I was thinking about doing a small lift(2-3 or so), then thought shackles, and now I'm thinking about just replacing my bushings soooo..

What are the real advantages of each? I drive an 83 p/u, almost all stock except the tires and an aussie in the back. I'm not looking to win competitions, just maybe more flex and my current springs are basically flat and my bushings are rotting out slowly. All dry and crumbling...
would replacing my bushings make it flex any better?

what good does changing shackles do? front vs rear? I've heard of people putting their front shackles on the front of the spring instead of the rear of the front. huh?

And before you flame me, I did search but when I did, I'd end up getting build up threads and a bunch of stuff that didn't pertain to my question.


I know this is all very mild but my truck does pretty much everything I want it to. Except it rides like

 

go with chevy 63's in the rear. i did that recently and the ride is super nice and the flex is awesome! for the front, you could try using your rear leafs up front. i'm not 100% knowledgable about your gen and how this all would work on them, but i don't see why there would be a problem. but i highly recommend the chevy's in the rear.

 

Is there a bunch of fab work involved? I thought those were longer. If there isn't any fab work I can do it.

 

oh ok, yeah there is some cutting off and welding on new hangers, but well worth it if you know how. the only person i know personally who has done a shackle lift doesn't hate it, but it has made his springs go flat he says and he's had to put in add a leafs. check into Alcan springs, they do custom packs for whatever you want however you want it.

 

ok, did the research, chevys need fab work and I don't have a welder and will be probably losing my garage space(moving). Sounds awesome though! I may do that in the future.

 

I'll look into Alcan then. Trouble is I know how to do a lot of the basic work but I don't have a welder or torching equipment, just hand tools. Maybe I should move back into the mountains..

 

I list some advantages and disadvantages of the common lift options below:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...es.shtml#FAQ14

Some new bushings, lubed up well, can't hurt anything.