New Springs / Lift.

[JGrefenstette]

Im getting ready to get some new leaf packs for up front and an add-a-leaf for the rears... who should i go with. ive looked at skyjacker and i like them the best from what ive seen. i want the 2. 5" lift. here are two links with the springs for the front and then the ones for the rear. let me know if yall think this looks like a good deal, and a resonable place to buy em from.



thanks



Front:

1993 Dodge Ram Skyjacker Leaf Springs, Skyjacker Softride Front Lifting Leaf Springs



Rear:

1993 Dodge Ram Skyjacker Add A Leaf Springs, Skyjacker Truck Leaf Springs



also, does it matter that they say the front is a 2. 5" lift, and the rear is only a 2" lift???

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Thats for leveling the truck off, because of the weight of the motor, pickups normally have some bit of a "nose dive" going on. Mid 90s Fords are real bad for this. The extra . 5" is to level the truck off.

 

[JGrefenstette]

hmm, yea i thought this was more of a lift than a leveling kit, cause i really dont care to level it, just lift it all around. i like the nosedive, cause it allows the bed to sit level when loaded. but with the cummins, and the bumper im going to build in a month or so, it will still dive i recon, so the extra . 5 probly will be good anyhow.

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Get yourself some rear air bags if you want it to sit level when loaded. If you really put a lot in the bed or have a 5th wheel/gooseneck the airbags arent a bad idea.



I have noticed that most lift kits come with the extra . 5" in the front. Maybe thats so when you start bouncin the thing off some rough terrain the front keeps off the bump stops.

 

[JGrefenstette]

yea and since the front wheels need extra clearence when turning off road.

do you think these look like a good setup? reasonable price?



ill keep the air bags in mind. i think the add-a-leaf is ok for the time being.

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Wait, the rears you just add leafs to your existing spring pack to get the extra 2 inches? Huh? How many leafs are you adding? I think I'd look for the whole new leaf pack. I've looked into this before, I'd get a whole leaf pack with the bigger arch. If theres a difference, I'd specify it for a one ton, just to get the heavier duty springs.

 

[JGrefenstette]

i would love to get a whole new set of leaf packs for the rear, but... ... they would make it cost me over $1,000 to do the lift, with the new leaf packs up front and an add-a-leaf in the rear, it should come in around $600.



i believe its 1 leaf added in the rear. its just one big arched leaf that has probly 4 ubolts and the more you tighten the ubolts the higher up it pulls your leaf pack.

 

[Philip]

Get ready to be ****** if you get the soft rides. Your truck has 5/8's front spring eye bolts. Skyjacker is going to send you 1/2" spring eye bushings. It doesn't matter what you tell them you need. All the litature they have shows our trucks have 1/2" front spring eye bolts. The 5/8's bolts were a change in 91. 5 I bet they used a pre91 for the mock up many years ago.



I wentr threw this with them a while back. They won't send you new bushing eather. They tell you to remove the steel sleave from the bushings they send you.

 

[JGrefenstette]

so what did you do? is there a better alternative to the softrides and has the 5/8"?

 

[DodgeWarlock]

i believe its 1 leaf added in the rear. its just one big arched leaf that has probly 4 ubolts and the more you tighten the ubolts the higher up it pulls your leaf pack.

Actually you have to disassemble the spring pack and reassemble it with the additional leaf installed.

 

[JGrefenstette]

really? how does it work then? i was under the impression and you simply placed the new leaf ontop of the existing pack, and put the ubolts on and tightend her on down.

 

[DodgeWarlock]

Remove the springs from the truck. Then remove the clamps and the centerbolt. Stack the new spring in the stack. Install a new centerbolt(usually supplied with add-a-leaf) and reinstall clamps. (You usually have to use c-clamps to close down the packs to tighten down the centerbolt. ) Reinstall the springs on the truck. The added spring increases the arch but also adds a small lift just by being stacked in.



Some aftermarket overload springs install like you suggested. They will sometimes generate a small amount of lift if tightened way down, but they will ride really rough.

 

[JGrefenstette]

oh ok, yea i gotcha now. thanks

 

[Philip]

Well for right now I have put the bushing problem on the back burner. I will need to address it when I want to install the springs. I'll just use the measurements from the wrong bushings they sent and try to find some correct poly bushings.

 

[JGrefenstette]

oh ok, thanks.



where are you going to look for some proper bushings? do you think a 2. 5" lift from skyjacker, that is NOT the softride, would have the correct bushings in it? or are all skyjacker springs wrong?

 

[Philip]

If they use the same litature they have right now. I would bet all front leaf springs for a 91. 5+ CTD will have the wrong size front spring eye bushings. If you do a search on skyjacker you will see it is a problem well talked about here (TDR) a few years ago.



When I ordered my springs I told the place 5/8" front spring eye bushings. They had a long talk with skyjacker when they ordered the spriings. I got the 1/2" bushings.



I then called them my self. That was a wasted phone call.

 

[JGrefenstette]

im going to check out the treads about this, but was there any easy solution to the problem?

 

[JGrefenstette]

if i decide to do a 4inch lift instead... . what will i need to do besides leaf springs. i asume a stearing block, probly shocks? any thing else that the 4inch would require, that the 2. 5 wouldnt need? cause if theres not that big of a difference, i might just go up to the 4inch.