Plain and simple....


If I add-a-leaf to my '01 rear leafs, what are my options for lifting the front to match it or even it out?


I did a search yet came across nothing that cut to the chase hahaha


-Phil

 

add-a-leafs will auctually lower your truck about 1/2 inch (thickness of the leaf) but will prevent the suspension from long travel under a heavy load. the add-a-leafs lower your truck because you have a axle over leaf setup, if you convert to axle under leaf then you will add aprox 4.5-5 inches of lift without your add-a-leaf. but with lifting the front, you can crank up the torsion bars .... https://blazerforum.com/forum/tech-articles-diy-29/how-t-bar-crank-37078/

 

I just installed a Rough Country 2" susp. lift so I have new rear shackles, but would the shop that I had the kit installed at crank my TBar in order to even out the lift from the shackles and shocks?


And how difficult/expensive is it to convert to an Axle-under setup? I would love to get another 4.5-5" of lift! Haha


-Phil

 

its pretty much free. i would recomend a longer flexible brake hose that goes from the cross member to the T which splits to each rear wheel. besides that it doesnt cost anything but a few hours

 

Awesome I might have to try that out...

are there any tutorials or step-by-step instructions on how to do it?





-Phil

 

no, its pretty much self explanitory. u just remove the brake lines, u bolts on the u-joints, u bolts holding the axle in and e-brake lines and take your axle out then slide it under the leafs and bolt everything back up.

 

Would this do any harm to the vehicle? Like is it dangerous to do or does it not really change anything except where the axle is placed?




-Phil

 

other types of vehicles have axle under leaf with no problems. i also was talking to one of my buddies at work about this and he mentioned that the plate that the axle is welded to on the side of the axle between the tube and the leafs would have to be cut off and welded on top of the axle for it to work. i cant believe that i forgot about that step, but yea, if your a OK welder then you should be fine, and if your not then you can bring it to someone who welds and I'm guessing they might charge you about $100, but besides that and a longer brake hose you should be all set, it wont damage any part of your truck by doing this swap what so ever, but the only problem i see is finding a 4 inch front lift to match the rear. you can get 1.5 inches out of your torsion bars without any problems but the other 2.5 inches I'm guessing is going to be a hard and expensive find. Also, please remember to get a alignment after any lift of lowering operation!

 

I know a guy who teaches an autotech class and would gladly bring my truck in and show his kids how to weld the parts at no cost to me so that's not a problem....

.....now this next question might sound idiotic but I don't know all the specs of my car yet (I'm kind of a beginner when it comes to this) so here comes the dumb part....

What exactly is holding the front of my car up? Like what type of suspension is in the front? I know it can't just be the shocks right?

My one buddy drives a Nissan Pathfinder and he's been looking at sub-frame drops....is there something similar that I could do to the front? Perhaps create some blocks to bolt on somewhere to get that extra 2.5" ?


-Phil

 

About the only way you can lift the front is very expensive past 1.5 inch. You start getting into dropping the transfer case and torsion bar crossmembers and such. And it gets expensive. I would'nt do the leaf spring swap simply because you can't lift the front near enough to get the height to match the back.

Most of the store bought suspension lifts have you "flip" the leaf springs to the top of the axle to provide the lift and maybe a add a leaf or a small block if it's more than the axle flip allows. Your looking at about $1300 for a 5 inch lift from Trailmaster. That's the cheapest lift that I'm aware of. And I think a 6 inch superlift or BDS suspension 6 inch lift, what most people on here like is about $2000. Install will be about the same price unless you can get a deal or have a friend or some one close that will help you do it.

That's the bad thing about the IFS suspension set-up. It's good for a smooth ride. And the torsion bars never need replacing normally, unlike the older leaf spring/coil spring set-ups like GM used to run on trucks. And the older SFA set-ups were stiffer and had more wear and tear. (Which I don't see how, with replacing CV shafts and boots and A arms, and ball joints, and all that the IFS comes with.)

But that's the only other alternative is to go SFA. Normally this requires getting a axle like a dana 30 from a jeep that has the driveshaft on the driver side instead of the more common passenger side. You hack out all of the IFS front end and weld up leaf spring perches. And swap in a leaf spring set-up like you have in the rear. Now off cource this is A VERY simplified description of the process and it is a bit more detailed but you can find more info here and on other sites. I recommend searching around s10extremist.com for they have abundant info on the tasks of lifting from the torsion bar crank to body lifts to suspension lifts and SFA swaps.

But that's about all I can think of to help you with. I know it's a lot to take in but this is what I have learned in the 2+ years of being obsessed with the s10 blazers.