This is my 79 351m 4 speed manual. I just installed a 9" skyjacker lift and 38.5x15.5 TSL Boggers on 15x12 Mickey Thompsan Classic II rims.
Before I started on this project I searched everywhere I could to try to find out what all I needed to get and what all I needed to modify... I couldnt really find a definant answer to all of my questions. So I am posting this to group togather all the info that you should need to get your project under way. I hope this is a big help for peeps with questions.
All of my lift components are Skyjacker wich i purchased from Top Gun Customz. I would recomend them to anyone... They are friendly and can help you with just about any question you have.
List of my components
1. Lift kit... (front coils, rear leafs, or blocks and add-a-leaf.)
2. Castor Correction Kit... ( radius arm drop brackets, c-bushings, trackbar bushings, radius arm bushings) NOTE: (If you use the radius arm drop brackets all you need is 4 degree c-bushings) Other alternatibe to R.A drop brackets are longer radius arms wich are more expensive but give more clearance underneath.
3. Extended brake lines... (you will need two lines one for front and one for back)
4. Extreme drop pitman arm.... ( I believe this is about 5" or 6" of drop)
5. Extreme drop Track bar bracket... NOTE: (The drop track bar brackets that I have seen are not long enough, with the 9" lift you need about 6-1/2" of drop to keep the track bar parrallel with the steering linkage(this is necessary) I ended up making my own at the local welding shop for cheaper(mine was $15 cuz I did the labor).With this bracket you can use your stock track bar. I have autoCAD drawings if anyone needs plans to give to a fabricator.)
6. Dual Steering Stabelizer
7. Shocks... (kits usually come with two shocks for fron and two for back, if you have the quad shock setup in the fron like mine then you need to order two extra shocks for the front. I am running the nitro 8000 series shocks from skyjacker, they are a lil stiffer than others.)
8. Driveshafts... (YES, your driveshafts will need to be lengthend, both of them.)
Note: (If you have a factory sway bar you will need to get sway bar drop brackets also. I just recomend taking the whole thing off. I couldn't even feel a differance without it.)
SPECIAL TOOLS NEEDED
1. Pitman arm puller.
2. 1-1/8" wrench for Radius arms and track bar.
3. Pipe wrench. (come in handy)
4. 7/8" deep socket for rear ubolts.
5. Circular grinder. ( not necessarily needed but could be handy)
Note: (You Do NOT need a spring compressor. After frame is on jackstands, support the axil with a regular car jack and dissassemble the coils. They will not pop out if there is no compression on the coils.)
POINTERS ON INSTALL
1. Start with the front. Remember, JUST TAKE EVERYTHING APART AND PUT IT ALL BACK TOGETHER, It is easier than trying to push conected pieces around to make them fit and line up with their holes. It also makes it alot easier to install everything if you take off the drive shafts. After taking everything apart install the R.A. drop brackets first. It makes it easier when re-installing the Radius Arms to the axil and then to the R.A brackets.
2. When installing the R.A. drop brackets, you may need to drilll out the existing holes in the frame because the wholes on the drop brackets dont quite match up. What i did was bolt on all of the bolts that do line up then use the existing holes in the drop bracket as a guid to drill through the frame.
3. When pulling the Pitman arm, grind down the old or existing arm on each side so that the pitman arem puller will fit around the arm. I have heard of others modifieing their puller, I would rather just grind the old arm down cuz your not gonna use it anyway, why modify the integrity of your tool. Just insert socket wrench and crank untill arm slides off.
4. After installing all front end lift components I installed my track bar and custom track bar drop bracket last. (Let me know if anyone needs specs for the custom bracket)
5. When you get the front done move to the back. With my kit I got blocks and add-a-leafs. The kit will come with instructions that are pretty straight forward. Except you do not need to take the leaf completly off to install the add-a-leafs. I left mine bolted to the frame and just dropped everything undernieth it.
6. When installing the front brake lines there is a clip on the drivers side where the old brake line runs through the frame. pull that clip out with pliers and disconnect line from brake cylander in frame and line will come out. The new line connects into the same place the old one did. The new line looks like it won't be any longer than the old one but it is and it will work. The back brake line is pretty straight forward and easier than the front.
7. DRIVE SHAFTS...After the lift is complete you need to measure your drive shaft lengths. Be sure you are on level ground and that your truck has all of its weight on the axils. You need to measure the length from yoke to yoke for both the front and rear. I took my drive shafts to a local Napa that had a machine shop, and ended up getting both of them lengthened and set up with spicer u joints for about $230. Note: ( I ended up having them do away with the double cardan joint on the front shaft and replacing it with a yoke like the oposite end. I did this because if you leave the double cardan you need to do some grinding on the inside of the joint so that you can gain a few more degrees of operation so that your shaft is not in a bind. Besides the double cardan was only used to dampen vibration. So going with a yoke end eleminates more moving parts and is a more straght forward approach, in my opinion. I did, however, have to grind out the inside of the yoke on the transfer case to allow the new yoke end to to clear the t-case yoke as the shaft rotates. Otherwise the shaft would not reach the front axil. If you do this remember to grind out enough so that your shaft has room for estra travel. (don't just grind it out enough to reach the front axil allow for more travel, if you don't when your axil travels downward your shaft will bind up against the t-case yoke and end up breaking somthing.)
Summary
1. Actuall lift gained: Front-9" Rear-8 1/2"
2. Ride quality: The ride is a lil more stiffer than stock, with virturally no body roll in corners. With my set up i orderd Skyjacker nitro 8000 shocks which are an upgrade from the base shocks.
3.Gears: Currently I am running 3.55 gears with my 38's and on the highway it is a little sluggish, but doable. At low speeds It is not that big of a deal with my 4 speed manual. I plan to change to 4.55 or so gears soon though.
4. Total costs: Lift and Shafts self installed about $1500 Tires and rims were about $1700
All of my notes are from my experiences on installing my 9" skyjacker lift. If you have any questions just e-mail me. [email protected]
Here are some before and after pics...
Before I started on this project I searched everywhere I could to try to find out what all I needed to get and what all I needed to modify... I couldnt really find a definant answer to all of my questions. So I am posting this to group togather all the info that you should need to get your project under way. I hope this is a big help for peeps with questions.
All of my lift components are Skyjacker wich i purchased from Top Gun Customz. I would recomend them to anyone... They are friendly and can help you with just about any question you have.
List of my components
1. Lift kit... (front coils, rear leafs, or blocks and add-a-leaf.)
2. Castor Correction Kit... ( radius arm drop brackets, c-bushings, trackbar bushings, radius arm bushings) NOTE: (If you use the radius arm drop brackets all you need is 4 degree c-bushings) Other alternatibe to R.A drop brackets are longer radius arms wich are more expensive but give more clearance underneath.
3. Extended brake lines... (you will need two lines one for front and one for back)
4. Extreme drop pitman arm.... ( I believe this is about 5" or 6" of drop)
5. Extreme drop Track bar bracket... NOTE: (The drop track bar brackets that I have seen are not long enough, with the 9" lift you need about 6-1/2" of drop to keep the track bar parrallel with the steering linkage(this is necessary) I ended up making my own at the local welding shop for cheaper(mine was $15 cuz I did the labor).With this bracket you can use your stock track bar. I have autoCAD drawings if anyone needs plans to give to a fabricator.)
6. Dual Steering Stabelizer
7. Shocks... (kits usually come with two shocks for fron and two for back, if you have the quad shock setup in the fron like mine then you need to order two extra shocks for the front. I am running the nitro 8000 series shocks from skyjacker, they are a lil stiffer than others.)
8. Driveshafts... (YES, your driveshafts will need to be lengthend, both of them.)
Note: (If you have a factory sway bar you will need to get sway bar drop brackets also. I just recomend taking the whole thing off. I couldn't even feel a differance without it.)
SPECIAL TOOLS NEEDED
1. Pitman arm puller.
2. 1-1/8" wrench for Radius arms and track bar.
3. Pipe wrench. (come in handy)
4. 7/8" deep socket for rear ubolts.
5. Circular grinder. ( not necessarily needed but could be handy)
Note: (You Do NOT need a spring compressor. After frame is on jackstands, support the axil with a regular car jack and dissassemble the coils. They will not pop out if there is no compression on the coils.)
POINTERS ON INSTALL
1. Start with the front. Remember, JUST TAKE EVERYTHING APART AND PUT IT ALL BACK TOGETHER, It is easier than trying to push conected pieces around to make them fit and line up with their holes. It also makes it alot easier to install everything if you take off the drive shafts. After taking everything apart install the R.A. drop brackets first. It makes it easier when re-installing the Radius Arms to the axil and then to the R.A brackets.
2. When installing the R.A. drop brackets, you may need to drilll out the existing holes in the frame because the wholes on the drop brackets dont quite match up. What i did was bolt on all of the bolts that do line up then use the existing holes in the drop bracket as a guid to drill through the frame.
3. When pulling the Pitman arm, grind down the old or existing arm on each side so that the pitman arem puller will fit around the arm. I have heard of others modifieing their puller, I would rather just grind the old arm down cuz your not gonna use it anyway, why modify the integrity of your tool. Just insert socket wrench and crank untill arm slides off.
4. After installing all front end lift components I installed my track bar and custom track bar drop bracket last. (Let me know if anyone needs specs for the custom bracket)
5. When you get the front done move to the back. With my kit I got blocks and add-a-leafs. The kit will come with instructions that are pretty straight forward. Except you do not need to take the leaf completly off to install the add-a-leafs. I left mine bolted to the frame and just dropped everything undernieth it.
6. When installing the front brake lines there is a clip on the drivers side where the old brake line runs through the frame. pull that clip out with pliers and disconnect line from brake cylander in frame and line will come out. The new line connects into the same place the old one did. The new line looks like it won't be any longer than the old one but it is and it will work. The back brake line is pretty straight forward and easier than the front.
7. DRIVE SHAFTS...After the lift is complete you need to measure your drive shaft lengths. Be sure you are on level ground and that your truck has all of its weight on the axils. You need to measure the length from yoke to yoke for both the front and rear. I took my drive shafts to a local Napa that had a machine shop, and ended up getting both of them lengthened and set up with spicer u joints for about $230. Note: ( I ended up having them do away with the double cardan joint on the front shaft and replacing it with a yoke like the oposite end. I did this because if you leave the double cardan you need to do some grinding on the inside of the joint so that you can gain a few more degrees of operation so that your shaft is not in a bind. Besides the double cardan was only used to dampen vibration. So going with a yoke end eleminates more moving parts and is a more straght forward approach, in my opinion. I did, however, have to grind out the inside of the yoke on the transfer case to allow the new yoke end to to clear the t-case yoke as the shaft rotates. Otherwise the shaft would not reach the front axil. If you do this remember to grind out enough so that your shaft has room for estra travel. (don't just grind it out enough to reach the front axil allow for more travel, if you don't when your axil travels downward your shaft will bind up against the t-case yoke and end up breaking somthing.)
Summary
1. Actuall lift gained: Front-9" Rear-8 1/2"
2. Ride quality: The ride is a lil more stiffer than stock, with virturally no body roll in corners. With my set up i orderd Skyjacker nitro 8000 shocks which are an upgrade from the base shocks.
3.Gears: Currently I am running 3.55 gears with my 38's and on the highway it is a little sluggish, but doable. At low speeds It is not that big of a deal with my 4 speed manual. I plan to change to 4.55 or so gears soon though.
4. Total costs: Lift and Shafts self installed about $1500 Tires and rims were about $1700
All of my notes are from my experiences on installing my 9" skyjacker lift. If you have any questions just e-mail me. [email protected]
Here are some before and after pics...
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