Front End Rebuild, Should I do a lift now?

[FirstTimerTahoe]

Hello All!

I've had my 2001 Tahoe for 3 years now, getting ready for a Front End Rebuild. I need to source parts, and figure out what parts need replaced.

During this process, do any of you lifted truck experts think I should go ahead and lift the truck NOW, or is it something that should be done at a later part. I don't want to have to replace parts again, after i've replaced the front end.

Which parts should I be looking for? I think I'm going to go for just a MILD lift, maybe 2-4 inches. I have children, and a Shorty for a wife.

Also I'm currently running 285/75/16's on the Tahoe, is that still going to look tasteful, or will I need to upsize my tires?

TLDR: What parts should I replace in the front end and when lifting the truck?

 

[FirstTimerTahoe]

Oof, realized i posted this in the wrong section. How do I move it?

 

[Jason in DLH]

By no means am I a suspension expert, but I’d say do it now while you’ve got it up in the air and everything apart. Just getting the Yukon up and pulling the wheels off and putting them back on again and torquing all those lug nuts to 140 ft-lbs is a job in and of itself in my books, so I’m always figuring what else I can do while it’s in the air. Maybe if I wasn’t so out of shape...

And for reference...I’ve got nearly the same size wheel and tire combo with a 2” (dang it...might be 3”) lift and I think it looks great. Tinkering with the idea of going 2” higher with the same tires. My tires have an aggressive fit with 2” protruding from the fender which I believe pulls it all together.

 

[wjburken]

Oof, realized i posted this in the wrong section. How do I move it?

Let's see if we can get a MOD to move it for you.

 

[Miami-Dade]

Let's see if we can get a MOD to move it for you.



moved

 

[FirstTimerTahoe]

Let's see if we can get a MOD to move it for you.

Thanks man!

 

[FirstTimerTahoe]

By no means am I a suspension expert, but I’d say do it now while you’ve got it up in the air and everything apart. Just getting the Yukon up and pulling the wheels off and putting them back on again and torquing all those lug nuts to 140 ft-lbs is a job in and of itself in my books, so I’m always figuring what else I can do while it’s in the air. Maybe if I wasn’t so out of shape...

And for reference...I’ve got nearly the same size wheel and tire combo with a 2” (dang it...might be 3”) lift and I think it looks great. Tinkering with the idea of going 2” higher with the same tires. My tires have an aggressive fit with 2” protruding from the fender which I believe pulls it all together.

Thanks for the response man!

How did you get the aggressive 2" protruding effect?

I'm looking into tires at the same time so it doesn't look wonky once i'm done, and waiting for tires.

Was wondering if you could fit 12.5 inch wheels on stock rims. I like the way my Rims look. Took em off an 07 Silverado pretty sure? Facebook buy. 1000%

 

[wjburken]

Thanks man!

No problem.

 

[Dantheman1540]

If it were me and I wanted 2-4" of lift I'd do some JD fab upper control arms and factory lowers. Then ditch the torsion bars for a set of coil overs from Atomic and a good set of tierods like from kryptonite. It's the same setup I have on my Silverado and rides awesome with a lot of travel compared to the factory setup. Plus you can adjust the coilovers to add a little or remove a little lift to get the desired ride hieght. The parts aren't necessarily cheap but you shouldn't have to replace anything for a long time and you have about the best bolt in setup you can get that will still be easily aligned within spec and provide maximum ground clearance unlike most drop bracket lifts.

Also yes you can run a 12.5"wide tire on a factory wheel it will have a nice bulgy sidewall look that I personally like.

https://jdfabrication.com/collectio...o-06-chevy-1500-4x4-mid-travel-suspension-kit
https://atomicfabandperformance.com/product/99-06-torsion-bar-coilover-package-lifted-trucks/
https://kryptoniteproducts.com/coll...oducts/kryptonite-death-grip-tie-rods-1-2-ton

 

[Jason in DLH]

Thanks for the response man!

How did you get the aggressive 2" protruding effect?

I'm looking into tires at the same time so it doesn't look wonky once i'm done, and waiting for tires.

Was wondering if you could fit 12.5 inch wheels on stock rims. I like the way my Rims look. Took em off an 07 Silverado pretty sure? Facebook buy. 1000%

Like Dan previously mentioned, yes, you certainly can fit those.

Since I was too cheap to buy new wheels with the correct offset, I simply used a 2” HUB centric wheel spacer to achieve the aggressive look. I believe I have a 2” lift and I had to perform the NorCal Mod along with remolding the front of the fender as it was rubbing badly.

Here’s the “NorCal Fender Mod”....

https://norcaltruck.com/2007-5-2013-chevy-gm-large-fender-mod

Here’s a picture of what had to be done in the front...

 

[Jason in DLH]

I would assume even with a 4” lift that your nearly 33” x 11.22” tires and a 2” spacer would hit the front clip as mine are very close to hitting it with 265/70/17 tires and the 2” spacer.

The thing to do is lift it first, drive it for awhile to let things settle, and then do any wheel/tire modifications.

 

[FirstTimerTahoe]

Like Dan previously mentioned, yes, you certainly can fit those.

Since I was too cheap to buy new wheels with the correct offset, I simply used a 2” HUB centric wheel spacer to achieve the aggressive look. I believe I have a 2” lift and I had to perform the NorCal Mod along with remolding the front of the fender as it was rubbing badly.

Here’s the “NorCal Fender Mod”....

https://norcaltruck.com/2007-5-2013-chevy-gm-large-fender-mod

Here’s a picture of what had to be done in the front...

View attachment 268333
View attachment 268334

So you run 265/70's?

I've heard that running wheel spacers in general is not safe for our style vehicles because of the weight distribution on the wheel hub and parts.

I take my Tahoe on long road trips every other weekend. What input or information do you have on this? I've considered putting on spacers to achieve that slightly more aggressive look as well. I was thinking about mild fender flares, and want my tires to be equal or slightly outside of the fender flare. I don't want to become too far removed from the original engineering design though.

 

[FirstTimerTahoe]

I would assume even with a 4” lift that your nearly 33” x 11.22” tires and a 2” spacer would hit the front clip as mine are very close to hitting it with 265/70/17 tires and the 2” spacer.

The thing to do is lift it first, drive it for awhile to let things settle, and then do any wheel/tire modifications.

I currently run 265/75/16 LT tires that don't even come close to rubbing. This is what's confusing the crap out of me lol. I'm not really a large truck guy, i'm just getting into the "scene" if I may lol.

 

[FirstTimerTahoe]

I'm basically looking to do a Vanilla version of this. I really like this overall look, but don't want to invest in wheel hubs every 25k miles, and 1000$ of tires every year.

 

[FirstTimerTahoe]

I would assume even with a 4” lift that your nearly 33” x 11.22” tires and a 2” spacer would hit the front clip as mine are very close to hitting it with 265/70/17 tires and the 2” spacer.

The thing to do is lift it first, drive it for awhile to let things settle, and then do any wheel/tire modifications.

Also i Misposted in m original post. I am NOT running 285/75/16s. I'm running 265/75/16s.

I'll be upsizing my tires, just need to figure out by how much, and what looks tasteful.

 

[Jason in DLH]

Yes, you are correct that spacers put more strain on the wheel bearings/hubs/axles. I put my spacers on Sept 8, 2017 and so far all well. I did downsize my stock 20” wheel to the 17” prior to the spacers, so I certainly shaved weight off the bearings there. I believe we took a few 280 mile journeys with the spacers (again, without issue).

I sounds like you’ll be putting fender flares on and perhaps keeping a flush or slightly aggressive look. Here’s fender flares on my 07 Yukon with the 2” spacers just to give you an idea. Tire must be sticking out 1/2” or so.

 

[Jason in DLH]

Both our tires are nearly identical...

Tomorrow I’ll turn my wheels and measure to the front clip (it’s really close) just to give you an idea. I’ll finally measure my lift as well (I can never remember if it’s 2” or 3”).

 

[Jason in DLH]

So I measured the distance from my 265/70/17 tires (with a wheel offset of +24 and a 2” spacer) to my front clip and it’s 1” left to go before I hit it (while turning). I’m only saying this to give you sort of an idea as all trucks are different.

 

[FirstTimerTahoe]

This is great intel, I'm pretty sure i've got +44 offset (Factory rims), so i'd need some pretty narly spacers, and/or different rims.

It's wild that our tires are so similar. Your tires look so much bigger than mine.

What brand/tire are you running on yours?

So you've been running Spacers since 2017 no issues, that's good intel as well. I figure that if I just run like a small one inch spacer it wouldn't put a large amount of stress on the ball bearings.

 

[FirstTimerTahoe]

So I measured the distance from my 265/70/17 tires (with a wheel offset of +24 and a 2” spacer) to my front clip and it’s 1” left to go before I hit it (while turning). I’m only saying this to give you sort of an idea as all trucks are different.

+31 offset is what I actually have, just checked the rim specifications online.

I suspect that is in MM's so let me math a little bit. XD XD XD