Installing a body lift on my Silverado. **It's done! Pics added.**

General » Cars, Bikes, and Trailers

Site Notices

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Installing a body lift on my Silverado. **It's done! Pics added.**

Posted: 9/9/2009 12:34:36 PM EDT

It's done! Progress pics below orange text.

Side shot, lift completed with 33" BFG AT's.

Corner shot;

Tires done being installed at my fav. shop;

Back home;

Glamour shot;

All in all it was not a hard task to accomplish, but I WILL buy a complete kit and hire a friend the next time I do it.

All the lift blocks are installed. I now need to:

Adjust rear bumper
Add front bumper brackets
Install front bumper
Add steering extension
Add slack to my non-working e-brake
Re-attach clips for wires, hoses and lines
Attach front clip

Passenger side blocks being added;

Passenger side done;

Driver's side done;

I think I am done for the night. Thanks to Mom and Dad for letting me stay here for my weekend, and to Dad for letting me use his tools and air compressor.

I figured some here may be interested in this.

Truck:

2000 Silverado 4x4. ECSB.

Kit:

PA 3" Body lift. (Summitracing.com house-brand body lift is the same, but cheaper)

Here's what I got done last night––Got the bed lifted and bolted, all I need to do on that now is have someone help me align the bumper;

Height difference between stock front and lifted rear;

Front clip removed;

Front bumper removed;

Hopefully I'll be done by tonight. I don't have anybody else to help me on it so I am going slow to make sure I don't kink anything. Damn near everything has to be unhooked to make it work without breaking anything.

I'll post more pics as I progress.

Posted: 9/9/2009 12:41:48 PM EDT

[#1]

Tag for pics. Good luck.

Posted: 9/9/2009 3:48:39 PM EDT

[#2]

Entire post merged into OP.

Posted: 9/9/2009 5:32:30 PM EDT

[#3]

Body lift look=

Sorry

Posted: 9/9/2009 6:09:24 PM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
Body lift look=

Sorry

What's wrong with it? This year/style of truck has ZERO frame showing from factory. 3" barely begins to show what' stock on most other trucks, including older Chevy's.

Anyway, thanks for your input.

Posted: 9/9/2009 6:18:00 PM EDT

[#5]

nice work. how much was the kit?

what was the total time invested?

Posted: 9/9/2009 6:19:53 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
nice work. how much was the kit?

what was the total time invested?

I got the kit for $50, but it was used. So I am having to run down to the hardware store to get an odd or end here and there to make it work, but it's worth the ~$200 I saved if I were to order it from the cheapest place, which would be Summit Racing.

Total time is at... oh, probably 12 hours now. Total work time is probably 6 hours. I've spent a lot of time waiting for rides and an extra set of hands today.

Posted: 9/9/2009 6:34:45 PM EDT

[#7]

Looks good.

Posted: 9/9/2009 6:42:14 PM EDT

[#8]

Looks good. Im getting ready to lift my suv a few inches.

Posted: 9/9/2009 7:49:50 PM EDT

[#9]

Why do the grill and headlights need to come off?

Posted: 9/9/2009 9:01:06 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Why do the grill and headlights need to come off?

You need to get to the core support to add the blocks and the frame horns to notch it, and the top bumper bolts from there.

Posted: 9/10/2009 4:45:16 AM EDT

[#11]

Spend the money on same gap guards so you can't see through the truck under the bed.

What size tire are you going to be able to run with this?

Posted: 9/10/2009 5:02:24 AM EDT

[#12]

Looks good, I'd say it was well worth it. That is quite a view from your front yard!!!!

Posted: 9/10/2009 9:06:17 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Looks good. Im getting ready to lift my suv a few inches.

Thanks! What SUV?

Quoted:
Looks good.

Thanks!

Quoted:
Spend the money on same gap guards so you can't see through the truck under the bed.

What size tire are you going to be able to run with this?

Definitely will be doing that today.

315/70R17's are going on it this afternoon. They measure 35x12.5".

Quoted:
Looks good, I'd say it was well worth it. That is quite a view from your front yard!!!!

Thanks! It'll hold me over until I do a solid axle changeover. Utah has good views everywhere.

Posted: 9/10/2009 9:27:23 AM EDT

[#14]

Too bad I/you don't live closer - I have done a dozen or so body lifts. We had my brother's blazer done in 4 hours from start to finish.

Posted: 9/10/2009 11:22:24 AM EDT

[#15]

Looks good. New pics with tires.

Show a side view s we can see how much frame is now showing.

Posted: 9/10/2009 1:57:58 PM EDT

[#16]

Heck with hiding the frame. Put some skid plates under there, a winch on the front, and the rest of the tools in the bed and head out to the trails.

Posted: 9/10/2009 5:42:02 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Heck with hiding the frame. Put some skid plates under there, a winch on the front, and the rest of the tools in the bed and head out to the trails.

All in good time...

It's done! First post updated with pictures, before tires and after tires.

Posted: 9/10/2009 9:41:11 PM EDT

[#18]

So how much trouble was the install ?

I have a 2003 2500HD ECSB and was thinking about doing a body lift too...

Any tips or tricks ?

Posted: 9/10/2009 9:48:22 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
So how much trouble was the install ?

I have a 2003 2500HD ECSB and was thinking about doing a body lift too...

Any tips or tricks ?

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc83/yullose/DSC071202.jpg

It wasn't hard, just time-consuming, especially by yourself.

Have a quality floor jack and a set of extra hands to help you––you'll get done much faster that way. Also just buy a new kit. I saved $190 or so getting a used one but had to deal with missing parts and such.

Posted: 9/10/2009 10:30:23 PM EDT

[#20]

very nice

Posted: 9/11/2009 9:37:48 AM EDT

[#21]

Looks good. Thinking about leveling out my Titan here pretty soon.

Posted: 9/11/2009 9:40:23 AM EDT

[#22]

looks good what kind of wheels sparky?

Posted: 9/11/2009 9:43:18 AM EDT

[#23]

May I ask what the point of a body lift is? I'm truly curious. I hear of people doing it, but I can't see any practical reason for it. What am I missing?

Posted: 9/11/2009 10:02:30 AM EDT

[#24]

That looks good! I love the wheels too.

I'd just like to end up doing a leveling kit on the front for my silverado, but no extra money in the budget for that stuff right now

Posted: 9/11/2009 10:02:47 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
very nice

Thanks!

Quoted:
Looks good. Thinking about leveling out my Titan here pretty soon.

Thanks!

Titans are easy to do. I had to do torsion keys to level out my stock suspension, all you need is a spacer for your strut tower.

Quoted:
looks good what kind of wheels sparky?

Thanks! Sparky's wheels are Ultra 223b's. I bought them when I worked at Les Schwab for $100/ea.

Quoted:

May I ask what the point of a body lift is? I'm truly curious. I hear of people doing it, but I can't see any practical reason for it. What am I missing?

Body lifts allow for bigger tires for more ground clearance, better approach and departure angle, and ... your body higher off the ground. I beach launch my WaveRunners occasionally and the last time I did it I ended up with a cab full of water. A BL would have prevented that. The biggest benefit is definitely increased tire size though.

Quoted:
That looks good! I love the wheels too.

I'd just like to end up doing a leveling kit on the front for my silverado, but no extra money in the budget for that stuff right now

Thanks! Yeah I leveled out my truck a few times with torsion keys, but I hated having to pay my friends to align it every time I modified something on the front end. So this is a bit more "permanent" height.

Posted: 9/11/2009 10:16:18 AM EDT

[#26]

I didn't think about larger tires giving you increased angles. Thanks.

Posted: 9/11/2009 10:22:10 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:

I didn't think about larger tires giving you increased angles. Thanks.

No problem. Bigger tires are the only way to actually move your axles/differentials away from the ground. All a suspension lift does is push the axles away from the body, the axles never actually get any higher until the taller tire is added. So if you're mostly a pavement princess with a few hours out of the year spent in mud, trails, or sand a BL isn't a bad way to go.