trying to find out what kinda lift is the best for a 2004 ecsb silverado.iv'e been told to go with rcd

Rcd makes a really nice kit I like it a lot. I wish I could have afforded to lift my truck and still do the performance stuff also...But I have been thinking about selling my wheels and putting the $$$ towards a lift... RCD is the only lift I would do. My cousin had a superlift on his 99 and he had nothing but problems.

everybody i know with chevys aorund here has fabtech and no compliants really . thought that might help . my buddys 2000 z71 has a 6 inch from them and 35's , my bosses 1500hd 03 has a 6 inch and 35's . and a lot of trucks come into my job and have the same lift its popular around here

I really enjoyed my pro-comp lift that I had on my old truck. the majority of the lifts made for silverado's are true 4". YOu can of course use blocks to go higher, and ford torsion keys for the front, but blocks are crap. If you're looking for an awesome setup go for the pro-comp or fabtech. The nice thing I like about the fabtech is the ultra-beefy spindles that come with the kits. Pro-comp though has a very very nice true 6" lift. I'll attach a pic of my 97 k2500 i just sold. I will tell you one thing though, if you go with the bigger torsion keys and raise them all the way, you're never going to have a decent alignment. The best 200 bux I spent was on high arc springs from 4wheelparts for the rear that added 1" over the pro-comp true 6, and also ditched the oh-so-crappy blocks. I'll post up some more stuff later when I'm not slacking off from studying.

btw, tires are 37x16x12.50 irok radials, and also there's a complementary pic in there of some nice GForce vettes :chug:

Fabtech or whiplash they both make nice kits for sure. A local shop from where I am from has developed a kit that is very nice its called 3rd Coast.

You can see some of their work here http://bncoffroad.com/main.htm

Fabtech or whiplash they both make nice kits for sure. A local shop from where I am from has developed a kit that is very nice its called 3rd Coast. You can see some of their work here http://bncoffroad.com/main.htm

Uh, I definitely would not reccomend Whiplash as they are quite possibly one of the WORST lift companies around. Whiplash is garbage, nice kit and Whiplash definitely do not go together!!!

RCD, Rancho, Superlift FIT, and Fabtech are all knuckle type lifts. These lifts leave the UCA in the stock location, the differential is dropped 4.5 inches on them (except the FIT) and the lca is dropped 6 inches. (5 for the FIT) New knuckles are used with these kits, contrary to popular belief, no torsion bar cranking is needed to achieve 6 inches of lift (well except the FIT) since the LCA is dropped a full 6 inches. CV angles will be at a bit of an angle, however I think people take the whole CV thing a bit too far. With most of these kits you wont be able to run the stock wheels because they need to have more that 4.5" of BS to clear the new knuckes. Fabtech can run the stock wheels, but as a result increases the track width more. Knuckle lifts will increase your track width some, which some do not like.

The other type of lift would be a Fulldrop lift. It depends on the size you want, but if you want a 6 inch I'd go with the Procomp 6". Superlift makes one but its a piece of crap, I have seen a UCA drop break in person. Full drop lifts do not increase track width and all can run stock wheels.
Big lifts take your pick from Cognito and Full Throttle. Third Coast is just a Full Throttle with a different subframe.

To the original poster of the thread, what size tires do you want to run? How big do you want your truck? :drive:

i want to go 6'' of lift with a 35'' tire

I'll add one comment to what 00silverado said. The ability to run near-stock sized wheels is convenient especially in finding a good deal on wheels. I ran 16"x10" offbrand wheels from discount tire that were 80 bux a piece (8 lug). Not a bad deal, they're kind of like the oh-so-popular mickey thompson's. running a smaller wheel diameter will save you money when looking for tires too. If you're looking for tires taht're going to be daily driven on the street and see pretty much just the street then you could look at all-terrains. they're very very durable tires. I ran IROK radials and on my 3/4 ton 7.4L I put about 4k miles on them and they still had a little more than 50% tread left on all 4. daily driven on the street, and mudding on the weekends. interco makes some badass tires. sold the truck because gas kicked me in the nuts. getting worse gas mileage is no bueno, especially 6mpg on the street :(

yeah i hear that about the gas mileage but ive debated on lifting my truck or leveling it out and putting some 20's on, and i really want to lift it

I would do a 2/4 drop with some twankys or some duece dueces!

Seth

A good lift would be either a Fabtech or even Cognito, they make some nice stuff also. FWIW, Rough Country is coming out with a newer lift also. They already have a non torsion bar drop kit that is kick ass and the newer version that should be out after the first of the year will be a non t-bar drop/no destruct kit, its also quality stuff and you can also get their CNC billet upper control arms.

yeah i hear that about the gas mileage but ive debated on lifting my truck or leveling it out and putting some 20's on, and i really want to lift it

Adding heavier wheels and tires is the main reason for the MPG loss. Added resistance hurts also. Adding 20's with a wider tire would do the same thing.


I run the P.C. 6". dual shock hoops and all. Nice kit and rides good. Anyay it all goes to how much you wanna spend. My only do not use opinion would be the old full drop superlift kit. Too many peices 3/16 steel and you have to use a plumb bob to install it.

I based my decision off of my non auto track t case. with auto trac a driveshaft is needed for any kit that drops the diff more than 5"

Best Performance Lift Out There With Out Breaking The Bank Is The Cst Kit!! Very Very Very Affordable!! If You Want My Fabtech Kit From My Truck Ill Sell It To You Cheep. It Will Be Right Off My Truck. Its The 7" Fabtech Kit. Im Looking Into Investing Into Either A Cst Long Travel Kit Or A Camburg Kit.

CST is the best

Whiplash lick my balls

Got a link to the CST kits???

Got a link to the CST kits???
http://www.californiasupertrucks.com/

My only do not use opinion would be the old full drop superlift kit. Too many peices 3/16 steel and you have to use a plumb bob to install it.


Yeah that kit is a piece, in fact on another board a Superlift employee admitted that the kit was designed with "redneck engineering." Yeah that is a kit I'd want to run on my truck :eek2:

A good lift would be either a Fabtech or even Cognito, they make some nice stuff also. FWIW, Rough Country is coming out with a newer lift also. They already have a non torsion bar drop kit that is kick ass and the newer version that should be out after the first of the year will be a non t-bar drop/no destruct kit, its also quality stuff and you can also get their CNC billet upper control arms.

I don't think you can compare a Cognito kit to the Fabtech, they are two different beasts. The Fabtech is the typical knuckle lift dropping the differential 4.5" and the LCA 6". As a result this creates a CV angle that many don't like. The Fabtech 8" for the HD's is probably one of the worst kits on the market, that kit will wear through steering components like nothing. The Cognito 7-9" drops the differential 7 inches and the LCA the same amount. The Cognito's also include Pitman and Idler arm supports, which solve the issue of the stock pieces causing excessive play in the steering. Justin makes a quality kit and stands behind his product. I just wish I had the money, I'd definitely go Cognito. Full Throttle makes a decent kit, I haven't heard of anybody having problems out of their kits. The Rough Country kit is already out, it looks like a kit that will be comparable to the other knuckle lifts on the market. Their billet UCA's are way overpriced, especially since they use a press in balljoint. I'd get Cognito or CST UCA's instead. Here are a few pics of the new Rough Country lift.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/ricegk/RCXinstalledside.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/ricegk/RCXinstalledsuspsideview.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/ricegk/RCXinstalledlowerfront.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/ricegk/DSCN0596.jpg

Oh don't get me wrong, if I had the dough, my truck would have a Cognito kit ASAP. It is IMO THE BEST engineered kit on the market bar none. I really like their 7-9" kit. A friend of mine in Sherwood,AR has a 12" Cognito on his new Duramax and its some damn nice hardware.

Oh don't get me wrong, if I had the dough, my truck would have a Cognito kit ASAP. It is IMO THE BEST engineered kit on the market bar none. I really like their 7-9" kit. A friend of mine in Sherwood,AR has a 12" Cognito on his new Duramax and its some damn nice hardware.
Is your friends truck on 40's and 22's? If so he posts on another truck board I am on.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/1BADURAMAX/Picture016.jpg

My friend runs a 10" Cognito on his 04 GMC, with 37" X-Terrains and I absolutely love his truck. Another friend has the new knuckle 10" kit and his is awesome as well. The 7-9 is a nice kit, http://www.00silverado.com/Pictures/Cognito/adam.jpg
http://www.00silverado.com/Pictures/Cognito/NeilsTruck/Resized/PICT0098%20(Large).JPG
http://www.00silverado.com/Pictures/Cognito/NeilsTruck/Resized/PICT0101%20(Large).JPG
This guy just put a 7-9" on his truck with 35x14.5 Mud Grapplers on 18" wheels, I think it looks pretty damn good :)
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c297/rabara9/redpig.jpg

Yup. That would be Mark.


That red truck looks tough as hell.

thats the same tires im gonna run like the red one . figure 9 inchs on a 2wd 35's will look like they have enough clearence right ? 7 inch factech crossmemeber lift and 2 -3 inch bodylift .

have you guys every heard of a company call CAMBURG? they make the absolute best lift a silverado. the kit uses a uni-ball insted of crappy, weak, ball joints. its about $1800 but you definately get what u pay for
http://camburg.com/chevysprod.html

you looking for just looks or performance(wheel travel). If its just looks then just go with a Fabtech kit a 7" kit is like 1225$(not installed, with fabtech shocks and rear blocks).Its pretty easy to install if you have the right tools and some good friends that want to help you out on a weekend project. p.s. Dont buy your friends beer till after the job is done!! If its for performance and looks then go with a CST kit. 15!!" of wheel travel damn and for the money you can beat that price for almost a total bolt on kit(it requires some cutting and welding) cost depends on what shocks you go with and up grades you do. It also requires some up grades aswell (longer brake lines- 98$). ill post a pic of my truck with a 7" fabtech kit on it.

ya please post the pic .

i was gonna go with camburg buts lets be real i aint gonna be jumping hills and stuff around here lol . id rather pay the 1500 shipped for the 7 inch with blisten 5100 shocks and have my buddys install it .

will 7 inch lift and 2-3 inch bodylift on a 2wd clear 35's?

you looking for just looks or performance(wheel travel). If its just looks then just go with a Fabtech kit a 7" kit is like 1225$(not installed, with fabtech shocks and rear blocks).Its pretty easy to install if you have the right tools and some good friends that want to help you out on a weekend project. p.s. Dont buy your friends beer till after the job is done!! If its for performance and looks then go with a CST kit. 15!!" of wheel travel damn and for the money you can beat that price for almost a total bolt on kit(it requires some cutting and welding) cost depends on what shocks you go with and up grades you do. It also requires some up grades aswell (longer brake lines- 98$). ill post a pic of my truck with a 7" fabtech kit on it.

That kit you are speaking of also requires fiberglass fenders. I dont think badasschevy will be going out and running the desert or hitting the dunes, so I think a Fabtech kit will be just fine. For fitment, it depends, 7" would be fine for 33's, 35's are ok if you don't mind the stuffed look. With the 7" Fabtech and a bodylift you will clear the 35's and I dont think you will rub at all. JMO though...

i wanna lift it so bad and go have some fun in trails and minor mud . and the looks and feeling higher then everyone . but im still scared the height is gonna greatly effect me when i theow stockies on it for the track

well if want a lift where ur going to have to replace the damn ball joints ever 3000 miles get a fabtech lift. but honestly, if u want a good lift for the trails, go with the CST lift. its right around $1400 and its an AMAZING lift for the money. its shits on RCD, Rancho, Fabtech and all thoes other cheap azz lifts. plus, if u pay the extra $400 you can get a set of dana 4:56 gears installed and that will compensate for the 35's and ur truck will accelerate and cruise on the freeway like it did when it was stock

see i hear different things from everybody . my brother is his wifes truck , my boss , my friends z71 and like 6 other trucks i know of with fabtechs have no compliant . ive yet to see many CST lifts around here to ask the person who owns it how they like it . but im going with 4.10 with the 35's most likely .

ya please post the pic .

i was gonna go with camburg buts lets be real i aint gonna be jumping hills and stuff around here lol . id rather pay the 1500 shipped for the 7 inch with blisten 5100 shocks and have my buddys install it .

will 7 inch lift and 2-3 inch bodylift on a 2wd clear 35's?

THE 7" INCH FABTECH KIT WILL CLEAR 35" WITH A LITTLE BIT OF CUTTING. No need for the body lift wouldnt recomend it. if your going to do a body lift then just go with a bigger suspension lift. In the long run its looks better and you wont have to worry about wearing out the damn rubber spacers. yeah camburg shit i got my cost for that kit and damn!! I want it soo damn bad!!! There are other places that will do pretty much the same thing as camburg at a pretty damn good price. well i hope this helps you out. if you need a kit pm me and ill give you a price for it.

well if want a lift where ur going to have to replace the damn ball joints ever 3000 miles get a fabtech lift. but honestly, if u want a good lift for the trails, go with the CST lift. its right around $1400 and its an AMAZING lift for the money. its shits on RCD, Rancho, Fabtech and all thoes other cheap azz lifts. plus, if u pay the extra $400 you can get a set of dana 4:56 gears installed and that will compensate for the 35's and ur truck will accelerate and cruise on the freeway like it did when it was stock
How will the 7" Fabtech do that? You need to lay down the crackpipe. The CST kit you are reccomending uses a spindle and a longer coil spring, this is like the 6" Fabtech which I believe you are talking about, puts a ton of stress on the upper balljoint which causes it to wear out due to a bad operating angle. The Fabtech 7" is a fulldrop kit and maintains the factory specifications. Please do some research before chiming in :jest:

i have the 7in cst kit and have had no problems. imo the best 2wd bolt on kit is by far the camburg kit. camburg also has a long travel kit which is also badass but pretty pricey, somethin like 8500 bucks. i think the rcd kit is the best for 4wd's that are actually gonna get used. the cognito lift is cool but kind of impractical. the rcd kit is also easier on the wallet.... thats just my two cents....

camburg is only 2wd right?

yea, camburg only does 2wd

does fabtech make the 7inch lift for the 4x4? also where can i find the 7inch lift and at what cost?? i will be installing it myself,we put a 6inch on my freains truck identical to mine,very simple, he had the 6 inch though.

does fabtech make the 7inch lift for the 4x4? also where can i find the 7inch lift and at what cost?? i will be installing it myself,we put a 6inch on my freains truck identical to mine,very simple, he had the 6 inch though.

Fabtech doesn't make a 7", but Cognito makes a 7-9 kit. You could always do a 6" Fabtech and get some torsion bar keys and throw an add a leaf in the rear.
TSETRUCKSTUFF.COM has Fabtech stuff, they aren't on their website yet, but you can call them (800-330-9780 ask for Jarrod) they've got good prices on their kits.
Here's a 2wd with a 7" Pro Comp kit:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y138/slofords/lift019.jpg

thanks twotone, the 2wd in the picture is pretty much as high as I want to go so I might be lookin at the pro comp 7''.

thanks twotone, the 2wd in the picture is pretty much as high as I want to go so I might be lookin at the pro comp 7''.

No problem. Here's a pic of mine with 8". 6" Rough Country non torsion bar drop along with torsion bar keys, rear add a leaves.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/TTFREAK/DSC00185.jpg

looks good, i already have the torsion keys and 4 inch blocks, is fabtech a really strong,dependable kit?

also what website can i find a cst lift kit with prices as well as a cognito lift???

looks good, i already have the torsion keys and 4 inch blocks, is fabtech a really strong,dependable kit?
The Fabtech is a decent kit, it allows you to use wheels with stock backspacing, however the track width is increased more than other knuckle lifts. Look into the 6" ProComp fulldrop kit, it is solid. Also check out the Rancho and RCD kits. Can't go wrong with those.....

also what website can i find a cst lift kit with prices as well as a cognito lift???
www.californiasupertrucks.com
www.cognitomotorsports.com
CST and Cognito both are more money than your average kit. These kits aren't mass produced like the others. I know the owner of Cognito and having held numerous pieces in my hands and viewing the quality of the kits, I can guarantee they are top notch :judge:

anybody ever used Rock Krawler kits? if so how do you like it? i like the idea of eliminating the torsion bars, but it is an 8 to 9 inch lift. more than i want to go and from 5 to 8k more than i want to spend. does anybody make a 4 to 6 inch kit that eliminates torsion bars and hopefully a lot more reasonably priced?

getchusum99,

You said you have torsion bar keys and 4" blocks. Are these on your 99 Z71? I have the Ford keys in my 00 Sierra 4X4 SCSB and I wanted to lift the back up a little too. I was thinking of the 3.5" to 4" blocks for mine as well. I am running 285 75 16 ProComps right now and was wondering what size tires you are running on your Z71 with the keys and block setup? Do you have any issues with axle wrap w/ those keys?

Thanks

I have been reading through this thread, and have heard almost every name in lifts with everyone's opinion, but nothing on Rancho?

The 4wd shops around here all recommend Rancho, even the ones that don't sell it.

My plan is to go 6" in the future with 35's, so the recommendations in this thread are important to me.

Thanks for everyone's input, its huge!

sdwhitney, the Rancho is a good kit, but most stay away b/c its only a 4", well the Rancho reps says its actually a lil over 5", but thats a different arguement. Most of the time they are more expensive than others you can find out there with just as good of quality.

sdwhitney, the Rancho is a good kit, but most stay away b/c its only a 4", well the Rancho reps says its actually a lil over 5", but thats a different arguement. Most of the time they are more expensive than others you can find out there with just as good of quality.

Thanks Twotonefreak, that is info I needed.

I really like the look of the CST lifts on the trucks they show on the website. Might have to do a search through this and other sites to find other trucks with that lift to see how it compares.

yeah if you know what ur doing, go the the CST lift. Fabtech makes an ok kit, and the rest just suck ballz. the CST uses a larger ball joint found on silverdao's pre-dating 1999 which is a pretty tough ball joint. fabtech, procomp, racho, ect all use stamped steel brackets and stuff. my friend has the CST kit ( non long travel) and it does pretty d*mn good. its no camburg long travel though. :jest: suck on that!

yeah if you know what ur doing, go the the CST lift. Fabtech makes an ok kit, and the rest just suck ballz. the CST uses a larger ball joint found on silverdao's pre-dating 1999 which is a pretty tough ball joint. fabtech, procomp, racho, ect all use stamped steel brackets and stuff. my friend has the CST kit ( non long travel) and it does pretty d*mn good. its no camburg long travel though. :jest: suck on that!

I don't think you have a clue what you are talking about. Fabtech, Rancho and RCD are all pretty much the same kit since we are talking about 4wd's. They drop the lower control arm 6" and the differential about 4.5". This gives some angle on your cv joints, but I think people bitch about them too much anyways. The CST kit for the 4wd's does not come with replacement UCA's, they are an option. You can get UCA's from Cognito or Full Throttle too. There is no such thing as a mass produced longtravel 4wd kit for the Silverados, although the kit that CST produces for the 2wd's is quite nice.

Currently I have a 6.5 Full Throttle kit in my truck, it appears to be solid... however after much deliberation on my part I am not going to put it on my truck due to the fact that it wouldn't be practical. Instead I am going to run some 16x8's and a 285/75/16 one Procomp runs their tire sale in March :judge:

So what are the major beefs with the fabtech kit? Is it a good kit or is it not? I live in a small town and travel back roads and like to get my truck muddy. Also it is my only transportation and i travel state to state sometimes with it. What kind of lift should i go with and how much am i looking to spend if i get a lift with some new tires and rims.

So what are the major beefs with the fabtech kit? Is it a good kit or is it not? I live in a small town and travel back roads and like to get my truck muddy. Also it is my only transportation and i travel state to state sometimes with it. What kind of lift should i go with and how much am i looking to spend if i get a lift with some new tires and rims.



The only bad thing Ive heard about fabtech is that there upper ball joints have alot of pressure on them causing excessive wear.

The Fabtech will push out your front track as well. The front wheels will stick out further than the back wheels.

I see a lot of trucks like that with the fabtech lifts, looks pretty shitty to me

The Fabtech will push out your front track as well. The front wheels will stick out further than the back wheels.
Any knuckle kit will do that. The fabtech spindles also taper out more to allow the use of stock wheels too. If you don't like the increased front track width, go for a full drop.

So how much do knuckles cost to replace? Is this something that is going to wear out in a few months or years or what? I mean i have always liked lifted trucks, but if it is going to mess up a bunch of things then i dont want to do it.

You shouldn't ever have to replace a knuckle unless one breaks due to getting hit in an accident or you ramp the f*%k out of it.

Well i finally got the money and ordered my lift. I appreciate all the help you all have given me on deciding. I'm going with a 6'' RCD lift, 35'' procomp x-terrains, and 17x10 weld cheyenne 6's. thanks again guys.