i have been looking into a 4" lift kit for my 79 longbed and i have it all priced out and ready to drop some cash...but one thing is holding me back a bit....will i need to legthen me driveshafts? is 4" to much for stock?
if its ok with 4"spings will adding 1.5" lift shackes still be good? where do i draw the line lift wise to keep stock driveshafts..not really looking forward to dropping 200 bucks to get um legthened..
thanks in advance

 

You will need to have your drive shafts lenthend to work with your lift, otherwise the first time you flex it you will pull the drive shafts a part.

 

I run an ifs front driveshaft in my 3-4 inch lifted 82, I have a w56 trans so things may be different for you. Its worth a shot and you can get a used driveshaft for cheaper than lengthening one, you may have to redrill your flange but that takes maybe ten minutes. You probably wont have a problem with the rear shaft as long as you dont fab some kind of ultra flexy trick suspension.

 

Rear shaft should be fine, up front, you may need to either lengthen it or get a longer slip yoke installed (to prevent it pulling apart at full droop), depending on how flexy the springs are.

 

I have an 82 witha 4 inch procomp lift and my drive shafts work fine ...but I dont any shackle lift

 

thanks 4 the imput guys...i went down to my basement the other nite and remembered i had a junkyard sourced IFS front d-shaft from a 87 4Runner, i put it next to the stock shaft from my 82 and the IFS is a good 4 inched longer..and like stated above...the holes in the flange are different, is this a "safe" quick fix that wont have negative effects on my driveline (seeing how the holes are gunna be wallowed a bit to bolt up) until i get a d-shaft made fit? or could this be used as an actuall solution?

 

I run mine hard and it hasnt given any trouble. I didnt reuse the old holes on the flange, I rotated it and drilled new ones. I was flexing the truck the other day, and the shaft doesnt drop out with my setup at full drop.

 

You can buy a new flange, they're not that expensive check out trail gear or marlin crawler

I'd be afraid of drilling the flange not "perfect" which would cause vibrations.

 

The center of the flanges is what centers the whole thing, the bolts only serve to clamp the two together. If you have the other shaft, just slip it on the flange, turn 45 degrees and mark/drill the 4 new holes. Or yes, you can get double- or triple-drilled flanges froma number of sources.