Another Overland Vans Lift Installed - but need help!

[doyoulikeithere]

how did you get the lift on the rear end?
Did you use steel leafs that provide 4" lift, plus some shackles?
or did you use stock leafs and a 2" axle block + shackles?
I'm not to clear on that part.

The OLV shackles provide at least 1" lift at the minimum setting, 3" at the max.
If running those shackles with a 4" lift spring, you could end up with anywhere between 5 to 7 inches of lift on the rear axle.

I have 4" lift springs and OLV shackles on the minimum, and I have to mAX out the torsion bars to get it close to level with no index keys.
I've considered lowering the rear 1" by removing the OLV shackles and using stock, but havent done it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcub66YuDcs

[Herbie]

That's good info. I had thought the top hole in the shackle was close to stock. I've emailed Gerald back to confirm if I should be getting 3" or 4" from the spring pack (since I know they have two options to sell).

Maybe I'll end up just putting the stock shackle back in place and just keep the OLV ones for when things settle...

[doyoulikeithere]

have you turned up your torsion bars much?
If they are old, you could probably turn them up almost all the way before you begin to loose much down travel.

When mine were brand new tbars, I couldnt turn them up all the way, it was just way too much.
It had no down travel so the front tires would actually hop off the ground from the bounce back from a road bump.
Now theres a few years on the same bars and they are maxed out less 1 turn and that almost levels it out, as you saw in the vid...

PS it will look a lot different when you get some tires and loose those teensy weensies.

[Herbie]

Haven't turned the bars at all yet. Waiting until my next day off so I can do the whole front end service all at once.

This afternoon I got off work a little early and decided to swap back to the stock shackles, based on how high things were vs. where I really need/want to be.

New rear hub to fender measurements:

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LR: 21.5    RR: 20.75

So that averages out to just a tad lower than Tom's van; probably just fine for now since it will level out well and I'm going to be a bit more conservative on tire size than Tom. Still, it's probably lowered a bit more than I needed. I'll wait to see how things settle and then consider throwing the lift shackles back in, but on the topmost hole.

No response from Gerald yet on whether I got the 3" or 4" lift springs. I had thought the "standard" set was a 3" lift leaf pack plus the shackles to get to 4" lift...

[doyoulikeithere]

you should finish the job by turning up the torsion bars before you get all worked up that it isnt level.
They are easier to do than any other thing youve done so far.

[Herbie]

I've got 21.5" rear, and 20.25" front.

Did you have a chance to measure your rear hub to fender yet?

OK, finally got the van to flat land again to measure:

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LF: 18.25      RF: 17.75

LR: 23.00      RR: 22.25

Since I'm using this thread as much for my own record keeping as everyone else's info, I thought I'd update now that I've cranked the torsion bars and leveled things as best I can.

So, here are my current measurements, with 2" body pucks and stock torsion keys (driver's side maxed, passenger side leveled to driver's side) in the front, and the OLV 4" spring pack in the rear with STOCK shackles.

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LF: 20.25      RF: 20.25

LR: 21.125      RR: 21.00

So, that puts me within 1/2" of T.Low's measurements on a similarly spec'd van (although I'm still confused as to why, since mine should sit considerably lower since Tom is on the middle hole of his OLV rear shackle). In any case, it looks nice and level now, and I'll get pics as soon as I get the bigger tires put on (tomorrow?)

I always have the option of swapping back to the OLV shackle in the rear which will raise things at least an inch...

[TroySmith80]

This is a useful thread Herbie, thanks for all the info (and the other contributors as well). Please throw some pictures up here when you have a moment. There are probably newer pictures in other threads, but it would be great to complete this one.

Thanks again. I'll probably be jumping on the bandwagon pretty soon myself!

[doyoulikeithere]

So, that puts me within 1/2" of T.Low's measurements on a similarly spec'd van (although I'm still confused as to why, since mine should sit considerably lower since Tom is on the middle hole of his OLV rear shackle).

I'm not that familiar with T-Lows bill of materials for when he lifted his van, if it is the exact same as yours, but, Always remember that everything will settle some as well, like I was saying earlier about the brand new torsion bars I once had. Now they are 5 years old at least...

[Herbie]

Since I'm using this thread to keep my data organized, thought I would update with where things have settled to after almost three years:

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LF:  20.0"      RF: 20.25"


LR:  20.125"    RR:  20.0"

So that's around 1" of settling in the rear. Given the weight I've added, it sounds fair. In my ride quality thread, it was suggested that I'm bottoming the rear shocks. I've just changed the OEMs for Bilsteins, and I'm agreeing with that theory now, since I could feel where the end of travel was, relative to the "neutral" position when the car is more or less flat. Time to raise the rear up again, so I will re-install the OLV shackles.

[Herbie]

Reinstalled Overland shackles. Didn't get quite as much lift as I'd expected, but here we are:

On Top hole:

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LF:  20.0"      RF: 20.25"


LR:  20.75"    RR:  21.0"

So I got the expected inch on the passenger side, but less than 3/4" on the driver's side. Very curious. I was careful to do all my final torquing on flat/level ground, so I'm confident I haven't got it bound up. Well, it's close enough to level, anyhow, so I'll run it a while and re-check.

[vanlife]

Any progress made on this issue? I'm currently experiencing a similar issue with my 99 Astro. 4 in lift installed but I have the re indexed lift keys installed and the front end of my van is still 1-2 inches lower than the rear. It's been somewhat of a phenomenon that neither Gerald at Overland or my mechanic can seem to figure out. I'd love to hear what was causing your issue as it may or may not help me remedy mine.

Jason
99 Chevy Astro LS
4 in Overland lift

[SilverBullet1997]

Any progress made on this issue? I'm currently experiencing a similar issue with my 99 Astro. 4 in lift installed but I have the re indexed lift keys installed and the front end of my van is still 1-2 inches lower than the rear. It's been somewhat of a phenomenon that neither Gerald at Overland or my mechanic can seem to figure out. I'd love to hear what was causing your issue as it may or may not help me remedy mine.

Jason
99 Chevy Astro LS
4 in Overland lift

My guess would be worn out torsion bars.