i just picked up a set of shackle lifts from autozone for $20. I only wanted 3" but i dont think we can use blocks due to the leaf springs under the axle right? Anyways does anybody have pics of a lift about this size on a z? its much appreciated. Also how much am i gonna have to do to the front to get it level again?

 

Yep, blocks will push the axle up and lower the height of the vehicle since our leaf packs are under the axle.

I think the shackles from Advance only provide about 2 inches of lift at thier highest level. Plus remember that for every inch in lenth the shackle is, is a half inch of lift. So a 4 inch long shackle will lift the vehicle 2 inches. As far as matching the front to the rear, you can "turn up" the torsion bars by the adjustment bolt(s) under the vehicle. There is a thread title "Torsion bar tutorial" in the lifted section that outlines all of the procedure.

Most people will adjust untill they get about a 1.5 inch lift in the front. This is considered the safe spot cause some people who lift further by adjusting the torsion bars cause bad angles of the ball joints and front axle shafts. Leading to bad ball joints, torn CV boot, bad CV axles and also it can be hard to get an alignment because of the angles of everything.

Other than that you're looking at major $$$$ for a suspension lift (Think at least $1600+ just for the lift, not including labor). Or you could do a body lift, but that would do the front and back. I don't have any pictures off hand. But if you use the search feature and look for a member named "Blazerguy2001", he has a ZR2 with 6 inch long shackles, which means 3 inches of lift.

 

oh well thats good. These have holes at the 4 5 and 6" mark so i may go 6. I have heard of torsion keys i think it is? would they lift it without making it ride as rough? Thx for the input

 

Nah, even with the new torsion bar keys it will ride rough. Imagine the torsion bar as a rope. As you twist it it gets tighter and twists. As you lift the vehicle by the torsion bars, they twist and get firmer, and less up and down movement in the front because of it. It's kind of like when people heat thier coil springs to lower a vehicle. Since the spring no longer expands and contracts with the bumps, the ride gets very rough.

The only thing the "lift" torsion bar keys do is they allow more lift than the factory keys. Which isn't a good thing. Even the Rough Country 2 inch lift that uses new torsion keys and new upper control arms still has problems with wearing suspension parts quicker than normal and being hard to get in alignment.

The reason the front end parts wear out quicker is because as the front of the truck is lifted, the torsion bar which acts as a spring gets tighter and tighter. And when it's tight and doesn't want to absorb the shock of bumps and such in driving, the shock travels through the suspension into the ball joints, cv axles, control arm and other bushings, shocks, etc. Which makes them wear out much quicker than normal. Most people will agree that 1.5 inch of lift is about the most you can get out of the front end without running into the aformentioned problems. And you can get that with the factory keys so thier isn't much use for the lifted keys.

Some of the fullsize trucks can benifit from the lift providing torsion bars keys. And not have parts wear out and have problems. But the smaller trucks and suv's don't have as much room for adjustment before things get out of whack as the fullsize vehicles. Sorry for the novel, lol. But those keys just arn't worth the time and money.

 

wow i didnt know there was so much to this stuff. lol well thanks this helps alot

 

No problem. In the 3 years I've owned my blazer. It had 22 inch rims at stock heigt, then was lowered 3 inches, and now it's lifted about 4 inches with 31 inch tires. So I've got alot of knowledge in those areas.

 

ive got 3 inch shackles on my 98. not too bad looking.

 

Yep, I forgot about you Ryan. There's another look at them on a Z.

 

i know for a fact that for every inch of shackle it doesn't lift your vechile a half inch other wise my ZR2 would be a lot higher than a half inch taller in the back then the front my schakles are 8 inchs long and they lifted my Z no more than a inch and a half they where supposed to lift it 2. it was still lower in the back until i put on bolt on leaf spring helpers.

 

my shackles are 10 inches form center hole to center hole. they gave me a toltal lift of 2 3/4 in the rear. te stock shackles are 4 inches from hole to hole. so i got roughly 3 inches of llift from 6 more inches of shackle material. so if you wanted to go four inches your lift shackes would have to be 12-13 inches from center hole to center hole.