ok, so i bent the ifs in my pickup. to fix this, i guess ill need to do a straight axle, damn.

anyways. i do not want to lift my truck any highter than it is now (4" lift, 35" tires).

i would actually like to drop it just a bit, and run 34x10.5's

reason for this being legality, frame height and such. i dont think i will be able to get it completly legal (30" frame height or under) but i would like to be closer than i am now.

I plan on using the marlin kit.

here's my question. If i were to use stock rear springs up front, what would my total front lift be? compared to stock, ifs.

the 4" springs that come with the marlin kit provide how much lift total? i am assuming it is more than 4", becasue of where the kit's crosmember sits, and that an SAS'd ifs frame will sit higher than a '85 or older frame.

thanks.

I'm not sure of the exact hieght differnece and I have to admit I'm not familier with marlin's front spring mount, but I would add at least 2" to the advertised spring lift to give a rough idea of how much higher you're going to be. Possibly even as much as 3" when compared to a stock SA truck. So, with 4" springs, expect at least 6" total lift.

You might consider a kit that has the least front drop spring mount, like the FROR kit (I believe) or a set of springs with less lift. There's some debate as far as how low you can go because the lesser arch of the IFS. Moving the axle forward helps some.

Also, I've heard that you don't mind living with almost no uptravel, you might be able to get away with around 3-4" of total lift. That's something I'm exploring right now as I look into dearching my fronts springs to lower my overall lift a bit. I'm not sure, but the lack of uptravel might not be that big of deal since the axle can still pivot off of the bumpstop and still give decent articulation.

alright, well, theres no way i want 6" of lift. 3"-4" sounds pretty good.

so where would stock rear springs put me?

My understanding is that stock rears net you very little lift, I know that they are pretty flat compared to my All-Pro springs. Most of the lift with the rears comes from the hangers and shackles. David Moore was one of the first to use rear springs in front, there is information on his website .

FRORF front hanger and shackles w/ Marlin's 3" springs and you should be all set...

i dont see a 3" lift spring on the marlin site...

does anyone make a 2" front lift spring?

oh, and is the marlin kit set up to use '79-'85 stock-length front springs? so any front lift spring will work?

sorry for the ignorance here, just wanna make sure.

i dont see a 3" lift spring on the marlin site...

[color:"blue"]Me neither, I think All-Pro has them [/color]

does anyone make a 2" front lift spring?

[color:"blue"]OME makes 2" [/color]

oh, and is the marlin kit set up to use '79-'85 stock-length front springs? so any front lift spring will work?

[color:"blue"]Mounted one way it will use the stock length springs, turn it 180 for the longer springs [/color]

sorry for the ignorance here, just wanna make sure.

[color:"blue"]Thats how you learn, ask questions. The only stupid question is the one that is not asked [/color]

With the rear springs up front, you get whatever lift you build into the front end:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_suspension-III.shtml#CustomSprings

I just finished my conversion using the Marlin kit with 4inch springs. I'm running 33's with room to grow.

I highly recommend mounting the front hanger and getting springs that allow you to move the axle forward at least 1.5-2". Especially with lower lift. This will get the tires away from the inner fenders and put the axle and especially steering rods under the higher portion of the front frame.

When sourcing a high steer kit, look for one that mounts the tie rod as low as possible. Otherwise you'll be hitting the frame with it. Especially with a lower lift set up.

Depending on how far forward you move the axle, you very well may need to move the steering box forward a bit or rotate it to keep your steering/tie rods from knocking into each other. I was able to correct by putting on a custom short Pitman arm from FRORF, but I don't think he still sells them. You might be able to find something who sells a slightly different pitman arm that will work to avoid the extra fabrication on the steering box.

2" springs may not work. You simply have to have some lift built in, just to clear certain parts, like the pitman arm bolt, steering rods, etc. It's been said about 3-4" of total lift minimum, so if you did go with 2" springs, you'd likely need a front drop spring hanger with some built in lift.