SMKYTXN's Build

You'll have to extend your wheel sensors as well. Possibly your rear diff breather depending on how you did that.

I would go the 63's route though. You'll have a ton of flex! More than you'll get from the expos. I doubt you could get a custom pack to give you more articulation than the 63's unless you go to an SUA setup and even then it might be questionable. Those would be some long springs.

Mark (IDtrucks) is running 63's on his rig and I have my DMZ SUA kit which are 62's I believe. We both have about 16" of travel and about 20" of articulation. He has more down travel; I have more up travel.

When wheeling in Moab, my rig would stay more level though everything because I am further from my bumps, while Mark would hit his bumps and that means the vehicle has to lean over. This was pretty obvious on Behind The Rocks on High Dive. Mark's seat was pretty far up his ass the whole way down because he stayed off camber the whole way down. I went down right behind him and I wasn't worried at all because I was level the entire time.

But because I have more up travel, the higher I tuck the wheel the closer my frame gets to the ground. I get hung up a lot more than Mark. I have to work at things a lot differently than the other guys to avoid getting hung up. Though my extra up travel means I can take things at more extreme angles than others can so it's interesting all around. haha


Anyway, for a leaf sprung rock crawler I don't think you can beat 63's. Price per performance is amazing there! And you can come up with leafs to add in for extra ride height/weight capacity as needed.

 

I only have 1 of the 2 parking brake cables holding it to the rear of the truck. With both brackets I was gonna have problems/

And what Brady said! A lot of checking and double checking to make sure everything fits and has slack where necessary for an awesome rear setup!

 

Glad to hear that Brady. Yes, I'll be extending all of the lines that run to the rear axle. Diff breather, locker, wheel sensors, etc. I'll have to see how the parking brake cables work out once I get the springs on. I can leave my OME shocks on to limit everything until I get the shock hoops and longer shocks on.

I'll be in the same boat as Mark since I'll be spring over, but I'm sure I'll make it work.

Thanks for the info, time to order some parts.

 

my advice is get a spring with more lift then you need so it takes up for the sag. I ran allpro Expo's and only got 1.5" of lift out of a 3" lift pack I used blocks and shackles to adjust my ride height to where I needed it after having done all that BS I found that the truck flexed better off road and was still smooth on road. After all that I put a 1,500# gen-welder in the back of the truck and it only dropped another 1.5" then I flexed it out to see just how tough the springs are and no issues.

So what im getting at is if normal expo's sag 1 inch just get longer shackles and if it sags a lot more than that get 3" lift expo's

here's a pic so you know how far back the welder was and how big it is.

 

That's why I'm going to find a set of 63's from a 3/4 ton truck and not a 1/2 ton. If I'm set up for 63's I can always swap between the different packs cheaply to see what works the best. Doing that with taco specific leaf packs would cost a pretty penny real quick.

 

With that being said, what's the diameter of my rear axle? I'm at the office and don't have a set of calipers with me.

 

no idea im a first gen but I will say this I would not run 3/4 ton leafs. I personally see that as a waste of money. there are many options for half ton 63's I ordered my 5" lift 63's for an 08 1500 and trust me they are plenty strong keep in mind on the first gen trucks a factory 63 swap gives you 3-4" of lift. so other questions are what are you doing with the truck and how much lift are you running.

 

here's a pic of BradyT88's factory leafs next to my 5" lift 63's

 

The axle tube diameter?

 

Fair enough. I have seen that there are lots of options for the half ton leafs. I' only need 3" of lift. This truck is a daily driver / weekend warrior, just need more capacity to hold up it's heavy ass. More flex is never a bad thing either.

 

Correct

I need that number before I order the swap kit from Ruffstuff. I'll get this evening if someone doesn't chime in before then.

 

I know its 3 1/4" roughly to give you an idea for now. Maybe some else with a more accurate measurement will chime in. But, its pretty close to that

 

I would pick up a set of skyjacker soft ride 2" lift springs for an 08 K1500 and those should do great by the time you put all the weight on them they will ride perfect.

 

I hadn't considered buying new lift springs, interesting. What's a K1500?

I looked up a GMC Sierra 1500 and only found a 5" lift spring. I'm guess that will put the tail end of my truck sky high, even with the weight on it.

 

The K1500 is Chevy's version of the gmc 1500. so same shit. some one has to make a 2" lift spring. even if it's not skyjacker. No joke though if I was you id buy the 5" springs and then just pull leafs until desired height is reached. then if they go soft you can always add them back in. it's a win win.

 

That's a thought. The kit for the GMC/Chevy 1/2 tons is CR55 and looks to be four leafs with an overload. I'm betting I can ditch the overload right off the bat. After that, if it's too tall, I can try pulling the third leaf down. I don't like the idea of the top leaf being unsupported if I pull the second leaf down.

 

That's the TSB 4 leaf pack with an AAL added.

Here's my new leaf packs

Konsta has told me about this method several times and it's one of the best I have heard! He's one of those mad geniuses if you ask me! I watched him and Rocky (with just a little help from me) SAC and SAS a 2nd gen 4runner in a weekend and it performed great in Moab.

 

Those spring under leafs are pretty impressive!

Well, I'm just about sold on the idea. Ruffstuff ideal 63" swap kit and the skyjacker 5" lift spring set. I'll keep my OME shocks in place until I get the leafs swapped in and then start building the shock hoops. It's nice that I'll be able to do this in stages.

 

The skyjacker leaf springs are on their way from Amazon! Now to get an actual measurement on that axle housing and order the ruffstuff kit.

 

nice. Just a heads up. Im a little lighter than you are but I have the same 5" chev 63's and I pulled the over load im at 10.5" of lift in the rear. If I was in your shoes I would pull the overload and the two lover leafs, leaving it two leafs only and just set the truck on it to see where it's at and adjust from there.

edit: I just remembered I also have a taller spring mounts and 11" shackles so that adds a lot as well. but either way always pull leafs from the bottom up never pull them from the middle.