need 2WD Lift help

[potz1999]

I tried posting this is the Light Duty section and got no replies. Hopefully someone in here can help. I have a NBS 99 Sierra 2WD with coils up front. Currently I have a Fabtech 3" spindle lift which fit my 32's well, but I just went to 33's and they're a little tight.

 

I was looking into Daystar's 2" coil spacer lift, but I don't know how this will work with my spindles. To the best of my knowledge, the Fabtech spindles mirror the stock spindles in their ball joint locations.

 

The guy at Daystar didn't know if their kit would affect alignment and said I would probably need longer shocks.

 

What do you guys think? Anyone with Daystar stories? Any other manufacturers I should look into? Other routes to consider?

 

"Tight" doesn't even begin to describe my budget and I don't want a body lift.

[potz1999]

 

Does anyone know what limits the downward travel on these suspensions? Is it the ball joints?

[sierraracer]

if you install the daystar spacers you may not be able to align the truck,spacers and meant to be used as a leveling kit(someone correct me if i am wrong)and not to be combined with a kit.i know that a 4" spindle from cst or full force would fit 33".its just my opinion but i would stay away from the body lift i dont trust them and if you start to use your truck offroad the mounts tend to start making noise

[pcrow]

I have a 2003 short regular cab. Fabtech spindles and blocks for rear. Daystar spacers also installed and the truck sits perfectly level with 285's (about 33"). I took it to an independent allignment shop to verify the allignment done by the spindle installer, and they said that it was dead-center of spec with plenty of adjustment either way.

[potz1999]

That is awesome. Thanks for the replies.

 

Don't worry Sierraracer, I would never go near a body lift.

 

Pcrow, how does yours ride with the Daystar's? Can you feel a lack of downward travel? I am definately going this route as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Chris

[pcrow]

I installed the daystars first, on a completely stock truck. They took about 50% of the nose-down slope out of the truck. I honestly felt no difference in the ride, or frequency of hitting the limits. I then added the Fabtech 3" spindles, Febtech 1 1/2" rear blocks, and Fabtech shocks. The front shocks have 3 settings, and I placed them in the center. On level ground, I can place a 4' level on the top of the bed and it is dead-on. If I had to do it again, I would have upped the rear blocks to 2".

 

I feel that the ride is now superior to stock, but most of that is probably due to the shocks.

 

The daystars are the only poece that affected the distance between the jounce bumpers and the frame. Just for grins, I cleaned the rubber with alcohol, then coated the tops with white-out liquid paper. I checked a couple times every day, and it was about 5 days 'till I had them scuff off (touch the frame). But let's face it...I did this for looks, not performance!

 

One interesting thing though...while changing oil, I noticed that after the spindles were installed, the brake lines rub against the top bushing of the sway-bar. the wear was definately down into the line. I covered the lines with two layers of the plastic split wire-loom. I don't know if I will consider that a permanent fix or not.

[potz1999]

Thanks,

I too had an issue with the brake hoses with the fabtech spindles. I don't know if my truck is a really early 99 and had different hoses, but they were definately too short to mount correctly. I drove around for 2 years with them zip-tied to the upper control arm until the started to wear. I ended up getting a slightly longer set from NAPA and my shop bent up some brackets to hold them on the upper control arm.

 

With respect to the rear, my truck was level prior to the lift (due to some worn rear springs). after the lift, my nose was in the air and butt saggin'. I have some Firestone air bags (which constantly break) leveling everything. Aside from all the problems with them, I like that they are ajustable.