anyone know any good lifts for a chevy?

miami_rider#13 · October 06, 2008, 01:17:15 AM

i have a 96 chevy 1500, im trying to put a 6-9" lift on it but i dont know which one to choose.
any suggestions?

Joedirt · October 06, 2008, 08:03:49 PM

Rancho

Rough Country is garbage

miami_rider#13 · October 06, 2008, 09:45:21 PM

thanks man, thing is I'm looking for a descently economic one too. is rancho good with prices?

Chevy1500z71 · October 06, 2008, 09:58:14 PM

i have a rancho, its one of the beefiest kits iv seen, it puts my buddys skyjacker to shame. the only lift with the front and back drop bracket 1 piece for superior strength. as for price, tis not as reasonable as some of the cheaper lifts, but you get what you pay for. and by the way, just say no to spindle lifts. full drop bracket is the best way, you dont need to have retarded offset wheels to clear the massive knuckles, and if your looking for low cost this means that you cant use a stock rim becasue its not offset enough.

miami_rider#13 · October 07, 2008, 12:59:30 AM

iight man ill keep that in mind. I been thinking about putting a skyjacker but you just reconvinced me. Thanks btw. lol i wasnt planning on keeping the stock rims either... there ugly as crap. so I was thinking of puttin heavy duty black 18's on 35's.

Chevy1500z71 · October 07, 2008, 01:12:13 AM

Quote from: miami_rider#13 on October 07, 2008, 12:59:30 AM
iight man ill keep that in mind. I been thinking about putting a skyjacker but you just reconvinced me. Thanks btw. lol i wasnt planning on keeping the stock rims either... there ugly as crap. so I was thinking of puttin heavy duty black 18's on 35's.

my buddy has a skyjecker, and when we go wheeling, he rides in my truck, his front end is falling apart from that crappy lift. the problem is mainly that they tell you its a 6" when really its a 4" that you have to crank the torsion bars out to get 6", and not only do you crank the bars, but the differential isnt dropped as much as the lower a-arm is, so it alows you to crank your cv angles till they are practically 45 degree angles. it just really tears up your front end in several different ways. say no to skyjacker unless you want to treat it like a 4" lift.

MedicMudder · October 07, 2008, 01:16:12 AM

I love my 99 Silverado z71 but the lifts are brutal on the wallet,wanna lift mine but can't spend 1300/1600 on a lift

miami_rider#13 · October 07, 2008, 01:24:20 AM

THANK YOU CHEVYZ71!!!! you just saved me about 3 thousand dollars!!! LOL im keeping that into consideration for sure.. so rancho it is! unless anyone else proves me wrong.. anyways, lifts are a pregnant dog, but w/e dude their worth it! thats for sure.

crom A zone · October 07, 2008, 01:32:20 AM

just put dyna 44 under the front with leaf springs will never break and it is very cheap handle best off road ifs sus stinks

Chevy1500z71 · October 07, 2008, 02:32:56 AM

well, of course we're got the one hardcore guy thats gona say solid axle lol. yea, he is right, solid axle is the best offroad, but if you have to ask yourself if you want a solid axle, then a solid axle is not for you. ifs is a smoother ride, more practical. solid axles are for the hard core offroaders.

the rancho is the only lift kit for the 88-98 chevys with the bottom drop brackets being one piece, it has by far the beefiest stearing setup, it is full drop bracket, its not ugly like the spindle lifts were there is a mile between the uper and lower a-arm. there are other very good brands for your truck besides rancho, but id have to say rancho still comes in #1.

o yea, and if you can, try to avoid blocks in the rear, all the kits come with blocks, but getting some add-a-leafs are way beter, im sure you know all about why blocks are bad already tho...

crom A zone · October 07, 2008, 01:24:35 PM

i say go big or go home lol i am finaly hardcore sweet lol if those kids from highschool can see me now ifs sucks irs also sucks just my 2 cents

Chevy1500z71 · October 07, 2008, 07:00:01 PM

Quote from: 4x4Matt on October 07, 2008, 01:24:35 PM
i say go big or go home lol i am finaly hardcore sweet lol if those kids from highschool can see me now ifs sucks irs also sucks just my 2 cents

the design of ifs is actually superior. its the parts that it uses that makes solid axle so much beter. there are more parts, and they weren't designed for hardcore offroading, like ball joints, cv shafts, ect. the fact that solid front axles are simpler is what makes them better for mudding. but if you dont understand what im saying about how the design of ifs truly is superior, go on youtube and check out some videos of military issue hummer h1s, those things have ifs, and irs and they will do things you couldnt dream of with solid axles becasue they are built with bullet proof parts.

miami_rider#13 · October 08, 2008, 02:22:19 AM

dude, i've been trying to find a rancho lift kit for the past two days for my chevy and i still can't find one.
thing is they make them for the K model, and i have the C.

any suggestions? or websites?

Chevy1500z71 · October 08, 2008, 02:32:12 AM

Quote from: miami_rider#13 on October 08, 2008, 02:22:19 AM
dude, i've been trying to find a rancho lift kit for the past two days for my chevy and i still can't find one.
thing is they make them for the K model, and i have the C.

any suggestions? or websites?

your best bet will always be chevy truck forums, when people switch to solid front axles, guess what they have left over to sell, lift kits. i remember there is a guy over on a truck forum that i go on alot that had a 6" rnacho kit for sale.

wait a second. you have a 2wd truck? that changes things... alot....

miami_rider#13 · October 08, 2008, 02:41:15 AM

EXACLY!

Chevy1500z71 · October 08, 2008, 02:43:27 AM

the biggest deal about lift kits is you cv angles, if you have a 2wd, you don't even have cv shafts. also, cheep lifts make you crank your torsion bars, you dont even have torsion bars with a 2wd. so you can see, you can get away with a little lower quality lift kit.

your looking for a used lift kit right? ill keep my eye out on some of my truck forums.

miami_rider#13 · October 08, 2008, 02:47:45 AM

New, used, I don't care.
perferably new but hey tell me whats out there so i can get a look see!

Chevy1500z71 · October 08, 2008, 02:48:56 AM

how much are you wanting to spend?

KnK Motorsports · October 08, 2008, 02:49:26 AM

Fabtech would be a good choice for the Chevy. It will have front coils, steering knuckles, drop brackets, impact struts, and the rear is a add a leaf and block combo.

Chevy1500z71 · October 08, 2008, 02:51:55 AM

yea, i was just about to say. the 7.5" fabtech looks pretty nice.

gtnwood · October 08, 2008, 10:25:33 PM

What is your opinion of Pro Comp, thats what I been lookin at for my 97 Z71?

Chevy1500z71 · October 08, 2008, 10:35:05 PM

Quote from: gtnwood on October 08, 2008, 10:25:33 PM
What is your opinion of Pro Comp, thats what I been lookin at for my 97 Z71?

my opinion? if you have a 4x4, rancho is the best one out there. for the 2wd, the fabetech looks like a good lift. for 4x4 i don't know, it wont show any good pics of how the fabtech is layed out. a good cheaper company i hear alot of good things about is rcd, go on fullsizechevy.com and do a little research, the search bar should get you tons of info.

KnK Motorsports · October 08, 2008, 10:49:33 PM

The only thing I dislike about the ProComp is the fact that you bolt in brackets to move the upper control arms down and that is where your alignment cams are, so in time bolts tend to loosen up ( and usually make the bolt holes out of round)and guess what the brackets begin to shift and there goes your alignment. I have install almost 1000 Fabtech 6" kits on the Chevy, It is the only kit I will install on a Chevy, not nocking the Rancho but to me it is over priced.

crom A zone · October 08, 2008, 10:56:29 PM

a lil bird just came in and said SOLID AXLE IS ONLY WAY TO GO ON 4X4 or fabtech on 2wd

Chevy1500z71 · October 09, 2008, 12:06:21 AM

Quote from: KnK Motorsports on October 08, 2008, 10:49:33 PM
The only thing I dislike about the ProComp is the fact that you bolt in brackets to move the upper control arms down and that is where your alignment cams are, so in time bolts tend to loosen up ( and usually make the bolt holes out of round)and guess what the brackets begin to shift and there goes your alignment. I have install almost 1000 Fabtech 6" kits on the Chevy, It is the only kit I will install on a Chevy, not nocking the Rancho but to me it is over priced.

i disagree, i think a uper a-arm drop bracket lift is hands down the best kind you can get. you dont have huge knuckles that make you use offset wheels and then your front is wider than your back. my rancho full drop lift has been on my truck for id say about 10 years, the lift is bullet proof. not to mention, my truck has everything 100% in factory location, just 6" lower, no drop the lower a-arm 6", drop the diff 4", make up the difference with a huge knuckle, and then crank the crap outa the torsion bars to get it to really sit 6" taller. not all knuckle lifts are like this, my buddy's skyjacker is like this and its a piece of crap... skyjacker is also one of the only ones that doesn't give you support bars to the back of the drop bracket to keep it from folding back when your offroading... my point, just dont get skyjacker lol and theres nothing wrong with a knuckle lift, but a full drop(uper and lower a-arms) lift is the strongest, most well thought thought lift kit you can get