Wierd Question??
 

I am plannin on gettin 2" shackles but i dont like the idea of crankin the t-bars. Would it be possible to buy a 2" suspension lift for the front, an put shackles in the back? Stupid Question, just curious? Kinda tryin to skimp on cash.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Couple problems with your logic:

A 2' lift for the front is always going to use the t-bars. That's the only front suspension you've got (lets not mention the shock-assist). A 2' suspension lift gives you new t-bar keys and lifts up the front, then comes with all sorts of other goodies to decrease strain on the rest of the front end components. Then the kit includes shackles for the 2' rear lift.

Only way to get 2' without cranking the t-bars is a body lift.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

OK, i guess i was lookin at body lifts at first but realized how tough they were to put in. I dont know what to do. I see so many blazers around town, i would like to make mine a bit dif. any suggestions on the cheapest way to get lift?

RE: Wierd Question??
 

body lifts are easy to install, just very very time consuming..

RE: Wierd Question??
 

cheapest is shackle and tbar crank...

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Yea....

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Sorry for the stupid question.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

no stupid questions sir.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

I just want to get an all around bigger tire, ill be putting shackles on it, an would like to fill in the space i get with a more beefier tire. I guess i would like to stick with the same rims but if i have to get ones then i will. Any help?

RE: Wierd Question??
 

bigger tires on stock rims = rub, you should get offset rims.

edit: also, no lift is going to be cheap, skimping on a cash isnt really an option if you want to do things right the first time.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

well a shackle lift seems to me like its pretty cheap.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

i woulndt call a shackle lift the right way... personally cranking the torsion bars shouldnt be an option, if your not willing to sacrafice parts life. Also the reasons you here people with 6" superlifts and trail master 5's having problems is because they turn a 6" lift into an 8" lift by cranking the tbars...

RE: Wierd Question??
 

I guess i dont know what to do anymore. I was gonna do a body lift then went to shackles then dont know what to do.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

dont get me wrong, tbars and shackles work, thats whats on my truck, but im going to be replacing things prematurely, and im alright with that. but i wouldnt recomend cranking the tbar to anyone unless its minimal. Why dont you just got with a 2" body lift, you keep all stock ride characteristics but just 2" higher, no extra wear on any components. The body lift is very easy, its just time consuming.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Thats what im kinda leaning too. Can you do it in your driveway? An could it be done in aweekend? Workin morning to night.

2000 blazer lift kits are hard to find. Is there somethin goin on with them?

RE: Wierd Question??
 

yes and yes, but heres some things to keep in mind. Your current ride height will allow 30" tall tires. A 2 inch body lift will allow 31" tall tires, however, a body lift lifts the body off of the frame therefore giving you no extra ground clearance. The only extra ground clearance you will get is from the tires. A 1" tall tire yeild only 1/2" of ride height difference. The body lift will make your truck no more capable off road than it is right now. Now weigh it out, is a $200 body lift and a couple of days work worth 1/2"?? If you are purely going for looks then, by all means, go for it..lol If you are going for off-road capability, then you might want to reconsider..

Superlift, Rough Country are the only two companies with suspension lifts for a 2000 non-zr2 blazer. Trailmaster makes a 5 inch lift for up to year model 1998. This does not mean that it wont fit a 2000 (personally I think it will). Trailmaster recently replied to an e-mail about this by saying "It should work, but we can't guarantee it will because we have not tested it on that year model"

RE: Wierd Question??
 

I cranked up my t-bars, and with 100k miles on my CVs, I blew out the passenger side within 100 miles. I've already had the ball joints replaced with greasable ones at 90-ish thousand, so those suckers should be fine with the lift, but you definitely need longer shocks with a t-bar adjustment. Speed bumps are brutal..

Also a body lift can help with off road capabilities...you're less likely to catch a rock with a body panel, and it also increases your approach and departure angles :D but not ground clearance :(

RE: Wierd Question??
 

if you rock crawl with a stock s-series or with a 2 inch body lift, some may question your sanity. You will not gain off road ability with a body lift. The bottom line is you high center at the same angles and heights as you do without the body lift. What you are talking about, wolfpack, is a rarity. You will see that advantage of a body lift maybe once out of every 50 times off road..... Your stock suspension will still limit your approach and departure angles, so to make a long story short, the body lift won't help anything but looks..

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Haha oh well..I was reaching...just trying to find something. That one rock you want to clear that's 1' too tall and scrapes the bumper before the tire just might fit under with a body lift!


But yea, probably not. Who doesn't like bigger tires though!

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Agreed! lol I have debated a 2 inch body lift for some time now just so I can run 31x10.50 pro comp xtreme MT's...

RE: Wierd Question??
 

i dont see how longer shocks will make bumps less "brutal"? thats because the tbars themselves are twisted at a degree thats not recomended.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Well lifting the t-bars flexes the suspension, that's what gives you the lift. Bumps are real harsh because you actually top out your suspension, so your blazer rips back down to the ground..which hurts. Longer shocks decrease give you more travel to it will cut down on this a bit. It'll probably still be pretty harsh cause untill you get better angled control arms or something else, but lift shocks are a good start!

Edit: I've been mistaken/misinformed before on this whole front suspension thing, so I could be wrong and longer shocks wouldn't help at all...but it seems to make sense to me in theory! I've still got the factory Bilstiens right now..gimmie a couple weeks i'll letcha know

RE: Wierd Question??
 

would getting bigger shock do anything for lift? or do you have to change the springs an stuff like that?

RE: Wierd Question??
 

RANCHOhas a line ofshocks called "quickLIFT"

they are suppesed to lift up the front. i am not entirely sure how they work. according to the website there is a "myRIDE 9 position manual/remote tuning"

:(unfortunately, they do not offer them for our trucks

RE: Wierd Question??
 

That sucks, i think im going to be doing a body lift, but a dif. idea since theres gonna be more frame showing im going to sand blast it make it nice, then either paint it black or spray the truck bed liner on it to protect in a way. If that makes sense.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Quick question, can you do shackles in the back with no t-bar crank? An how much lift can you get off the t-bars without doing damage?

sorry about the repost hit the wrong button! lol

RE: Wierd Question??
 

if you don't crank the t-bars and put shackles on your truck will look funny and have a lot of rake to it

RE: Wierd Question??
 

how far can i crank the front without blowing out parts?1 in. 1.5 in?

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Yea I did the same thing with the frame, very good plan. However I didn't use a sand blaster..I just have a dinky detail abrasive blaster for my dad's air compressor...so I used a box of steel wool/soap (SOS pads), then coated with 3M Rubberized undercoating.

Also you can do shackles with no t-bar lift, but you'll just be lifting the back end obviously...which will increase your forward rake. If that's the look you like, go for it...[:'(]

It's debatable what exactly is 'safe' as far as upwards movement from the t-bars. It really depends on how much driving you do, where you do it, and how worn the other parts of the front end are. I thought I was safe with my 1.25' of lift, but I blew out a CV. I've read on here before that 1.5' is 'safe' but still dangerous based on the other parts. 2' is only possible if you bars were sagging already but very dangerous to do (very likely to blow out parts).

You just have to figure out what it's worth to you, and if you're willing to take on the expense of further replacements. It was to me so I did it :D

RE: Wierd Question??
 

It all depends. You should be fine with 1', but that will probably only level the blazer, as most trucks and suv's have a bit of forward rake from the factory. I think Matt (otnietdehoooo) did the 1' just to level it, and I don't recall him having any problems as of yet.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Im kinda goin for the look that 95BlazerLt4wd did. i wont have as big of tires, becuase i dont want to trim any. An i just want to make it level so with a 2" body lift an 2" shackles i sould get about 4" all together shouldnt I?

RE: Wierd Question??
 

4 in the rear, 2 in the front, honestly it would look stupid as hell... If your worried about breaking parts, dont crank your tbars.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

So stick to the 2 inch body an leave it at that?

RE: Wierd Question??
 

i havent had any problems yet. soon after i first cranked them, some of the grease out of the CV boot leaked out. after wiping it off,there was no more leaking and everything is fine so far.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

So i could do the body lift that would raise everything 2" an get the 2" shackles an crank the front 1" so it would have a forward rake. Would that look bad?

RE: Wierd Question??
 

That's about what I've got. 1.25' in the front, 2' in the back. Waiting on funds for the body lift right now though.

I can't remember what the factory rake is, but 1' shouldn't look too bad. Only problem might come from your headlights being aimed down a little farther from the lean, decreasing the range of your lights. But other than that, 1' shouldn't be toooo bad.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

Wolfpack do you have shackles in the back? Isnt there some way to adjust the headlights? What kind of rims ro you have? I got the same year blazer an color as well, an i think black rims look really good on red blazers.

RE: Wierd Question??
 

I'm sure the headlights are adjustable, I just don't know if they can be moved up that much to account for forward rake like that...not sure at all. In my sig I do not have shackles on, just the t-bar lift up front, now I've got shackles on (see Got my shackles on!). Rims are Pro-Comp Series 51s, 15x8 with 4.5' of backspacing.

And yea, red and black is the best combo I think :D

RE: Wierd Question??
 

sweet, cant wait till i get money!