You have a 1/2 ton, most lifts are 4-6" for these trucks. You want 33's and a six inch lift. If you go 5" with the lift, the torsion bars will not have to be adjusted, that's were the /- 1" comes from. This way you get your 33's and the ride will not be affected do to the torsion bar stiffness. The wear and tear to the front end wont be from the lift itself but from the larger tires.

 

i did not know that they made 5 inch lifts, for these trucks. What are the
better lifts out on the market today. superlift, cepek.

 

I honestly don't know which is the best, but I have a '96 3/4 ton and I am going with a Superlift, I'm going to have it done sometime this month. Anyways, with your 1/2 ton, Pro Comp and Superlift and I am sure a few others offer a 4"-6" lift. The drop brackets for the front end are 5", the adjustment to go from 5"-6" or 5"-4" comes from adjusting the torsion bars and using a different combination in the rear of add-a-leafs and a block or just a block to make the rear even with the front. Now Superlift offers a 5"-7" on 8lug Chevy's, I am going with the 5" on 33's. Go to this web site, it has a pretty good explanation of how a Superlift suspension works on Chevy's.
http://www.tyres1.com/webstore/web_store.cgi
heres another good one on pro-comps kit.
http://www.off-road.com/chevy/z71/lift/index.html

 

thats alot of help.....thanks i heard superlift was good but someone said something about the stearing leankage(sp) that they didn't seem to like much. not sure. today i was talking with a guy about cepek lifts for chevys.. he said the stage II lift are top notch but about 300 - 400 $$ more. but he said they are above all others as far as drivability, on and off road.. and that they hold there alignment better than any others. so i think i am going to look into that one a little more. he also said that the lift is a 6.5 inch lift ....that might be to much for me ...cause i just want to run 33" tires as well....

 

This could be useful also, concerning the wear and tear.

http://www.fly-n-hi.com/gmifs.html

 

This stuff was very educational.....
Our recommendation on all (90 and newer GM w/ IFS)vehicles with the 4" to 6" lift is a maximum of a 15x8 aftermarket wheel and a maximum of a 35x12.50x15 tire. This wheel has over 2 times more offset than stock. This combination, in our experience, does not seem to accelerate the wear of front end components over a stock wheel and tire arrangement appreciably.

Other Possible Combinations:

15x10 Aftermarket Wheels
These wheels have over 3 times more offset than stock and the additional leverage DOES accelerate the wear of front end components. Front end components are: Idler Arm, Pitman Arm, Tie Rod Ends, Upper and Lower Balljoints, Upper and Lower Control Arm Bushings, and CSS bushings (if so equipped). As these components wear the alignment and front end geometry is affected which results in poor tire wear and cupping, front end vibrations, shimmy and shaking, and other undesirable affects.


Does anyone really know how fast all this stuff wears out.....? Just need to know when to expect it...i am going to put on the 15x10 hellcats or the eagle 58 series........


bigbluez71

 

I've been running the Pro Comp 6" lift on my 94 Yukon for a couple of years now and have been real happy with it. I chose the 15x10 Mickey Thompson Challenger wheel. Initially, I went with a 35" BFG but decided to buy 33" Swamper SSRs. In my opinion the truck looks "sweet". You can find details and pictures at my site: www.full-size.com/94gmc . I plan to update it frequently and provide, hopefully, useful info for inquiring minds.
-Jim

 

so the truck looks good.....with the 33's on it.....i was afraid if i went with 33's it would look like to much fender well..? but i want 33's and i heard that with 35 's....there is some rubbing under hard use... did you have your gears changed after the tire change?


bigbluez71

 

I have not changed my gears. I've got the stock 3.42s on there still. After a considerable amount of research and looking around I think I'll probably get some 4.10s. This gear ratio should bring me back close to stock. Although it's not totally necessary right away(I've gone two years so far) I think getting the gears changed would be a worthwhile thing to do if you can do it. One of the reason's why I waited was because I wanted to get a pretty firm decision on what size tire I want to run.

 

I have a 97 K1500. I had the new 4" Rancho kit put on it. I think I got closer to 5" though. Anyway, I have 33x12.5x15 BFG ATs on 15x8 AR wheels and I think they look small. I am thinking of going to 35's. I have 3.73 gears and I noticed a little bit of a performance hit with the 33's but now I just keep it out of overdrive unless I am going 70 mph and it is just fine. You can see my truck in the Readers Rides under Lynn Harms.


Harmsie

 

Just keep in mind that the width on my tires is 14.5. "Harmsie" states that he thinks the 33"s look too small on his truck but he's runnin' a 33/12.5 BFG AT. I believe the extra width of the 33/14.5 and the aggressive thick tread of the Super Swamper gives it a "fuller" look.
-Jim

 

I totally agree agout the wigth thing. I am personally looking into the mickey thompson Baja Claws...or the Baja Belted and t i can get both of those in a 33 14.50 15. So that is what i probly will do....i am leaning towards the baja belted. Has anyone run these.... pros and cons .. Need to know...before i drop 200$ a tire. tread wear.....road noise. multi-surface.....? thanks

bigbluez71

 

About 4 months ago I put a Cepek 6.5 series II lift on my 95 Chevy. The lift is awesome. It is by far the
stoutest lift out there. The cross bracing and replacement parts are very solid. I Have 35" 12.50x15 BFG AT's
mounted on 15x10" American Racing wheels. The truck looks great but it doesn't take much to get the tires
to rub. I've been thinking about switching to 33" but After spending that kind of coin, it's hard to justify.
I don't do a lot of off roading with my truck but I still don't like the rubbing. I took a bit of a power hit too.
I'm in the process of fixing that though. Maybe someday I will put in 4.10's.
Go with the Cepek lift. That's just my oppinion though, the others are good too.

RDK

 

I think the Claw comes in a 33x13.50, but that's not a big deal. For the differences between the Baja Belted and the Baja Claw.....I have never been impressed by the baja belted ones. They look good, but they seem to be pretty loud on the pavement and on the few I have in person seen off-road, they haven't done anything spectacular.
I have also seen the claws off-road, and they did really good (mostly mud and ruts) and the owner said they were reasonably quiet on the street..

6.2Blazer

 

I looked at the Baja Belted because they had the width that I wanted. I don't believe the Baja Claw was available at the time or else I would have considered those. And yes, the Claw comes in a 13.5 width. I don't know anything about the noise level of either tire. I have to say that I like the look of both tires but I heard the Baja Belted wears very quickly and does not perform off road. I also heard that the SSR wears quickly but I do know that they perform awesome off road. The SSR is a bit noisy so if you don't want the noise you should just stick with a BFG. It's a trade off.
-Jim

 

I was out two weeks ago with our group. One guy had the baja belted on his jeep and another had the claw on his dodge. The one with the dodge said the tires were loud, very loud. He bought them strictly for off-roading, he puts the street tires back on when he is not on the trail. They were 13.5" wide but looked like 11.5". Very impressive on the trail though. The guy with the baja belted tires did fairly well on the trail with the tires. I was impressed, I didn't think that they would be that good. Put it this way, he hooked up so well on some dry stuff that he busted the rear driveshaft and had to finish the day with front wheel drive. He was runnning 33/14.5 I think. I don't know much about the noise level, it is basically for the trail only.

 

I think that i am leaning towards the baja belted. they have a aggresive look and they.....from what i hear so decent off road. I do some offroading about 3 tiomes a month..the rest of the time it is a daily driver. 33x14.50x15.. on 10 inchy rims....with the d. cepek stage II 6 inch lift.. has anyone run this set up........ good cause i wanna origanl.....thanks for all the replys..

bigbluez71

 

Sounds like a cool setup. Post some pics when you're done.
-Jim

 

Well i changed my mind again..now i am going to go with five inches and 33 12.50 15 and 10 inch rims.............. seems like the best one for me.

/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif BigBlue Z71 /wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif