lifting a 97 silverado

[kmcnish]

Contemplating on what size lift I wanna get for my c1500 silverado. Don't know if I wanna go with a 4" rough country lift and run 33's or get a fabtech 7.5" and run 35's. Just wanting your guys opinion. Open to suggestions of other lifts and ideas you have as well thanks

[kmcnish]

what do you guys think of doing the 4" rough country with a zone 3" body lift and daystar 2" coil spacers for a total of 9" of lift and I will for sure be able to clear 35's with my 18x10 wheels and the lift will be about $300 cheaper than the fabtech lift and I'm going to end up with more lift then I would with the fabtech

[shealyn1]

Spindles yes. Body lift only if u do bumper relocation and gap guards. I would recommend getting a new set of coils instead of the spacers.

[kmcnish]

What brand Coils would you recommend?

[shealyn1]

I would say go canuck motorsports but they use one ton coils. Springtech has coils and haven't heard any bad reports on them.

[kmcnish]

Wouldn't adding the 1 ton coils stiffen up the ride quite a bit? also what else would I need to replace if I was to do this? and what is the advantage of adding new coils as opposed to adding coil spacers?

[kmcnish]

Or is it just 1 ton springs that stiffen up the ride?

[shealyn1]

Double post

[shealyn1]

If it were me id replace the upper control arms while I was changing the coil springs. I don't believe they are required unless going above 3 inches though but don't quote me on that. Polyurethane spacers wear down over time and don't work as good. Metal spacers don't wear down but I don't recalls seeing any for gmt-400 trucks. But its been a while since I was looking to lift mine. But yes one ton lift coils do firm up the ride. One user on here hated them. I don't have lift coils on mine because I got another truck and decided to proceed with my sas instead of lifting my 2wd more.

[kmcnish]

Alright thanks for that info I'm going to look into some coils then. What all have you done to your '96? If I remember right you had a 3" body lift and 33's correct? but I'm sure you have done more since the last time I looked at your truck

[shealyn1]

I haven't done a thing to her in 3 years. The body lift and 33s were as far as I got. The pic in my sign is her next to my leveled 2000 z71.

[kmcnish]

How much trimming did you have to do to clear the 33's and what size of 33's are they? I'm still not totally sold on the idea I have to clear 35's. I'd be ok with just 33's. I currently have 18x10 wheels with 4.52" bs and wasn't sure if I would be able to just do the body lift as well. what kind of gas mileage do you get in your '96 and did you regear? I'm in the process of building a 383 as well and was planning to put 3.73's with that and was wondering if that would be enough with the 383 and 33's or if I would need to put in 3.91's or 4.10's. If I would put on 35's I would of put 4.56's in

[shealyn1]

I had to trim quite a bit simply because I had wheel spacers when I put my 33x1250r15s on. I had then on 15x10s with 3.75 back spacing. I used to get 13-15 depending but that was a bit of giving her hell and mud riding on weekends. Plus I had sh!tty 3.08 gears. Not regearing is the thing I regret most. But the 13-15 was consistent. Whether I was towing or whatever. The 383 would have plenty power with 3.73s but its not the motor to worry about the gears save wear and tear on the transmission. My sas will run either 35-38s and ill have at least 4.88s in my truck. If it were me id go 4.56s on 33s they'll be more fun and on 35s they'll be about right.

[kmcnish]

I have wheel spacers on the front right now just so I could fit the wheels right now with it being at stock height and on stock size tires. and Yea I know when I put in the 383 sometime during the summer or fall I'm going to also be putting in a beefed up 4L60e that will be able to handle up to 750hp as I'm only planning on having the 383 in the range of 400-500. And you would go with 4.56's with 33's? I'm planning on keeping it as my DD so don't you think that would be a bit excessive? and if not could you explain why? I've tried convincing my dad that when I put on 33 or 35 that I would want 4.10 or 4.56 but he said 3.73 or 3.91 would be as low as he would go with the gears.

[shealyn1]

Is most of your driving in/around town or more out on the highway? If its in town then the 4.56s would be your friend. On the highway they'll cause you to turn higher rpm but in town you ain't getting up that kinda speed. If you stick with 33s and never plan to go bigger then 4.10s would probably be the best compromise. Or you could look into a set of 4.30s if your dad is completely against 4.56s. If I was keeping my truck a 2wdbit id be looking into 5.13s but that truck never travels more than. 10-15 miles at a time unless I'm riding dirt roads.

[kmcnish]

Most of my driving is a mix between highway and town I live outside of town and I travel 15mi everyday to get to school and 15mi back home so I'm usually traveling 55-65 mph depending on what I feel like doing and but I travel backroads a lot to get to friends houses and most of them are 20+mi away and I do about 55 then and to get to work I go 40-45mph the whole way and next year I'm gonna be going off to college so most of my driving during the school year will be in town

[shealyn1]

I never thought about asking this but what gears do you have now? If you have 3.73s then switching to 4.10s is pointless unless you do go with 35s there just ain't enough of a difference to justify the cost IMO. But from what you said id go with 4.30s.

[kmcnish]

Currently I am running 3.42's which was stock

[shealyn1]

Go with 4.30s there's one or two ppl on here with them on 305/55r20 which is about a 33x1250letter and they love them. I just prefer my trucks to be geared lower after so many years on 3.08s.

[kmcnish]

That's understandable and thanks for all of the information. It really helped me learn alot . Now what are you doing with the SAS I've looked into doing that as well

[shealyn1]

Well my final goal is 38s on 1 tons. But that's a long ways off. I'm still in the parts gathering stage now. I've got my axles set aside and am looking to buy the kit after the first of the year. If you're looking into that I say start reading that's what I've done and I am still learning.

[kmcnish]

Which axles do you have? I've thought about doin the dana 60's If I was to do this. I've talked to several different people about this option and have read into this stuff several times but I''m not sure I guess its just out of curiosity really

[shealyn1]

I lucked into a non running 86 k30 so ill be running a Dana 60 front and 14b ff rear.

[kmcnish]

Lucky you I absolutely love those style of trucks. And what are you doing with your 383? I see that you're in the process of building one as well. What parts are you using in yours? I have my parts list in the Small Block section in Performance its the one thats called 383 Help if you want to take a look for me since no one wants to help me with seeing my setup compared to theirs and if my parts would yield the gains I want and If they will work together well

[shealyn1]

I honestly haven't picked out my parts list yet. I was going to do the 383 first but both axles and extra scrap metal for 350 was impossible to turn down. I'm actually still in debate between a 383 and a 396 small block. But id search for the builds by the fiddle and mgrotel. If I build a 383 ill be following their builds. If you can't find them ill pm them you when I get to a computer. But one thing I'm definitely doing is going all forged internals I want her to be able to hold together encase I find a deal.on a Whipple.

[kmcnish]

I found them both and looking at their builds right now so thanks for that information. Now what would you do with your transmission? It's going to be mighty hard on your transmission with the tires and the power of the 383 especially if you find a good deal on a whipple

I found a website http://performabuilt.com/ they have strong transmissions or so they say from 2-4k which I thought that was some good deals on transmissions.

[shealyn1]

I'm still in debate on that. A local high performance shop quote me similar prices to build a monster in a box 4l60e or a slightly beefed 4l80e and they said they recommended the 80 for the large tires.

[kmcnish]

I guess this truck isn't your DD so you don't have to worry about your truck being unusable while its being beefed up. In my case it would be better to order a beefed up transmission because it could be swapped in that day.

[shealyn1]

Actually my truck ain't going to be touched until I have everything together and I have double checked everything twice. I plan on her being down for about 2 weeks. My transmission and regearing axles will take 3 days and having the motor built will take roughly the same amount of time. So when I pull those ill take vacation time to do my sas and ill have a rolling chassis if nothing else.

[kmcnish]

I was planning on building the engine as the funds came in and would save a little at a time right now just so I'm not splurging all at once and be in the hole big time. and would save for the transmission to buy it all at once and then I would add the transmission and engine at the same time. Now heres another question. Once I get this stuff all in what tune would you recommend? I was looking at Black Bear as I've heard nothing but good about there tunes. And when would you recommend doing the tune, As I'm breaking in the engine or after I have the engine broken in?

[shealyn1]

Justin at blackbear is an efilive instructor if I didn't have a very trusted tuner about an hour away from me that is who I would use. Idk about when to use the tune though. I would contact them about that. I have no idea about any part of tuning.

[kmcnish]

Alright thanks again for all the help its really nice having someone to talk to that's going through the process as me just to clarify different things and finding out if different things work or not

[Auburn Off Road Accessories]

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[shealyn1]

It's no problem man. I love meeting people who have the same ideas that I do. My 96 may actually get a 4 inch lift before my sas. A buddy of mine just gave me a Christmas present consisting of used rough country spindles and the one ton leafs with AAL from his 94 so I may lift her yet. If I do ill post pics.

[kmcnish]

Lucky you wish I was able to stumble upon a gift like that. What size tire you gonna run if you do put it on? 35 or 37"?

[shealyn1]

He said he was just walking through the junk yard and got em for $20 so he couldn't turn that down. But if I do wind up installing them id most likely end up adding either a coil spacer or a new spring and maybe step up to 37s my 33s will last me another 25k+ though so I have no idea what I'm going to do.

[kmcnish]

You could always sell the 33's after you install the lift and tires. That could help pay for your new tires. That's what I was gonna do after I started to process of lifting my truck since my tires are practically brand new that I have on right now. Its that or wait on doing the lift and just build the 383 and install it because by that time the tires won't last me to much longer and I could lift it then.

[shealyn1]

Id do the 383 first but before I even decide on my lift I'm regearing to 5.13s then most likely find me a used set of 35s

[kmcnish]

That's what I was thinking. and sounds like a good plan