Car Talk Topic

[Cursed]

I've always liked the look of the E30s, my favourite shape of BMW. Not with the US bumpers though obviously

[Pat]

If things ever got to be too much for me to handle with the L7 (ie massive engine failure or transmission failure), I'd probably look for an E30 to replace it. I've really grown to appreciate the older bimmers after actually owning one.

[leik oh em jeez!]

So I'm thinking about doing some stuff to the Suburban.

 

1. Drive up to Norfolk to pick up some 315/75R16 BFG ATs and find a shop that'll mount them on my factory 16x6.5 wheels.

2. Drive to Lynchburg for work and back on the f*ckhuge tires. (possibly with better highway mileage, and definitely without worrying about my current dry rotted right rear popping)

3. Use all the money I make in VA next week to buy a 3" body lift, and 2" rear spacers to get the rear track about the same as the front.

 

It would pretty much look like this, except the front would be a tad higher, and it wouldn't have the retarded wheels.

 

Thoughts? Good plan or have I lost my mind? The 315s WILL fit with stock suspension and cranked keys. The only thing I'm not sure on is whether or not they'll rub with my wheels. One guy was running them on a K2500 with nothing but cranked keys, no rub, no cut fenders or anything, but his wheels had less backspacing.

Edited July 18, 2012 by leik oh em jeez!

[Lurch]

3" bl's are f*cking gay and look like inbred redneck f*cktard hack. I'm assuming the the rear spacers means a block and the same goes for them as well. They both look f*cking retarded. BL's put a lot of stress on body mounts (I've seen them rip mounts on that body style). Blocks cause more axle wrap (multiplying the extra wrap you'll already get from the 35's).

 

I would run the stock suspension with a cranked front until you can afford a levelling kit in the front and some proper lift springs in the rear (a thicker factory leaf might work as well).

 

No way a stock newish SRW wheel is only 6.5. I would figure 7-8. I know people that have run stockers and 12.5 tires and been fine. The biggest problem might be offset, in whick case 16x8 8x6.5 steel wheels aren't that much and are everywhere.

[leik oh em jeez!]

The body lift could always be removed later when I've got money for a proper lift, but for now it's the cheapest and easiest way to get lift. Cranking the keys puts a lot of strain on the front end components and kills ride quality. For now the BL keeps the current suspension geometry the same, ride quality, etc.

I'm currently staying at a hotel in town due to a kitchen fire, and starting next week I should have about a month of work in VA, only coming back to town for the weekends. So I could easily install the BL in my driveway while I'm back at the house doing laundry (so as to avoid paying $3.75 per load at the hotel that will only fit about 3 days worth of wash in the machine at a time.)

 

As far as the spacers I was talking about wheel spacers. I know; redneck, wrong way to do it, poor quality, etc etc. But it's a lot easier than finding wheels that'll match but have a 2" difference in backspacing for front/back to correct the narrow track in the rear.

 

With the above plan this would end up costing me about $650, and I'd still have my current tires and a set of 01 F-250 wheels to sell to get some of that money back.

And yeah, the stock 88-98 steel wheels are 6.5" as are the PYOs and NBS steel wheels. I believe the 93?-99 1/2 ton alloys are 7" but don't quote me on that one.

 

Also just remembered that a body lift is highly recommended for the Duramax/Allison swap in OBS trucks. Which will next on the list after I find something cheap to drive during the swap.

Edited July 18, 2012 by leik oh em jeez!

[Mr.Funny12]

I agree with lurch. Body lifts don't look good in my opinion and they just look kinda silly. If I were you I'd wait until your could afford a normal lift so it accually looks good and is built right.

[leik oh em jeez!]

 

I agree with lurch. Body lifts don't look good in my opinion and they just look kinda silly. If I were you I'd wait until your could afford a normal lift so it accually looks good and is built right.

Well I'm currently in need of new tires, and load range E ATs are damn near impossible to find for 16s, so I have two options.

 

Spend ~$850 on new tires.

or

Spend ~$650 on bigger used tires and a cheap lift, then have a spare set of wheels to sell.

 

My options are pretty limited. emailed a guy about 2 285s and haven't heard back after a week. I search every craigslist within about 200 miles of here literally every day looking for good deals on 285s, 295s, or 305/70s, with no luck.

 

edit: forgot to mention that I could also order a set of retreads, pay up front, and wait months for them to get them in stock while I'm still running on my dry rotted tire risking a blowout 300 miles from home.

 

I really would love a cheap better/cheaper option, but I'm not seeing one right now.

Edited July 18, 2012 by leik oh em jeez!

[Lurch]

 

Well I'm currently in need of new tires, and load range E ATs are damn near impossible to find for 16s,

That's bullsh*t. I've seen more 235/85R16 AT's tan I can count. Though I guess you start to get more D rated as you get wider (since softer tires are better off road).

 

A 3" BL really brings its own host of problems with anything going from the frame to the body (mainly linkages). Not saying cranked T bars is the right thing to do, but it's probably the lesser of 2 evils. It's just f*cking retarded.

 

Wheel spacers aren't bad if you get a decent set and not some chinese thing.

 

Hummer 37's are supposed to measure small, and you can order 75% or better used sets from georgia for $400 and 36's for $300. Just need to find a cheap set of 16.5's

Edited July 18, 2012 by Lurch

[Pat]

So my sister is looking for a new car, and her max budget is $2,200. I came across this while searching for possible candidates for her.

 

Give me one good reason for her not to buy this. The valve cover gasket is an $8 dollar/1 hour of labor repair and it only has 78K miles. I really can't imagine there being anything much better than this in her price range. I would've tried to get her into a diesel Jetta, but she absolutely refuses to drive a diesel for some f*cking reason.

[leik oh em jeez!]

Not here. 31x10.50x15 and just about anything for 17s are a dime a dozen. (Probably because of all the f*cking Jeep owners around here) but anything ATs for 16s- forget about it, especially 10 ply. Only full set I found in town in the past three or four months was a set of 265/70R16s, which are even smaller than my current tires and just as bald.

 

Right now I just want the most for my money. And a BL keeps my ride quality, doesn't kill my front end components, shouldn't need an alignment, gives me more front lift, and gives me more than none rear lift. So it's making the most sense to me right now.

 

Plus the guy with the 315s said he's willing to split the wheels and tires. So I could go ahead and buy them without worrying about trying to sell the F-250 wheels. I'm guessing he'd take $150-200 for the full set, which is better is one of the best deals I've seen on tires that I can actually use.

 

As for the the H1 37s...

 

A friend of a friend has them on stock 16s (obviously not the right way to go about using them)

 

I could maybe tuck them under a 3" lift but definitely not with just cranked T bars. I think he's got about 6" of lift.

 

And again, I'd be paying more for the tires, and still have to put the money into a lift. The only difference being I couldn't run them until the lift is installed.

Edited July 18, 2012 by leik oh em jeez!

[Lurch]

If you do a body lift, for f*cks sake, don't do more than 1.5".

[leik oh em jeez!]

If you do a body lift, for f*cks sake, don't do more than 1.5".

What if I just get a 3" to hold me over until I've got enough money to do it right, at which point I'd take out the 3", install a 1.5" and bring it back up the rest of the way via suspension?

[Lurch]

Would be a lot of trouble to swap it back. The 3" would need extended linkages for throttle, trans, etc. Would be a lot of hassle having to swap all that back out.

 

I'm thinking up to 1.5" will still work with stock linkages though it might only be up to a 1".

[leik oh em jeez!]

Well the way it's looking the 3" is about the only feasible option right now. $450 or so for 35" tires, 3" lift, and decent quality spacers is sounding like a pretty f*cking killer deal. So swapping it back out would come later down the road, but what I put back in isn't set in stone until I get to that point. If I find a good deal on a 4" or so suspension lift I'm probably not going to pass it up and I'd loose all of the body lift.

 

Only thing the 3" kits mention requiring for OBS GMs is steering extension, which was included in the kits I was looking at.

[Mr.Funny12]

Maybe instead of taking any of these deals you could just save your money and do it right and nice the first time around?

 

Not meant to sound rude

[leik oh em jeez!]

 

Maybe instead of taking any of these deals you could just save your money and do it right and nice the first time around?

 

Not meant to sound rude

Again, I need tires now. I'm going to be making a ~650 mile round trip every week on a tire that looks like it could split open at any second, and I don't want to throw money at putting more sh*tty unmatched tires on it.

The two ways to solve this are to

A - go spend ~$850 (closer to, if not $1000 if I want them before I leave town again) on brand new tires tomorrow.

B - go spend $200-250 on tires and gas to go get them, then $175 or so on a body lift that I can install by myself before I have to leave town again.

 

When I do have the $1000 or so do it the right way, I'll be so happy about the upgrade that I won't mind the extra few hours required to uninstall the old lift. And you can quote me on that in the future.

Edited July 18, 2012 by leik oh em jeez!

[Mr.Funny12]

I must of missed the part before where you said your tires were that bad. My fault. Would it be cheaper or easier to try and find used tires around the same size as yours instead of bigger tires that way you won't spend as much and you won't have to do as much work? In the end it's your truck and I unterstand wanted to jack it up a bit. My brother accually did the same thing. he lifted histoyota with a 2 inch body lift to fit 33'sbefore removing the body lift and accually suspension lifting it over six inches with his new 37's.

 

How goofy do you think a body lift would look on your truck? The way you have it set up do you think it would be really noticable like big body lifts are? I mean if it looks good than it looks good.

[leik oh em jeez!]

Finding used tires the same size as mine is still damn near impossible, and once again, people want to charge you far more than the tire is actually worth. (Nearly the price of a new tire for one that will barely pass inspection) So I could very well end up spending almost as much on a single tire as I could buying a full set of larger matched tires.

 

Plus 90% of the guys around here are running 3" body lifts or squatting their trucks, so comparatively it'll look the same as or better than most trucks around here.

[Lurch]

 

How goofy do you think a body lift would look on your truck? The way you have it set up do you think it would be really noticable like big body lifts are? I mean if it looks good than it looks good.

IMO, that gen chevy looks really goofy with a body lift compared to the older ones. Even without a body lift, it looks like the frame hangs down too low under the body. A massive body lift just emphasizes that problem.

 

Yeah, it's gonna look like sh*t. I would still just crank bars until you can afford a proper lift. If you're going to 9.25 swap the front eventually, it doesn't really matter if it puts too much stress on the 8.25 ball joints. Bigger tires will eat that stuff up anyway, regardless. The gen just looks so absolutely horrible with body lifts, especially big ones. And while the kit might not say you need longer linkages, I usually find GM stuff to be too short for stock and always messing up. You're going to increase that problem.

 

Also, the room between your bumper and body will look absolutely, sister-f*cking stupid.

 

 

If you do this, it will just confirm everything Otter said about you as true.

 

 

Also, what gears are you running now? I wouldn't use anything less than 3.73's with 35's.

 

Really shouldn't need any lift for 35's on a 2500. My friend's Jeep had 29's (235/75R15's) stock and he runs 35x12.50's now with a 15x8 wheel with 5" BS (not enough), 1.5" Spidertrax wheel spacers, 2.5" suspension lift (settled some so not that much now), and 1" extended shackles, and he fits the 35's just fine.

 

 

Fits fine. My other friend had 36x11's on stock steelies, stock suspension (actually worn out backwards arched springs so negative lift), no body lift, or anything on his K20. It had 32's (7.50-16 and 235/85R16) stock. Fit fine.

 

 

All you need is a little sawzall action and some flares to cover it up. Keep your factory ride, handling, and geometry. Not look retarded inbred redneck tall. Not have 3" of gap between your frame/bumper and body.

 

 

Like that but without the gay wheels, tires out a bit further, and less flare. Maybe even body color the flares.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Lurch

[leik oh em jeez!]

I mean if we're talking about what looks more inbred redneck, I'd say this:

 

is a bit better than this:

 

But that's just me.

The Jeep's got four spacers, 2.5" lift, no front fenders, and cut to sh*t rear fenders to clear 35s. That (to me) looks a lot more inbred redneck than a semi-clean truck with a body lift.

One thing I like is the ability to decide at any point later on that I don't like something and uninstall it. It's a lot easier to take out a body lift than it is to replace the fenders and cut and weld in new quarter panels.

 

Otter said I was an inbred redneck? D:

[Lurch]

Nah, otter said you were a complete f*cking moron.

 

The 2 trucks there are obviously offroad trucks where lower COG matters more than looks (as in not rolling over). The jeep could easily look clean with tube fenders up front and some TJ fenders in the back. But that's not what it's about. Off road performance obviously takes precedence there and more lift is worse off road. Same for the cut up chevy on 37's. A truck meant solely for beating around in the woods in.

 

But the whole concept of having a lower truck and cut fenders can be carried over to a street truck. It was more just to prove that you don't need big lift to clear marginally bigger tires on a 3/4 ton. Just needs cleaner cut fenders and something to hide them.

 

At the other end of non-offroad trucks, here's my friends F350 with 46" Goodyears and 12" of lift.

 

 

Something like that but much lower and smaller tires overall. Way too big and tall for my taste, but the overall body package isn't too bad. It's got a clean trim on its fenders.

 

And the only real problem with wheel spacers is most aren't hub centric. Which Chevies need. Other than that, it's basically just removing however much bs from a wheel. Like a 15x8 with 5" of backspacing and a 1.5" spacer is the same as a 15x8 wheel with 3.5" of backspacing. The Spidertrax ones my friend has are made by the same company that makes all those bling axle housings, brake kits, unit bearings, and everything else for Ultra 4 cars. It even included red locktite for the inner lug nuts. It was a quality billet kit.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Lurch

[leik oh em jeez!]

God damn that thing's huge. I just feel like the BL is cheap, serves multiple purposes, and can be uninstalled at any time. I guess after seeing it on trucks around town every day, the low frame look just doesn't bother me too much.

I really don't like the overly flashy aftermarket flares, and neither do I want the cheap peel n stick sh*t or clamps that would be used for mounting the smooth ones. If I cut the fenders instead of buying the BL, I'd still need to find and buy some decent flares, and then paint them. (I don't even want to get in to how redneck factory two-toned trucks look with cheap black plastic flares on them.)

 

And again, I like seeing exactly how things look before deciding to keep them. I can't do that with cut fenders.

[Lurch]

 

(I don't even want to get in to how redneck factory two-toned trucks look with cheap black plastic flares on them.)

I will agree with you on that. Though it looks more or less factory on jeeps.

 

I think the first thing you should try should just be a levelling kit for the front (2" I think, maybe 2.5). I think it would probably give you the lift you need in the front and not look retarded in any way (unless you tow something, then it looks quatty in the back). Might need a slight t-bar crank on top of that, but it shouldn't be too bad. The price is also pretty in line with body lifts. Then if the front is too high, there's always simple add-a-leafs to get the rear back up to factory height on down the road, without resorting to blocks.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Lurch

[leik oh em jeez!]

That would probably be what I'd be looking at if I had something other than a GMT400. But I don't.

Most of the leveling kits are nothing but keys, or keys and shock relocators.

The ONLY purpose keys serve is to allow you to get more lift with the same amount of crank. But you still get the same amount of wear on the front end components and the same stiff ride that you would with the same amount of lift with stock keys. Now on the OBS trucks like mine, you can apparently crank the stock keys until you're riding on the lower bump stops, making lift keys 100% pointless unless I'm planning on getting rid of the bump stops and cranking it even higher.

Shock relocators shouldn't do anything but smooth the ride back out a bit once the bars are cranked.

Those are the only cheap leveling kits I can find. They don't actually help me achieve any more lift than not buying anything. They still wear the sh*t out of the front end just as bad as cranked factory keys, and an alignment is highly recommended after cranking the keys or installing aftermarket ones. (Technically it says required, but then again 8"+ wheels are "required" for 315s, 400w PSU is "required" for certain graphics cards, etc.)

Edited July 18, 2012 by leik oh em jeez!

[t0grul]

One question: How much i should pay for importing car from America? Like with cargo ship ect. Prices in America is shocking me.

[Ronnyboy]

One question: How much i should pay for importing car from America? Like with cargo ship ect. Prices in America is shocking me.

If you mean the used car market, I'd say forget about it. The prices of buying a $5000 used vehicle and then shipping it? You could buy a new car by the time you had it all said and done.

[leik oh em jeez!]

Well I found a set of 285s in Myrtle Beach for $125, posted a couple hours ago. Going to text the guy tomorrow to get some pictures and confirm they're 75s and not 70s. He's claiming they've got about 50% tread left in the ad, so we'll see how that goes. I also just transferred money to pay for the spacers, so considering the time to transfer the money and then ship them, they'll hopefully be here when I return from my next trip to VA.

 

There's also a guy that's looking to trade his 315s down to 285s, also with about 50% tread left. So I'll leave it up to chance. If all of the following criteria are met, then I'll go ahead with the body lift for now.

1. These are the right 285s and I'm able to get them this week.

2. Weather is clear, allowing me to put mad hours in in VA next week, making plenty of money.

3. The second guy still has the 315s when I get back from VA.

 

E: Looks like I'm going to pick up the 285s tonight.

Edited July 19, 2012 by leik oh em jeez!

[t0grul]

 

One question: How much i should pay for importing car from America? Like with cargo ship ect. Prices in America is shocking me.

If you mean the used car market, I'd say forget about it. The prices of buying a $5000 used vehicle and then shipping it? You could buy a new car by the time you had it all said and done.

Not really going to buy a 5000$ car.

My plan is selling my W211 next year and buying a 2007 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class CL600 or Ford Mustang Shelby GT-500 (2009). Like this.

[Lurch]

I'd think a CL600 would be found cheaper elsewhere in Europe.

[*MURDOC*]

Be prepared to pay double the cost of the car.

 

It's probably not going to be worth the trouble or the expense.