Hey Everyone,

 

Currently in the market to lift my truck to get a little more clearance and also to put larger wheels on. 

 

 I went to my local store and they’re pushing a rough country 3” lift, which replaces 4 control arms and the other option I was interested in was the skyjacker 2.5” lift with only 2 control arms being replaced. I’ve heard negative things about rough country, but I can’t find any substantial evidence online besides them being on the cheaper side of lifts. Does anyone have any experiences?

 

Additionally, with this lift I will add a dual steering stabilizer and a steering gearbox brace to try to correct for a drift at 70mph and also the truck kind of having sloppy steering reactions. 

both of those options are BUDGET LINES....

 

that said, use the available info to make a parts decision.

 

up to 2.5" is about max for correcting castor angles, over that and up to about 4" will need a lower arm at minimum.

 

remember, with a correctly spaced wheel, the stock truck will handle a larger tire than just a cheap level.

with a level and no arms, the axle pulls rearward and tightens the gap to the fender, it also moves left...thus causing some rubbing issues on the upper pass side control arms.

 

essentially if you want a lift, save and get all necessary components...COILS, arms and adjustable track bar or third gen swap style

 

going cheap here will make you upset after about 2 weeks, and the issues it brings will make you want to sell the truck

24 minutes ago, Stormin08 said:

both of those options are BUDGET LINES....

 

that said, use the available info to make a parts decision.

 

up to 2.5" is about max for correcting castor angles, over that and up to about 4" will need a lower arm at minimum.

 

remember, with a correctly spaced wheel, the stock truck will handle a larger tire than just a cheap level.

with a level and no arms, the axle pulls rearward and tightens the gap to the fender, it also moves left...thus causing some rubbing issues on the upper pass side control arms.

 

essentially if you want a lift, save and get all necessary components...COILS, arms and adjustable track bar or third gen swap style

 

going cheap here will make you upset after about 2 weeks, and the issues it brings will make you want to sell the truck

The two lifts come with control arms, coils, track bar brackets, blocks and u bolts. The difference between the two is just the amount of control arms. I’m not sure if that changes what you said or I just described it wrong initially. 

If it was my truck I'd toss a 2" leveling block on and call it a day. Possibly a 1" zero rate ada leaf paired with a long leaf in the rear.  Depending on the front to rear stance your looking for.

 

No reason to go hig wild spending money on a little lift.

 

4-6 is where youl be needing more.

 

At 3" the only thing needed would be  a adjustable track bar. Max factory control arm castor washers to positive side

 

 

59 minutes ago, Evan said:

If it was my truck I'd toss a 2" leveling block on and call it a day. Possibly a 1" zero rate ada leaf paired with a long leaf in the rear.  Depending on the front to rear stance your looking for.

 

No reason to go hig wild spending money on a little lift.

 

4-6 is where youl be needing more.

 

At 3" the only thing needed would be  a adjustable track bar. Max factory control arm castor washers to positive side

 

 

Do small changes like that out additional stress on the body?

Simple answer is no.

Technical answer is yes lifted the control arms are at a greater angle and send more shock forces to the frame aswell as the track bar and steering all will be at a steeper angle.

These additional stresses will be present wether you upgrade control arms or not. 

 

I just gave a buddy of mine my extra set of 3rd gen wheels today. These are 17x8 proper back spacing. Tires he mounted are 285x70x17 cooper sst pros. Hes pretty stocked he got them for a free deal. I got them in trade deal.

His truck isnt lifted.

 

 

Track bar may be all you need/want to upgrade. To keep axle centered under truck but even alittle of center with the factory fixed track bar you might not even notice that's why I say want.

 

Your factory shocks will even work at 3" and under lifts.

 

If your control arm bushings are worn you could go ahead and just throw on new arms off ebay. Stryker arms are like 180 for a set of 4 with poly bushings you have option to get stock 3 or 4-6" length arms. I'd be tempted to get the arms for 6" lift since 2-3" length arms are damn near the same length as stock.

 

Guys will argue this till there blue in face saying you have to have arms shocks steering 2 chrome steering stabilizers yada but I've found through experience it's just not true.

Yes I'll admit I've upgraded my track bar and control arms but only because they needed replacement and I will never replace a shitty part with the same shitty part.

 

Ahead of shocks control arms and possibly track bar I think I'd recommend a upgraded sway bar end links and replace the bushings that hold the sway bar to the frame with poly. On my truck this made a very noticable difference in handling much more precise and predictable. 

 

The white trucks mine. I debated long and hard about coils or a spacer in front and finally decided on a 2" spacer because I didnt want a longer stiffer coil. The rear isnt lifted at all but does still run all factory 3500 tear springs so may sit alittle taller in the rear.  It has about a 2000ld in the bed at all times.  I did do all upgrades one at a time and actually did track bar first because it was in dire need of replacing. I fabhed a adjustable bar starting by removing track bar tie rod mounting point from the frame . I built a mount to use a bar with 7/8 heim joints this has been one of my better upgrades even at stock height.

Ohhh rubber I run is 285x75x17 roughly 34x11

 

Some stuff on my truck may not be found on any other truck but i feel I've done well hacking stuff together have gained alot of experience 

 

Edited October 4, 20195 yr by Evan

I put together my own 'lift kit' cuz nobody offered a kit that would go as high as I wanted to go.  But if I were only wanting 3 inches front and back I would consider a body lift for about $250-300 in parts kit and my own free labor.  Don't even have to touch the suspension and keeps all original alignment specs.

On 10/3/2019 at 6:43 PM, Evan said:

Simple answer is no.

Technical answer is yes lifted the control arms are at a greater angle and send more shock forces to the frame aswell as the track bar and steering all will be at a steeper angle.

These additional stresses will be present wether you upgrade control arms or not. 

 

I just gave a buddy of mine my extra set of 3rd gen wheels today. These are 17x8 proper back spacing. Tires he mounted are 285x70x17 cooper sst pros. Hes pretty stocked he got them for a free deal. I got them in trade deal.

His truck isnt lifted.

 

 

Track bar may be all you need/want to upgrade. To keep axle centered under truck but even alittle of center with the factory fixed track bar you might not even notice that's why I say want.

 

Your factory shocks will even work at 3" and under lifts.

 

If your control arm bushings are worn you could go ahead and just throw on new arms off ebay. Stryker arms are like 180 for a set of 4 with poly bushings you have option to get stock 3 or 4-6" length arms. I'd be tempted to get the arms for 6" lift since 2-3" length arms are damn near the same length as stock.

 

Guys will argue this till there blue in face saying you have to have arms shocks steering 2 chrome steering stabilizers yada but I've found through experience it's just not true.

Yes I'll admit I've upgraded my track bar and control arms but only because they needed replacement and I will never replace a shitty part with the same shitty part.

 

Ahead of shocks control arms and possibly track bar I think I'd recommend a upgraded sway bar end links and replace the bushings that hold the sway bar to the frame with poly. On my truck this made a very noticable difference in handling much more precise and predictable. 

 

The white trucks mine. I debated long and hard about coils or a spacer in front and finally decided on a 2" spacer because I didnt want a longer stiffer coil. The rear isnt lifted at all but does still run all factory 3500 tear springs so may sit alittle taller in the rear.  It has about a 2000ld in the bed at all times.  I did do all upgrades one at a time and actually did track bar first because it was in dire need of replacing. I fabhed a adjustable bar starting by removing track bar tie rod mounting point from the frame . I built a mount to use a bar with 7/8 heim joints this has been one of my better upgrades even at stock height.

Ohhh rubber I run is 285x75x17 roughly 34x11

 

Some stuff on my truck may not be found on any other truck but i feel I've done well hacking stuff together have gained alot of experience 

 

The white truck’s look is the ballpark of what I’m trying to do. 

 

I brought it to Four Wheel Parts to get a second price option on the skyjacker lift kit and they wanted to do a front end inspection. They turn around and say that I need a complete front end rebuild, which they define as steering rods, a track bar and new bushings for $2500... they said that the steering rods and track bar have play to them. I honestly don’t know where they pulled $2500 from though. I put it up on the lift and didn’t see any play with the track bar jumping around. 

 

I think I might add a steering gear box brace that they sell. 

 

Honestly the reason I mainly want a lift is to have 17” rims with some 35s.