THE TITS ON 2wd LIFTS

[Manfred von Richt]

I am not the author of this of this tut, I found it on three other S10 forums

All information in this thread is for educational purposes only

Lifting the front
there are two ways you can lift the front of your 2wd S-10.

(1) Spindles come in 3” & 3.5" lifting variations and are available for S-10 pick-ups and pre-98 Blazers
(98 and newer Blazers use a different hub and lift spindles will not work)


Spindles only change the height of your truck and they do not change the way it rides since you still use your stock coil springs.
With lifting spindles you need to purchase extended brake lines so that you don't pull your brake lines apart leaving you with no brakes. These are usually metal, braided lines for extra durability and a nice look. You do not need longer shocks with spindles however high performance shocks are recommended.

Before I go on I would like to spend a moment on coil spring spacers. Spacers are dangerous to use on an S-10 because the springs are not flat on the ends, but rather the coil wind just kind of stops and a coil spring is made to fit into the lower control arm and spacer on the other hand will not conform to the spring or the lower control arm pocket leaving a large amount of stress on the end of the spring and possibly causing the spring to deform and cause the coil spring to “pop-out” and if you try to use a spacer on the top of the coil spring there is nothing to hold it into place but the weight of the truck. There are people who claim they have used coil spring spacers with no problem and these people have been very fortunate to have not experienced damage to there S-10’s.

(2) Coil Springs are a good way to lift your 2WD S-10, however expect a firm to very stiff ride after installing lifted coil springs.

Lifted coil springs come in lengths ranging from 2”-3½” and get their lift from an increased spring rate (most lifted coil springs are only slightly taller then stock springs) I have found that after a lifted coil spring settles (500-1000 miles) you can expect to lose 1/2”-3/4” of lift. Example: a 2” lifted coil spring will only give you 1 ¼” -1 ½” of lift after the coil spring settles.
Over the years i have used Moog or TRW 5662 & 5664 coil springs to lift my S10's 1 ¼” - 1 ½” instead of the so-called 2" lift springs because the ride is better and they cost half the price of 2" lift springs

When using 3"- 3 ½” lifted coil springs you must use aftermarket upper control arms to accommodate the 3"- 3 ½” coil springs.

this requires cutting the upper control arm mounts and welding upper control arm gussets in place to help with alignment ability and wear on suspension components. The problem with lifting with 3” -3 ½” lifted coil springs is that it puts higher angle on your ball-joints which may cause premature ball-joint wear. There are different methods that can be used to help lessen or slow the wear on your ball-joints. One is to re-mount the ball-joint to the so that the top surface of the ball-joint bolts to the lower surface to the upper control arm (sometimes called flipping the ball-joint) another method is ball-joint spacers, ball-joint spacers should only be used in extreme cases to correct severe ball-joint angles.
3” - 3 ½” lifted coil springs are often very stiff and I’ve even seen upper control arm mounts tear apart at the weld because the coil springs were so stiff (this happened to me and others)
I personally don’t recommend using 3” -3 ½” lifted coil springs and upper control arms to lift a 2WD S-10 because I’ve never seen a case were there was not some kind of problem or another when using this method to lift an S-10.


Long Travel kits (upper and lower control arms)


on the other hand is something I highly recommend because you correct ball-joint angels and gain extra travel lost when using lifted coil springs. Long Travel kits are often very expensive and installation should be left to the professional.
In my opinion, the best method when using lifted coil springs to lift a 2WD S-10 is to use 2” - 2 ½” lifted coil springs (this will give you 1 ¼” -2” of lift) and flipping the upper ball-joints. This will give a firm (not stiff) ride and you will not be replacing ball-joints every other month.
Lifted coil springs can be used with lifted spindles for even more lift, longer shocks will be needed.




Lifting the Rear
There are 4 ways that you can lift the rear of you S-10
(1) Add-A-Leaf. What these do is basically add another leaf for your leaf pack. They are arched more than you stock leafs so it pulls your leafs into more of an arch...causing the lift. You can achieve 1.5"-2" of lift with these.

The positive side to these is if you tow or haul a lot of stuff with your truck because they add to the amount of stuff you can carry in your truck. Downfalls are that they will stiffen the ride in your truck. There are two different of add-a-leaf you can use on your S10, one is the short add-a-leaf that fits above your helper spring and the second is the long add-a-leaf that fits between your first and second spring on your spring pack. (It is said that the long add-a-leaf gives a better ride) new shocks recommended, i recommend Bilstein B46-1413 heavy duty shocks.

(2) Shackles. These are what connect the rear of your leafs to the frame. To achieve a desired lift you lengthen these twice the amount of lift you want since your lift is found in the center of your leafs but shackles are on the end. Usually shackles are 1.5" because more lift than that and your shackles become scary long.

new shocks recommended, i recommend Bilstein B46-1413 heavy duty shocks.


(3) Leaf Spring Hangers. These connect to the front of the leaf spring and replace the stock leaf spring hangers and will give your S-10 2 ½” of lift.

Leaf Spring hanger work best with lifted shackles and some people say it will mess with your driveline angles but it all depends on several factors that vary from truck to truck, i use this set-up on my S10 with stock shackles and i re-shimed the rear axel to correct the drivelive angle.
*note: longer shocks are nessesary, rear shocks from a ZR2 are perfect substitute and i recomend using Bilstein B46-1819 heavy duity shocks.

(4) Axel Flip-Kit. Because S-10 axles are positioned above our leaf springs you can "flip" the axle over to the underside providing 4.5-5" of lift.


Once again some people say it will mess with your driveline angles but it all depends on several factors that vary from truck to truck.
New shocks recommended, i recommend Bilstein B46-1413 heavy duty shocks.



Body Lifts
Lift the cab & body of your S-10 2"-3”

Body Lifts are the cheapest way to lift your S-10; by lifting the cab & body of your S-10 you gain extra room for bigger tires. Pros of body lifts include stock ride characteristics and a taller stance. Some people don’t like body lifts because the frame is exposed, this can be corrected by installing Nurf Bars and Gap Guards. 2” body lifts are available for 84-04 S-10’s and 3” body lifts are available 84-94 S10’s and one company makes 3” body lifts for S-10’s up to 97 and this kit can be modified to work on late model S-10’s as well.



Summery
The most lift 2wd trucks can get is around 9.5" (spindles, coil springs, control arms and a body lift) which will give you enough room for 33" tires unless you go with a SAS or Hybrid then you can go even bigger

*special thanks to AcidBath666 for providing a photo of his 2wd S10 on 33's

[blue-s10]

this is already available on red barons thread

[orangesonoma]

hmm

[Manfred von Richt]

Yea I looked at that thread, no photos and it gave me a headache trying to short through all the pages! this thread is straight to the point with no BS.

[purplepassion]

Quote: Originally Posted by blue-s10

this is already available on red barons thread

ibtl

[Onimun]

Quote: Originally Posted by blue-s10

this is already available on red barons thread

+1

[SandBlastedS10]

Nice write up mayne. I always wanted a pre-runner S10 with long travel shocks. But I'll go lower if I get a 2wd

[Manfred von Richt]

Quote: Originally Posted by blue-s10 this is already available on red barons thread

Quote: Originally Posted by Onimun

-1

Yea I've seen were he TRYED to piggyback his thread to someone else's sticky on another forum

[02ZQ]

Quote: Originally Posted by Manfred von Richt

Yea I looked at that thread, no photos and it gave me a headache trying to short through all the pages! this thread is straight to the point with no BS.

Sorry reading was too much trouble for you man,,I guess everyones experiences,questions and answers were BS in that thread.

[NC4x4]

I don't see any problem with this thread.
It condenses the information rather than having to filter and search through 10+ pages, which newbies aren't good at doing.
I don't care to see repetitive posts on "How can I lift my 2wd?" so this might help deal with that.

[blue-s10]

Quote: Originally Posted by NC4x4

I don't see any problem with this thread.
It condenses the information rather than having to filter and search through 10+ pages, which newbies aren't good at doing.
I don't care to see repetitive posts on "How can I lift my 2wd?" so this might help deal with that.

true

[02ZQ]

Quote: Originally Posted by NC4x4

I don't see any problem with this thread.
It condenses the information rather than having to filter and search through 10+ pages, which newbies aren't good at doing.
I don't care to see repetitive posts on "How can I lift my 2wd?" so this might help deal with that.

And as soon as they read this thread they're still gonna ask the same questions,yeah I understand that reading 10+ pages sucks,but hey it's all part of research.Everytime I see those "How can I lift my 2wd?" my first thought is how did they miss Sticky: Liftin' it FAQ'S and Helpful Liftin' It Forum Threads but they do and then there's another "How can I lift my 2wd?" thread,anyway sorry for the rant,maybe this thread will help,but I doubt it.

[NC4x4]

Quote: Originally Posted by 02ZQ

And as soon as they read this thread they're still gonna ask the same questions,yeah I understand that reading 10+ pages sucks,but hey it's all part of research.Everytime I see those "How can I lift my 2wd?" my first thought is how did they miss Sticky: Liftin' it FAQ'S and Helpful Liftin' It Forum Threads but they do and then there's another "How can I lift my 2wd?" thread,anyway sorry for the rant,maybe this thread will help,but I doubt it.

No need to hate on someone who organizes and centralizes information BETTER than someone else has done.

I couldn't care less either way. I wouldn't mind if I never saw another 2wd lift thread.

[02ZQ]

Quote: Originally Posted by NC4x4

No need to hate on someone who organizes and centralizes information BETTER than someone else has done.

I couldn't care less either way. I wouldn't mind if I never saw another 2wd lift thread.

pfft....hating, just stating the obvious the first page of Red Baron's sticky goes over what's stated in here,I'll give him props for adding pics,but thats it.Post #8 is what got me going he seemed to be bashing,anyway I'm tired of arguing about it.

[NC4x4]

I can see that. But that's between him and Red Baron, who I never see on here anymore. Like I said, couldn't care less personally, but definitely not a terrible post in my opinion.