The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop 1950 3/4t lift kit?

Hi all ...
I'd like to lift my 1950 3/4t chevy pickup body about 3" higher, but I'm not finding any lift kits for older trucks with straight axles, and I want to keep my original straight axle.
Can anybody help me out here? I've looked at lifting blocks but I don't think they'll work on the front axle.
I know i'll need a new pitman arm, but that's no problem because I'm building a whole new steering system anyway for a tilt column.
Thanks in advance for any replies!
Tom

Well, after doing some intense reading on the subject I now understand why lifting blocks don't work on the front axle. Here's a short summary of what I read:
"Lift blocks are ILLEGAL in most states because of the forces exerted on the block during cornering - the front axle is being pushed sideways as you come around the corner, and the rear axle is simply following. The blocks exaggerate the leverage on the springs, and can force the blocks to 'pop' out of place, and
your truck to go diving into the ground.."
So, with that tucked under my hat I know what I need is a kit that includes new leaf springs and shocks for the front axle.
Since it involves more money than I anticipated I believe I will elect to retain my stock setup which is in great condition and leave my truck at stock height.
No one has replied to my post yet, but maybe this info will be helpful to someone else out there.
Best regards,
Tom

You might check some of the 4-wheel drive places(on the net or otherwise) . I think you will have to go with arched and/or longer springs.
You can always put a 4x4 front axle under it

Tom,

DISCLAIMER - I am not recommending this as a solution, I am simply retelling a story from personal experience.

I once owned a 1964 F350 flatbed truck with solid front axle and heavy duty leaf springs. I added a set of integrated helper springs to the rear end thus raising the tail of the truck about 3 inches. This gave the truck a noticeable rake to it and I decided to raise the front end to match the rear. I went to the hardware store and bought two 5 pound steel sledgehammer heads. I then went to the local spring shop and got 4 new ubolts made that were 4 inches longer than the originals. I used the sledgehammer heads as lift blocks between the springs and the axle. The eye for the handle in the sledgehammer head acted as a hole for the head of the spring retainer bolt to fit into and keep the sledgehammer head from slipping out. Plus the sledgehammer head was high carbon steel and very strong.

The moral of this story is that my $20 solution lasted until I junked the truck (over 10 years) and I never had a problem or a safety concern with it. I ran that truck hard and overloaded it every chance I got.

Story time over.

BigMac
Thanks Dan

Wow, I would love to see the expression on the face of whoever pulled parts off that junked truck. It's not the blocks that you need to worry about, it's the U-bolts.

You could either have your front axle modified or you could get custom springs made at a spring shop. There is a guy in california that does nothing but make drop spindle axles, he could probably make a tall one. He advertises in Classic Truck magazine.

Try www.benzspring.com for getting custom springs, they have good prices and service. They make springs for gunderson and freightliner as well as customs for anything you want.

You could use lift shackles (get them from a 4WD supply) on the front and fix the caster angle with shim stock for a 1-2" lift. Be prepared for some funky handling.

Thanks everyone for the great input!
I had thought about the shackles, but I considered the "funky handling" that the shackles would create, and decided against them.
Like they say, "You get what you pay for", and either I ante up big bucks for an entire lift kit that includes springs/shocks/etc for both front and back, or I leave my stock suspension as is.
Since I don't want the headaches (not to mention dangers) involved with a "cheap" solution, and I'm not excited about spending big bucks for a 3" rise, I've elected to use the money for other parts of my resto/rod project. My stock suspension is in great shape (3/4 ton) so i'll keep it for a while longer.
Again, thanks for all the great input!
Tom