4" Rancho Lift 6" lift....questions

[Seel]

Just recently traded in my '07 Escalade and got an '07 Z71 4x4..mainly because I was becoming more and more compelled to lift the Escalade and never once saw a lifted one that "looked right". Have seen a few NNBS Z71's that really caught my eye (some with a 6" lift and some with the 4" Rancho lift..which from all accounts seems to be more like a 5" lift) so I decided to trade that 'slade and got me a Z71.

So I have a few questions and I hope you guys can help me out a bit.

-What are the pros and cons of running a 6" vs. a 4" Rancho lift?


-I have seen from a few of the 4" Rancho lifts that the "track width" has been altered.....how can I avoid that and keep it at least an even track width?

-What is the max. tire size in diameter that I can run comfortably with LITTLE trimming on both setups?

-Do both the 4" Rancho and 6" lifts fit in standard garages?

-The Cali Lean look is terrible...If I use either of these lifts will I need to add any additional hardware to avoid the "lean".

-Where is the best place to purchase either lift?


Want to thank you for your time in answering these questions if you are attempting to. I know it can be time consuming but PLEASE post links if you are speaking about a specific piece of hardware. Hope I can help you guys out in the future with something. -Seel

---------- Post added at 09:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 PM ----------

 

[AquinoSteven]

I dont know about the newer trucks but on the 00-06 trucks the rancho 4" gives you 6"s of lift if that helps. Alot of guys run 35s no problem depending on the wheel with both the rancho and a 6" kit. Some very minor trimming may be needed.

 

[Seel]

Thanks, Steve. That's pretty much what I've read about the '07's too.

 

[Bam]

I don't know if this will help any, but when I bought my '07, it came with a Rancho 4" already installed. Here is the post where I was asking some questions about it because it measured at 5" of lift.

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13945

I had to remove the front air dam & do quite a bit of trimming to get rid of the rub when flexing on dirt/rough roads & turning tight. I would trim, drive around for a few days under different conditions, then trim some more where I saw rub marks. Finally got it to where it doesn't rub... The pictures in that post are with the air dam on & no trimming done. My album & some of my later posts show some more recent pics with the air dam removed and the trimming done.

..and as you can see from some of my pictures, it doesn't fit in my garage.

 

[Seel]

I don't know if this will help any, but when I bought my '07, it came with a Rancho 4" already installed. Here is the post where I was asking some questions about it because it measured at 5" of lift.

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13945

I had to remove the front air dam & do quite a bit of trimming to get rid of the rub when flexing on dirt/rough roads & turning tight. I would trim, drive around for a few days under different conditions, then trim some more where I saw rub marks. Finally got it to where it doesn't rub... The pictures in that post are with the air dam on & no trimming done. My album shows some more recent pics with the air dam removed.

..and as you can see from some of my pictures, it doesn't fit in my garage.

Thanks, Bam. I read your post before I posted and wanted to get some extra response and didn't want to hi-jack your thread. I do have a few quick questions for you if you dont mind:

-What is the height of your garage?
-Is your front track width different than the rear?
-How is the ride in the Tahoe?

Thanks -Seel

 

[Bam]

Well...My garage door opening is 6' 10" high. I think I could squeeze in if I didn't have the roof rack or the shark fin antenna. Not going to remove either just to fit in the garage. I also think that in a pinch I could deflate the tires some & get it just low enough to fit through the opening. The garage is plenty high enough, the opening is the only thing keeping me out.

My front & rear track look the same. All 4 tires stick out equally. (although I haven't measured.)

I love the way it rides! I haven't driven a factory Tahoe, so I really can't compare it. But the ride is very smooth, no body roll, no strange vibrations, turns on a dime...etc...I didn't have to make any major adjustments to my driving style once I got used to the difference in height.

Disclaimer -- Except for owning a few small cars here and there ('84 Pontiac Fiero/ '90s Pontiac Grand Am/ Toyota Corolla GP turbo when I was in Japan) I have been driving trucks/SUVs most of my life..even when learning to drive/taking my driver's test in an '85 Dodge Ramcharger 4x4. That monster was sure fun to parallel park when I was 16 with a test proctor in the passenger seat.

Maybe someone else here that lifted their ride with the Rancho kit after they drove it stock for a while can chime in on if there is a major difference in how it handles...

 

[Seel]

I'm almost positive my garage is 7' tall. Would like to know if anyone has had issues with fitting a 6" lift into a 7' garage? Thanks

 

[Seel]

anyone???

 

[Zed 71]

Bam's info not enough? Clearly his truck cannot fit as is.

It looks like you did not even measure the garage door height, the height of your truck, and evaluated the theoretical increase with the lift. Tire/wheel combo play a big factor and you have not even listed what you want. How can we help you without that info?

Clearly fitting the truck in the garage is very important to you and it is unlikely that with a 4" lift and larger tires/rims it will fit. IMO I would not take off the roof rack or shark fin antenna, or lower air pressure just to make it fit. Based on this, IMO you should just get a level kit and call it good. BTW I have never seen a truck/SUV with a lift that has fit in a standard garage, they always sit outside.

 

[AquinoSteven]

Mine barley fit and i have a pretty big garage. My friend had a 6" on his 1500 and it wasnt even close

 

[Seel]

Bam's info not enough? Clearly his truck cannot fit as is.

It looks like you did not even measure the garage door height, the height of your truck, and evaluated the theoretical increase with the lift. Tire/wheel combo play a big factor and you have not even listed what you want. How can we help you without that info?

Clearly fitting the truck in the garage is very important to you and it is unlikely that with a 4" lift and larger tires/rims it will fit. IMO I would not take off the roof rack or shark fin antenna, or lower air pressure just to make it fit. Based on this, IMO you should just get a level kit and call it good. BTW I have never seen a truck/SUV with a lift that has fit in a standard garage, they always sit outside.

Yes it wasn't enough information. Was that YOUR question?

I got an answer from Gonzo who has the lift and said it fit with 2" to spare.

Maybe you ought to read the posts before responding. Maybe you ought not give bogus advice to people without having experience. Maybe you ought not add your 2 cents where it clearly doesn't help. You understand "clearly" don't you?

Doesn't matter where you go...there's always that one that doesn't know how not to be a *******.

---------- Post added at 07:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:33 PM ----------

Mine barley fit and i have a pretty big garage. My friend had a 6" on his 1500 and it wasnt even close

Thanks for the post, Steven

 

[Zed 71]

Yes it wasn't enough information. Was that YOUR question?

I got an answer from Gonzo who has the lift and said it fit with 2" to spare.

Maybe you ought to read the posts before responding. Maybe you ought not give bogus advice to people without having experience. Maybe you ought not add your 2 cents where it clearly doesn't help. You understand "clearly" don't you?

Doesn't matter where you go...there's always that one that doesn't know how not to be a *******.

---------- Post added at 07:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:33 PM ----------



Thanks for the post, Steven

Look at the time I posted, it was in the morning before the others were posted. Also you asked the same question in three threads. In one thread I asked questions to help you out (we need info to help out) but no response. In this thread Bam gave you his experience, it might fit with some modifications. I also indicated that I had 4 inches to spare with just a level kit and larger tires. It is hard to evaluated your situation without more info.

I did not want to come across as a jerk; but my pet peeve are the same questions that are posted in multiple threads, questions are asked to help the poster, the poster does not answer, then the poster asks everyone to respond. In this case, I wanted to confirm your garage door access height, height of your truck, and tires/wheels you were planning to go with. This would be a good starting point.

Hopefully you see my point of view and I apologize for coming across as a jerk. If you look at all my past responses I try and help out as much as possible.

 

[Seel]

Look at the time I posted, it was in the morning before the others were posted. Also you asked the same question in three threads. In one thread I asked questions to help you out (we need info to help out) but no response. In this thread Bam gave you his experience, it might fit with some modifications. I also indicated that I had 4 inches to spare with just a level kit and larger tires. It is hard to evaluated your situation without more info.

I did not want to come across as a jerk; but my pet peeve are the same questions that are posted in multiple threads, questions are asked to help the poster, the poster does not answer, then the poster asks everyone to respond. In this case, I wanted to confirm your garage door access height, height of your truck, and tires/wheels you were planning to go with. This would be a good starting point.

Hopefully you see my point of view and I apologize for coming across as a jerk. If you look at all my past responses I try and help out as much as possible.

It's water under the bridge.

What I have been comtemplating and reading thread upon thread about this are 3-4 scenarios. I want to buy this stuff yesterday if you know what I mean so maybe you can help me out with some more info:

-Garage height is 7'
-I am willing to do 20" wheels and 35, and I'm willing to do 18" wheels and 35's
-I am willing to do 18" wheels and 33's
-I am willing to do the Rancho 4" but not the 6" lift because I want to be able to fit it in my garage
-I have even considered just leveling it or putting a 3" coilover on it with some 33's

-I've also been talking to Fabtech about the CST 4" lift with adjustable front shocks to bring the height to a little over 5" total and even lift. The CST 4" does not adjust track width and that is the main reason I would say they have the edge in this whole scenario game.

I'm also looking for 18" and 20" wheels online constantly. So many out there and with backspacing and offset being such a huge factor it's really hard to decide. Plus I would like to stay away from chrome or black but am not against "a little black" mixed with silver. I preffer silver or hypersilver in color overall though.

I'm about to drop around 8K total on everything I want to add so any information ANYONE can add would be awesome. I'm going to do a huge write up and pic shoot when I'm done too. Audio and video additions included. Thanks -Seel

 

[AquinoSteven]

I would call rancho. I think there 4" gives 6"s of lift

 

[Seel]

Actually it's 5"

 

[Zed 71]

My garage is only 6'10" at the opening . I just measured the distance between the roof rack cross-member and the garage opening, I only have 2 7/8" of space!

As far as wheels, IMO if you take the truck offroad 18" wheels with 35s would be the better choice. If mostly street than the 20" wheels would look awesome. Yeah, check with the lift vendor regarding recommended backspacing and offsets.

I have not seen the Fabtech lift yet. Do you know how they designed their lift so the front track width is not changed? In any case, looking forward to pics. Have you posted any stock pics yet?

 

[Seel]

My garage is only 6'10" at the opening . I just measured the distance between the roof rack cross-member and the garage opening, I only have 2 7/8" of space!

As far as wheels, IMO if you take the truck offroad 18" wheels with 35s would be the better choice. If mostly street than the 20" wheels would look awesome. Yeah, check with the lift vendor regarding recommended backspacing and offsets.

I have not seen the Fabtech lift yet. Do you know how they designed their lift so the front track width is not changed? In any case, looking forward to pics. Have you posted any stock pics yet?

I don't know how they achieve keeping the same trackwidth. I asked them to confirm that it does and they said yes, and that is one of the main selling points of their lift (according to them of course). The total for the lift and the adjustale shocks is about $2500.

I really am up in the air on what I should do. The truck won't be off-road much but it will see the condtions for off roading quite a bit. I would say my decision on 18's or 20's really only is for asthetics more than functionality as it will never be heavily off roaded.

Wish all this was a lot easier but finding pics on any of these lifts are few and far between. Anyone have some good pics saved?

BTW....everyone please go to the post "Looking for a wheel set up for my Z71" in the lifted forum

 

[Seel]

Decided on a BDS. Will go on a week from Monday. Pics to come

 

[Conor]

Decided on a BDS. Will go on a week from Monday. Pics to come

Seel, what wheels did you decide on?

 

[Seel]

Seel, what wheels did you decide on?

Should get my truck back on Tuesday or Wednesday. Will post the pics asap after that...