01 Silverado Lift...

[Baron Von Beard]

Hey fellas,

I just picked up a very clean 01 Chevy Silverado 1500 with 18,000 miles on it and need to mess it up as fast as possible.

I know I shouldn't but I just gotta lift the thing. What type of lifts have you guys had experience with? RCD is what pretty much everyone is using from what I can tell. I want to go with a 6" lift and 35" tires.

What experiences have y'all had?

[Wakerider13]

dont use rcd and dont go over 35's with the 1500. rcd doesn't drop the front axle enough. and it pushes out the front tires almost 2 inches further than the rear. ugly unless you get pre runner fenders. check out cst, cognito, and stay away from fabtech (ball joint maxing lifts)

http://www.cstsuspension.com/

[Matt2105]

Go with Cognito if ya want big. If ya only want 6 inches or so, ya can't beat the Dick Cepek lift. Join fullsizechevy.com forums and gmfullsize.com. You can get tons of info on lifts there.

[Baron Von Beard]

How about gear ratio? I don't know what comes stock.

[GreenKLX]

I like my 2001 with a RCD lift.

If its a Z71, you have 3.73's if not, 3.42's.

[sirhk]

Sorry for pickin on you today Wakerider but, do you have any clue why MOST the trucks have a wider front end? (I'm talkin like 2", not 6" wider prerunner stuff) AND... If it's true that CST doesn't go wider it's a pretty good sign that they actually didn't design the front end correctly. To keep the suspension geometery the same as factory when lifting with the spindle/subframe setup you have to go wider... How much depends on the factory kingpin angle, how much lift, and what combo of spindle and subframe changes you use...

CST is hit and miss with their parts, some are great, some are trash...

Show or explain why RCD's diff isn't lowered enough? How many blow CV's or vibrations have you experienced?

Red, there's a reason you see TONS of fabtech and TONS of RCD... Fabtech is a marketing machine and could sell litterally a pile of crap to a customer thinking they're getting a race truck... Not all of their stuff is bad and honestly I don't think the kit they build for your particular truck is a bad one, or at least it doesn't have that rep. They do have kits floating around that waste CVs, Ball joints, or bumpsteer like mad.

Then you've got a company like RCD that up till around the middle of last year was building the best parts for that style of suspension on the market across the board. (PM me if you want to know exact details on how I know, I'm not just some kid spouting off what I think is cool)... If you just want a nice lift to cruise town in go with an RCD kit for that particular truck. Only two kits to even kinda worry about from RCD but I believe they've fixed them and they aren't an issue, either way, they aren't Chevy kits so...

Oh, and on IFS trucks, don't go above 6". 6" is about the furthest to go that I've seen without getting stupid on pushing the safety envelope.

[GlocksRock]

I like my 2001 with a RCD lift.

If its a Z71, you have 3.73's if not, 3.42's.

Are you sure? Around here the Z71s mostly have 3.42s. Occasionaly you'll find one with 3.73s or 4.10s. My '05 1500 is just the 4x4 and came with 4.10s.

[sirhk]

Hey Red... I didn't notice... 2WD or 4WD? Either way I can vouch what I've spoke from RCD for either truck.

[Baron Von Beard]

How do I find out what gears my truck has?

It's a 2001 Z71.

[GreenKLX]

My 1997 and my 2000 Z71's both had 3.73's. I would think that it is what you have if your truck has a 5.3L and a hitch. Jack up the rearend, mark a line on your rear tire and your rear driveshaft, turn the tire a full rotation while watching your rear shaft and count the turns. Around 3 and a half, you've got 3.42's. Around 3 and 3/4, and you've got 3.73's, around 4 turns.... you get the point. I think fabtech makes a great lift for your truck, as well as RCD. If you don't want to regear, then I would just do a 4" rancho with 33's, if you are willing to regear, I would do a 6" rcd or fabtech with 35's and either 4.10's or 4.56's. I would do the latter with 4.56's. If you are willing to spend a whole bunch of money, the rockkrawler lift for your truck converts it from torsion bars to coilovers, sweeeet.

[Baron Von Beard]

I checked the RPO codes and the truck has a limited slip and 4.10 gears so I'm not going to worry about regearing.

[Kx250FRiDeR651]

friends dont let friends buy fabtech

[GreenKLX]

good news, go with a 6" kit.

[Baron Von Beard]

I think I'm set on an RCD 6" with 35x12.50-17 Pro Comp Xterrains.

[Baron Von Beard]

RCD is OK, but with a Fabtech you get better front X-member clearance, 1/4" front diff skidplate, and chrome X-member braces. And a better front diff angle for proper pinion bearing lubrication:prof:

ALSO....If you have to, you can run stock rims with the Fabtech, and it's the only lift other than the Pro-Comp ( = more installation time, but you gain a full 6" lift, not 5" like most of the spindle lifts) that you can... but if you're running 17's it won't apply to you. Alot of guys up here like to mount winter tire on stock rims to save their bling from the road salt.

No such thing as road salt in AZ. As far as the other lifts, all I know is that I've seen and driven trucks with the RCD lift and it just plain works. The truck is gonna be pimpin very soon. I've taken all the mouldings and emblems off and the lift and wheels and tires is all that's left. It could use to be louder, but I'll deal for now.

[Kx250FRiDeR651]

RCD is alot better than fabtech...

[sirhk]

In what way? I've installed and driven both. IMO Fabtech is WAY better... RCD also has a really crappy finish. When installing it you have to be really carefuly not to hit the pebbled surface of the paint or it falls off the metal...

Sorry man but I'll COMPLETELY disagree with that. If you got one that truely did that send it back cause you got one that didn't get prepped correctly for paint which I honestly can't imagine. The parts get blasted and then go through 5 different chemical baths to prep the part before going into the oven for powdercoat.

As far as RCD better then Fabtech, I can't list reasons as I don't have any experience with fabtechs kit for that particular truck. I can say that the diff angle as far as pinion lube is fine. Last I'd heard they had about 3 complaints of diff failure and those were on trucks with more then 200K on the lift. You have NO CLUE how many of those kits go out the door every month being that the 4WD chevy 1500 is probably their number 1 seller!!!! A hand full of failures is a fraction of a % failure rate.

BTW, how do I know this info... I was design/production engineer there from '01 to the very end of '04. Sorry but I've straight up laughed at some of the comments made about RCD here. I now work for a competitor in the industry and because I have no first hand experience with the kit for Red's personal truck I'm not even suggesting it. How's that for advice?

Oh and to the person above that complimented fabtech on "chrome xmember braces", now that's funny!!! I guess the polished stainless steel tig welded braces that come with the RCD kits aren't good enough.

Let's talk shocks... Who's using generic white shocks and who's using custom valved Bilsteins designed for the particular kit they ship with. Let's say all kits are equal, the shocks in an RCD kit alone will put them above. This REALLY sucks considering I'm in competition with them!!!

Red, 2WD or 4WD? I'm guessing 4WD being a Z71 but I'm not a Chevy guru by any means...

[Baron Von Beard]

4WD, no auto ride.

[texas929]

How do I find out what gears my truck has?

It's a 2001 Z71.

Call Chevy, I did this with a Bronco, give them the VIN and they will let you know what it came with.

[Baron Von Beard]

Call Chevy, I did this with a Bronco, give them the VIN and they will let you know what it came with.

I found the RPO codes in the glove box and ran them. It has 4.10 gears and a limited slip.