Lifting a Bobbed Deuce

Ridgerunner said:

I have no rubbing issues. The rims are 10" wide, and a two piece, bolt-together in the center design. One half of the wheel is 4" and the other is 6". I can run them ether way, with what ever of the two backspaces I choose, 4 or 6". As I currently have it right now (in the photos) I'm using the 4" backspace. Also, there is no rubbing issues with using the 6" backspace, I just went with the 4" to give it a little wider stance.

I bought the tires and rims together as a set, from a guy that had them on a rock crawler buggy. (He found out the hard way, that the side walls on the 53" XZL's don't flex none when put on an 1,800# buggy) If I would have bought the rims myself new, I would have went with a 20x12" wide wheel, with a 6" back space on both sides.

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Ridgerunner,

Are you still running them with 4" of backspacing on the 10" wide rims? If so, what kind of bump-steer problems have you had with it? It seems hitting a pot hole with that wide stance would rip the steering wheel out of your hand.

ruthless79 said:

That thing is huge. How much ground clearence do you have under the axles on the 53's?

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Clearance under the differential = 19"

Clearance under the axle tube = 24"

Unforgiven said:

Ridgerunner,

Are you still running them with 4" of backspacing on the 10" wide rims? If so, what kind of bump-steer problems have you had with it? It seems hitting a pot hole with that wide stance would rip the steering wheel out of your hand.

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Yes, I'm still running them with the 4" backspacing. I ran them this way all summer, and have no plans to change them around to the 6" side. I put about 1000 miles on it, with lift and tires installed so far, and havent had any problems with handling or bumpsteer.

Cool I like it, hope to help bob one next summer, Thanks for the pics

I just lifted my deuce 4" by using custom spring perches made by ballistic fab. Worked well and I welded them to the axle tubes. much safer than blocks I believe.

Thanks

USArmyMedic07 said:

I just lifted my deuce 4" by using custom spring perches made by ballistic fab. Worked well and I welded them to the axle tubes. much safer than blocks I believe.

Thanks

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The axles have blocks welded onto them, even the front?

Trucks looks great. I'm glad I finally found your build thread. Gives me ideas for my eventual Bob! If I bob a truck the only way to go in my opinion is 53's so its good to see what you did to achieve that!

I haven't put the front ones on yet (the fabricator only sent half my order, wtf?) but the rears went on well and welded up great. However, when the fronts arrive, they will be going on. I have the 53's mounted right now and the truck doesnt rub at all since I ran the exhaust out the back, but it'd look better and I wont have any rubbing off road if I put the perches on the front. Just to clarify, these are not "blocks" They are perches that mount to the axle and are welded in place.

THe pic above, is the 1.5" perch. I just asked them to make the distance between the top of the axle tube, and the spring, to be 4"

are you going to grind the ridge smooth on the top of the axle tube?

We did. Just enough so the perch would sit flush and square, then welded her on. I'm goinng to take it off road and beat the crap out of it, just to make sure it will handle the stress. Then I'll feel much safer running it up and down the road.

Also, I had it weighed.

M35A2C on 53's XZL weigh (ed) 11220 lbs. Sorry for the weird typing. Just trying to make it easier to find in a search, since I couldn't find that info when I looked.

let me know how they work out for ya I will be doing my first bob in the spring. Im looking for different ideas making anything i need is noprob seeing is how i run a big fab shop. If you guys ever need anything made that is to hard for ya let me know i have a 4000 watt cnc laser , Omax waterjet and a full machine shop

USArmyMedic07 said:

I just lifted my deuce 4" by using custom spring perches made by ballistic fab. Worked well and I welded them to the axle tubes. much safer than blocks I believe.

Just to clarify, these are not "blocks" They are perches that mount to the axle and are welded in place.

Also, I had it weighed. M35A2C on 53's XZL weigh (ed) 11220 lbs.

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Maybe I'm the onle one here that thinks this... but I think you are building a completely unsafe truck to be driven on the street. There's a reason that every state in this country has laws against using lift blocks in the front.

Sure you welded the block/perch to the axle, but what keeps the block/perch located to the spring pack? That's right, it's the head of a 3/8" bolt. It would be bad enough to do it on a 4,000# 1/2 ton pickup, but your doing it on a 11,220 # truck. Your asking for trouble taking short cuts just to save money.

4x4 Front Lift Blocks - 4Wheel & Off-Road Magazine

Not only are they a danger to you, but to everyone around you as well. What makes them so bad? It all boils down to simple physics. Whether driving off-road at high speeds or cruising down the freeway at a normal pace, your vehicle creates a certain amount of rolling momentum. Whenever the brakes are applied, roughly 70 percent of the vehicle's weight is transferred to the front axle. This pitching action causes the front axle to roll forward, thus applying extreme pressure on the front U-bolts and springs. When you add a block into the equation it elevates the leverage point on the front axle, causing the axle roll to become even more dramatic. Enough force or pressure can be applied to fire the front block out from between the axle and the spring. This will result in loss of steering and frontend control, which may have a tragic result for you and the vehicle.
Some argue that welding the front blocks to the axle can eliminate the block from shooting out, and in their mind it's a safe fix. True or not, when you raise the spring perches higher on the axle you place a greater amount of force on the spring. The springs are now working harder to control the vehicle's vertical and lateral movement and can cause the axle to travel unpredictably, cause spring deformation, and also raise the leverage point on the axle. Sure, you won't shoot the block out, but instead the entire axle will wrap violently under the vehicle. Simply put: Don't run front lift blocks.

I completely understand your guy's opinion(s). I am using a design very similar to the original front perches, however, they go deeper over the axle tube and it would be virtually impossible for one to be "shot out" of the front. They are also only 2.5 inches taller than the original ones. I don't believe I'll be hitting the brakes hard enough to put 60k psi on the welds. (tensile strength of 60 series welding rod) Distorting the shape of 2.5 ton springs should be difficult, no matter how hard I hit the brakes. Also, as for the 3/8 inch bolt head being the only thing holding the springs in place.....that simply serves as a line up guide for installation. The overwhelming majority of the force is contained by the massive amount of compression produce by torquing the u-bolts down, which are 5/8 inch diameter.

Before anyone goes to the get their shotguns though, realize, I havent put these on the front of the truck yet. I have the 53s mounted and have driven it like that. With re-routing the exhaust and a little fender trimming, I have yet to rub the tires on anything. I have installed them on the back though, and have had no problems whatsoever.

Criticism is always welcome, but please offer solutions as well as criticism. I'm very open to new ideas for engineering the truck, but this is the strongest I could come up with at the time. Given the hardware and the design of the perches, I believe it'll stand up and I believe so strongly enough to test it.

I could understand a 6 or 10" block just sandwiched between, but this practically encases the axle housing, and being that it is square, any rotation would have to go completely through the springs or destroy the housing.

Thanks again. Your prayers are appreciated.

USArmyMedic07 said:

Criticism is always welcome, but please offer solutions as well as criticism.

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You could drop the spring perches instead, much safer but requires a little more work.

Drop the spring perches and do what? bolt trailer frame to the bottom of the stock frame? How about stacking the frames? Seems like all of those commonly used options require unproven modification methods and risk.

How about a realistic, affordable solution?

Ridgerunner said:

I bobbed my deuce last spring, and I had bought a set of 53" XZL's towards the end of last summer. The tires have just been sitting in my barn doing nothing, other than collecting dust and taking up space.

So this week I started to make the lift so the 53's will fit on the Deuce. It'll be lifted a total of 8 inches when finished, which should provide plenty of clearance, without any worries about the tires rubbing the fenders or J-pipe. I'm making it so it will be a complete bolt on "kit", that way if I don't like it, or want to remove it for some reason, it can be unbolted and then the original brackets/hangers can be reinstalled back to stock.
The drop brackets consist of 2 1/2"x 3/8" flat, 3x3"x 3/8" angle and 3/8" plate for the sides. 10 bolts will hold the drop brackets to the frame, using six of the original bolt/rivet locations. The very front, and far rear drop brackets will be connected across together with 1/4" plate bent at 70 degrees, so it'll bolt to the brackets and under the frame. In the front I designed it so the cross member plate will use the exsisting winch extention bolts under the frame.

This is what I built today so far.

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Did you make a print when you made your brackets for you lift

rwbrown72 said:

I don't think you have near enough tool boxes.

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dang strait brother...never enough

The very first post in this thread is an example of dropped hangars using stock brackets.