htsht

iTrader: (1)

Wanting to put a lift on my pickup. Only wanting 3"-4", just enough to clear 33's. Leaning toward a body lift just because I will not be doing any offroading. This is more for just looks.

For the guys using body lifts, did you leave the stock hitch on? I will still need to use that occasionally.

BlownChevy

iTrader: (20)

If you do a body lift it drops the bumpers and the engine. Something you may want to consider. I would go with a suspention lift if I were you.

htsht

iTrader: (1)

The only thing that doesnt work for me on the suspension lift is the smallest out there is 6". Not really sure I want to go up that much. Is 6" a true 6" or is it actually less then that?

BlownChevy

iTrader: (20)

That I did not know. I thought you could get a 3 inch lift I think the 6 is more like 4 or 5....but I am not 100% sure.

02-4.8

You don't need either for 33's
285/75/16's are 33" tires fit fine on 99 and up trucks. What I have on my truck. I've seen guys with 2wd trucks run them to without problems on the stock rims(stock rims tuck the tire better).

::edit to add
Depends on the lift. Some are actually just 4-5" lifts that require torsion bar cranking to get the full 6". I believe Rancho's is this way. Superlifts 6-7.5" is a true 6 inch lift, they called 6-7.5" becuase of the 1.5" you could get from cranking the TB's. I can't remember how the other lifts are though. I think there's a list in the offroad section of fullsizechevy.com somewhere. Assuming your truck is 4wd rancho does make a 4" lift
http://www.gorancho.com/products/chevrolet_1.stm

blownZ71

iTrader: (1)

I have a 3 inch body lift and 33's on my truck. The kit comes with brackets to raise the bumpers so that is not a problem. The body will sit 3 inches high and in turn make the motor look as though it is lower. As for the tires rubbing, the biggest concern is wheel width. If you run 33's on the stock wheels they will most likely not rub. 8-10 wide wheels the tires will probably rub a little bit, on 10-12 inch wide wheels the tires WILL rub. I'd be happy to answer any other questions.

00Silverado

I myself would just crank the torsion bars a bit and add a set of 285/75's.

The Rancho is actually a full 6 inch lift if you set your torsion bars to factory specifications(mark where they were before, put them back in the same place) The difference between a Superlift, Procomp or CST and the Rancho, RCD, Fabtech and Full Tractions is that one is a full drop and one is a knuckle lift. With the knuckle lifts, the uca stays in the stock place, the lca is dropped 6 inches. The front differential is dropped 4.5 inches, and a longer steering knuckle conects the UCA and LCA. The only negatives about these kits is that it slightly increases the front track width and your cv's will be at more of an angle. I myself don't really care for the superlifts as I have seen the welds on the uca drop break after some light offroading. I must commend Superlifts customer service though, they replaced the part relatively quickly. If I went full drop, I'd go with the ProComp, Knuckle(which I'd rather have...) Rancho or Cognito's soon to be released 7"
Oh yeah, when the UCA drop broke, it caused the tire to camber in and rub the hell out of the shock, here's a pic...

htsht

iTrader: (1)

Right now I am running 275/70-17 on a 17x8 rim. 32.2" I believe. If I crank the steering hard there is just a hair of rubbing. Yes it is 4wd. I did have the bars cranked up a ways but did not like the ride, that and I had heard that it was really hard on things being cranked up.

Does the ride quality suffer with the lift or is it better? I imagine it would be a little stiffer. Why would you prefer the knuckle lift if it puts things at a sharper angle? Also, if I am reading right, with a knuckle lift you front end sits a little wider and you cant use the stock backspacing correct?? If that is the case, I cant use them. I believe mine are stock backspace, have to double check on that.

00Silverado

It depends on how much you have your bars cranked. Usually the problem is that your shocks aren't long enough. The solution to this would be adding a spacer to your shocks or to get longer shocks. If you crank way too much, not only will your angles be terrible, you'll probably have the uca resting on the bumpstops.

I don't have a lifted truck, but my friend says his truck rides better than it did stock(that's saying something...12" lift on 37's!) I would prefer the knuckle lift for a few reasons.. the steering is kept in the same place, the uca's aren't moved so in theory they should align better, and from my talking with an engineer they allow more leverage on the tire for better control of it. The way he explained it would be to get a piece of pipe. Have a friend grab it in the middle. Place your hands relatively close to it and have your friend twist. To resist the effort, you have to apply a lot of force. Now space your hands further apart and repeat the process. It requires less force on your part. If you're doing a pushup or bench pressing, you want to have your hands as wide as possible.

You're correct when you say that you can't run factory backspacing, although I believe Fabtech says you can run stock wheels with their kit. With the knuckle lifts you have to run 4.5" of BS, you could run less, but thats personal preference. I'm trying to see what Cognito can do for us who simply want a leveling kit. They make a kit for the 2500's and 3500's. It uses a new tubular lca with repositioned bumpstops, shock extenders(or you can choose to run longer shocks) Moog balljoints which are repositioned to compensate for cranking. I just want to level my truck, and I see his leveling kit as my best bet.

htsht

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info. Looks like I will be spending a little more then was planning. Rims are 4.5" backspace so I will look into the Fabtech and ProComp lifts some more.

ProComp has a 5" lift. Do you know of any difference between that and there 6"?? Website is down right now so I cant look it up.