Need a lift for the K2500

[Brauap]

Hey guys! I need to find a cheap 4" lift for a 1998 K2500.. does anyone have any idea's? The only one's I am finding are 1200 dollars and up! :eek:

Thank You!
Colton W.

[Kickstarts-suck]

Some things you shouldn't cheap out on.. Suspension is one of them.

[Brauap]

But if you don't have the money... :blah:

[bens250ex]

Originally posted by Brauap
But if you don't have the money... :blah:

then dont lift it

[CJM]

Torsion bar setups you cant do much with. Procomp, super lift, BDS, fabtech, trail master or skyjacker are the only ones I trust. Rough country and tough country 9same company) is crap.

You want a 4 inch lift your looking at a drop bracket for that truck and its gonna cost you no matter what.

Either do it the right way or your gonna be sorry. Theres a reason the good kits cost cash.

I wouldnt recommend lifting that style chevy anyways, cv axle will wear quite easily with more than 2-3 inches.

[TCracin440ex]

Originally posted by CJM
Torsion bar setups you cant do much with. Procomp, super lift, BDS, fabtech, trail master or skyjacker are the only ones I trust. Rough country and tough country 9same company) is crap.


highly disagree RC is making good lifts and at good prices. and are getting alot of good reviews on the Full size chevy forums. alot of full size guys are running them and love them.

and no offence to anybody on this thread or this forum at all but if i was looking for info on things concerning trucks or cars i wouldnt consult an atv forum. your best bet is to go join Fullsizechevy.com forums and ask this question over there. you will get alot better answers and more thorough answers.

[TCracin440ex]

Originally posted by CJM
I wouldnt recommend lifting that style chevy anyways, cv axle will wear quite easily with more than 2-3 inches.

that is also very bs too. the key to keeping your cvs in good shape is the angles. alot of people buy a lift kit and crank the torsion bars to the max thus for putting a severe angle on the cv joints causing premature wear and premature failure. if you buy a lift kit and keep the angles good your cvs will last for a while. the thing i had the most problem with while i had my IFS lifted truck was wheel bearings. the offset wheels wreeekd havoc on the wheelbearings. i was having to replace about every 6 months to a year.

also the key to having ifs lift is maintence maintence maintence keeping the ball joints greased up, keeping the pitman, idler, and center link greased up as well as the tierods. alot of people skimp on the maintence of these things and expect them to last thousands of miles. WRONG

[HondaPohl]

I only do suspension lifts but you can do a 3in body and crank the torsions up. Put a set of front add a leafs in the rear.

[TCracin440ex]

Originally posted by HondaPohl
I only do suspension lifts but you can do a 3in body and crank the torsions up. Put a set of front add a leafs in the rear.

you go to cranking on them T-bars too much your going to have issues with the cv joints like premature failure or binding up.

the cheapest way to get lift w/o causing much damage is to get a 3 inch body lift.

[PaRedneckRiders]

How about just 2in or save your money for something different.

http://www.skyjacker.com/product.php?ProdID=7148

[wild250rman]

save your money till you have enough to do it right. more than likely you will end up finding other things that need replaced such as ball joints tie rods and some kits require exhaust mods. tires and wheels are not cheap either. then you will notice a lack in power because of the larger tires and will want to regain lost power by doing more mods and if it is an auto shifting will be off not to mention your speedometer but if done right they will last and look good. Also some states require a modified inspection sticker which is more money every year.

[brian76708]

TCracin440ex will fight me to the end and i respect his opinion but i dont think its worth lifting torsion bar ifs (over a leveling kit), unless you do a SAS. Yes its not going to be cheap, its not the easiest and you will need some tools.

i mean you could crank the the t-bars a little and put a bodylift on to fit some bigger meets but Chevy's already have a low hanging frame and i think body lifts look like crap on them.

The best thing to do is to find a forum for these trucks like stated and see what there doing.

[Brauap]

That suspision lift looks decent.. would it be okay if I installed that along with a two inch body lift?

And I do not think I will see a great power decrease, I am only adding 33in BFG KM3's. And I am needing to replace the crank bearings so I am just going to do a total overhaul and bore it to a 355, add an RV type/torque cam, cold air intake, etc..

[PaRedneckRiders]

you should be ok with the BL but it may be pusing it, like someone stated a good way to do it would Be a SAS. But then your getting pretty involved.

If you wanted to join a fourm you could always join FSC (fullsizechevy)
Heres a link http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forum/forum.php

[Brauap]

I joined last night, thank you! Very nice people over there! ;)

Yes, I am deffently not going SAS, this isn't going to be a hardcore off roader.. I would just like to hit some mud pits and that.

One off topic question:

I havn't actually got the truck in my hands just yet so I havn't been able to examine the engine any, but is it a fuel injected motor or is it carburated? (1998 5.7L Vortec K2500)

[250x_kyle]

injection

[CJM]

Words of advice: DONT GO MUDDING! You will forever be scraping the mud off the undercarriage for years to come no matter how many times you wash it.

I went mudding a few times, took it to the carwash and paid extra to have them do the under carriage wash like 3x over a weeks period, I then crawled under there myself and pressure washed it. To this day 5 years later Im still getting nits of mud and dirt falling into my eyes if Im under the truck.

btw are you sure its a real 3/4 ton, as in it has 8 lugs? Ive seen chevy cheat and use 6 lugs and called it a 3/4 ton, it got an extra leaf in the rear and heavier torsion bars up front lol.

I were you I would add a 2 inch add a leaf in the rear and some torsion bar keys. http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/12903T.html

This will let you fit some moderately larger tires and give the truck a better stance. Its also less than 500 bucks, vs a full drop lift like your chevy needs to go 4" or more-thats 1000+ easy. You want even more lift, maybe a 2 inch body lift.

[TCracin440ex]

Originally posted by Brauap
That suspision lift looks decent.. would it be okay if I installed that along with a two inch body lift?

And I do not think I will see a great power decrease, I am only adding 33in BFG KM3's. And I am needing to replace the crank bearings so I am just going to do a total overhaul and bore it to a 355, add an RV type/torque cam, cold air intake, etc..

why waste the money to rebuild that motor. you can get vortec 350s from the junkyard all day long for a dime a dozen. a junkyard local to me sells them for like 500 bucks with lifetime warrenty. if you can rebuild cheaper w/ lifetime warrenty by all means do it. but if you want a quick way to get up and running then the junkyard is the way to go

cjm its his truck you cant tell him not to take it mudding. its his truck if he wanted to put a cinder block on the gas petal and let it go off the cliff its his decision.

[CJM]

I hear ya tc, just relaying my expierances as to why I wont go near mud.

truly sucks when your working and a clump of dried out mud falls in your eyes..

[TCracin440ex]

Originally posted by CJM
I hear ya tc, just relaying my expierances as to why I wont go near mud.

truly sucks when your working and a clump of dried out mud falls in your eyes..

yea i know how bad it sucks. ive had it happen to me on several occasions. it blows so bad. i got to where if i have to work on a dirty truck i wear atv goggles to prevent the mud from falling in my eyes.

i have also found it alot easier to clean mud off when its wet and dont give it time to dry. comes off alot easier. its also easier to pull your truck up on a goose neck if you have one and pressure wash that way. because you can pretty much get the whole underbody and frame that way. opposed to laying on the ground trying to clean with mud falling in your face.


to the OP if your just interested in a 3 inch lift the best bang for your buck is going to be a 3inch body. they are easy to put on and can look good if done right. long as you get the rear bumper relocation kit, and get the gap guards. i had a 98 ecsb k1500 which is the same truck as the 2500 with a 3 inch body and 33s and i cleared 33s just fine and looked good and i was runnin 15x10 wheels.

here is a pic of my 98 with jus a 3 inch lift, 33 on 15x10 eagle alloys
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z254/OneBaddAssZ71/450rnz711234.jpg

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z254/OneBaddAssZ71/Truckw-lift002.jpg

[Brauap]

Originally posted by CJM
Words of advice: DONT GO MUDDING! You will forever be scraping the mud off the undercarriage for years to come no matter how many times you wash it.

I went mudding a few times, took it to the carwash and paid extra to have them do the under carriage wash like 3x over a weeks period, I then crawled under there myself and pressure washed it. To this day 5 years later Im still getting nits of mud and dirt falling into my eyes if Im under the truck.

btw are you sure its a real 3/4 ton, as in it has 8 lugs? Ive seen chevy cheat and use 6 lugs and called it a 3/4 ton, it got an extra leaf in the rear and heavier torsion bars up front lol.

I were you I would add a 2 inch add a leaf in the rear and some torsion bar keys. http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/12903T.html

This will let you fit some moderately larger tires and give the truck a better stance. Its also less than 500 bucks, vs a full drop lift like your chevy needs to go 4" or more-thats 1000+ easy. You want even more lift, maybe a 2 inch body lift.

I was just over my uncle's house today and I took a closer look at it and it is infact a "true" 2500. It is an 8 lug with 6 leaf.

[CJM]

^ Thank god. Ive seen plenty of these stupid half arse heavy 1/2 tons, makes it super hard to find parts too.

[MOFO]

Originally posted by Brauap
I was just over my uncle's house today and I took a closer look at it and it is infact a "true" 2500. It is an 8 lug with 6 leaf.

8 lug is nice, but is the rear a full floating axle or a semi floater? That is the important part if you plan to haul with it...

[CJM]

pretty positive all 2500's of that era were semi float besides the 97-98 6.5 diesels and 454 trucks which had full floaters.

FYI full float means the axle sticks out of the drum a bit.

But to truly tell if you have a heavier duty or light duty 2500 you need to look up the gross vehicle weight rating on the door jamb sticker. 8600+ you got yourself a real HD - under that weight and its just a regular old lighter duty 3/4 ton (which most of them were)

[TCracin440ex]

Originally posted by CJM
pretty positive all 2500's of that era were semi float besides the 97-98 6.5 diesels and 454 trucks which had full floaters.

FYI full float means the axle sticks out of the drum a bit.

But to truly tell if you have a heavier duty or light duty 2500 you need to look up the gross vehicle weight rating on the door jamb sticker. 8600+ you got yourself a real HD - under that weight and its just a regular old lighter duty 3/4 ton (which most of them were)

wrong again. full float means you can remove the axle shaft w/o having to remove the diff cover to take out a c clip. full floating axle is alot stronger then a semi float or c clip axle. the term full float has nothing 2 do with the axle sticking out of the drum.

[CJM]

A full float axle will stick out from the drum dude. I know Im not wrong at all with that and its exactly what I said. Im trying not to get technical for people that might not get it.

A full floating axle on any light truck (dodge, chevy/gmc or ford) will always stick out past the hub area. Where in order to pull the axle you gotta yank all the bolts out of the extended hub.

The extra area that sticks out also serves as way to mount dual rear wheels on some trucks either with an adapter or the dually wheels.

Show me a full floating rear used on any of the big 3 that doesnt have this appearance.

Look at this broncos rear wheel carefully, notice the hub area of the axle sticks out generously? Full floating 10.25 in there.

http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/1724/3481/4309240052_large.jpg

My F250 HD has the same axle, its the same axle they used in the F350.

[TCracin440ex]

ok i thought u were implying the only difference was the rear hub.

i know all 3 ford, dodge and chevy all use full floating rear axles in their 3/4 ton and up trucks.

[MOFO]

Originally posted by TCracin440ex
ok i thought u were implying the only difference was the rear hub.

i know all 3 ford, dodge and chevy all use full floating rear axles in their 3/4 ton and up trucks.

Not quite, I know Ford and GM used a SF rear on some 3/4 trucks...not sure about Dodge...

I know in the 70's (not sure about the newest generation) you could find a FF 14 bolt on all 3/4 and up trucks for GM...starting in the 80's is when they mixed in the SF on lower rated 3/4 trucks.

[TCracin440ex]

Originally posted by MOFO
Not quite, I know Ford and GM used a SF rear on some 3/4 trucks...not sure about Dodge...

I know in the 70's (not sure about the newest generation) you could find a FF 14 bolt on all 3/4 and up trucks for GM...starting in the 80's is when they mixed in the SF on lower rated 3/4 trucks.


far as the NBS trucks gm used SF 14b on their gas 3/4 tons. i know my stepdads dmax has a 14b FF 11.5 ring gear. now far as the OBS the only difference between the OBS chevy 1/2 ton and 3/4ton is the 4l80e tranny. the motor is the same. alot of the 1/2 ton chevys even had 14b SF 6 lug while the 3/4 tons had the same axle just in 8 lug.

[CJM]

Sorry, thought you were implying I was wrong lol.. were cool :cool:

Ive seen it all before, some trucks have a SF, some have a FF-it stands to reason the heavier duty trucks get the FF and not the SF.

Examples:
-dodge 3/4 ton work van I worked on had a FF rear and was marked 2500. It also didnt use 2500 van parts up front but 3500 parts (as evidenced when someone else replaced ball joints the 2500 ones worked but FELL OUT later).
-another 3/4 ton work van had a SF rear, both these trucks were otherwise identical but different years.

-02 Ford E250, my personal work van when I worked for a company. it had a SF rear and the larger 5.4L v8 but the smaller trans (which somehow lasted 250k miles).

-At least 5 OBS F250s I went to look at when shopping for one had a SF rear, you could tell it was lighter duty by the fact it was less than 8600 GVWR.

-Many chevys/gmc have the 6 lug SF, some even have the SF in a 3/4 ton.

It seems its basically based on when a vehicle was manufactured which GVWR it got. The heavier the GVWR the more chance it will have the FF.

[Brauap]

Originally posted by TCracin440ex
why waste the money to rebuild that motor. you can get vortec 350s from the junkyard all day long for a dime a dozen. a junkyard local to me sells them for like 500 bucks with lifetime warrenty. if you can rebuild cheaper w/ lifetime warrenty by all means do it. but if you want a quick way to get up and running then the junkyard is the way to go

more I think about it the more I think it is a good idea to just get a new motor..

How much do you think a Vortec 350 with everything on it would cost me approx?

Now how about a normal injected 350 (non-vortec)?

[TCracin440ex]

u gotta use a 350 vortec. they cost about maybe 500 bucks. im not 2 sure but go to www.car-part.com put in the year, make and model of the truck and what your looking for and then put in your state and you can find any junkyard in your area with that motor

[MOFO]

Originally posted by TCracin440ex
u gotta use a 350 vortec. they cost about maybe 500 bucks. im not 2 sure but go to www.car-part.com put in the year, make and model of the truck and what your looking for and then put in your state and you can find any junkyard in your area with that motor

That has become one of my favorite websites as a rebuild my K20. :macho

[TCracin440ex]

Originally posted by MOFO
That has become one of my favorite websites as a rebuild my K20. :macho


yep i use that site more often then not because i like to know what junkyard has what before i go calling and looking. i also use it to see what the cost of a junkyard unit is running