What is the diffirence ? 1991 vs 1973 lift springs

[72MARIO]

I cant find the answer on the net and the guy I spoke with at tuff country was not sure either.... so is there a difference between 1973-1987 springs and 1988-1991 suburban blazer and V series trucks ?

I see that in 1988 the rear shackle for the front spring was made longer. Did that change affect spring length ?

Thanks

[b454rat]

SAE to metric, but will still work. I think they changed bolt size as well, and changed the shackle length. Go to offroaddesign.com, I think they explain it there.

[special-K]

I got springs from them for my '91 Suburban. I swapped the fronts to my '85 Jimmy and just bought the 52" springs rather than move the spring mount back (original intention). No difference that I know of. I sold the 56" rear springs to a member to put on his 69-72 Blazer. I figured they listed 88-91 separate merely because of the mix in those years of IFS and Solid axle to eliminate confusion. We always refer to 73-87, then have to add, "And 88-91 Blazers, Jimmys, Suburban, and Crewcab...and dual rear pickups till...and cab & chassis till..."

[72MARIO]

I had a look over at ord. They cover the shackle changes but there is not any specifications on the spring differences.

[72MARIO]

Tim. Do you mean you were going to buy 56 rear springs but decided to get 52 ? I can't find a 2 or 3" lift kit with 56" rear springs for my suburban and my rear is saggy. I was thinking it must be possible to move the rear mount forward to accommodate the 52 spring ?

[special-K]

I had bought a 4" EZ-Ride kit for the '91 Suburban, so the springs were 56". When I went to swap it all over to the Jimmy the intention was move the rear mount back, but when I crawled under to get started I realized I would have had to pull the bumper, hitch, and fuel tank, then grind all those rivets and drill holes on a horizontal plane (no fun). I decided I'd be fine with the ride using the length GM used. On a truck it was so much less work and I just wimped out on it.
The frame shoots straight to the rear behind the spring mount. On a K/5 everything is crowded in that area compared to Longbeds and Suburbans. In front the frame drops lower, so it would lift the truck more and mess with the pinion angle.

I didn't realize they don't offer the 56" springs below 4" lift. Is yours a 1/2t or 3/4t? I know my friend had an '85 K/10 longbed he put 1t axles under, 2" lift on front (Dana 60 gave another inch) and used factory heavy duty Suburban leafs on the rear with, I think, a 1" block or zero rate. He tows vehicles with it and needed good rear springs. Actually, he sold that last summer, but I have some pictures of it in Photobucket I can show. I took some underneath pictures to show the rear disc brakes and differential cover, as I recall. That should show what block he used, or I could ask him for all the details

[72MARIO]

Mine is a 1990 V2500 3/4 ton. I really need new rear springs it sags pretty bad with minimal weight. I don't want to do a shackle flip as it looks like a real pain on a suburban with the fuel tank in the way. I might just hill billy lift with a block out back and some air lift bags for support. The front needs the HD springs to carry the snow plow weight l. Believe it or not the 265/75/16 will rub when plowing..
The reason I asked the questions on the difference is because I found the tuff country 2" HD lift kit with shocks for $ 740cdn. Our excahnce is nearly $ 1.30 right now. I am thinking of getting 2 kits so I have one for my longhorn 4x4 conversion.

[72MARIO]

It does flex pretty hard

[special-K]

I never had issues with blocks. With the off road websites and magazines coming around to trucks being built for optimum performance, everybody is an expert and think only the best will do. Look at what your use is and decide from there. I have always been about overbuilding but have become more about what do I really need these days. I was building tough trucks when the 4wd world was about chrome shocks and roll bars, graphic paint jobs, and big tire/little axles. The automatic transmission absorbs much of the torque that would cause wheel hop and I just don't see you doing hole shots in that thing. You also don't have huge tires.

Here is that truck set-up and a picture of how it sits with 285/75-16s:

[72MARIO]

I just wanted to bring this back up to the top as I did find out the hard way what the changes were. a simple 2 hour job turned into the better part of the day....

I decided to swap in the springs from a 1981 1 ton 4x4 into my 1990 Suburban. The changes are that the front and rear spring eye bushing use 1/2" holes in the 1990 springs and shackles. 1987 and older use 1/2" front spring eye and 7/16" rear shackle I had to use the 1981 shackles and bushing in my 1990 frame in order to use the 1981 springs. As noted above the 1988 ? and newer truck use a slightly longer shackle.

[special-K]

I swapped in the opposite direction... '91 springs onto an '85. So, although I don't recall it, I must have just drilled the shackles out to 1/2". It's been a while since I did that. The guy at Tuff Country should have known this difference. What did you do for the rear?

[72MARIO]

I havent done anything yet. Its 2-3" lower in the rear. Wth the plow on it sits fairly level. I think I am just going to use a lift block put back.

[special-K]

my '92 K3500 SRW rear springs sagged and rather than go for spring work or replacements I added Air Lifts. I considered blocks, then went ahead with those. They give a true increase to the payload while lending a hand to the tired old springs. I wish I had taken those off when I sold it. This '95 Suburban I have is lower a bit in the rear. I assumed it was tired springs and the lad I carry (tools), but could be just that I cranked the torsion bars up. I guess you don't want to run the plow on there year 'round, ey?

[72MARIO]

With this new (to the suburban) Curtis plow is so easy to drop i doubt the suburban will even cary the plow into town. I have air bags in the back of the 1967 C20. They do work great. I have to watch for a use pair for the burbn

I want to be careful how much i spend on this burbn. Would rather spend the savings on a custom spring pack for the longhorn 4x4 chassis build. ORD is going to have a big order come the new year

[special-K]

Having a group of trucks makes you a great financial manager, prioritizer, as well as a busy man.

When I contracted plowing the routine was put on to plow, then to the car wash, then to the shop to drop.