Best lift kit

[gametrail]

My grandson has a 1500 2009 Silverado short bed. What is the best 3 or 4 inch lift kit for it? I want everything back inline so he will not have a lot of trouble with it [joint,tires and the like]. Any help would be appreciated. Gametrail

[slo99sierra]

The fellas over in GMFullSize.com forums would be able to better answer your question as there are quite a few of GMT900 trucks with lift its.

I assume it's a 4WD truck?

A body lift would be the best, I've heard great things about the "Performance Accessories" body lift kits. You can achieve a 3 inch lift without worrying about suspension and steering parts wearing out. Decently priced also.

Rough Country also makes some suspension lift kits I've heard great things about also. They have a variety of lift sizes.

[4x4junkie]

There are several different manufacturers that make these, however my favorite is Sky Jacker, but thats just my personal opinion, and there are a lot of quality manufacturers for these kind of kits.
Some things to consider are the tire size wanting to reach, the factor that different manufacturers have different specs, and many manufacturers will require the use of a 20" rim with their product as well as they all will alter drive shaft angles and create more stress on universal joints at the front and rear drive shafts, as well as the cv joints in the front axle.
It is however possible to reach a 33" tire without using different rims or largely affecting drive shafts and axles by installing a leveling kit for the vehicle which would maintain the factory suspension and ride while allowing for a larger tire size and thats does Not mention the economical factor of pricing.
Installing a lift kit on these vehicles will always alter the factory suspension, Ride and eventually lead to premature wear of mechanical parts regardless of the manufacturer, but if you are determined to install an aftermarket lift kit, I would recommend Sky Jacker, their products are reliable, and sturdy constructed with years of proven experience in there field of expertise and they provide a fully functional, reliable, quality product, remember you get what you pay for and they have always perfromed quite exceptional in the past for me, either way be sure to research the specifics of any aftermarket product you may decide on and determine what best suit your needs.

[slo99sierra]

Originally Posted by 4x4junkie

There are several different manufacturers that make these, however my favorite is Sky Jacker, but thats just my personal opinion, and there are a lot of quality manufacturers for these kind of kits.
Some things to consider are the tire size wanting to reach, the factor that different manufacturers have different specs, and many manufacturers will require the use of a 20" rim with their product as well as they all will alter drive shaft angles and create more stress on universal joints at the front and rear drive shafts, as well as the cv joints in the front axle.
It is however possible to reach a 33" tire without using different rims or largely affecting drive shafts and axles by installing a leveling kit for the vehicle which would maintain the factory suspension and ride while allowing for a larger tire size and thats does Not mention the economical factor of pricing.
Installing a lift kit on these vehicles will always alter the factory suspension, Ride and eventually lead to premature wear of mechanical parts regardless of the manufacturer, but if you are determined to install an aftermarket lift kit, I would recommend Sky Jacker, their products are reliable, and sturdy constructed with years of proven experience in there field of expertise and they provide a fully functional, reliable, quality product, remember you get what you pay for and they have always perfromed quite exceptional in the past for me, either way be sure to research the specifics of any aftermarket product you may decide on and determine what best suit your needs.

This is true of suspension lifts. CV Shaft angles must be as flat/horizontal as possible when doing lifts. If they are steep, you run into serious problems.

I have not heard of any manufactures requiring a 20" wheel, though I know almost all require a wheel with at 4.5" backspacing in which factory wheels are not in that range.

A body lift is the way to go...All it does is raise the body from the frame x amount of inches. There have been little to no issues with them that I know of, except for raising certain components (ie. bumpers, steering shaft)

On the GMT900 trucks, there is a A LOT of room in those wheel wells. You can go with a 3" body lift and 33" tall tires on factory 17's and it might take up most of the room. The most common size I've seen for the 33" tires have been 285/75/18 (18" wheels are also most common) but on factory wheels 285/70/17 is just a hair under 33".


You also have recalibrate the speedometer and PCM (to read and understand that it has larger tires or wheels). This can be done with a hand held tuner (Super Chips Flash Paq). But that is an expensive product. Black Bear Performance is a custom tuner who will work with you for what you want to be tuned (recalibration, speed limiter, rev limiter, shift points, torque management, etc...)

If the truck doesn't come with a good enough gear ration for the rear (in which I suspect it will be a poor ratio), then you are looking at fuel mileage issues as well as over working the engine and transmission. This is why most go for a 4.10:1 , 4.30:1 or 4.56:1 ring and pinion ratio for the rear axle. This compensates for the drag that the factory gear set had.

It's a lot to do and a lot of money. I wanted to lift my truck, but I figured out real quick that the bills stack up pretty high - which is why I chose to turn my truck into a sport truck.