my next project, suggestions needed

[Knanthrup]

Well, my dad just bought another S10, it\'s a \'91 4X4, he\'s gonna be using it for all of his utility needs. He had an \'84 4X4 but he decided that it was too much work to get everything fixed the way he wanted (an oil leak, some dents on the bed and body, little things like that).



So this is a great tradeoff because it looks like I will be taking over his old truck, the \'84. I already have a daily driver, and I\'m currently working on my 2wd S10 engine swap (the one in my sig) and this will be my 4X4 offroad fun truck which will come after I finish my current project.



Now, having said that, the first thing I want to do is get some good tires and lift it some so that I can use it to do some wheelin\'. Now, I come from more of the lowered road scene, so I\'m here asking for your suggestions on lift kits. I\'d like to go with something that will allow me to do some minor to mild wheeling, and I don\'t know exactly how much lift I should start with or what kit to use. I want to find value here, I\'m not looking to buy the best and most expensive setup, but I want something that\'s functional rather than just something that makes it look taller but has no clearance. So, what price ranges am I looking at for an entry level setup and what kind of setup should I use? Thanks.



Oh yeah the specs on it are:

1984 S10 4X4, ext cab, regular bed.

Right now it has the 2.8 (to be changed in the future of course) and the 700R4 tranny. The rear end I think is a 3:73 and it has the limited slip differential. Right now it\'s pretty much bone stock with a fresh motor.

[IceQueen]

Only setup I know for good solid offroading fun are solid axle fore and aft they can articulate adn get you in and out of a lot of situations and it isn\'t the hardest mod on the planet if your are patient and do your home work.. if your not into hard do a 2 inch body lift and a 4 or 5 inch suspension lift and stick a set of 33\'s under your fenders.. in the end its upto you but youd have a lot more fun with the solid axles trust me! http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

[Knanthrup]

Well that sounds fun, but I don\'t know how far into that I want to go just yet. Isn\'t messing with axle setups and whatnot slightly more on the advanced side? I won\'t have a whole lot of money to spend so I\'m looking for the cheapest setup I can run that is still functional. I have friends that buy old toyotas for 500 bucks and put a little lift on them and some tires then go use them as 4X4 beaters just to offroad with. I won\'t be doing any crazy rock climbing or canyon crawling... this is more mud and hill climbing where I need to be able to clear ruts and sharp inclines that flatten out. It\'s all softer dirt and mud type stuff up here in WA.



<b>1984 S10 2wd</b>


GM Goodwrench 350 crate


NV3500 5 speed

[IceQueen]

Those toys have full axles adding lift is as easy as adding leafs. its not as hard as yoiu may think you just need to find an old jeep with a rusted out body and take the steering rods axle and leaf springs of it also its front drive shaft would be good get the rear axle if you can too.. to mount the leaf springs have your fram up on stands or jacks and pusition the axle were you want it drill two holes for the shackles through your frame on the front side at the read get four pieces of 3/4\" steel and drill a hole in the center at one end and three or four holes on the other end of each then run a bolt through one then throught the leaf spring eye then through the other plate and put the nut on line one plate up on your frame, mark and drill the three our four holes then put bolts through each and tighten to 100Foot pounds use locktight then do the other side now for your shocks you\'ll want to find the best place for them to line up on your frame use a long bolt were the threads arn\'t mon the end of the bolt for two inces stick it on the shock with two washers on each end throw a nut on all the way then find were you want on your frame drill a hole stick the bolt throught the frame and then bolt it to the frame that\'ll give you a shock mount. use high grade steal bolts grade 5 atleast make sure there as thick as possible more strength the better. now get someone to weld those leaf spring plates you bolted to the frame if you want added strength then connect your steering rod and tie rod aswell as your drive shaft. for the rear swap in the beefier jeep axle and add leafs until you get the ride height for the rear you want. sticks some tires on the truck throw it on a trailer and take it to get the brake lines and a good brake job done then go 4 wheeling and enjoy If done this swap to my dads full size and my full size c1500 pickups so i know it works.. and I\'ll be doing it to my s10 soon. Any questions? http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

[TPI3504x4]

I\'m also looking for more lift could you post some pics of your full size to get a better idea.



thanks http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

[BadBowtie]

i have a 87 with a 350 and 4x4 its lifted about 6\" total by using a body lift, and cranked the torsion bars and my father did some cutting and fabing to the front suspension. i have 31\" m&S roughriders from canadian tire and i have no problems wheeling in that thing, except for the fact that i need a good posi in the rear.

[IceQueen]

unfortunatly I dont have the wrangler anymore but Im eyeing a 1ton..

[Knanthrup]

On 2003-01-28 18:11, BadBowtie wrote:

i have a 87 with a 350 and 4x4 its lifted about 6\" total by using a body lift, and cranked the torsion bars and my father did some cutting and fabing to the front suspension. i have 31\" m&S roughriders from canadian tire and i have no problems wheeling in that thing, except for the fact that i need a good posi in the rear.



Just body lift and torsion bars? I wouldn\'t need any more clearance than what you\'re running and if that\'s all you had to do to get yours to sit like that, that would be a really cheap way to go. I think I\'ll examine the suspension a little more and see what I can come up with. Body lifts are pretty cheap, I just wasn\'t sure what and if I needed to do anything to the suspension

[JayDee]

This may be a dumb question, but how does lifting the body give any improvement in ground clearance? The axles are still what gets stuck on rocks and stumps and they haven\'t moved. I have heard the sales pitch that you can then get bigger tires under the wheel wells after lifting the body. Wouldn\'t it make more sense to cut out the fenders and stick big flares on to cover the cutting. Then put on your tall tires. You\'d get just as much axle lift ( read that - ground clearance), while keep the center of gravity closer to the ground making the vehicle more stable on and off road.

If you read JTR\'s book on doing S-10 V8 swaps, near the beginning of the book Mike Knell covers the disadvantges of lifting a converted truck. He discourages it. Not that I agree with all of his ideas, but I think he is right on this.

[BadBowtie]

i should have mention that i dou have alot of fender cut out with fender flares. also i didnt do the suspension my father did it and he said he cut some of the suspension mounts and put them in different places. i not sure what he did but i wouldnt recommend it though. the ride quality sucks. the struck gets kinda funny going over washboard surfaces at normal speeds. but it looks pretty cool in my opinion.

[Knanthrup]

On 2003-02-03 11:45, JayDee wrote:

This may be a dumb question, but how does lifting the body give any improvement in ground clearance? The axles are still what gets stuck on rocks and stumps and they haven\'t moved. I have heard the sales pitch that you can then get bigger tires under the wheel wells after lifting the body. Wouldn\'t it make more sense to cut out the fenders and stick big flares on to cover the cutting. Then put on your tall tires. You\'d get just as much axle lift ( read that - ground clearance), while keep the center of gravity closer to the ground making the vehicle more stable on and off road.

If you read JTR\'s book on doing S-10 V8 swaps, near the beginning of the book Mike Knell covers the disadvantges of lifting a converted truck. He discourages it. Not that I agree with all of his ideas, but I think he is right on this.





Well right now the truvk has the 2.8. It isn\'t converted yet and I don\'t plan on doing a conversion for some time now so I\'m not gonna worry about the whole V8 conversion vs. lifting wish wash now because it\'s not really a factor in the game play. As far as the body lift goes, I was planning on it for bigger tires because this is still technically my dad\'s truck and I don\'t want to go cutting or permanently modifying any part of it quite yet. My only help to the axle clearance will be bigger tires, but that is not my concern anyways. The problem right now is that with the extended cab, it has such a long wheelbase that it get\'s high-centered easily. So I figure with a body lift to get bigger tires in and to aid in some center clearance, I will be on a start.



Now, my friends have been saying that if I modify the suspension it\'s only for that extra travel and that if I\'m not getting serious then to save the money. I have been told that if I want a cheap way to just lift it up enough for some extra clearance then I can go with blocks, although I have heard several nasty things about blocks but I guess it\'s the cheap and dirty way to go. So anyways I\'m thinking either that or adding a leaf to the rear. Like I said, I\'m just looking for that extra clearance to keep from scraping or getting high-centered on some grades... I\'m not really looking to go stump crawling or anything that will really affect axle clearance or require good suspension travel. Most of this is soft stuff like mud and dirt.

[ardusatomus]

If you want a cheap body lift use some hockey pucks, they work as well for offroading and there about 75 cents each used.. Drill a hole in them and usem em like a normal lift just stack 2 or 3 together. Cheap and tp the point..

OR

WE have used 5 pieces of PVC pipe as a lift, hammer them together and you will have a 2 inch wide solid piece of plastic. IT makes for a stiffer ride but we done it a few times and only cost like 7$ for a 3 inch lift.

IF ya want more info on any let me know