5's will dry pavment roastem all day.

texastud1983 · Post by **texastud1983** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 3:26 pm

Allen, your on the right track. Go with your skill level, take your time and you will progress from there. A six inch lift with 32's is a good start. Along with your extended brake line and a new drive shaft.
As you drive and wheel the truck it will give you feed back and you decide from there what madification you can do next, depending on money and your mechanical skills.
Well twobit66 has had better luck with his broncett than I have. I desroyed my dana 28 third member 3 times, blow countless axle shafts and tore up my rear 7.5 axle once. And I couldn't hardly turn the 33's over with 3.73 gears, on a gravel road.
I guess you can say I beat the crap out of my broncett so I went with 3/4 ton axles. But if you wheel her nice enough and she holds together mybe later do the road a dana 35 would sute you, mainly for the reasons of changing your gear ratio.

DBrown · Post by **DBrown** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 4:24 pm

my 3.45's with some 37/10.5's will dry pavment roastem all day.

with a stock motor...I call BS.

like I said before my stock 3.73's with 31's sucked hard core. I don't even think you could get that thing going with that tire combo and stock driveline.

twobit66 · Post by **twobit66** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:40 pm

he's the pics .. no it's not the stock motor anymore. 4.0 now but still No problem turnin the tires with 3.45's even when the 2.9 was in it.

if u'd like i'll post a vid of of them sing'in

don't mean to thread steal. but u should base whats gears ratio u pick on what tires your going to run. if your running 31's then a 6" lift is going to make the tires look vary small. when i had the 31's on with just a 3" body lift it bearly rubbed and only in the back. flexed/ no sway bars. and 31's with 4.10 gears is going to suck a** on the freeway. i'd only ever do 4.10 or lower if it was a trail only rig.

i duno about these 3.73 not turning 35's i've been a member of broncoii.org for a few years and gone to alot of BII meets and there's alot of people running 3.73's with bigger tires and they drov there ... FREEWAY NP

if u want more opinion on gears i'd ask over there. just becuse there's alot more people to get an average on what is possible. no hard feelings anyone i love this fourm.

allen_the_music_man · Post by **allen_the_music_man** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:06 pm

Thanks a bunch, guys!

allen_the_music_man · Post by **allen_the_music_man** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 5:50 am

Ok. Let me recap on all that I've learned and you all let me know if I'm off on anything...

For the 6" lift, I'm looking to replacing the CV joint stock driveshaft with the U joint style and having it extended completely (by the way, do you know about how long I'll need it to be?). I'll be looking to extend the brake system, but no problem there. If I raise it 6" and put 32's on it, I'll be looking to replace the stock 3.73 axle with probably a 4.10 (am I right?)

DBrown · Post by **DBrown** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 8:26 am

you have a pretty good grab on it now. the thing you need to remember is there will be some stuff that will pop up like bolts or fluid that will cost some so add about $200 to your budget to cover all the small stuff and if you don't spend it go out for drinks later with your friends...

I don't think any one will be able to give you a diffinative answer on the drive shaft length. just install the lift and measure...also you need to remember steering upgrades to handle the lift and larger tires.

I am a big fan of the 4.0L and have personaly had a BII with a 4.0L in it. so I can say from experience that a 2.9L and a 4.0L are apples and oranges. the way you posted that sounded like you were telling him his 2.9L would handle it and it will not. period. not with 3.45's or 3.73's I don't even think 4.10s would help 37's and a 2.9L. if you did get it to perform marganily you would burn the tranny out of it from excessive heat. the only way you can make a small motor perform with big tires is to install a lower gear to make up for the torque transfer

allen_the_music_man · Post by **allen_the_music_man** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 9:35 am

So if I want my 2.9 to work the 32" tires and the lift, I'll definitely need to regear...right?

lol yeah, money isn't really something I'm looking at working under. I mean, I wanna do this as less expensive as possible, but when it comes to the safety of myself and any other person I may be carrying in my truck, money is no option. It's just something that I want done once and done right that one time, ya know...

DBrown · Post by **DBrown** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 7:08 pm

So if I want my 2.9 to work the 32" tires and the lift, I'll definitely need to regear...right?

yes

allen_the_music_man · Post by **allen_the_music_man** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 7:30 pm

Exactly the answer I was looking for...thanks a million!