2008 Chevy Tahoe LTZ

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irishrob82

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How’s it going everyone?

I need some advice from everyone but first a little background.

I received my fathers 2008 Tahoe LTZ a couple months ago. It’s in great shape. A couple very minor rust spots on the truck that I plan on getting fixed come spring time. The truck does have high mileage. 192,000+. My father took car of this truck. My car shit the bed not long ago and I was in need of a vehicle and he was looking to buy his retirement gift. A brand new 2020 Tahoe.

The dealership wasn’t gonna give him much for the truck. Even tho it runs great. Still drives like it’s new.

Well if anyone lives in Upstate NY you know we just had a decent snow storm this past week. At my home I got 28.5 inches of snow. Once again, they didn’t plow my street until the last snowflake fell to the ground and by that time is was too late I had already missed a days work.

None of this I’ll happen til tax time but I’m looking to do a lift kit for this Tahoe. So in the future if we get this kind of snow fall I can just get in and go and not worry about getting stuck.

Can anyone suggest the best lift kit for this 2008 Tahoe and it will still get the same ride quality that it currently has?

I have a few other things I plan on doing over the next year as well I just want to get thru this winter with how it is and then come spring start building this thing.

Some of the mods I’m looking to do are below:

New headlights
New taillights
Wheels and tires (after the lift)
New step bars
LED light bar for either the grill or above the windshield
And a whole new speaker setup. (The factory speakers have seen better days)

Aside from the list above... is there anything else that I should consider?
 

iamdub

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How’s it going everyone?

I need some advice from everyone but first a little background.

I received my fathers 2008 Tahoe LTZ a couple months ago. It’s in great shape. A couple very minor rust spots on the truck that I plan on getting fixed come spring time. The truck does have high mileage. 192,000+. My father took car of this truck. My car shit the bed not long ago and I was in need of a vehicle and he was looking to buy his retirement gift. A brand new 2020 Tahoe.

The dealership wasn’t gonna give him much for the truck. Even tho it runs great. Still drives like it’s new.

Well if anyone lives in Upstate NY you know we just had a decent snow storm this past week. At my home I got 28.5 inches of snow. Once again, they didn’t plow my street until the last snowflake fell to the ground and by that time is was too late I had already missed a days work.

None of this I’ll happen til tax time but I’m looking to do a lift kit for this Tahoe. So in the future if we get this kind of snow fall I can just get in and go and not worry about getting stuck.

Can anyone suggest the best lift kit for this 2008 Tahoe and it will still get the same ride quality that it currently has?

I have a few other things I plan on doing over the next year as well I just want to get thru this winter with how it is and then come spring start building this thing.

Some of the mods I’m looking to do are below:

New headlights
New taillights
Wheels and tires (after the lift)
New step bars
LED light bar for either the grill or above the windshield
And a whole new speaker setup. (The factory speakers have seen better days)

How much lift are you looking for?


Aside from the list above... is there anything else that I should consider?

First strong suggestion would be to get all the maintenance items up to par: Fluids, filters, hoses, belts, suspension bushings, spark plugs... All the not fun stuff we all like to ignore.
 
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irishrob82

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How much lift are you looking for?

I’m looking to go as high as I can and keep the ride quality that the truck currently has



First strong suggestion would be to get all the maintenance items up to par: Fluids, filters, hoses, belts, suspension bushings, spark plugs... All the not fun stuff we all like to ignore.

I plan on getting thru this winter and then come spring go thru everything. My father really did keep up with the maintenance on the truck. It still drives like it’s new but with that said I do have plans on doing the not so fun stuff. I was just looking for advice now on lift kits so I can start pricing things out so I know what I’m looking at.
 

wjburken

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Let me ask a question, simply out of curiosity. What did you drive before and how many times have you not been able to get to work prior to having the Tahoe?

The reason I ask is putting a 6” lift on your Tahoe is not a trivial cost when you take into account the lift kit itself and likely bigger tires, etc. You have lived in upstate New York and I’m guessing have gotten along just fine until now, so why the sudden need now?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging, I’m just curious, because I’m wondering if the money spent on a lift kit that might help you get through 28” of snow will be less than possible lost wages due to missing work. 28” of snow is a lot of snow and even with a 6” lift, you might still not be able to get through.
 
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irishrob82

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Let me ask a question, simply out of curiosity. What did you drive before and how many times have you not been able to get to work prior to having the Tahoe?



The reason I ask is putting a 6” lift on your Tahoe is not a trivial cost when you take into account the lift kit itself and likely bigger tires, etc. You have lived in upstate New York and I’m guessing have gotten along just fine until now, so why the sudden need now?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging, I’m just curious, because I’m wondering if the money spent on a lift kit that might help you get through 28” of snow will be less than possible lost wages due to missing work. 28” of snow is a lot of snow and even with a 6” lift, you might still not be able to get through.


I’ve lived in upstate NY my whole life. I’ve had lifted trucks before but I always bought them that way. So I never knew what lift was in them.

But my last 2 vehicles were front wheel drive and my way of getting unstuck was the shovel I kept in the trunk.

So far, with this first snow storm I missed 2 days of work. And in past years at least a dozen each year.

Just looking for the easy way out I guess. Tired of having to dig myself out on the road to and from work.
 

Bill 1960

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I’ll be following this as I have some similar interest. IMO six inches of lift will significantly alter the ride and handling of any vehicle, not to mention the increase in unsprung weight from the larger tires that accompany a lift. Increased pitch and roll are almost guaranteed. At least that’s been my experience.

Not saying you shouldn’t lift it, just have realistic expectations. It’s a sliding scale if you will, where the further you deviate from stock the more the vehicle dynamics change.

No doubt some lifts have better handling or ride characteristics than others and I hope to learn something about that from the experience of others.
 

swathdiver

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I need some advice from everyone but first a little background.

I received my fathers 2008 Tahoe LTZ...

Well if anyone lives in Upstate NY... At my home I got 28.5 inches of snow. Once again, they didn’t plow my street until the last snowflake fell to the ground and by that time is was too late I had already missed a days work.

Can anyone suggest the best lift kit for this 2008 Tahoe and it will still get the same ride quality that it currently has?

@Galante

I don't think you need to lift it at all to bust through snow; but what would I know? I would level it for a little more clearance up front and put KO2s on it and drive on.

Pete will be along soon...
 

Geotrash

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I’ve lived in upstate NY my whole life. I’ve had lifted trucks before but I always bought them that way. So I never knew what lift was in them.

But my last 2 vehicles were front wheel drive and my way of getting unstuck was the shovel I kept in the trunk.

So far, with this first snow storm I missed 2 days of work. And in past years at least a dozen each year.

Just looking for the easy way out I guess. Tired of having to dig myself out on the road to and from work.
Spent the last 25 years until this year living in Colorado - with a lot of time in the high country in winter. A set of tire chains will get you through a lot of snow. 2 winters ago I yanked my buddy's lifted 4Runner out of the driveway of our rental house in Big Sky after a 30" dump. Threw the chains on the Denali and it was unstoppable.
 
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