lifts

[billfarmer]

interested in a slight lift, (something that will still fit in the garage!) and not sure where to start. seen some that are done and look great. any ideas that wont do harm and still ride good?

[tophog]

There aren't many options for what I consider a slight lift (2-4") but several 6" lift options available which won't meet my garage-parking requirement due to the increase height of lift/tires. The RCD 6" lift is one of the more popular 6" lifts from what I've read.

As far as I know, Rancho makes the only 4" lift for the 2500 HD trucks. I'm having it installed next week with 17" wheels and 315/70R-17 tires which equate the same height as a 295/75R16 series tire. Based on my measurements I "should" be able to park the truck in the garage but won't be much room to spare. I'll post some picts next week once everything is installed.

[pushpole]

tophog--let us know how the install goes. I'm interested if any cutting or welding is required. Thanx !!

[Turbo Al]

Moved to 2500/3500 Accessories forum

[tophog]

Originally posted by pushpole:
tophog--let us know how the install goes. I'm interested if any cutting or welding is required. Thanx !! Will do, supposedly the Rancho lift is 100% bolt-on, at least that's what I've been told.

[billfarmer]

top dog-
I have the 265 tires on now, would it be possible to take a pic or let us know if your truck when lifted and the 265 tires looks silly or how it will look?
thanks

[Maverick]

Here's a good page with alot of different lifts.

http://www.rockymountainsusp.com/GM_IFS.htm

[tophog]

Originally posted by billfarmer:
top dog-
I have the 265 tires on now, would it be possible to take a pic or let us know if your truck when lifted and the 265 tires looks silly or how it will look?
thanks I'll post several before/after pictures once I get the lift. I am abandoning the OEM wheels and BF 265's for Weld Evo Renegade 17" wheels (17x8.5) and BF KO 315/70R17 tires. The wheels have a 4.15 offset so they will stick out about 1" more then the OEM wheels and the tires will be about the same as a 295/75R16 tire.

[tophog]

Had the 4" Rancho installed today with the Bilstein stainless shocks, Weld Evo Renegade 17x8.5 with 5" BS and BF KO 315-70R17 feet.

Dropped @ 7AM and picked up @ 5PM. Had truck sitting outside on display ... saw it when I drove up and started drewling. I still have the smile on my face. What is amazing is the ride is sooo much smoother then stock ... almost car-like. Was actually expecting a stiffer ride and cannot beleive the results.

Wheels and tires fit like a glove. The tires did rub slightly on the bottom front corner of the lower spoiler and they did a very nice job trimming ... have to look hard to even tell they did any trimming. Front tires probably stick out past the flares 1/4" ... and the truck still fits in my garage which is what I was most worried about. Overall with lift and tires I gained about 6".

Trying to forget about the price tag though ... wheels are what cost a fortune but I guess we only live once.

I've posted some before/after picts via the links below. Sorry to be so long winded ... just a little excited.

Pre-lift picts:
http://community.webshots.com/album/80549431wJpZZg

Post-lift picts:
http://community.webshots.com/album/80547407XoZomP

[ 07-09-2003, 11:36 PM: Message edited by: tophog ]

[DieselDixon]

Sure makes a big difference! Really looks good, let us know how it tows, I'm particularly interested in how your gear ratio now affects your performance.

PS. Don

[tophog]

Yes, the 4" was more then I was expecting ... truck turned out exactly like I wanted, very pleased. Towing? smile.gif Shouldn't be too long as I have another trip to the coast planned in the next few weeks ...pulling a 21' toyhauler, pretty heavy loaded with quads and all. I'm curious too.

Drove the truck about 50 miles tonight ... still can't believe how smooth it is. The shop did an excellent job. Appt. for Friday morn to get everything re-torqued.

Need to visit the ol' web tires/speed calculator to see how much my speedo is off now. Sure wish I could get it calibrated for the larger tires! :( Have a hard time driving and doing math. smile.gif

[Maverick]

Looks friggin' sweet man!! tongue.gif

[tophog]

Heck, they all look good, now if I can just figure out how to put an 02 front end on an 03 smile.gif Sure liked the front on my previous 02 gasser better, perhaps a grill is in order. Guess next venture is to pickup coke cans so I can install a 2nd fuel filter. smile.gif

[Jelisfc]

tophog, nice job. Now how tall is it? Everytime I see a rig like yours on the road I start dreaming...mostly of a garage door that's over 7'! I think I'm SOL on a lift.

[WillowCreekStable]

Tophog - looks sawwwwwwwww- wheattttt!!!! Time to raid the penny jar again........who has the details on that 12 step program?????? :D

Jelisfc - when my neighbor built his house he put 9' garage doors in. Smart guy! :cool:

[tophog]

Having the truck fit in the garage was my main requirement. I went about measuring ass-backwards. With truck stock I pulled under garage door and measured space between top of roof and bottom of garage opening. Think I had around 8 "safe" inches to work with. So I figured, ok +4" in front from lift (rear uses a 2" block) and around +2" more for 315 tires coming to a total lift of 6". This told me I would still have 2" to spare in case the total lift ended up being a little higher/shorter.

For reference, the point I measured in my garage door opening which I considered the safest point to measure to was 82" from ground. The actual opening is more like 83-84" but I have a rubber seal along the top of the opening and didn't want to rub against it.

The only thing that makes contact when I park is the radio antenna. I still have about 1-2" clearance from the top of the OnStar antenna smile.gif

Here is the tire/wheel calc I always use. Will tell you just about anything comparing tires, speedometer offset, etc. This is what I used to compare various tire sizes to stock and the lift larger tires would give me.
http://www.c5-corvette.com/tirecalc.htm Just specify stock tire and whatever tire your interested in, select the "Compare Tire A to Tire B" option and click on the Submit button. I'm sure there are lots of these out there but I've always liked this one. Have learned the larger tires gives me a 11.33% speedo error ... about 7 MPH slow @ 55MPH.

[tophog]

Originally posted by Jelisfc:
tophog, nice job. Now how tall is it? Everytime I see a rig like yours on the road I start dreaming...mostly of a garage door that's over 7'! I think I'm SOL on a lift. If you have a 7' opening, you should be able to do a 4" lift no problem with room to spare.

[Riverholic]

Tophog, Truck looks great!!! You will be happy you went with the EVO'S as they are so easy to clean. They are pricey but in the long run they are worth it. Think about it no more dull aluminum to polish!! Anyways looks good!!

[et]

Tophog,

With the places I go and the dificulty of working under the truck in the field especially with Transfer Flow's 56 gallon tank, I am looking to get my truck lifted. You and GardnerTeam in Bend had the same lift installed and you both seam pleased with the results. GardnerTeam used Les Schwab to install his lift. What shop did the install on your truck in Keizer?

Thanks

[tophog]

Originally posted by et:
Tophog,

With the places I go and the dificulty of working under the truck in the field especially with Transfer Flow's 56 gallon tank, I am looking to get my truck lifted. You and GardnerTeam in Bend had the same lift installed and you both seam pleased with the results. GardnerTeam used Les Schwab to install his lift. What shop did the install on your truck in Keizer?

Thanks I got quotes from several shops in the area (Salem/Portland) including Off-Road specialty shops and Les Schwab. Schwab beat everyone by several hundred dollars and guaranteed they would do the job in one day where other places wanted the truck for 2-3 days ... guess so they could work on it when they had time, etc. which didn't give me a warm/fuzzy feeling.

I ended up having Les Schwab in Keizer (River Road location) do the job. If you call, talk to Brad as he knows his lifts, tires/wheels better then anyone I've talked to and he went well beyond the extra-mile on the install, tire/wheel mount/balance, etc. Was also nice knowing Schwab will back every facet of the install ...lift, tires, wheels, alignment, etc.

Brad is a Chevy guy too ...has done a lot of Chevy IFS lifts. He was smiling as much as I was after it was all done and told me to bring him a large picture when I had a chance. Also planning to give him a gift certificate or something for the hard work and attention to detail.

I think gardnerteam had a bad experience with his Schwab install IIRC ... just have to find a shop that has a good rep.

[pushpole]

tophog--oooooooh me likeeeeeee... any feedback on the cutting and/or welding required for the install. What model bilsteins are you using? thanx

[tophog]

Originally posted by pushpole:
tophog--oooooooh me likeeeeeee... any feedback on the cutting and/or welding required for the install. What model bilsteins are you using? thanx The sticker on them say Model 5100 series

[pushpole]

tophog--Any cut'n or a weld'n?

[tophog]

Originally posted by pushpole:
tophog--Any cut'n or a weld'n? Sorry, forgot to answer earlier. I made a point to ask beforehand out of curiosity. He did say they had to lop off some bracket ear or something but wasn't major. I haven't looked yet to see exactly what was cut.

I didn't like the fact they had to do even that but from other lifts I've heard about, the "fabrication" mod was nothing compared to whacking off large chunks of metal.

I took it in stride trying to convince myself it was a small price to pay for the additional height.

[tophog]

Originally posted by Jelisfc:
tophog, nice job. Now how tall is it? Everytime I see a rig like yours on the road I start dreaming...mostly of a garage door that's over 7'! I think I'm SOL on a lift. If you want some type of baseline measurement, the distance from ground to bottom of fender flares is 44 1/4" all the way around. I gained exactly 5" from the BF KO 265/75R16 and T-bar crank I had prior to the lift. He also said the T-bars were barely cranked with the lift, thus one of the reasons he thought it rode so good. I've read where you can get any where from 4-6" with this lift depending on how much you want to turn the T-bars ... then again, anything over 4" lift is most likely the same scenario as cranking the T-bars up on a stock truck.

[gardnerteam]

True - I had a semi-bad experience with my lift install at Les Schwab and several other bad experiences with the same Schwab store )South Bend) over the past year with inexperienced installers not doing a thorough job of installing (not tightening bolts, not torquing wheels, etc), but in Schwab did make it right each time after I pointed out their errors and after I tossed the left rear wheel causing $5,000 damage in Mexico. Many Schwab stores have seasoned veterans (young and old)in their installation department that know their stuff and do a great job. Check out your installer and let him know what you expect. I didn't - I trusted the assistant manager who I knew and he did not follow through. Schwab sells great products, backs them to the hilt, and does the right thing when there is a problem, which most businesses don't want to do.

[D'Max_2_DA_Max]

TopHog, Your's looks great! Thanks for the pics and all the detail! :cool: :cool: :cool:

Has anyone had any experience, or know of anyone who has, with the Trailmaster 4" lift system. Here's a link to check it out, it's the last one at the bottom of the page. Thanks! :confused:
http://www.rockymountainsusp.com/GM_IFS.htm