I just bought a 2005 Sierra Z-71 and i want to lift it. Which height would be better for everyday driving 3in or 6in? what tires size would work best with both sizes? What brand will be the best? If you cant tell im new to truck and lift kits so any info would help.

Thank You
Cody

IS your truck SA or IFS? IFS will get expensive.

His is an IFS.
I have a 6" Skyjacker on my 03 Tahoe Z71 and my father has a 6" Fabtech on his 04 Silverado. My suggestion is that you go with a 6" lift right off the bat since the pricing is pretty much the same whether you get a 3",4" or 6". This is unless of course you go with a 3" body lift which I've never been a fan of.
With a 3"-4" lift you can run up to a 33" tire, a 6" will let you run 35" tires (both may require minor trimming of the lower bumper valance and/or the inner wheelwell).
Keep in mind that with a suspension lift on the GM IFS suspension you will be required to run new wheels with a maximum backspacing of 4.5". This is because the new lift incorporates new spindles. The top knuckle on the new spindle will rub on the wheel and tire unless the backspacing is 4.5" or less. You cannot use the stock wheels.
You can use the stock wheels with a body lift but I hate body lifts.
Both Skyjacker and Fabtech are top of the line lifts.

Quoted: His is an IFS. I have a 6" Skyjacker on my 03 Tahoe Z71 and my father has a 6" Fabtech on his 04 Silverado. My suggestion is that you go with a 6" lift right off the bat since the pricing is pretty much the same whether you get a 3",4" or 6". This is unless of course you go with a 3" body lift which I've never been a fan of. With a 3"-4" lift you can run up to a 33" tire, a 6" will let you run 35" tires (both may require minor trimming of the lower bumper valance and/or the inner wheelwell). Keep in mind that with a suspension lift on the GM IFS suspension you will be required to run new wheels with a maximum backspacing of 4.5". This is because the new lift incorporates new spindles. The top knuckle on the new spindle will rub on the wheel and tire unless the backspacing is 4.5" or less. You cannot use the stock wheels. You can use the stock wheels with a body lift but I hate body lifts. Both Skyjacker and Fabtech are top of the line lifts.

Thank you for your help. Did you see a big difference in ride comfort or mileage when you installed everything? About how much will it be just for the lift kit?

Cody

Quoted: I just bought a 2005 Sierra Z-71 and i want to lift it. Which height would be better for everyday driving 3in or 6in? what tires size would work best with both sizes? What brand will be the best? If you cant tell im new to truck and lift kits so any info would help. Thank You Cody

Personally, my daily driver's a '94 Ford Ranger SuperCab with a Superlift kit (six-inch front lift and three-inch rear). So, Superlift is another option, as well as Pro Comp, Fabtech, etc. All will give you the lift you need for bigger tires.

Don't forget: With taller tires, you should re-gear to keep the ratios in the ballpark. Otherwise, you'll be lugging your engine and suffering more than you should in the fuel mileage department.

Also, while the big lifts look kind of cool, you'll find yourself limited to the places you can go. Parking structures often don't accomodate tall full-size trucks.

Here's a GM-specific site you might want to check out: Off-road.com

If you want true performance suspension like a pre-runner or race truck, you'll notice that those sit a lot lower than the trucks built for, say, mudding or rock-crawling. You're not going to get good corner speed with a tall truck so the real race trucks and good pre-runners have a lot of droop built into the system. That reduces ride height, but you don't lose any wheel travel. Far from it. These trucks can have obscene amounts of total wheel travel, but they don't sit at the top of their suspension stroke; they sit into it so there's plenty of both uptravel and droop. That way, the wheels can drop into a hole (the whole goal of good suspension is to keep the tires in contact with the ground) or ditch that appears out of nowhere and can still absorb the big hit that follows or eat up whoops or jump faces.

That sort of suspension is often custom-made so it's not cheap, but it's awesome if you like to drive hard off-road.

For a truck that'll see mostly street usage, one of the available lift kits should probably suffice.

Go with a 6" lift and 35" tires.. After the many lifted trucks i've had, i have found that to be the best combo. If dont want to go that high, a simple 2" leveling kit and 33" tires looks quite nice, and makes your truck stand out as well.

Quoted: Quoted: His is an IFS. I have a 6" Skyjacker on my 03 Tahoe Z71 and my father has a 6" Fabtech on his 04 Silverado. My suggestion is that you go with a 6" lift right off the bat since the pricing is pretty much the same whether you get a 3",4" or 6". This is unless of course you go with a 3" body lift which I've never been a fan of. With a 3"-4" lift you can run up to a 33" tire, a 6" will let you run 35" tires (both may require minor trimming of the lower bumper valance and/or the inner wheelwell). Keep in mind that with a suspension lift on the GM IFS suspension you will be required to run new wheels with a maximum backspacing of 4.5". This is because the new lift incorporates new spindles. The top knuckle on the new spindle will rub on the wheel and tire unless the backspacing is 4.5" or less. You cannot use the stock wheels. You can use the stock wheels with a body lift but I hate body lifts. Both Skyjacker and Fabtech are top of the line lifts. Thank you for your help. Did you see a big difference in ride comfort or mileage when you installed everything? About how much will it be just for the lift kit? Cody

The comfort stayed the same mostly because the lift kits for the GM IFS use drop bracketry to lower th stock suspension components. Most lift kitscome with replacement shocks.
Mileage will go down. I average around 13-14mpg, higher on the highway, lower around town.
regearing your truck is an option that will help but it's damn expensive.
My lift kit was about 2200 + 900 labor. I paid full retail at a local shop. You can get kits for less than that online. Check out www.4wheelparts.com
Keep in mind every Chevy I've owned and lifted has needed a new tranny before 80k miles.

I also agree with the 6" lift and 35's.  I have also found that to be my favorite combo and I run that on my current Ram.

Quoted: Keep in mind every Chevy I've owned and lifted has needed a new tranny before 80k miles.

I thought I read that your not suppose to use OD after you lift unless you re-gear, I assume because it jumps In and Out with the bigger tires and power band

I could be wrong though

An aftermarket transmission cooler would of probably helped save a ton of wear. Probably recommended one be installed on any lifted automatic w/overdrive.

"Keep in mind every Chevy I've owned and lifted has needed a new tranny before 80k miles."

Holy crap, what are you doing to your trucks??? I have 163,000 on my 96 K1500 with no trouble. I addeed a extra capacity oil pan  and an trans cooler to it about the 120,000 mark but it has been problem free even though I drive it like a rental car. I did have 2 snap rings break on the transfer case output shaft but a aftermarket cpaml collor thingy solved that.
I have a 6 inch ProCrap lift kit and run 33 inch tires. I tried 35's for about 1200 miles but it turned into a gutless wonder with those. I have 3:73 gears so that was the problem.

Quoted: I just bought a 2005 Sierra Z-71 and i want to lift it. Which height would be better for everyday driving 3in or 6in? what tires size would work best with both sizes? What brand will be the best? If you cant tell im new to truck and lift kits so any info would help. Thank You Cody

None  and 265 75 16


I am going to get flamed here

Just put some decent tread tires on and you will be fine
You will have to do a mess of work to make everything work right and gain almost nothing except the "look" if you think that is cool

Unless you vehicle is light enough to take advantage of flotation tires (yours is not) tall skinny and meaty tread is the way to go