The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Adding a few inches

I've used the search function and came up with squat so I'm gonna post here and wear my flame suit. Are there any parts or bolt on kits that can SAFELY raise the ride height of my 51,or max tire size I can squeeze in the front fender? I'm thinking two inches or so, nothing drastic I dust like a little more clearance as this truck will be a DD and occasionally taken out on hunting/camping trips. Thanks in advance.

To raise the stance a little you could buy new spring or have yours re-arched.

You could use blocks too, for lifting such a small amount. However, the problem is that you'll likely need to change your steering linkage and change the driveshaft/pinion angles as well to get it to steer/handle properly, and not have massive vibrations.

If your truck is fairly stock, you might want to convert to open drive.

On the rear, sure, but you never want to install blocks on the front of a leaf spring suspension system. They cause excessive stress on the springs when used with a steer axle, and are also not legal per the DOT.

That's interesting. There are many lift kits for modern trucks that use blocks on the front for lift 2" or less. I wouldn't be worried about it with only 2" of lift.

Those kits for modern trucks are for use with the strut type ifs or solid axle with coil spring, the "blocks", which are actually spacers, mount to the top of the strut/spring. Dealing with a leaf spring solid axle is a different story, virtually all lift kits for those use either deeper arched springs, or longer mounting points at the frame for the front.

I don't believe telling someone to buy a jeep is the best advise on a chevy truck forum.

However Denny is correct about the front not handeling rocks very well. The steering arm is a weak link and is very easy to shatter if the wheels are jammed hard on a curb or speed bump in on road driving conditions. Ask me how I know... I have broken 3 steering arms and counting...

Finding a transfer case and a Dana 44 front axle will give a minimum 6 inch lift in the front. A disc brake open knuckled 44 would be prefered, but a drummed close knuckled axle could be used. 4wd tie rods and steering arms are a bit more robust for off road use.

The kits I am talking about are for leaf springs. Don't put words into my mouth. On higher lifts you are correct, but on 2" or less, typically blocks are used. I have seen these kits, but apparently that's wrong. Blocks are easy, cheap, and reliable with 2" or less lift.

I never put words into your mouth, you did say that the kits you saw were for late models, which for the most part, do not use leaf springs in the front other than a few variants of the F350. Any kits you see for SFA trucks with leaf springs that have blocks in them, the blocks go in the rear.
Perhaps this or this might explain better as to why you should never install blocks on the front.

I thought about this overnight...
I don't think the OP wants to go wheeling in an AD truck. At most I believe he would take it on unpaved fire roads... maybe he could clear that up for us.

1.) Telling him to buy a jeep does not answer his question
2.) The DOT wasn't formed untill April 1, 1967. I don't believe their standards apply to an AD truck? I could be wrong...

So to get back to the original question of how to raise it a little in the front, without blocks, I can think of a couple of ways.

Springs was already mentioned...

If 2 inches is all that is required, swap the 1/2 ton front axle for a 3/4 to 1 ton front axle. This alone will raise the front at least 2 inches. Using 16, 16.5, 17, or even 19.5 rims can raise the truck some more.

If the truck is already a 3/4 ton, or the original poster does not want to change the lug pattern of the wheels... perhaps he can talk to Nostalgia Sid to "Raise" the axle. It has long been popular to have the front axles rebent to drop the truck. I'm sure it is possible to do the reverse and raise the truck. http://www.droppedaxles.com/

Use a new Tubular steel axle from the after market .

Just for a little clarification, I already have a Jeep (05 TJ) that gets used when I go way out in the desert, mountains or the beach. The truck I have is a 51 5 window that started life as a 1/2 ton, however my grandfather bought it cheap off of a guy that wrecked it a looooong time ago. My grandfather used it as a camping rig (had a utility bed made for it, had a cab over camper on it etc.) he decided after some things broke that the 1/2 ton drivetrain wasn't cutting it so he swapped out the front end to 3/4 ton and the rear to a 3/4 ton ford. All of this happened a long time ago, so long ago that when I got the truck after my grandfather died, no one remembered to tell me things weren't stock. I bought a disk brake kit (all 4 wheels) and surprise surprise nothing fit lol. I managed to find a 1/2 front and got the front set up done and am in the process of tearing everything down to clean stuff up but I'm at a point where I'm stuck wondering if I should put the 3/4 ton front back on and try to find the parts to fix the front drums (I'd need pretty much everything) or roll with disks up from and drums in the back till I can come up with the time and money for a rear end swap.

Ok now that that is over with, my question on ride height stems from the fact that the way my grandfather had it setup with that heavy [censored] bed and cab over camper squatted the rear end where the truck was level. Without that stuff it's raked forward, I don't want to drop the rear and would prefer to raise the front a few inches, that way I could still use it for mild camping trips and the occasional dove and quail trip, NOT for rock crawling, mudding, hill climbing etc. I have a vehicle for all that already. Thanks in advance.

Swapping the 3/4 ton axle back in and perhaps a slight re-arch of the front springs, couples with 235/85/16 tires (approximatly 32" tall) should get what you're after. I would suggest a 16x7 wheel for best stability with those tires. If you're after disk brakes, you'll have to fab your own kit for that with 3/4 ton parts, but a few on here have done just that. Here's a good thread on doing the fronts using late model parts, plus you might be able to swap to disk brakes on the rear using late model E250/350 van parts on the existing Ford rear axle.