Hi all, I was looking through previous posts about the rear flip kits from sky-manufacturing and I have a few questions. After installing the kit would I just buy 4" taller than stock front coil springs? I would also need a dropped pitman arm-perhaps from skyjacker and get some longer brake lines? I think my driveshafts would be fine only being a 4" lift due to the HP D44? And lastly would 35's work with only 4" of lift or would 33's be the way to go? I'm a noob to lifting 4x4's so I apoligize for dumb ?'s. Thanks for your input,which is better than my understanding.LoL

 

You could buy just the springs, but I would buy a basic kit so you will get the steering, track bar, and radius arm brackets you need. A lot of the time, the kits come with shocks, so in actuality, you would save money doing it this way. The only thing you would have is extra blocks or add a leafs. Both 33s or 35s will fit. I like the "look" of more room, so I only am running 33s. My concern is having tire chains reach out and rip off the fender, but if you never run them, it isn't much of a concern. I am running a Rancho 3", but even it will clear 35s, so the 4" should be no problem. The driveshafts should be fine too.

 

The imfo on shackle flips are spotty at best. I've heard 2.5" - 6". It seems to be trial & error. one thing for sure is that your axle will be moved foreward, a feature I wouldn't like. You would have to drop your front hangers down to compensate for this but how far I dont know and how much lift you will get I don't know.I've heard people talk about using the front hanger on the rear. I don't know how you would do this because the front hanger uses a bigger bolt.I wish someone who has been through this would clairify this for us.If not I'm just going to drop the front & rear hanger 4" when I redo my rear end.

 

Thanks for the quick replies. I do believe that I will go with a suspension lift-4" maybe 6" at most. Has anyone ever used the lift kits from broncograveyard?

 

Based on your user name, I'm assuming you're talking about a 77 f series pickup?

I just did a rear shackle flip on my 78 F150 last week. The PO had lift blocks that measured 2.5" and I wanted them gone. Flipping the stock rear shackle will give you right around 2.5" of lift. It's well worth the hour it took to drill out the rivets, flip it, and bolt it back down.

Mark a, what do you mean the axle gets moved forward? If it moves at all, it's only about 1/32" since you're only changing the angle by 3 degrees. There's no need to move the front bracket.

As for the front, taller springs and shocks, and a longer track bar are all you need. The pitman arm could go either way for 4", but not required for 3" I don't have an extended track bar and my axle sits a hair off to one side because of it.

To avoid changing the pitman arm, and because I mangled my tie rod on rocks & stumps, I bought a tapered reamer for about $35 and flipped the tie rod over to the top of the knuckle. It took all of 30 minutes and moved the toe rod and drag link up about 4".

One other thing to consider is the radius arms. I don't like the low hanging drop brackets, but without them, your lower coil spring seat sits at an angle causing the spring to bow forward. You can get angled shims to correct it, but extended radius arms are, IMO, the way to go. They're EXPENSIVE, but nice.

Hope this helps.

HERE are some pix of the shackle flip and the tie rod flip I did.

Kevin K.

 

Thanks kj, that an awesome truck. Has anyone had to legthen driveshafts for a 6" lift. I thought 4" would be enough- but bigger i$ better. I think 6" w/ 35's will do me fine. thanks again.

 

You will have to do both of them.

 

The guy that made my new drive shaft said that for a 3" lift, you don't HAVE TO lengthen the shaft, but it's a good idea. Anything 4" and over, you will need to lengthen them.

Kevin K.