 Welcome to our first installment of Project Longhaul!Project Longhaul is a 1994 GMC 2WD one-ton Crewcab. Being a very active family of three (and one dog), we wanted a late model vehicle that could get us "to and from" in comfort, was capable of towing a large trailer, and would not break the budget. After searching the weekly papers, we found this very low mileage Crewcab, 36,000 miles to be exact, for only $16,000. It was a very mild looking truck in original trim but comfortable, and had the necessary towing capacity with a fuel injected 454 engine. After driving the truck for over six months we're very happy with it basically, but it's now time to start bringing Project Longhaul up to Off-Road.com standards. We start with one of Fabtech Motorsports latest 2WD suspension lift kits. With this kit you can give your late model 8-lug pick up, crew cab or Suburban a 3" lift. Fabtech has established a reputation for quality 2wd lift kits and just recently won the 1999 SEMA Best New Product for Offroad and 4-Wheel Drive with their 2WD Light Truck 3" lift spindles.
You will now need a ball joint separator to separate the ball joint from the spindle. If you plan on reusing your ball joints you need to be very careful to not tear the ball joint boots. New upper ball joints will cost you about $75. Lower ball joints will run you another $80.00 and will have to be pressed out. Set the spindle aside.
Remove the two alignment bolts and then the upper control arm will come out. You should remove the factory alignment pins if they have not been knocked out. You can now lower the jack and use a large prybar to pop the old coil spring out. Save the upper coil insulator for later. If you are going to reuse your upper ball joints you will need to grind the heads off the rivets and remove them from the stock upper control arm. We chose to use new upper ball joints.
In our installation, both upper control arms had to be relieved on the inside of the ball joint before the bolts would line up correctly. It appears that the aftermarket ball joints are slightly larger than the factory units. At this point you can lubricate the bushings and press them into the upper control arms.
 3240 North Rancho RD. Las Vegas, NV 89130 702-655-5545 You can now re-install the control arms. The Kool Guy Offroad & Performance shop in Las Vegas assisted us by pressing the new lower ball joints into the lower control arms. This is not something that can be accomplished at home, as the ball joints are a very tight fit. Leave this to a professional!
We found the next step to be the most difficult. You will probably want at least one helper, for safety as well as needing the extra pair of hands. I tried locating a spring compressor at various local rental locations but could not find one large enough to handle the one-ton springs. The new springs would have to be put in place with a combination of jacks, large pry bars, a come-a-long, and A LOT of patience. It took over two hours to get the first coil spring installed. The come-a-long was used to pull the coil spring towards the inside of the truck and keep the bottom from popping out. The pry bars were then used to get the coil spring half way up in the seat. A bottle jack was useful to get the end of the coil high enough to slide into the seat in the lower control arm. After getting the first one in, we were able to duplicate the procedure on the second side in about 45 minutes.
Reinstall the front wheels and lower the front of the truck. Move to the rear of the truck to install the new rear shocks. Using your vise, press the bushings into the new shocks. These new shocks are also slightly longer than the old ones. The rear shocks are easily replaced in less than half an hour.
SummaryWith the kit installed, Fabtech recommends that you drive the truck for approximately 50 miles before having the truck aligned to factory specs. I was concerned that I would lose my factory ride with the additional lift so I was anxious to take the truck for a spin. I was very impressed with the ride quality -- the ride was just as good or better than stock. I expected a much stiffer than factory ride. The only real difference I noticed is the noise when the front upper control arm hits full droop. The arm comes down to rest against the frame rail and is somewhat loud when it hits.UPDATE: After talking with Fabtech we discovered an installation error. The low profile bumpstock that we installed on the lower A arm should have been installed on the upper control arm. This urethane bumpstock will prevent the upper control arm from hitting the frame. The Fabtech kit provided between 2" and 3" of lift in the front of the truck. This makes the truck sit level front to rear, since most Chevy/GMC trucks are higher in the rear from the factory. Watch for the next installment of Project Longhaul, where we will be getting a major face lift with new wheels, tires and graphics!
Get your 2wd Performance Suspension from: www.fabtechmotorsports.com Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/OffRoadDotCom
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