Got to lift the fiver

Allworth wrote:
It would be nice if everybody listed where their Mechanical Engineering degrees are registered. PE numbers??

Dont have one lol :)

It would be nice if everybody listed where their Mechanical Engineering degrees are registered. PE numbers??

Update, got truck lowered in the rear 3 1/4 inches. Truck actually looks level now. Total cost $320. I can't tell any difference in ride etc. I will hookup to fiver soon as possible to see if a small lift is required to give me enough clearance and have the fiver level.

Wills6.4 Hemi wrote:

Ski Pro 3 wrote:
A four inch drop is going to have to reconfigure a lot more than just suspension. Brake lines, drive lines will need to be shortened. Shocks will need to be resized for the shorter suspension travel. How much space between the axle and the rubber stops anyways? If it's, say, 6 inches and you just lowered the rear 4 of them, you are left with 2 inches of travel.
In order to balance the front, you'll have to lower it as well, affecting some steering components. Think this option all the way through before going forward.

truck has 8-9 inches of travel. 4 inches will have no effects on the systems you mentioned. Squating my truck to bumper stops would take well over 6000 lbs. my pin weight is less than 2000 lbs and only squats the truck 1/2 inch. Thanks for the advise but the modification will have no effect on the other systems and In fact will level the truck. These new trucks are way to tall imho. Thanks

You mean your truck HAD 8 inches of suspension travel prior to lowering it 4 inches. And it HAD 6000 pounds capacity before hitting the bumper stops when there was 8 inches of suspension travel. With 4 inches, it will bottom in much less than even half that amount as the suspension sag isn't linear on springs. The first half of travel takes less weight than the last half. Shocks have valves. The first part of the shock travel absorbs small bumps and is pretty mild. Their damping action gets progressively firmer the further they are compressed. Many aftermarket shocks are pressurized. Loading a shock with 4 inches of compression (or what ever the equivalent is for the shock angle) is going to load a pressurized shock and make it pretty stiff with an unloaded truck. If a shock ever needed to come off the truck and a new one installed, it won't be easy compressing it enough and might actually be dangerous.
The brake lines, drive lines, tie rods, etc all may 'work' with a 4" sag, but they are not designed for that and they should all be revisited to be sure they are optimized for the changes you have in mine. With that said, I want to wish you the best of luck with your decision.

Ski Pro 3 wrote:
A four inch drop is going to have to reconfigure a lot more than just suspension. Brake lines, drive lines will need to be shortened. Shocks will need to be resized for the shorter suspension travel. How much space between the axle and the rubber stops anyways? If it's, say, 6 inches and you just lowered the rear 4 of them, you are left with 2 inches of travel.
In order to balance the front, you'll have to lower it as well, affecting some steering components. Think this option all the way through before going forward.

truck has 8-9 inches of travel. 4 inches will have no effects on the systems you mentioned. Squating my truck to bumper stops would take well over 6000 lbs. my pin weight is less than 2000 lbs and only squats the truck 1/2 inch. Thanks for the advise but the modification will have no effect on the other systems and In fact will level the truck. These new trucks are way to tall imho. Thanks

A four inch drop is going to have to reconfigure a lot more than just suspension. Brake lines, drive lines will need to be shortened. Shocks will need to be resized for the shorter suspension travel. How much space between the axle and the rubber stops anyways? If it's, say, 6 inches and you just lowered the rear 4 of them, you are left with 2 inches of travel.
In order to balance the front, you'll have to lower it as well, affecting some steering components. Think this option all the way through before going forward.

Update, I found a spring shop that can take 3 short springs that are for lift only total 1 1/2 inches and re arch my current springs for a total of around 4 inch drop of the rear of the truck. May not need a modification to fiver. The spring shop is the go to place in our area and work on everything from 1/2 tons to cement trucks. Estimated cost $300.

Having pulled trailers for a living I've seen the results of adding suspension blocks to trailers. Some were disasters down the road. I've raised three rv trailers....one was a axle flip.......another a subframe lift.....and adding 3/8" X 3"wide X 12"long steel gusseted plates with adjustable holes to both sides cross braced on a stacked tube frame tandem axles.
I don't know of any trailer mfg or axle mfg who uses suspension blocks or recommends them nor are they offered as a option on multiaxle trailers.
A 1-800 to Dexter engineers and Rockwell American axle mfg says they don't recommend suspension blocks because of side stresses while turning.

For those that don't understand the difference in a trailers suspension stress vs a trucks suspension a google on that subject can enlighten you on those differences.

We raised our Cougar--a trailer manufacturer nearby raised it 3 inches with a boxed frame. It cost about $1200.00. It handles well, but does require an after market step for my bride to get in and out.
One side note--we are just about max height (13'2") and need to be aware of obstacles.

I looked into it and would be comfortable going 1-2" with blocks if that's all you need. More than that and I think you need sub-frame. Mine does tow a bit nose high which I'm just living with. I have plenty of bed rail clearance. My main issue is the back end dragging sometimes.