Give me some ideas on suspension options for a K5 in order to run 44s. I dont have to be as flexy as a full blown crawler but i wont to run a trail efficiently and still ride decent on the street. I have a brand new set of leaf springs from a custom company in California. The fronts are 12" and the rear is 8" w/ a shackle flip. These are very nice springs but I feel theyll be too stiff for my liking. What yall think?
I might just remove a leaf or two and try the springs I have. Itll be a fwe weeks at least before I do anything. What setups are some of you guys running?
Depends but I ran 44's with 6" of lift fairly successfully on that brown 81 Pickup I had, course I cut the fenders alot but I don't like how the stock fenders look anyway.
If you don't want to cut fenders I believe the 12" fronts 8" rears with a shackle flip and a 3" body lift are necessary to clear 44's
That K5 that my Buddy has on tons and 44's has 6" springs in the front but they were so old they sat at 4" when I put them on my 81 so we put them back on his k5 so he was running approx 4" front with rear shackle flip and s10 blazer springs in the rear and a 3" body lift and it can flex pretty well.
The body on this K5 is really straight. I'm gonna trim the fenders some but not much. Ill prob just follow the lines that are there factory to give a lil more room. I really want to be able to run 42-44s but still want some flex. Theres gotta be a happy medium somewhere.
Use the 8 inch rears on the front and make subframe to drop the spring mounts down, its not that hard to make go on chucks trucks.net on there parts page to get an idea how to make the frame, then shackle flip and block the back your gonna have to have some kinda traction bars anyway if your gonna turn the tires.
with 44"s and a full bodied K5 i wouldnt worry about how its going to feel on the trail. I hate to talk junk about other peoples trucks but that just isnt going to be "effecient".
The center of gravity is going to be ^ up there. with the short wheel base of a K5 and the limited flex of 12" springs, plan on being on your lid.
Forget about straight body lines. cut the hell outta the fenders, use the smallest lift possible and up grade your axles to rockwells.
I was in the same shape as you when I started building my K5. The body on mine is really straight, no bondo or rust either. I'm running 16" of lift total (13" suspension, 3" body) and when I go through a ditch the fenders still hit the back of the front fenders. I'm about to add another inch front and rear with zero rates and going to move my front axle forward 1.5" to see if that helps.
When I built this truck though, I didn't build it for the trails. I built it for mud because there are times at my hunting club, you have to have something huge to get back there. After I got to building it and the more homework I did on everything, the more I started wanting to ride the trails. So instead of lowering the K5 and hacking the wee out of the fenders, I'm keeping this one nice and clean and building another trail rig lower to the ground and it's going to be flexy. But I wouldn't take mine on anything too radical because like stated before, you're going to end up on your lid.
Just think about the type of wheeling you're going to be doing and build accordingly from there. Good luck man and post up some pics when you get started!
When I started on the blazer i had it was completely original and straight as an arrow. front fenders are easy to come by so i didnt mind cutting them up, the back we cut quite a bit out of too and no one could tell. It was on 39.5's w/ 4" fronts and shackle flip rear and had plenty of room, in fact i wanted to lower it. IMO stock blazer 52" rear springs moved to the front, 56" rears w/ a leaf or two taken out in the back is one nice setup all the way around. Its low, it flexes like crazy, and rides nice on the road. 44's arent going to ride but so good anyway. dont be scared to cut that pig! Blazers like it! they can breath better w/ some of that weight off seriously though i really wouldnt go any higher than 4" no matter what if your going to wheel it at all, you'll b fighting a losing battle. it you want some examples look at some early pics of the ToWmaterk5 when Chris bought it form me. Heck look at it now! thats how you rock 42's w/ 4" lift! haha http://nc4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45552
But I wouldn't take mine on anything too radical because like stated before, you're going to end up on your lid.
