2014 Silverado Crew Cab - 6 inch lift, best options

Killakawi450 · August 28, 2015

Hello everyone,

Looking to pull the trigger on a lift here soon. I have never owned a lifted up truck but always wanted one.

I don't know much about them so I wanted to get your opinions on what to consider before picking one.

I was thinking of probably a 6 inch lift.

I have some 20x10 -24 offset wheels and probably going to go with a 33 or 35.

Is there a certain type of lift that is better than another?

How do these new trucks drive?

Or I was just thinking of putting a lift/leveling kit on it and going with a little smaller tire like 275/55.

My dad keeps telling me I will hate driving it if I lift it.

It is my daily driver and I haul dirt bikes and trailers a lot on the weekends.

Please give me any input from your experiences.

Thanks for your help!

Robert.jean1 · August 28, 2015

I chose BDS 6" with an upgrade to the Fox 2.0 shocks. Also installed a very aggressive 35" MT tire. I will say mine drives as good if not better than it did stock, truthfully.

When it comes to lifts the best one is.... The one that you believe is right for your application.

My truck is a pretty nice ride already from the show room and I got some compliments on it from time to time. Now that I have a lift I get multiple compliments every single day and I enjoy driving it even more than I did before.

Sent by a simpleton struggling to operate an iPhone.

Killakawi450 · August 28, 2015

Nice looking truck! I can definitely see why you get compliments all the time.

Wow I would not expect them to drive that good. I do not know anyone who has a newer lifted truck, so I have no clue how they would drive.

I did talk to one of our local shops and the guy quoted me $2200 to install a 6" Skyjacker lift with new rear shocks.

He said to stay away from bracket lifts? Not even sure what that is, but he said Skyjacker is lifetime warranty and he gives a lifetime warranty on the labor.

He did say the newer trucks drive as good if not better than stock, but I was not sure if he was just trying to sell me a lift.

Anyone have a Skyjacker on their truck?

Robert.jean1 · August 28, 2015

Skyjacker, Zone and Rough Country are similar in that they use a spacer to achieve the desired lift. I don't know what is meant by the term " bracket " means.

I know that BDS and others use a new strut to achieve the desired lift and that is what I have. It also has lift time warranty as well as additional 10 year / 100,000 mile power train warranty at no cost.

The price quoted to you seems about right to me. I looked and the 6" skyjacker is about $1,476.00 and coupled with 8 hours at 100.00 an hour arrives at your projected cost.

The question you must ask is how do you want to lift. Spacer lifts are less costly while strut replacement lifts do cost more.

Killakawi450 · August 28, 2015

Yeah, I have no clue what to look for when trying to pick out a lift.

I just know you usually get what you pay for and the main thing is I want my truck to drive good and it to last without issues down the road.

The local shop said he did not recommend Rough Country and said they are a bracket style lift. So really do not know what he was talking about. He said he can do get them, but he would pay the extra for a Skyjacker

How much more is a BDS lift if you do not mind me asking? I tried to look them up and they range from 1900 to 3500?

I only talked to the guy on the phone, so I might stop in today to see what all lifts he can get and the price differences.

I really appreciate you taking time to help.

Aldila · August 28, 2015

FTS 7. I had it on my 14 and angles were like stock (flat). Thats a big deal for me. You can run bilstein 7-9 inch up front incase you choose to go higher later. I'm not a fan of rake and FTS gives a very level stance.

Robert.jean1 · August 28, 2015

The prices of the BDS are ranging from 2,000 - 4,000 or so. The reason for the higher price is due to how they achieve the lift as I said before. Replacing the struts that are tuned for the height is more expensive than just putting a spacer on top. I can't really speak about the different lift manufacturers because I've only had a BDS lift but will say that I did a lot of research before committing to the lift of chose. I wanted not only a good product but I also enjoy playing in mine off road. To me I felt I would benefit more from having a complete suspension over a spacer. I also went with BDS due to the warranty and free power train warranty as well as being paired with Fox Shox.

Roader · August 28, 2015

I really like the FTS lifts and if I was doing a full lift kit it would be their 7". Email them for their best price as well, I was pleasantly surprised at the quote they gave me.

Killakawi450 · September 2, 2015

Just an update and I wanted to thank you for your input.

I spoke to our only two local shops that I know of close to Columbus Ohio. The one deals with Skyjacker and said to make sure I stayed away from Bracket kits like Rough Country. I went to a much larger shop and this shop sells Rough Country Lifts and told me that Skyjacker was old technology, so obviously they are probably saying that because of their competition.

Anyway, the larger shop seems to be much nicer and I would assume they do more trucks.

He said he could probably get me a different brand lift, but a lot of them require cutting up my truck. He said a Rough Country 6 or 7.5 inch lift would be great for me and is more of a bolt on kit just in case I ever decided to go back to stock. He said there are definitely better lifts out there, but for the price of $1900 installed and aligned, it would be a good choice for me.

He said it has a lifetime warranty and he said as long as I am not out trashing my truck I should not have any problems. I did tell him, that I do not offroad my truck and I just love the look of a lifted up truck. He did say it would not drive as good as stock truck, but they still drive pretty good.

So as of right now I am debating on 6 or 7.5 lift and deciding what kind of 35's I want to run.

Robert.jean1 · September 3, 2015

That's great. Just as long as you find your perfect truck. But all the 6" lifts do and I mean DO require cutting. You can view installations on YouTube if verification is needed. And even then they really can all be returned to stock by buying new stock parts if needed.

sailor9908 · September 3, 2015

I just went with a 6.5" Ready Lift (PN: 44-3355) and upgraded to Fox 2.5 Factory Series Coilover Reservoir (PN: FOX880-02-525) up from and Fox 2.5 Factory Series Reservoir (PN: FOX883-24-003), I also went with Fuel Trophy D552 (18x10) wrapped in 35" BFG AT KO2's. The ride is now better than before I lifted her. I went with a shop in Gilbert, AZ (XTC Motorsports) who is know for doing amazing work. I'm currently out of state for work but can upload some pics when i get back home.

XMR15 · September 5, 2015

My dad keeps telling me I will hate driving it if I lift it.

It is my daily driver and I haul dirt bikes and trailers a lot on the weekends.

Please give me any input from your experiences.

Thanks for your help!

Something to keep in mind is the headache of loading and unloading toys if you never owned a lifted truck before. I haul ATV's and snowmobiles a lot and would never go 6 inch lift-let alone 7.5-9. Getting up and down out of the box and getting longer ramps due to the truck being higher is something you have to look into it.

I've run rough country in the past and I would never buy another lift again from them. The ride quality isn't as good as other brands in my opinion. You pay for what you get! That is the honest truth when buying lifts.

I now have the 4.5 inch zone lift which I love. The ride quality didnt suffer at all. Rides like stock! I run 35s on the stock rim with no rubbing.

That being said, I would never go more then my 4.5 since you haul a lot of toys like I do. Just my .02 cents.

Here is a couple pictures of mine.

Killakawi450 · September 6, 2015

I just don't know what to look for in a lift. They all look about the same to me. Why would one drive much better than another? Why would a zone lift ride quality be better than a rough country if they were the same size lift?

A few people above said theirs drive as good or better than stock but the guy at our local shop (Rough Country lifts) said if I lift it I will lose ride quality.

That is why I am nervous about going with RC, but there are not many shops around here that sell other lifts.

Yeah I agree with you on loading bikes and atvs in the bed. I will probably end up pulling a trailer with a drop hitch if it is to big of a pain to load.

I guess I will need to keep doing my research before I go with the RC. I do agree that you do get what you pay for.

I really appreciate all of the feedback everyone!

Robert.jean1 · September 7, 2015

There is really no difference between Zone and Rough Country in their design. The difference is the quality control. What I've seen is the RC parts are a little rough during the machining process. Sometimes the installer will need to re-drill holes and what not with rough country parts. With that said though after a professional completes the install both kits are the same and will have the same ride and function. Also some people think the shocks provided by RC aren't as good as others but that may be personal preference. If I were to buy one of the less expensive lift kits I think I would choose Zone for their warranty.

I just don't know what to look for in a lift. They all look about the same to me. Why would one drive much better than another? Why would a zone lift ride quality be better than a rough country if they were the same size lift?

A few people above said theirs drive as good or better than stock but the guy at our local shop (Rough Country lifts) said if I lift it I will lose ride quality.

That is why I am nervous about going with RC, but there are not many shops around here that sell other lifts.

Yeah I agree with you on loading bikes and atvs in the bed. I will probably end up pulling a trailer with a drop hitch if it is to big of a pain to load.

I guess I will need to keep doing my research before I go with the RC. I do agree that you do get what you pay for.

I really appreciate all of the feedback everyone!

sailor9908 · September 7, 2015

With the 6.5" Ready Lift and Fox 2.5 Factory Shocks my truck rides better than stock. The nice part of ready lifts is you can still run stock wheels with no issues, you don't have to buy something with a crazy offset.

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