SS lift anyone???

[ErikSS]

At least the man's got his priorities straight.

Thanks! I'm tryin! lol

[markmc]

Your adapters should be there Wednesday.
Hopefully i will get a chance this weekend to get the radiator brackets fabbed.

Just so you know..
Lifting a SS is considered sacrilegious and you will most likely get banned from SSowners.com ..lol

I say..GO FOR IT

[v7guy]

I got 2 315/70 R17's off Craigslist today. BFG All Terrain and a sawzall are in my future! lol

I found a 3" cutoff wheel on a cheapo harbour freight cut off worked great.

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-inch-hig ... 47077.html

I laid some blue painters tape a few layers thick on the fender, drew the line that looked nice then cut it. Used HARDTRAILZ method for covering the cut fender after we primed it. Worked good and looked nice, I think Moots has a picture.

[ErikSS]

I got 2 315/70 R17's off Craigslist today. BFG All Terrain and a sawzall are in my future! lol

I found a 3" cutoff wheel on a cheapo harbour freight cut off worked great.

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-inch-hig ... 47077.html

I laid some blue painters tape a few layers thick on the fender, drew the line that looked nice then cut it. Used HARDTRAILZ method for covering the cut fender after we primed it. Worked good and looked nice, I think Moots has a picture.

I think I have one of those from about 1990 hiding in a drawer! Maybe I'll have to break it out. I normally use a cut of wheel on my angle grinder, but that might be a bit agressive for this. Thanks for the tips!

Did you have to cut the thicker part at the bottm back of the fender? Did you cut the plastic, or did you take it off?

[mikekey]

Just saying.... if this works, this may be the final motivation I need to purchase an SS. I've been on the sidelines for awhile about it and more so now that we're having a kid.

[mikekey]

BTW, did your SS start out life as a 2WD SS or AWD? I'm curious.

[ErikSS]

It started off as an All Wheel Drive. I've got a ATP disconnect in the front axle. I've got the 4L80E between the LS2 and the 246E transfercase. I had to shorten the rear shaft and had a whole new front shaft made. There is a nice article on it.
http://www.tbssowners.com/forums/showth ... 8c&t=86859
I Hope that link works, I'm sure I could email it too someone if they wanted it. It shows the build of the transmission. It's on TBSSowners.com. Also my 10yo step son (soon to be) found it on google to show his dad. lol Love that kid

[ErikSS]

Your adapters should be there Wednesday.
Hopefully i will get a chance this weekend to get the radiator brackets fabbed.

Just so you know..
Lifting a SS is considered sacrilegious and you will most likely get banned from SSowners.com ..lol

I say..GO FOR IT

lol, I'm not concerned with TBSSowners.com. I'm building MY truck. I'm looking on here, and I like what I see much better than on there. lol

[ErikSS]

Big weekend in the ErikSS camp this weekend. I bought 8 BFG A/T tires. 315/70/17's 2 never used, the rest are used. I also ordered my MarkMC 3" body lift. As if that isn't enough, I also ordered my Kits from MDB Fabrication. I ordered the 3" bumper kit with french lights, 2" reciever, and stinger bar plus the late model LT kit. I also ordered the oil pan and radiator skid plate kits! Wish me luck finding a good deal on my wheels! lol

[mikekey]

33's are a god size. But why body lift first and not suspension? My wife and I have kicked the can back and forth about finding a later 5.3L or getting an SS. I want an SS as a daily driver, but what you're doing has been in the back of my mind. I know if I get one, eventually the parts will be switching cars. I want that LS2.

I was always impressed that LS2 in the TB felt better than it did in the GTO which felt like a pig.

[v7guy]

I got 2 315/70 R17's off Craigslist today. BFG All Terrain and a sawzall are in my future! lol

I found a 3" cutoff wheel on a cheapo harbour freight cut off worked great.

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-inch-hig ... 47077.html

I laid some blue painters tape a few layers thick on the fender, drew the line that looked nice then cut it. Used HARDTRAILZ method for covering the cut fender after we primed it. Worked good and looked nice, I think Moots has a picture.

I think I have one of those from about 1990 hiding in a drawer! Maybe I'll have to break it out. I normally use a cut of wheel on my angle grinder, but that might be a bit agressive for this. Thanks for the tips!

Did you have to cut the thicker part at the bottm back of the fender? Did you cut the plastic, or did you take it off?

I'm pretty decent with the 4.5" but it can get away from ya pretty easy. I found the 3 inch to be a lot more controllable since I could use two hands, one resting on the fender and one holding the cutter steadied by the hand on the fender.
For the 33s on Moots Envoy I cut the heavier metal towards the bottom and trimmed the plastic. I like to keep the rubber seal at the bottom of the door personally and Moots felt the same. We'll probably fiberglass an end cap back on to close up the plastic in the next month or so, then bedline over it ( he had previously bedlined the plastic).
You'll need to cut less since it's a trailblazer and it's wheel opening is bigger than the envoy.

[ErikSS]

33's are a god size. But why body lift first and not suspension? My wife and I have kicked the can back and forth about finding a later 5.3L or getting an SS. I want an SS as a daily driver, but what you're doing has been in the back of my mind. I know if I get one, eventually the parts will be switching cars. I want that LS2.

I was always impressed that LS2 in the TB felt better than it did in the GTO which felt like a pig.

I bought the body lift first because of time and money. I will be doing both asap. I need room for these 34.4" tires!

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[ErikSS]

[quote="ErikSS"]I got 2 315/70 R17's off Craigslist today. BFG All Terrain and a sawzall are in my future! lol

I found a 3" cutoff wheel on a cheapo harbour freight cut off worked great.

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-inch-hig ... 47077.html

I laid some blue painters tape a few layers thick on the fender, drew the line that looked nice then cut it. Used HARDTRAILZ method for covering the cut fender after we primed it. Worked good and looked nice, I think Moots has a picture.

I think I have one of those from about 1990 hiding in a drawer! Maybe I'll have to break it out. I normally use a cut of wheel on my angle grinder, but that might be a bit agressive for this. Thanks for the tips!

Did you have to cut the thicker part at the bottm back of the fender? Did you cut the plastic, or did you take it off?

I'm pretty decent with the 4.5" but it can get away from ya pretty easy. I found the 3 inch to be a lot more controllable since I could use two hands, one resting on the fender and one holding the cutter steadied by the hand on the fender.
For the 33s on Moots Envoy I cut the heavier metal towards the bottom and trimmed the plastic.

Hey man. Thanks for the details. I could totally see my 4 1/2 getting away from me... even if its just a little. I would also think the smaller blade would help turn rounding the curves.

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[ErikSS]

I've got most of my things on order. The big ticket items that I'm still debating are the front lift and my wheels. I found some used wheels on Ebay. The recommended +25 offset looked like it was going to hit. After an hour at Discount, I decided I needed either 0 or + 10 with MarkMC wheel adapters. I might get the used wheels but they aren't on a Buy It Now, darn it. lol I hate bidding wars. I'm running out of money before I'm finished! Dog gone it! lol But, I undercoated the crap out of the under carriage mostly for the common reasons but also so that any changes I make may be easier to document/photo.

With the tires in my garage, springs and shocks in my trailer, wheel adapters in my TBSS, Body lift in the mail, MBD bumper kit, oil pan skid kit, and radiator skid kit on order... I can't stop here! I'm also figuring on buying ebay fenders for about $75 each delivered. I'll cut them instead of my O.E.M. SS fenders. (yes, I'm aware there is no difference) I'd like to have perfect color match to put back on if I ever choose. I plan at this time to color match the front bumper and fenders to the deep metalic color of the truck.

I found the lift for the front that everyone hates. I read the post that Barton wrote about the upper ball joint. Has anyone come up with a solution so the under $100 front lift can happen? I'd go with Marks kit, but I'm determined to get Radflo asap... But that could be a few months at this rate.

Has anyone tried to put a inner lip back on the fender after they cut it?

[navigator]

0 offset with adapters is going to stick out pretty far.

[ErikSS]

That's what I hear, but maybe this is a difference in the SS. The +25 was going to cause my tire to hit the upper ball joint for sure. The Discount Tire manager and I agreed, there was no way that wheel was going to work on my TBSS. We went to a +18 and were still very uncomfortable. I have BFG A/T's and the sideway doesn't flare out much on these... But I really don't think it was going to work. The 10 was as tight as I dared go. Trial and error sometimes! It's only a 0.61" difference anyway. (if my math is correct) But by my eyeball, it takes me from hitting by more than 0.25" to having about 0.25" to spare. I hope! I plan to run pretty big tires too, 315/70/17's to start.

[mikekey]

again, you have yet to

[Lauron]

Erik,

Has anyone tried to put a inner lip back on the fender after they cut it?

I did roll the cut fender. Used a 3" flat edge vice grip to fold the edge smooth and there was very little paint cracking.

I left a 1/2" to 3/4" lip, the black edge, up to where the cut met the stock edge. So for about 3" there is no lip or a very small lip. I have retained the front liner which needs some massaging to keep it inside the lip.

Ron

[ErikSS]

Hi Ron. Ironically, I was talking to Hotness about your build yesterday! A few days earlier we had mine on the lift and I described what I wanted to do to my floor pan.... to come on here and find you had already done it! Great minds think alike right? lol So you just bent a new lip? Do you work with metal for a living, because that sounds pretty hard to get a smooth edge at the bend! The people I've asked locally suggest to cut the fender, slide the cut piece behind the fender and re attach it. Do you have more fender pics?
Erik

[ErikSS]

Everything stock... but Ive adjusted my air bag sensors for 2" of rear lift

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