Hi All,

Thanks for all the amazing info!

Ok, so I'm working on restoring my dad's 88 2wd. I already repaired the seats, ripped out the dash, repaired the famous crack, and painted all the parts to bring it back to life.

One of the things that I want to do is lift it such that it has a stance close to a 4wd. Please note that this truck will primarily be used as a daily driver, with no off roading. I've come across a couple of various options such as the fabtech 3.5" lift, the ball joint spacer lift, torsion bars lift, add a leaf, etc. What are your thoughts?

By the way, it might sound crazy, but it would be a dream to one day make this truck look like the back to the future truck. I guy can dream.

Thanks

Attached some interior pics as well.

 

First, do you know what size tire you want to run? This will determine how much lift you will need.

Second, are you ok with a much harsher ride from the suspension? This is going to happen as a result of the suspension lift.

Third, are you ok with running a body lift? This will probably be needed to help clear the tires.

Fourth, do you plan to regear the rear axle? If not, your power, mpg, and drivability will suffer alot.

 

Do I know what kind of tire? No... This is going to be a daily road driver, so I was thinking something along the lines of the stock 4wd wheel and tire. Any recommendations?

I think I will be ok with the harsher ride. Is this really an inevitability?

Yeah, I wouldn't mind the body lift if it's needed.

I hadn't planned on the rear axle regear, but I suppose that makes sense. Where can I find more info on what gears I would need?

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I would start by going onto tirerack or discount tire's website and start looking up what you like for tire design. I would suggest either an HT or AT tire. I ran 235/75-15 ATs on my truck back when I first lifted it and they were a good size.

The ride getting harder is going to happen because you have to crank up the torsion bars to get lift. Adding ball joint spacers will help some because they let the upper arms move a bit more before bottoming out on the bump stops. Only way to really get around that is to find a set of lift spindles that are now pretty rare.

On top of the suspension lift, I ran a 2" body lift to clear the 235s. Without it, the tires rubbed pretty bad on the back of the inner fenders over bumps and in turns.

Gear ratio will depend on tire size but, if your truck has the 7.5" axle, I believe you can run stock 4x4 front gears and that should be pretty cheap and easy to find. If your truck has the 8" rear then you would use the 4x4 rear diff. I would do more research on that though.

 

Thanks for the info!!

Great, I'll take a look at some of those options. Thanks for recommending the tire size, and rear axle gears. So it's just a matter of swapping out the rear diff gears? I wouldn't need to swap the axle, right?

So to clarify, you're recommending the ball joint spacer with a torsion bars crack for the front. Does the body lift level it the back?

 

Dont have to swap axles, just have to know what size axle you have, 7.5 or 8".

Ball joint spacers and torsions will be the easiest to do but you will also want to get low profile bump stops for the upper arms to allow more droop travel.
On the rear, the body lift will just move the bed up but wont level it out with the front. I ran a few different setups and the best one was lift shackles and an add a leaf.

 

Hmmm, sounds good. Would the stock torsion bars work? I've been reading some conflicting info on swapping those out.

Nice! Do you recommend a vendor for the add a leaft and shackles?

Also, I've been really debating going with this solution from fabtech. Any thoughts? https://fabtechmotorsports.com/produ...1984-95-5-lug/

 

If you wqnt to do any offroad driving, new control arms are the way to go. Idk abt fabtech, do some research on the various options.
If your truck isnt going to leave pavement, skip the control arms.

Check 4 Wheel parts for shackles, add a leafs you kind find anywhere. Also consider airbags in the back if you really want a smooth ride.

A minor body lift can help you fit bigger tires. No matter what you do, the quickest way to get lift is bigger tires. But the taller you go, the more little things you need to adjust: steering, brakes, driveline etc.

If it were me, id start with bj spacers in front and shackles in back. See where the ride height and comfort level is and go from there.

 

Nice truck btw!

 

Thanks for all the advice! Ok, cool, I got a lot to think about.

 

The fabtech kit you posted isnt bad. That gets you almost everything you need to start with and that company has been around for a long time. I used the fabtech upper arms to replaced the factory arms and ball joint spacers on my truck and never had a problem with them. The lift will still come from the torsion bars and I ran both stock and thicker aftermarket ones. I liked the aftermarket sway-a-ways ones more because they weren't cranked up and preloaded as much as the stock ones to get the same amount of lift, so it had more give and rode less empty dump truckish.
The lift shackles that I ran were from downey offroad but they have been out of business for years now. I'm 90% sure the 2wd and 4x4 pickups used the same shackles so finding some from other vendors and getting measurements to compare shouldnt be a problem.

 

Hey Robert, sounds like you have a lot of good advice for modifying 2wd’s. I’m also looking at building up a 84 2wd PU this winter similar to what Manny408 is doing with the fab tech kit. I wanted to ask, for us guys with 7.5” rear diff’s I’ve heard there’s possibilities to put in LSD’s from a 4x4 front axle? Do you have any experience with this or recommendations for LSD upgrades for the 7.5” diffs? Cheers!

 

I've heard that is possible to do and many many years ago I swapped a LSD into my stock axle but I got it used off of a different forum and it was sold to me as a downey offroad LSD. I changed the whole 3rd member though and never had to mess with it or order parts or anything. I know it was a 7.5 axle though so I cant see why one wouldn't work