Lift via U-Bolts and Blocks on Rear Leaf Springs

[M J]

anyone have any experience with doing a rearend lift on the back of the truck by using new Ubolts and blocks above the leaf springs? i want too, looks easy enough, and is cheap, and will counter with bigger coils springs in the front

 

 

thanks

[M J]

alright, i think ive figured out how to do it (i know its pretty easy and basic to begin with)

but what i need to know is, is there anywhere you can find the exact size of the hexnuts and bolts and nuts and small parts like that on chevy trucks...i dont want to have to jack the truck up, dissassemble parts, and take another car to lowes to measure bolts exactly, id like to have nonrusty replacements on hand and ready

 

also, where should i jack the truck up to take most of the tension off of the leaf springs? the jack doesnt reach to the trailer hitch i have, and i dont knwo where else to do it on the body, because the frame is so high off the ground already, the jack isnt gonna reach - i cant do this by jacking up via the axle, right ? wouldnt that be dumb considering the part i am working on is on the axle?

man im stupid haha

thanks for help guys in advance

[dhansell22]

I don't think you're gonna get the u-bolts at lowes. I had to go down to a local metal shop and have them bent for me. They should come with nuts.You can probably order them online. It doesn't take long at all to remove the bolts and blocks. I went under the hitch with a jack and a 4x4 . Another jack went under the axle. Pull the wheel, drop the shock, lower the axle jack, pull the bolt, pull the block. 20 minutes tops.

[dhansell22]

Watch the brake lines though when you lower the axle.

[GMSea97]

On my old 86 I jacked it up from the hitch also, I used several 2x6 stacked to get it up high enough. I am almost 100% sure advanced auto sells rear lift blocks with the u-bolts. As a kit. Be sure not to go to high with this kind of lift, it causes extremes axle wrap in torq situations. a good set of traction bars will fix this issue.

[asilverblazer]

I think I would buy a specific automotive kit, just to make sure the hardware is stout enough.

[97Sierra4x4]

I think I would buy a specific automotive kit, just to make sure the hardware is stout enough.

 

I added 3" blocks to my 97 2500. I bought the block set at auto zone and also got the new U-bolts there too for really cheap. When I installed them I didnt think and decided to not take my wheels off so I jacked back of my truck up to roof of my garage. I like GMSea97's idea of lowering the axle and jacking from the hitch. I had the same problem of jacking from the hitch cuz i had to use about 2 feet of blocks under my jack because i didnt lower my axle. I ended up putting jack stands under my hitch and CAREFULLY individually jacking my leaf springs to gain the extra inch of clearance I needed to slide the blocks in. (I had jackstands supporting the frame too. Plenty of stands, but only one jack )

 

I havn't had any problems at all since I did it last year and I fit my 285/75-16 Interco Trxus M/T's under there without any worries at all

 

 

btw, how do you have coils in the front? i didn't know the 1991 1500 came with coils??

[Matt A]

when i added the leafs and blocks to the rear of my 1500 my cousin and i jacked it up by the diff and blocked it under the spare tire with some pretty massive blocks. my bumpper mount hitch was not stable enough. I got my new ubolts built up at the local heavy truck repair and parts shop.