M1008 6" lift

[Cucvnut]

I guess you missed the point where I said i have hydro assist.


Sounds like you have more of an issue with bump steer. or worn parts but a panhard wont fix any of that.

 

[richingalveston]

Hydro assist does not fix the problems associated with spring sway. Spring sway is not death wobble, very similar feeling but different problems. What you are describing is spring sway causing vehicle to sway back and forth not actual death wobble of the front tires. The truck swaying back and forth due to loose leaf springs can cause the truck to be uncontrollable but sway bars are the better way to fix it than a panhard bar. When you hit a bump evenly with both front tires at 70 mph a panhard bar will make the front end dip to one side.

Death wobble is where the front tires are vibrating back and forth on the kingpins. The tops of the tires are moving in and out on the king pins and make the front steering impossible until you slow to almost a stop. Hydro assist will not fix really bad death wobble either. It cannot stop the tops of the tires from moving in and out on the king pins. It will fix bump stear.

The reason hydro assist cannot fix the spring sway is because the hydro ram is mounted to the axle and connects to the tie rod between the tires. It does nothing to limit the side to side sway of the springs it does not attach to the top of the springs. Pan hard bars are good but can cause some complications at high speeds, sway bars are actually better for highway driving and panhard bars are better on your springs in offroad situations. You can have both, or neither if all of your parts are tight.

I have no sway bars or panhard bars.
I have spring sway that if you do not know what you are doing is dangerous. You make it worse by trying to correct with the steering wheel. The actual cure is to hold the wheel straight and not try to correct it. This is almost impossible unless you have hydro assist. If mine starts to sway, I let go of the wheel. The hydro assist holds it straight and the sway quickly stops. I have driven my truck enough now that I can run 75 with no problems. The truck is really comfortable at 65.

Most of my sway comes from me bouncing around in the truck and not holding the steering wheel straight. The hydro assist makes it real touchy. When you bounce around in the truck you tend to move the steering wheel back and forth and before you know it the swaying has begun.

 

[boneheaddoctor]

If you do a six in lift....with a 4 inch steering arm...but don't do crossover steering. Do yourself a favor and get a 2 inch drop pitman arm too. I had wicked bad bump steer and it was miserable to keep in a lane. With the addition of the drop pitman arm it is now MUCH easier to keep pointed where you want it. Important on narrow 2 lane roads and with hi-way traffic.

 

[KAISERM715]

I think the crossover steering and new rear spring pack will be on my wish list for 2016. I understand the crossover steering requires a 2WD steering box and I can imagine those aren't cheap. Everything seems so expensive these days. Got my 6" Rough Country lift and am going to install this Monday. There is actual brake line relocate tabs and they do not state new brake lines are needed ..... I ordered extended lines anyways. Just looking over the destructions today and they recommend grinding 1/8" off the front driveshaft knuckle I'm assuming for preventative front drive shaft "binding" at full droop. Anyone have experience with this? I took measurements as it sits, front and rear shaft lengths and may consider speaking to the local driveline shop on required specs for the front shaft. Bit of a shame, I already had the rear one re-tubed as it was bent when I got the truck and gave off a bruital vibration at highway speeds. I have also read the front shaft may be lengthened with a spacer?? I didn't get the t-case drop bolts as they looked cheap.

 

[Chaski]

I don't have advice on the driveshaft, I run around with stock driveshaft and 3" lift.

As for the crossover you don't actually need an entire 2wd steering box. All you need is the sector shaft out of a 2wd box. You just need a good pitman arm puller and you can easily harvest one out of a 73-87 at a wrecking yard. Just pull the pitman, then remove the four bolts on the cap and pull the assembly out of the top. That way you can keep your nice unworn low mileage steering gear instead of swapping cases with some mystery one with a worn bore and piston.

 

[86m1028]

I've got 6in frt springs & had to get a longer frt driveshaft.

 

[sschaefer3]

I actually installed an NP 203/205 dual case setup so I had to get a longer shaft. I'm running 1410 on the front Dana 60 and 1350 Double Cardin CV at the NP205. ORD said the stock M1008 drive shaft is just 1/2 ton parts. With the 6.2 it's probably fine, but I went higher.

 

[KAISERM715]

Well the more I read, some people do and some people don't lengthen the front shaft. Some people use the t-case cross member drop brackets or the likes of, and some do not. I suppose there are many variables, and most likely dealing with a used truck so tough to know the history. Could be looked at a good reason to rebuild a 30 year old part if funds permit or just wait until it blows apart; again pending on what the vehicle is going to be used for. Seems like every company or person has had different luck or recommendations on an experience had, and there is no right or wrong. I guess in reality, it's not the end of the world either way! Thanks for everyone's help and info provided thus far, lots of good info

 

[victor3ranger]

Good to hear about the lift, but once you scratch up some money you should really think about doing crossover and a shackle flip.




I agree that kingpins are a cause of death wobble. But here is my explanation of how crossover can cause death wobble. 1) All OEM crossover steering systems (Dodge & Ford) on anything from the 90's and newer use a panhard rod on the front axle, with or without leaf springs. With crossover your link is from your pitman to the passenger side knuckle. When your frame and body deflects to the passenger side (in comparison to your axle) it pushes on the drag link and steers your knuckles slightly to the right, when your frame and body deflects to the drivers side it pulls on the drag link and steers your knuckles slightly to the left. Depending on how tall your springs are, how mushy the bushings are and how fast you are going you can get a "death wobble" going where your cab and frame deflect right then it steers right, swinging your body and frame to the left, causing you to steer left, and vise versa as you go down the freeway wondering if you should have bought life insurance. If it is a mostly street rig a panhard rod is an economical way to make sure this never happens, as it keeps the body and frame from deflecting in relation to the axle. The other way to go about it is hydraulic assist. The neat thing about hydraulic assist is that you have "super" power steering, and when you don't give the steering wheel input to the left or right the hydraulic system to the cylinder on the tie rod is closed, locking the steering down.

IMHO if you go crossover on a big lift you should run a panhard rod or hydraulic assist.

Does anyone have a picture of a panhard bar attached on the front of a M1008? I would like to see what it looks like.

 

[KAISERM715]

So the lift went on great and like the end result. I got 7" front and 5.75" rear to be exact. Looks exactly level. Think the front shaft would bind with enough flex, length is not an issue. Drove it for a hundred miles and tires feel cool .... Does anyone have an opinion on an alignment and do you think it's necessary? Rough Country small block and add a leaf in the rear seems to give more load support, don't mind the ride and no vibes. Honestly can't foresee much axle wrap with the 6.2, and that's all I need. Two thumbs up!!!

 

[Truckyea]

If you didn't touch the steering, you're fine. You won't need an alignment.
Is it stiff? Cushioned? The same?

 

[KAISERM715]

Contrary to what people say about stiff springs, I find that the ride is comparable to factory given how high it sits. Rides nice. Not bouncy stiff but I can see where the crossover steering would help when you are hitting potholes and bumps. Off-road not too sure as I haven't had time to see as of yet. One fellow said in addition to the raised steering block to add a drop pitman. Yes, the angles are too steep with just the block but it works.

 

[Truckyea]

Good to know, thanks

 

[Cucvnut]

Did you keep the T case in the stock position?

 

[tmbrown08]

Has anyone by chance used the Rough Country 6" Lift with New Leafs all around and 2 Inch rear blocks? I bought this lift a while back and just got around to installing it. Everything fit fine until i went to install the passenger side rear shock. So right now due to the angle shim that comes with the kit, the bracket on the axle for the shock is pitched downward. Now the shock will not make up into the bracket because it hits the axle before it mates up. So i can only see three options right now. 1 remove the angle adjustment shim(not sure if that will negatively affect my drive shaft angle too much). 2 grind out the factory top mount on the frame and relocate it further to the back so i can get the angle right. 3 grind out the bracket on the axle and fix the angle. Just curious if anyone else has had this problem and if so what they did to resolve it.

 

[86m1028]

Has anyone by chance used the Rough Country 6" Lift with New Leafs all around and 2 Inch rear blocks? I bought this lift a while back and just got around to installing it. Everything fit fine until i went to install the passenger side rear shock. So right now due to the angle shim that comes with the kit, the bracket on the axle for the shock is pitched downward. Now the shock will not make up into the bracket because it hits the axle before it mates up. So i can only see three options right now. 1 remove the angle adjustment shim(not sure if that will negatively affect my drive shaft angle too much). 2 grind out the factory top mount on the frame and relocate it further to the back so i can get the angle right. 3 grind out the bracket on the axle and fix the angle. Just curious if anyone else has had this problem and if so what they did to resolve it.

I have one with a 7 &1/2 rear lift (ord shackle flip + 2 & 1/2 springs + zero rate.
I cut shock mounts off axle tube & moved them up for better clearance.

 

[kahiwa]

Has anyone by chance used the Rough Country 6" Lift with New Leafs all around and 2 Inch rear blocks? I bought this lift a while back and just got around to installing it. Everything fit fine until i went to install the passenger side rear shock. So right now due to the angle shim that comes with the kit, the bracket on the axle for the shock is pitched downward. Now the shock will not make up into the bracket because it hits the axle before it mates up. So i can only see three options right now. 1 remove the angle adjustment shim(not sure if that will negatively affect my drive shaft angle too much). 2 grind out the factory top mount on the frame and relocate it further to the back so i can get the angle right. 3 grind out the bracket on the axle and fix the angle. Just curious if anyone else has had this problem and if so what they did to resolve it.

I had that problem on my m1008. the way 86m1028 did it is how to fix it but for a while, I flipped the shock upside down so the shaft was on the bottom. may not work for you depending on the angle and some shocks won't work well when they are body up