2017 Silverado 6" Lift w/McGaughy's or Zone

Mike_D · August 11, 2020

I have a 2017 Silverado 1500 LT Z71 Double Cab 4WD. I'm currently running Fuel Assault 20x9 wheels with a +1 offset and 33x12.5 tires.

I'm looking at lift kits and i have too many questions, so i'm the community here can help me get some answers. I'm looking to lift around 6 inches and have it narrowed down to 2 lift kits. I've put them below with my questions. I'm afraid of putting my family in danger by missing part or getting the wrong kit. I'm new to lifting, if you couldn't already tell!

McGaughy's 7-9" GM Suspension Lift Kit. Item # 50781, typical cost i see is $1791, link: http://mcgaughys.com/products/7-premium-stainless-steel-lift-kit-for-2014-2016-gm-truck-1500-4wd-part-number-50781

Ok, questions for this one:

Do i need the upper control arms? What happens if i dont get them?
These are 7 to 9 inches. It appears that if i want to go with 9 i'll need a rear leaf for both sides. What would that do if i installed the leaf's while lifted in the 7" position? Would i end up with a rake? If so, any idea how much?
Can i go and adjust these later from 7 inches to 9 if i wanted to go higher? Or go back down to 7 from 9 if i want to go lower? Is it a quick and easy adjustment?
Are there any other parts that I would need to make this lift as safe as possible without stressing other components? I should also mention, i dont go off-roading at all... Every year I take my family camping multiple times and i do drive down some very rough paths, but im not hauling ass, and i live in Oregon, we do get some decent pot holes on the roads.
Once installed, are the wheels lined up properly or will i need wheel spacers on the back?

Zone 6.5" Suspension System, Item #ZONC25/ZONC26, cost starts at $1126, link: https://zoneoffroad.com/products/65-in-lift-kit-2014-2018-chevygmc-silveradosierra-1500-4wd

This can come with a fender trim kit. What exactly does that do?
Do i need to purchase upper control arms? What happens if i dont get them?
Do i need rear leaf's for this?
Once installed, are the wheels lined up properly or will i need wheel spacers?
Are there any other parts i should be getting for this kit or does it come with everything?
What makes this cheaper than the McGaughy's kit?

I guess i should say that my goal is to do the lift properly. I hear a lot about parts that are stressed if you dont get them with your kit, that can break and will eventually (and soon) need to be replaced. I hear this is one of the biggest problems with the cheap kits, they dont come with these parts. You can do the lift, and it'll work fine, but you'll be replacing broken parts soon or have other issues (so i hear). I want to make sure i get all the necessary parts and do everything necessary so that my truck rides as nice as it can with a 6-7 inch lift without stressing and damaging the truck.

Thanks in advance for any answers!

Aboogie808 · August 12, 2020

Aloha,

You wrote a lot and I will just address the key questions. I went with the zone lift 6.5 and have had no problems. I did small adjustments to get her to a 8.5”. As for UCA, it depends on how bad your front angles are. I choose to go with Cognito UCA, because my truck isn’t a road princess. Bds makes zone lift kits. I did the add leaf, to prevent my truck from having the rack. McGaughys kits allow you to go from 7 to 9 inch in lift. Both kits are solid and just because you buy a expensive kit, doesn’t it make it good. I did add the rear wheel adapter to correct the stance and went with Bora 2”. I am running LRG with zero offset. 35x12.50x20. I went with a bds traction bar, because I tow my toys around.

My truck setup

Picture before I put my Oem tow mirrors on.

dieselfan1 · August 12, 2020

I'm running a McGaughys set at 9" with 37's .It's a quality kit.
If you run the McGaughys at 7" you can run the stock UCA's and don't need the add a leafs. Your angles are same as stock. You can easily fit 35's.
The front wheels get kicked out about 7/8" the Zone kit kicks them out 1 1/2".
My front wheels are 1 1/4" farther out than the rears. I could use a 1" spacer and probably will get some soon but it isn't that noticable.
The ride is good.
I wouldn't waste my money on a Zone.

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BCMoto · August 12, 2020

What ruled out the BDS kit? I would get a BDS kit over the Zone kit. You cant go wrong with the McGaughys kit

Mike_D · August 12, 2020

6 hours ago, BCMoto said:

What ruled out the BDS kit? I would get a BDS kit over the Zone kit. You cant go wrong with the McGaughys kit

For me, price ruled out the BDS kit. I can easily rule it back in, but it does seem like its a more complete kit. Being new to lifting, im not sure if there's other things i need to add. I kinda see it 2 ways:

As i add pieces that are needed for a good, safe, quality kit, other brands might come close to, match, or exceed the price of the BDS kit.
I may find that i dont need all of the pieces of the BDS kit and can have a good, safe, quality kit for much less with other brands.

I feel like #2 is going to be the way to go. I was looking on here a couple years ago and every time somebody talked about getting a lift, everyone went a bit nuts on all these other parts you'd need. It scared me off, but lately im not seeing that. I do have a boat i tow, and i do NOT want a rake! I'm actually thinking of maybe going with a 4 inch instead, not super sure yet.

11 hours ago, Aboogie808 said:

I went with a bds traction bar, because I tow my toys around.

@Aboogie808, what does the traction bar do? With my boat, is that something you think i'd need at 4 or 6 inches? I did read yesterday about somebody feeling their back end slide when turning on the highway, i would definitely not want this. Is that what the traction bar solves?

10 hours ago, dieselfan1 said:

If you run the McGaughys at 7" you can run the stock UCA's and don't need the add a leafs. Your angles are same as stock. You can easily fit 35's.
The front wheels get kicked out about 7/8" the Zone kit kicks them out 1 1/2".

@dieselfan1, what exactly will the leafs do? From what i've read it sounds like it helps the stability. With bigger lifts, there's some side to side sway and that would resolve it. But does it do anything else? Is there a rake with the McGaughy's kit that the leaf's will eliminate as well?

10 hours ago, dieselfan1 said:

I wouldn't waste my money on a Zone.

What made you choose McGaughy's and what made you decide against Zone?

Both of your trucks look amazing! I currently have Fuel Assault 20x9's with 33x12.5 Open Country R/T's. I wish there was a way to do 4 inches now, then adjust it to 6 down the road when these tires wear and i get 35's. Kinda like how the McGaughy's are 7-9.

dieselfan1 · August 12, 2020

The McGaughys 7-9 kit comes with a 6" block for the rear.

It would have a very slight rake at 7" . If you go to 8" I think the front would be a little higher. 9" you need the add a leafs to level it out. When I did mine at 9" it looked level but sometimes it looked lower in the rear so I added a set of lift shackles on the rear of the leafs for another 1.25" lift along with the add a leafs. I tow and haul and I don't do the saggy ass end look.

I also went with Kryptonite UCA's up front.

The reasons I went with the McGaughys....

1. No spacer lift for the front.

2. Full 7" drop for the crossmember and differential.

3. I wanted to run 37's so 6.5" wasn't enough.

4. Price. Not much more than the Zone.

5.It's a quality kit. Not many realize McGaughys has been doing suspension parts for almost 50 years. They know their Schitt.

I don't regret going with McGaughys. The only thing I wish I would have done is get all the parts powder coated for some color.

Frankielozano214 · August 12, 2020

20 minutes ago, dieselfan1 said:

The McGaughys 7-9 kit comes with a 6" block for the rear.

It would have a very slight rake at 7" . If you go to 8" I think the front would be a little higher. 9" you need the add a leafs to level it out. When I did mine at 9" it looked level but sometimes it looked lower in the rear so I added a set of lift shackles on the rear of the leafs for another 1.25" lift along with the add a leafs. I tow and haul and I don't do the saggy ass end look.

I also went with Kryptonite UCA's up front.

The reasons I went with the McGaughys....

1. No spacer lift for the front.

2. Full 7" drop for the crossmember and differential.

3. I wanted to run 37's so 6.5" wasn't enough.

4. Price. Not much more than the Zone.

5.It's a quality kit. Not many realize McGaughys has been doing suspension parts for almost 50 years. They know their Schitt.

I don't regret going with McGaughys. The only thing I wish I would have done is get all the parts powder coated for some color.

I’m glad I just got mine gloss black powder coated, not a big fan of many colors lol

Edited August 12, 2020 by Frankielozano214

TXGREEK · August 12, 2020

The McGaughys 7-9 kit comes with a 6" block for the rear.
It would have a very slight rake at 7" . If you go to 8" I think the front would be a little higher. 9" you need the add a leafs to level it out. When I did mine at 9" it looked level but sometimes it looked lower in the rear so I added a set of lift shackles on the rear of the leafs for another 1.25" lift along with the add a leafs. I tow and haul and I don't do the saggy ass end look.
I also went with Kryptonite UCA's up front.

The reasons I went with the McGaughys....
1. No spacer lift for the front.
2. Full 7" drop for the crossmember and differential.
3. I wanted to run 37's so 6.5" wasn't enough.
4. Price. Not much more than the Zone.
5.It's a quality kit. Not many realize McGaughys has been doing suspension parts for almost 50 years. They know their Schitt.

I don't regret going with McGaughys. The only thing I wish I would have done is get all the parts powder coated for some color.

Drive around in the snow a bit, you’ll have rainbow [emoji304] colors lol! Wait, that wasn’t racist was it ?

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dieselfan1 · August 13, 2020

I was thinking silver. The sister color of Chrome.

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Aboogie808 · August 13, 2020

What made you choose McGaughy's and what made you decide against Zone?

Both of your trucks look amazing! I currently have Fuel Assault 20x9's with 33x12.5 Open Country R/T's. I wish there was a way to do 4 inches now, then adjust it to 6 down the road when these tires wear and i get 35's. Kinda like how the McGaughy's are 7-9.

With a 4 or 6” lift you should be fine with towing your boat. The tracking helps with preventing axle warp and gives you more stability while towing.

CovetedStyle · August 14, 2020

So you have a lot of questions my friend. I’ve run BDS (zone’s sister company) and now have replaced it with McGaughys. That being said I have also installed FTS and Cognito on trucks I see fairly often. Go McGaughys from your options and ride height expectations. Run it at 7 and you’re good with the kit as it comes for daily driving. Towing heavy or launching hard get their traction bars. Towing REALLY heavy like duel axle inclosed trailer with a 59 caddy in it get helper bags or deaver leaf packs like I did. They have a true 7 inch drop member so your angles will be ******. The 7-9 adjustment isn’t a quick easy thing though, you’ll have to pull your struts out to make the adjustments. You don’t need uppers if you’re running 7 unless you have stamped uppers and that’s just because those are trash. Front wheels stick out slightly more that rear but unnoticeable to anyone but yourself so if it bugs you get spacers, if not roll on. At 7 you’ll sit pretty close to level, a 3/4 inch difference it hard to spot unless you’re looking for it. Let me know if I missed something.

Mike_D · August 14, 2020

7 minutes ago, CovetedStyle said:

So you have a lot of questions my friend. I’ve run BDS (zone’s sister company) and now have replaced it with McGaughys. That being said I have also installed FTS and Cognito on trucks I see fairly often. Go McGaughys from your options and ride height expectations. Run it at 7 and you’re good with the kit as it comes for daily driving. Towing heavy or launching hard get their traction bars. Towing REALLY heavy like duel axle inclosed trailer with a 59 caddy in it get helper bags or deaver leaf packs like I did. They have a true 7 inch drop member so your angles will be ******. The 7-9 adjustment isn’t a quick easy thing though, you’ll have to pull your struts out to make the adjustments. You don’t need uppers if you’re running 7 unless you have stamped uppers and that’s just because those are trash. Front wheels stick out slightly more that rear but unnoticeable to anyone but yourself so if it bugs you get spacers, if not roll on. At 7 you’ll sit pretty close to level, a 3/4 inch difference it hard to spot unless you’re looking for it. Let me know if I missed something.

Thanks for that!

My boat and trailer i believe is about 3000lbs. If I went with McGaughy's, would that tow weight justify the need for traction bars or leafs? @Aboogie808, is this what you meant by tracking or were you referring to the leaf's?

Frankielozano214 · August 14, 2020

I got my lift set at 9” also McGaughy I actually went from a level kit with 33’s to 24x14 with 37s I have to say I love it beside the gas mpg looking about 10-13 mpg.

dieselfan1 · August 14, 2020

Thanks for that!

My boat and trailer i believe is about 3000lbs. If I went with McGaughy's, would that tow weight justify the need for traction bars or leafs? [mention=138276]Aboogie808[/mention], is this what you meant by tracking or were you referring to the leaf's?

Your tongue weight should be around 325 lbs. 12%-15% of the total trailer weight. So that will make the rear drop some maybe 2" at the most. You can go with the add a leafs, that will help .

They lift the rear 1 1/4"-1 1/2".

Boats also tow way easier than a travel trailer or cargo trailer of the same weight.

Traction bars wouldn't be needed unless you plan on flooring it from a dead stop often. Axle wrap is an issue with any lift this high using lift blocks.

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CovetedStyle · August 14, 2020

6 hours ago, Mike_D said:

Thanks for that!

My boat and trailer i believe is about 3000lbs. If I went with McGaughy's, would that tow weight justify the need for traction bars or leafs? @Aboogie808, is this what you meant by tracking or were you referring to the leaf's?

So like @dieselfan1 said boats tow pretty easy. If you’re worried about the sag like I said you can do the add a leaf or you can do helper bags. It really just depends on the stance you want daily. Add a leaf is going to put you up a little higher overall and helper bags will just be beneficial when you’re towing. I personally went with new were leaf packs, they have A higher spring rate so it illuminates the need for the AAL and they’re taller so you can shorten that rear block up. As far as traction bars go the McGaughys 7-9 just has a really tall rear block so it’s much more likely to get axle wrap. Half the guys I know that have the kit say that they’re a must and the other half the guys I know that have the kit say that to just fine without them.

Edited August 14, 2020 by CovetedStyle