Thats your call as it is an opinion thing. For the $ you can't beat the shackles.

 

aal's tend to give a bit harder ride also

 

A quick run-down of the suspension setup:

FRONT:

For the front axle, it's a solid axle in between the frame rails. Once you get to the frame rails and base for the control arms, theres's a joint so that the axle can flex. At the outer point of the control arms there's another joint. That part (with the two joints and the shaft between them) is referred to as CV shaft/CV halfshaft, driveaxle shafts (i've seen several terms for it)

Since there isn't enough room at the axle for coil springs or leaf springs, they have whats called a torsion bar (tbar). It's mounted towards the base of the LOWER control arm. The other mount for the tbar is on a crossmember below the front seats. When you hit a bump, you're wheel moves up (which in turn, pushes control arms and the CV halfshaft up as well). The tbar twists to account for the spring compression and untwists in order to push the wheels back to the ground.

Cranking the tbars is a term used to increase tension on the bars. Think of it as a pushup. If you press against the ground hard enough, your body will go up.



REAR:

The rear is much simpler since its a solid axle and there is no steering involved. The stock leaf springs go under the axle. The easiest ways to get lift in the back are shackles or add a leaf. The shackles referred to are the rear mounting point for the leaf springs. They are loose to accomodate compression of the springs. When a wheel presses up, the spring flattens some and pushes the shackle backwards. By adding longer shackles you are essentially pushing the leaf spring down which lifts the truck up. The same is accomplished by adding another leaf or having the springs rearched (probably the ideal solution)

SOA is commonly used to describe SPRING-OVER-AXLE conversion. basically you put the leaves on top of the axle but that generate more lift than you would need (this is the technique used in the larger 5-6" kits)

=====

Basically, in order to lift, the axles need to go DOWN (in relation to the truck). The only way to achieve that in the front is by cranking the tbars (either just crank by hand or install aftermarket keys- either way, tension on the tbars) OR by moving the entire axle down. Lowering the differential and all the steering components. It's not an easy task and thats why the 5-6" kits cost $1k+.

Gap guards are rubber/plastic sheets that are used to hide the gap (between the frame and body) left behind after installing a body lift



I hope I answered most of your questions and I hope my explanation made sense

Here are some pics and graphics that may explain some



RED thing is the shackle. lift shackles would be longer thus pushing the spring/axle down. NEVER MIND THE BLUE QUESTION MARK. I WASNT 100% SURE WHEN I FIRST MADE THAT PIC



My stock shackles


Wolfpack's lift shackles


Video of my shackles moving during spring compression
http://mattdehoogh.com/vids/shackles.MOV


This is a pic of the bolt used to adjust the tbars



This shows the tbar mount at the LCA

 

Wow,
I really appreciate it man. That helped out alot. A couple more questions..

I want to put a 2 in body lift on my truck.
Would it be plausible to put a 1.5" T-bar crank and the shackles in the back??

when i do the T-bar ishh, should i just go ahead and replace all that C/V, and ball joint stuff??

and i get this TERRIBLE vibration at around 65 mph, then it stops, then around 80 or 85 i get it again..
whats up with that??

and with the 2" BL, would nerf bars look stupid??

and im looking at a roof rack/basket....yay or nay??

and what about adding steering stabilizers??

 

You can certainly do both the body lift and tbar/shackle lift. There are many many people driving like that. (I will be eventually)

I will be replacing my ball joints and CV joints (and likely the wheel hubs/brakes, tie rods, pitman and idler arm and pretty much anything that can ever wear out) prior to lifting. Depending on how many miles and how hard it's been driven you may not need new CVs yet. Just keep in mind though that having the shafts at a steeper angle will cause them to wear out faster than at the normal angle.

Vibration could be from unbalanced wheels/tires.. I don't know for sure.

I had chrome nerf bars on mine but took them off a few months back. A body lift will leave the frame/step bars down and only lift the body. I honestly don't know what it would look like. (I've decided to keep my nerf bars until I finally lift it)

I like roof racks, some people dont though

I don't know much about steering stabilizers

 

don't do the steering stablizer unless you want to blow the money.. It does look cool. but your not going to need that with just 31 inch tires, those are for 35's and larger.. They also hide a lot problems since they absorb shakes and vibrations. Do replace ball joints and tie rods, idler and pitman arm. I would do add a leaf and t- bar crank lift and body lift if you just want to fit the 31's on. but just go an inch with the t-bar crank, for better tire wear. I have a rough country kit i do love it but need to figure the CV axle issue. My front end rides soo much better with the 2 inch kit, it was soo stiff with jsut the torsion crank. I even took the sway bar off. AS far as a solid axle swap it'll cost ya a little less than the 6 inch kits and be SOO much more durable. If you get a good deal on the axles.. Dana 44 is what you want... Dodge, international scouts, front axles work great as you want the bell housing on the driver side where the transfer case is. Do a 4 link set up. those axles already have the 4 link mounts on them, so no welding of brackets on the axles, I have found axle pairs for anywhere from 200 to 600. I do live in redneck heaven here in Arkansas so 4x4 parts are easy pickin's.

 

So all I gotta do is tight up them tbars and raise it up an inch and then add a leaf in the back and I should be good to go for a 1" lift to get 31"s on?

Joe

 

you need about 2" of lift to run 31's, you can get 31's on with 1.5" of lift if you dont mind rubbing/trimming.

 

so should I go ahead and crank the tb's to get the 2" out of the front and throw some shackles on the back and raise her up?

Joe

 

if you crank your tb's that for youll be going through cv's like water, if you goal is to fit 31's i would suggest a 2" body lift. if you do wanna crank your tb's 1.5" would be as far as i would go but youll have to do some trimming and then for the rear you can either go with shackles or an add a leaf. theres also a 2" suspension lift availible but its hell on your cv's