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Average labor cost/time for lift kit?

Shtoy

By Shtoy
in Modifications & Accessories

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Shtoy Enthusiast

Shtoy

Posted
Posted

Good afternoon everyone,

 

I have been getting some quotes this week on getting a BDS, or an RC lift kit on my '15 Sierra. I'm looking at 3.5" all the way up to 6". I've gotten labor hour quotes for 9 hours @ $50/hour for the 3.5" lift and all the way up to 14 hours at $50 for the 5" and 6". Are these numbers accurate? They seem rather high, the cost per hour doesn't but the number of hours does.

They also charge $100 for the alignment and balance. And a few other nickles and dimes.

 

Total cost for the RC 3.5" lift and a new set of Cooper S/T MAXX 33's would be $2545 out the door.

 

Total cost for the RC 5" lift without tires would be $2054.

 

Are these estimates in the realistic ballpark?

 

Thanks a lot for your time!

 

Austin

Jerry's Denali Enthusiast

Jerry's Denali

Posted
Posted

Its not a bad job.

My 11 y/o son and I did my 6 inch lift in 6 hours.

That was right after I started receiving treatment for a brain tumor, so I wasn't at 100%.

Shtoy Enthusiast

Shtoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

That's another avenue I could try to take...

I would have all the tools necessary with the exception of a coil spring compressor. Is this a life saver?

Putting all that aside, how are you doing today? I really hope you're doing much much better...

Mike1220 Senior Enthusiast

Mike1220

Posted
Posted

Cost of install sounds right. I paid $800 for mine. They likely have more than one person doing install so 14 hours is between 2 ppl, install shouldn't take longer than 8 hours for a 6". Shop took around 6-7 hours to install mine but I had to get an alignment done elsewhere

Shtoy Enthusiast

Shtoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks a lot Mike, I didn't even think of splitting the hours between 2 people. That makes complete sense. I would like to tackle it by myself, but I really don't have the time to do it as I am moving next week. I would like to get it done though, so I may be bringing her in to the shop. Would you recommend the tires you put on yours or could you offer any suggestions over the cooper s/t maxx?

As far as lift, are you happy with yours and do you happen to have any regrets in hindsight?

Thanks a lot!

Austin

Mike1220 Senior Enthusiast

Mike1220

Posted
Posted

Thanks a lot Mike, I didn't even think of splitting the hours between 2 people. That makes complete sense. I would like to tackle it by myself, but I really don't have the time to do it as I am moving next week. I would like to get it done though, so I may be bringing her in to the shop. Would you recommend the tires you put on yours or could you offer any suggestions over the cooper s/t maxx?

 

As far as lift, are you happy with yours and do you happen to have any regrets in hindsight?

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Austin

 

 

I'm really happy with mine. Front end is great, the rear is stiff as hell from the anti axle wrap blocks, but thats to expect with any block of its nature. If you can get a skinnier (not as wide) block that is the appropriate height and trac bars then to my knowledge that should help your ride a lot since the rear springs won't be so tight.

other than the rear end I'm happy, but I'm already ready to jump up to the RCX 7.5" lift with a 1.5" BL so I can try to run some 37s lol. But for now, I'm good cause I can still get into most parking garages in town where I go to school.

 

As far as tires go, I love mine. I have never seen the S/T maxx in person so I can't really judge on them much, but the research I did and several vendors that sell both mine and S/T Maxx tires say they are extremely similar. I say the biggest differences are tread pattern and sidewall. I like how aggressive my sidewalls are compared to the S/T and my tread looks more aggressive. But its still insanely quiet. Im not saying its silent by any means, but when you look at these tires youd think they would scream on the highway but they aren't bad. I actually heard a few other trucks with Trail grapplers drive by me on my way to school and I heard them over my radio with the windows up.

Shtoy Enthusiast

Shtoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

That's good info on the noise...I hadn't factored that in too much. I am really drooling over the Cooper STT Pro tires also. I may end up with those, I just haven't heard much about them.

7.5".....Wow. Are you NOT wanting to get into the parking garages? :driving:

Mike1220 Senior Enthusiast

Mike1220

Posted
Posted

That's good info on the noise...I hadn't factored that in too much. I am really drooling over the Cooper STT Pro tires also. I may end up with those, I just haven't heard much about them.

 

7.5".....Wow. Are you NOT wanting to get into the parking garages? :driving:

Lol. I'm just wanting bigger. Tired of going to truck meets and seeing guys with 9" lifts and 37s and I'm just chilling with a 6" and 35s [emoji20]

 

Truth be told, I don't care much about parking garages, some are great but more often than not they are just way too crowded and leave just enough room for you to be able to pull into a spot and not enough to open a door to get out. Anything with driving here in Louisiana sucks. Or at least where I am.

Robert.jean1 Enthusiast

Robert.jean1

Posted
Posted

100.00 per hour BDS states that their lift takes 8 hours. So the off road shop I used charged me 800.00 it took them longer than that but didn't matter as that is what was recommended.

Shtoy Enthusiast

Shtoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the info. I think I'll just go ahead and go for it. I'm still debating on which lift to go with. We are talking well over $1200 between a 3.5" and a 5 to 7" lift. If I keep it at 5, I'm having trouble justifying $1200 for 1.5" extra lift...

Mike1220 Senior Enthusiast

Mike1220

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the info. I think I'll just go ahead and go for it. I'm still debating on which lift to go with. We are talking well over $1200 between a 3.5" and a 5 to 7" lift. If I keep it at 5, I'm having trouble justifying $1200 for 1.5" extra lift...

I think a better question is what size tires you plan to run and want to run. That was the biggest thing that kept me from a 4" cause I either wanted just a simple 4" or go big. But wanted 35s on a 20x9 0 offset rim so I had to go 6" minimum

Shtoy Enthusiast

Shtoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I think a better question is what size tires you plan to run and want to run. That was the biggest thing that kept me from a 4" cause I either wanted just a simple 4" or go big. But wanted 35s on a 20x9 0 offset rim so I had to go 6" minimum

 

Honestly I really like the look of 33's. I don't want the wheels to be sticking out more than an inch or so from the body. I do not like that look much. There seems to be a sweet spot with 33's....

Mike1220 Senior Enthusiast

Mike1220

Posted
Posted

Honestly I really like the look of 33's. I don't want the wheels to be sticking out more than an inch or so from the body. I do not like that look much. There seems to be a sweet spot with 33's....

If you want to stay at 33" then I wouldn't go any higher than a 5" personally. But I'm a fan of a more stuffed wheel than a huge wheel well gap

Shtoy Enthusiast

Shtoy

Posted
  • Author
Posted

If you want to stay at 33" then I wouldn't go any higher than a 5" personally. But I'm a fan of a more stuffed wheel than a huge wheel well gap

I definitely agree with that statement. It looks like from his profile he has a 2.5" level as well as a 2" rear lift.

 

Would the rear lift be a body lift?

 

Also, I think 295/55R20 would be the perfect size for what I would want

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