$5 leveling kit and hi-lift jack question

[brplante]

thanks for all the input guys, but you all have me worried that we are gonna mess up the shocks, if we put in coil spacers can we leave the shock spacers?

 

[feellnfroggy]

Not BS. If you put new shocks in, you usually gain a little height. If I've seen it once I've seen it a hundred times

We're not questioning that new shocks will lift a vehicle a little. Old ones are wore out and dont help provide support for wore out springs. but to lift a truck putting washers under the shocks, is not impossible but an improbability. The springs provide ride height as well as compression resistance. The shocks only help control bounce through controlling rebound and some compression. The only guarunteed way to lift a truck is through spring manipulation, whether spacers (washers are fine, as long as longer grade 8 bolts are used), or new springs.

Longer shocks are bought to accomodate longer springs, not hte other way around.

 

[r1hatman]

What he said.^^

 

[feellnfroggy]

Almost all of what he said^^^^^ just disregard what I said about longer bolts, I got carried away and started things about the welded washer body lift. 1/2 inch of washers on the springs should leave you enough thread to be safe.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Shocks DO NOT effect ride height! Think about it for a second....even gas charged shocks, which do rebound on their own can easily be collapsed by hand....do you really think that they will overcome the weight of a vehicle? NO, not possible.

 

[straycat]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a washer lift on TTB. Just as safe as a coil lift.

Never has this washer spacer lift ever been approved by any offroad mag or offroad tv show I have ever known. Nobody I have ever known has done a washer lift (the right type of coil spacer, yes). It is just not safe.


My .02 worth.

 

[ozziemo27]

Never has this washer spacer lift ever been approved by any offroad mag or offroad tv show I have ever known. Nobody I have ever known has done a washer lift (the right type of coil spacer, yes). It is just not safe.


My .02 worth.

LOL. Unless you are trolling, which I really hope you are. I will help fill you in. You honestly think that people in offroad magazines and tv shows need to approve something before its "safe". I am sure you know people on here that have done it because its a vastly common mod. Regardless...it works the same as a coil spacer, just safer and stronger. Its steel for god sakes. Let me show you an example of a coil spacer failure:

Talk about safe.
Show me a washer fail like that.

Sure, replacement coils are a great way to go, but if you are lifting on a budget, there is not one thing unsafe about washer coil spacers. Obviously just don't stack them so high that you cant thread the nut back on the retainer bolt.

 

[Boggin]

LOL. Unless you are trolling, which I really hope you are. I will help fill you in. You honestly think that people in offroad magazines and tv shows need to approve something before its "safe". I am sure you know people on here that have done it because its a vastly common mod. Regardless...it works the same as a coil spacer, just safer and stronger. Its steel for god sakes. Let me show you an example of a coil spacer failure:

Talk about safe.
Show me a washer fail like that.

Sure, replacement coils are a great way to go, but if you are lifting on a budget, there is not one thing unsafe about washer coil spacers. Obviously just don't stack them so high that you cant thread the nut back on the retainer bolt.

X 'a number higher than i can count'

 

[4.0B2]

i used a washer lift before i had the money for a true lift kit.. its worth it in my opinion. i didn't have any safety issues.... and it rode better than the lift springs..lol.
just make sure the bolt has enough to catch the nut good and you're fine.. use common sense

 

[MountainMike]

Nobody I have ever known has done a washer lift (the right type of coil spacer, yes). It is just not safe.

I have washers on my truck, I made sure it caught the full nut worth of threads and was torqued to spec. I welded my washers together to make them one solid spacer. They haven't given me any troubles and I've never gotten any guff for having them whenever the truck was in the shop for anything.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Same here... I have an inch of them welded together in my 91...they have been in the truck for 7 years now. The truck was daily driven the whole time and was also an off-road toy. It has gotten the snot beaten out of it for the last 5 years and they have not caused an issue yet, nor will they ever.

 

[r1hatman]

Yeah there safe if you do it right, I would have used them, but I couldn't find any that big! I would have welded mine too. There is always some idiot who will do it stupidly! But if you have a little common sense, they are safe!

 

[brplante]

yeah you guys were right, it did lift it a tad bit and helped level it out, but a day later it was back to the original height, we are going to put in the coil spacers to level it.