A good two inch lift kit

[ISurvivedNMU]

I have been looking for a good two inch lift kit.... I can find 4 and sixes everywhere... But nothing less... I don't want to just crank the torsion bars up.... i would like to drop the from pumpkin just like the 4 inch.... I would consider three inches.. If anyone knows of one...

I just want to add the H2 rims and tires....

Any sugestions

 

[Camstyn]

The lowest I know of is the Rancho 4 inch. It just raises the front 4", the rear 2".

I ended up just doing the torsion bar key lift with 2" blocks/u-bolts on the back. For some reason the keys gave me more like 3" on the front and I added air bags on the back so it sits at 2.5-3" higher than stock..

FWIW I've had it like this for 10k miles and have had absolutely no problems.

 

[BRONCO]

Camstyn,

Did you have to use longer shocks?

 

[Camstyn]

No I've still got the stock shocks on. I do plan on replacing them, I hate the bounce-bounce-bounce ride they give, I find it hard to get a straight answer as to whether or not I should get longer ones or stock-length ones when I do replace them though.

 

[ISurvivedNMU]

Cam,
Do you do a lot of heavy towing with that combination.... Any negative effects?

 

[Camstyn]

No, the heaviest I've towed was a 22ft. jet boat.

 

[BRONCO]

CAMSTYN,

Lets talk shock length. First, I have never met an automobile problem that is bigger than me. Second I have looked at the GM HD IFS suspension a few times. The shock length issue is currently bigger than me, however soon to be slayed. I have heard of people using longer shocks, shock relocation and then of course the owl swares you do not need longer shocks. What do we need to do to get to the bottom of this??

 

[Camstyn]

Yeah I try to not listen to the owl's rambling, as according to him, his way is the only way.
I don't think the suspension would be designed for the shock to top out before the suspension hits other stops. That doesn't seem very safe to me.. Folks say they can feel their shocks topping out, I tend to believe that what they are feeling is their suspension topping out at the end of it's travel.. Not neccessarily the shocks, but the a-arms.

I think that perhaps a longer shock (or a spacer) might help the shocks perform better. A progressively valved shock won't perform as intended if it's always riding at an inch or two higher in its travel than where it's supposed to. I'm not familiar with automobile shocks but I know that with my motorcycles the valving gets progressively heavier as the shock compresses. I assume these things are the same. If it's always riding at an almost fully extended position it's going to have way too light of valving.

 

[BRONCO]

The limiting factor on any good suspension system should be the bump stops.

I think this is what needs to be done. Lets say a guy has factory torsion bar height and factory length shocks installed. You would then need to mark or index your factory shocks. Then go and crank your t-bars by lets say 1.5-2". You would then need to go look at the mark or index on your factory shock. By whatever amount the shock raised then you would need that much longer of a shock. If the shock mark or index did not change then you would not need a longer shock.

On a side note, If you go to the explorer pro comp sight they have a shock listed for the 2500HD. In the description it specifys that this part number is good for t-bars raised up to 1". This would lead me to believe that anything over 1" would indeed require a longer shock??

 

[Camstyn]

Rancho does the same thing, they have two lengths of shocks for us, stock (the say good for up to 2" of lift) and a shock to go with their 4" lift.

Part of the reason why I'm hesitant to get new shocks yet is I'm trying to convince myself which set to order. If the Rancho stock shocks are actually 1 or 2 inches longer than stock then I don't see why they wouldn't be ideal.

From what I've read Bilstein is the best performer but folks have said that the Bilstein fronts are slightly shorter than stock. I'd hate for the shock to become the limiting factor in downwards suspension travel, as I imagine sooner or later you'd destroy the shock or tear off a shock mount.