Wolftrk99

iTrader: (5)

Looking for information on a couple different lift kits for the gmt900 suvs, after the flood i have decided to lift my yukon, just havent decided how much or what kit to go with, looking for info and opinions from anyone who has a lifted 07-13 suv...

Wolftrk99

iTrader: (5)

Ok so a month and some change and no response, and a good bit of research i have pretty much decided to go with a rough country 7.5" lift, unless some miracle happens and i can justify spending twice as much on a pro comp or fabtech lift.. i am planning on new driveshafts in the yukon eventually anyway, so i figure it would be best to wait til after i get the lift on it. My biggest thing is rough country has what appears to be the same lift kit for an avalanche, but it is $200-300 less expensive, what would be the difference between a yukon and an avalanche, reading through the instructions for both kits they are identical but i qm not sure if there would be a slightly differemt spring for the rears or if there is in afact a difference in the frane pockets where the control arms bolt in... any ideas?

willhorne22

I will not buy another rough country lift kit if my life depends on it. Mcgaughys is the only way to go. Rough country will make it ride like **** and the money you spend in the future trying to make it ride better will be more than a Mcgaughys.

I dont know about that body style but so far every rough country lift has made me cut my front dif and the Mcgaughys doesn't. So if for any reason you want to pull the kit off and go back stock you can no problem.

You can always just Live Chat with rough country and ask them about price difference? Just the parts list on the install instructions of both and google the different part numbers or ask them what the difference is in them.

Wolftrk99

iTrader: (5)

Yeah the nbs trucks you had to cut one of the mounts off of the diff, but as far as the nnbs most of them require shaving off a couple of the fins, i have ridden in a couple of nnbs with rough country lifts and they didnt ride as bad as the nbs did, i have never had opportunity to ride in a mcgaugheys lifted truck, but i have ridden in and worked on a couple of nnbs trucks and suvs with rough country, fabtech and pro comp lifts and they were all about the same ride, and imho as far as i can tell there really wasnt $1000-1200 worth of a difference between them, they all seemed to use similar methods to lift the truck and the one that had the actual lifted struts was the worst as far as ride.... i will look into mcgaugheys though...

Lowexpo

I test drove a Suburban with a Rough Country lift. I didn't buy it because of the way it drove. Scary as hell. I wouldn't recommend one to anyone.

Wolftrk99

iTrader: (5)

Care to elaborate? How much lift, what tires were on it, wjat was scary about it? I have a 6" fabtech on my nbs silverado, and have really loved the way its driven since the day i lifted it, except for a time after i had sold the truck the firstt time and the guy that had bought it trashed the front end, and it was scary as hell, once i fixed the issues with the front end(bad upper ball joints, idler arm, all 4 tie rods, shocks, and wheel bearings) she was back to riding deiving and steering like her old self! I have had a couple lifted nnbs trucks with fabtech and pro comp lifts that due to the tires being shot, and wheel bearing and tie rods having an ton of play in them rode like crap until they were fixed and realigned with new tires, then they basically rode like stock but higher. The tahoe that i have worked on that stands out had the rough country system i am looking at on it, guy brought it in saying truck was all over the place and was scary to drive especially on the interstate, i go to the truck and can already see the tires, which are some off the was overly aggressive mud tires, are worn like crap, steel cords on the inside edges and can see the slipped belt in them! Driving the truck through the parkinv lot into the bay, the truck is all over the place, i couldnt imagine anywhere near highway speeds, I shake the front end down to find both upper ball joints trashed, left upper control arm was loose in the frame pocket, rf wheel bearing i think was held together by the axle, one of the outer tie rods was beyond trashed, and one of the lower ball joints had a bit of play in it. Owner of the truck brought all the parts in, and had us put a set of terra grapplers on it cant remember the exact size but it was a metric equivalent of a 35x 12.5 20. Replaced all the parts and aligned it took it on a test drive and aside from the slightly bent wheel on the right rear, the truck was quite impressive how well it rode and handled....

Wolftrk99

iTrader: (5)

I am going off reading through the intruction sheets that are posted on their websites, but seems the majority of the lift kits for the nnbs all seem to basically be of same basic design, fabtech and mcgaughys both have front strut extenders that both to the bottom of the factory strut, and they all require cutting the frame about 3" from the lower control arm bolt holes on both sides, and cutting thebump stops out of the frame. The procomp and rough country lifts use a strut spacer than mounts to the top of the factory strut and the mcgaughys and the rc both have a rear shock extender bracket to reuse the factory rear shocks, really struggling to find a good reason to spent $1000 more for the same basic kits... maybe i am missing something, maybe i need to spend as much as possible and buy the $4000 kit i saw the other day. Biggest differnce i have seen is someof the kits come with new rear shocks, and an option for a "lifted" front strut, or coil overs....

Lowexpo

Basically what you described on the Tahoe but it was all new. Local dealer has lifts and wheel/tire combos put on. New tires MT tires, not sure of brand. Rought Country 7.5 lift. On the highway it was all over the place. Steering wheel was braced on my knee and had to slow down because back was swaying side to side. Even around town the steering was sensitive. I drive 90% 2 lane rural highway so I passed on it. Maybe better sway bars and an alignment might have helped? That has been my only experience with Rough County on a Suburban. I wanted that one really bad but when I'm fighting it on a 4 lane I dang sure ain't driving it on a 2 lane. Nothing looked worn under front end aka no grease everywhere or torn boots etc. Either way, maybe i just had a bad experience. Just my 2 cents.

willhorne22

I agree with the NNBS rough country being better. I will never buy from them again mainly because of the false advertisement. The whole 6" lift only being a 4" drop really pisses me off.

They may still being lying on the NNBS. It says 7.5 but get on live chat and ask them how far your front diff is actually dropping. Mcgaughys doens't lie.

My friends truck with the Rough country 7.5 rides just fine. I hate seeing that big *** spacer above the strut though. He rubs extremely bad with 35's. He can obviously trim and be just fine but hes dumb lol.

I hate how much fender tire gap he has and the fact he still rubs. So if it was me looking for a lift kit I think Id by the smallest and run 33s.


Rough Country in my opinion is still the worst lift kit. Here I am running a 6" and an 1.5 body lift. I have done the coil over swap and replaced every front end part to heavy duty stuff from cognitio and moog. My truck still doesn't want to be lifted above 4" suspension because its harder on the front end because rough country didn't sell me a true 6" drop. I had to buy cognito upper control arms to keep my truck from getting knocked out of alignment with every bump in the road. Even running it at like 5" suspension lift with coil overs was hard as hell on the factory control arms.

Wolftrk99

iTrader: (5)

My fabtech lift only dropped my fromt diff about 4-4.5" and about the same on the lower control arm brackets, but i had something like 6.5-7" lift in the front, before i replaced the torsion bars and ended up closer to 8", most 6" lifts seem to split the difference between the front driveshaft angle and the cv axles, which leaves the front diff being dropped less than the advertised 6 or 7" alot of the lifts change the angle if the front control arms, which is why as you said it is harder on the uppers, and going ti the cognito uppers with the better ball joints is a good idea anyway. I have found 2 or 3 sets of upper control arms for the nnbs that are supposed to add range of motion to the ball joint for leveled and lifted trucks to not put as much stress on them.

Lowexpo- it sounds like the alignment was way off on that, there are a few dealerships around here that install lifts and tend to run some knobby *** mt tires and they dont necessarily align them properly...of at all! And its usually somebody that has no clue installing them. Im sure if that burb had hadan alignment and a set of more aggressive ATs youd have probably had a different opinion of it.... MTs alone handle much differently than even a sinilar looking at would.