Chevy & GMC Vans

hi guys i got a 99 awd with a 3" body lift front and back, im getting ready to put some 31" tires on my rig and i have not yet cranked my t-bars, my question is will i be able to crank them up without having to change my steering shaft? or will i have to get a new steering shaft to make up for the difference in length?

Hello and welcome to our group!
Althoguh my '98 isn't AWD, I do believe you will need to extend the shaft according to what I remember from Overland's site. Your fan shroud will have to be cut as well if you haven't already trimmed it.

Welcome to the best Astro and Safari van forum in the world!

I gotta correct you on a couple points. First, you don't have a body lift in the rear as there is no frame to separate from the body and second, if you do in fact have a 3" BL installed, the steering shaft is already lengthened.

Now for cranking the torsion bars. You will not need to do anything other than an alignment afterwards. The torsion bar position does not affect the steering sector shaft.

Hey...where's the pics?

Yeah, dawg, hos bout some pics?

Do you mean you got a van that is already lifted and just want to put bigger tires on it? Or you are getting ready to install the lift and the tires?

the lift is already installed i got 3" blocks in front and 3" axle blocks in the rear, i did all the work, i just havent installed any tires yet and you guys are going in different directions here, i want to crank the t-bars so that the new tires will clear without ME having to trim the fender and such, i do know that the guys that have done the 4" body lift have needed to get a new steering shaft for their rigs, so i know that by cranking them i will get more lift BUT will that be a problem with my stock shaft???
and hey hold on with the pics theyre gonna come soon, as soon as i get home that is IM supposed to be working right now

As Dean (Lifted) said, if the 3" spacer blocks are already installed, (and you don't already have steering shaft issues), cranking the torsion bars isn't going to be a problem. Cranking the torsion bars has no affect on the steering shaft. Only seperating the subframe from the unibody (where your blocks are installed) affects the steering shaft. (Your steering box is connected to the subframe. The shaft runs between the column and the box.)

It sounds like you installed the 3" blocks and didn't address the steering shaft issue. You may want to to check and see how much overlap you have with the slip shaft. Normal chassis flex could result in the slip shaft separating if you don't have enough overlap.

And yes, we want pics!!

I just re-read your last post and think I see the confusion.

The difference is how you accomplish the lift. Some 4" lifts come about by using 2" blocks and cranking the bars for 2". Some weld in 4" or 5" subframe blocks. 2" of subframe lift and cranking doesn't require an extended shaft on newer vans. 4" of welded lift does require an extended shaft. As for yor 3", apparently you don't need the extended shaft yet...

The key is the size of the blocks, not the total amount of lift.

With a 3" lift I don't see any way you will be fitting 31's without trimming somewhere. Even with 5" I needed to trim for 31's on an old body style. There is a little less room on the newer body style up front. 29 or 30 is more realistic if you really don't want to trim.

With 3" blocks up front, you MUST check the steering shaft for fit. Make sure it has plenty of slip so a little bit of flex doesn't separate the 2 halves. If this happens you will have NO steering ability!

On the older 90 - 95 AWD's, a new steering shaft has to be installed for a 2" body lift. You will need to trim a lot to fit 31's with only 3" of lift especially in the front. Like Lockdoc says, you need to trim to fit 30,s and 31's with 4-5" of lift. Realistically, if you don't want to do any trimming a 235/75R15 (29" diameter) is about as tall as you can go.

Yeah, it's not a matter of height so much as a matter of the shape of the wheel well.

I'm only running a 2" lift with 30" BFGs and still needed to trim the front of the wheel wells. They came out great, no one would even know I was in there. And it was easy.

thanks for the input guys, i already have the tires i just didnt want to trim a lot out of the wells thats why i was asking and pictures soon to come. and the tires are 255-70-17 on jeep rims that i had modded so that they'll fit the astro. and for those of you wondering about my steering shaft i havent had any problems with it and i've been driving it for about 3 months now...

HERE are some pictures... as promised
http://s795.photobucket.com/home/unrreal/allalbums

Looks good, bro, looks good. Can't wait to see it with the meats on it.

T.Low wrote:Looks good, bro, looks good. Can't wait to see it with the meats on it.

i am gonna put them on tomorrow since i have the day off at work and of course more pics to come..