Ok so I’m going up another 2†to get a total of 6â€. I did some research and bought some c10 coil spring spacers for the front. They are the same ID and although the G20 springs are a couple millimeters wider I think the should still seat the springs. As for the rear I fabricated some bigger blocks to space the diff from the leaf springs. I made them with no caster angle as I want to project the same degree that the diff would be at with out any spacer.
I’ve attached some photos of the van prior to the extra 2†of lift and of the blocks I fabed up.
Hot Rod garage van drop using c10 spindles thought it was a good watch. Any way here’s the video Hot Rod Garage 70’s van build.[img]http://[/img]
I got the front lifted 2 more inches last night and it is perfect.
I’m going to lift the rear today and I will be fabricating some leaf spring torque bars to stop axle wrap. I haven’t experienced any wrap but better to be safe
Yeah I’m a little confused too. I have a G10 I’d like to do this to. Sounds like it might be a little simpler since the rotors etc should be a bolt on for those 88-91 2wd reg cab 4†spindles.
But I don’t know how to get around the ball joint issue on a g10 then. Also is the wheel track end up way wider? If it did I don’t want to be putting flares on.
It is a nice lift story but the thing that bothers me is you stayed with a 1/2 ton spindles jackin up N offroadin a full size 3/4 ton van, 6600 lbs. which weighs alot more than a truck, 3500- 3800 lbs, they came off of and the 2" spacers you planned on using on the rear to put the tires in line.
You dont down size offroad parts, never enough beef when your out in the middle of nowhere.
You NEVER use spacers on a offroad veh. PERIOD ! Those 2" on ea side greatly raise the shear point on your lug nuts N hub. Bolts are only so strong. Putting them under your coils to get an extra inch or so is just askin for trouble.
Other than that looks great.
SUNSHINE VANS-VAN DIEGO ADRENALIN BY THE GALLON & CHASIN RACIN ONE FOR THE DIRT & ONE FOR THE STREETS '93 CHEVY G30 454 4X4 SPORTVAN EXT 146" WB '92 CHEVY G30 454 BEAUVILLE EXT 146" WB
I know this is an old thread, but Ive used the info from it pretty much exclusively to lift my own g20 and wanted to make some additions. First off, thanks to the OP for all the valuable info. Its made the process drastically easier.
The most important thing that I wanted to add is that c1500 spindles have the tie rod connect from the bottom, whereas g vans have it connect from the top due to different steering box locations. Connecting the tie rods to the bottom of the mounting point will throw of the steering geometry drastically and cause massive amounts of bump steer. I didnt realize this until i had it on a trailer ready to drop off to get aligned. The solution im working on is to bore from the top to receive a bigger tie rod end. Rough country sells a tie rod reamer for 80 bucks that has good reviews. The issue with this is that the 17" rims im using wont clear the tie rod end if its mounted from the top. The simple solution would be to run a small wheel spacer (1/2" may be enough), but i purposely went with 17x8's with a 0 offset to keep the stance from being too wide. It currently has a pretty much perfect stance and i'd like to keep it that way. The other alternative is to go with a taller wheel. I have some 20x9's and 20x10's that i can try, but considering i bought 35x12's specifically for this project, im going to try to use them.
If the OP reads this, I see in your pictures that the tie rod ends are mounted in from the bottom. Have you had many issues from this? I haven't taken mine on the road with it that way but test driving in a business park had it wandering badly and the tires visibly bump steering.
Otherwise, The biggest stumbling block for anyone that wants to do this is fabricating the lower control arms to receive c1500 ball joints. I'm a fabricator, so i built ball joint mounts out of 1/2" plate and welded them to the factory control arms. Everything besides that and the tie rod end mounts is all bolt on.
As for tire clearance, the 35x12's on 17"x8" wheels with a 0 offset just barely clear using a 1" coil spacer along with the 4" spindles. The 1" coil spacer provides close to 2" of total lift but the springs are 30 years old, so they may be slightly saggy. I didn't want to use g30 springs because im trying to keep a soft ride but they may prevent needing the coil spacers. At Full lock, the tires have only about 1/2" of clearance to the steering box. I still have to put the sway bar back in, so im not sure about the clearance there. The tldr here is you need 6" of overall lift to fit 35's under a g van and should use a narrow rim or they'll stick way out.
Jim & Lucy Newkirk 1965 Chevy Bad Influence 1981 Chevy-the Love Shack 2012 Chevy Van , 2020 chevy van 2020 Chevy van Sapphire Sweet. Club Vannerz. vanninvanner@comcast.net