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M1008 6" Lift: My experience

whatsagoodalias

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Virginia Beach, VA
Ok guys, so I usually lurk around more than post so first, I would like to thank the whole Steel Soldiers community for all the info I have gathered from this forum. I figured I would give back by sharing my lift experience for anyone else who wanted more on possible options. I know that when I was searching for my lift, it was rather hard to find an off the shelf solution for my CUCV for the price I wanted to pay. Most offroad shops were around $1200 for the parts, no installation. So I did some digging. I sourced everything from 4wheelparts.com.

SKYFBL29- Skyjacker stainless braided brake lines
SKYSBL20 - Skyjacker 2" swaybar lowering bracket
EXP11511 - Pro-comp 6" front lift springs with urethane bushings
EXPGDL40- 4" drop draglink
SUP3759 - Superlift 5.5" rear block and u-bolt kit
EXP326500- Pro-comp ES3000 Shock (can't remember front or back)
EXP329500- Pro-comp ES3000 Shock (can't remember front or back)
Can't recall the part number for the front u-bolt kit

Ok, here's the funny thing about 4wheelparts: if you piece a lift kit together component by component, it all ships for free. If you buy a complete kit, plan on spending another $120 to ship it as it doesn't qualify for free shipping. I put my whole kit together for about $800 when all was said and done. I'm sure there are cheaper routes (modifying an off the shelf 3/4 ton lift by adding Dana 60 specific components) but I felt I had better control over what went into my kit by piecing it together. For example, most lift kits want you to take your front hard brake lines and bend them so they drop out under the frame, but seeing as this is a CUCV that has 25 year old rubber lines anyways, I just got extended stainless brake lines and killed 2 birds with one stone. Also I liked the fact that the procomp front springs were not shimmed, as I have seen wacky pinion angles on similar springs with integrated shims.

Some CUCV specific complications you may encounter involve the rear spring pack. My rear u-bolts were not long enough by about 1/2" to 1" because of the 5/4 ton springs. I removed the 2 springs just above the overload spring and called it a day. One leaf was broken anyways. The rear sits maybe an inch lower than I wanted but I will eventually get some 6" lift springs for the rear so all is not lost. Removing the old rear u-bolts the correct way was an exercise in futility so I just cut them off with a grinder. Make sure your kit comes with square u-bolts for a 1 ton truck instead of the rounded ones for lighter trucks.

I was able to clear brand new 36x12.50x16.5 Swamper TSL SX tires on 9.5" wide rims with a 4.5" backspace with no problems and no cutting of any kind. I know 37s would fit as well and that is what I will do when I am ready for new tires. So there it is, my build list, my thoughts, and the problems I had, hope this helps someone out there. Now, off to drive around in some more snow! :driver:
 

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kevin-m1008

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colton, or
Do you still have the stock 6.2?

If so how is the performance?

I've thought about that size of tires but concerned about performance as my truck will be loaded down with wood.
 
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UNIMOG-GUY

Active member
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Blacksburg, VA/Denver, CO
This is great information for those of us wanting to lift our trucks to clear the Hummer rims and 37" tires. It would be great if you could post some more pictures of it out in the 17" of snow you guys got...so jealous. I am also curious as to how the 6.2 does now? I've heard several people complain about the engine bogging down after they raised it 6" and added HMMWV rims and 37" tires.
 
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steved454

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brandon/ms
Looks great, I went with re arching my springs and adding a new pitman arm and shocks, ran me about $850 total but I only got 4 1/2 inches of lift.
 

TCUCV

New member
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Chocowinity, NC
Put a GPS in there and compare to the dash while running it down the road . . . thats what I did just to make sure the gauges worked properly.

By the way nicely done!!!
 

Cucvnut

Well-known member
3,804
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Location
Carver, Oregon
i run 37's mine goes 65-70 all day long. your going to want cross over steering the stock steering will make turning ****. you can also do a shackle flip in the rear to keep the springs you have and it will ride better with out blocks and you dont need to buy new springs.
 
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kevin-m1008

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colton, or
for those of you running 35-38 tires how is performance when you have a couple thousand pounds in the bed?

Any of you have the IP turned up some? if so how are EGT's/
 

sschaefer3

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Tempe, AZ
i run 37's mine goes 65-70 all day long. your going to want cross over steering the stock steering will make turning ****. you can also do a shackle flip in the rear to keep the springs you have and it will ride better with out blocks and you dont need to buy new springs.
Where did you get the front U-bolt flips? SKY MFG?
 

48cj2a

Active member
311
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Location
Central, IL
Shackle flip is in the rear, helps with articulation and suspension twist, but blocks will not change the ride. You could notice some axle wrap in extreme conditons if you had more HP but I don't think you are going to notice it with the 6.2.
 

TRG

New member
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Location
New Mexico
You wasted money on the sway bar and steering junk, you'll find it won't work later on down the road. Should have saved that for crossover steering. I've broken steering block bolts on the street.
Can you elaborate a little please? I may go down this route soon and would like to be as informed as possible before I do. Thank You.
 

whatsagoodalias

New member
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Location
Virginia Beach, VA
This might help, it can all be found with MATH!

4Lo.com :: Final Gear Ratio, Crawl Ratio, Tire Size Calculators

You wasted money on the sway bar and steering junk, you'll find it won't work later on down the road. Should have saved that for crossover steering. I've broken steering block bolts on the street.

Looks good though :beer:
The crossover steering arm adapter looks to be about 2" thick, same as a steering block, I would think that it would be just as easy to break the longer bolts required to install the x-over adapter as it would be to break the bolts in a steering block unless I'm missing something. The pitman arm apears to be about the same length and the distance of the tie-rod mounting hole and center of the king pin appears to be close, so torque applied should be about the same. The 4" drop draglink seems to do pretty good, I have equal steering in both directions and it seems to have retained a similar turning radius. At $450, an ORD crossover kit is on NEXT Christmas's wish list unless something breaks before then.
 

sschaefer3

New member
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Location
Tempe, AZ
Can you elaborate a little please? I may go down this route soon and would like to be as informed as possible before I do. Thank You.
This is as clear as it gets:

Offroad Design - GM GMC Chevy Dana 60 Crossover Cross-over Steering and High Steer Kits

Scroll down to tech notes, as also info on 10 bolt/Dana 44:

Offroad Design - GM GMC Chevy 4x4 Crossover Steering - Dana 44, 10-Bolt, High Steer Hi-Steer kits

You also need a 2WD steering box to make it work. With either axle.
 

Matt65

New member
532
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Location
Alabama
Do you still have the stock 6.2?

If so how is the performance?

I've thought about that size of tires but concerned about performance as my truck will be loaded down with wood.
Mine pulls better now at highway speed with the < redline engine speeds. Click the link in my signature for details.
 

Cucvnut

Well-known member
3,804
61
48
Location
Carver, Oregon
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