Dang son! This is pretty much what Im thinking of. Exact brush guard. Light bars. Tow mirris. I have a 97 GMC k2500 with 665,000 miles Im restoring right now to its former glory.
Hell yeah that's awesome man! From personal experience, go with an actual lift with the torsion drop brackets, don't turn yours like I did on mine, ended up breaking a lot more than I would have liked. I'm trying to get my ducks in a row and get an actual kit now!
I ended up going with the 2.5" skyjacker lift, after having issues with the cheap 2" crank lift. This kit is AWESOME! This, paired with a 3" body lift will give you a truck that is solid, performs better offroad, handles much better on-road vs a 6in lift, holds front end alignment like stock and wears the front tires evenly like stock suspension! If you plan to do serious offroading often or rocks crawling, get a BDS Lift kit. Worth every bit of the $$$! If you want overall better performance on a daily driver, then go with my above recommendations...
@@cardboardkiller6883hey seems you have knowledge, I did a torch 2 in rear 3 in front. It’s blocks and keys, have plans to get a diff drop, and 2-4 in lift upper control arms, aswell as shocks. Thoughts?
Much better than stock I've got a 98 c1500 4 inch rc lift 164k miles im never getting rid of it its easy to work on and when the engine dies crate motor I've read 300k is common on the obs trucks
Hope you ended up adding control arms. I did the crank lift to mine and every time i hit a decent size bump, the control arms would hit the frame on their downward travel, there by knocking my camber alignment out! Adding Skyjacker control arms remedied this issue, added much needed travel to the suspension! No more having to realign the front end on a monthly basis!
I did! I learned very quickly that I needed to change something. I have the Freedom Offroad upper control arms... overall I'm still not 100% happy with ride quality, I think next big move is BDS 6" kit (I don't want to deal with torsion cranks)
@@Brakenexany update just did this to my truck, didn’t crank it all the way up to three maybe 2.5, plan on doing control arms, diff drop in the next two months. And shocks
How your truck is in the beginning of the video when you mention stock suspension..Was your truck just leveled in the front? I’m going for the same look on my 96 so just wondering what exactly you did to achieve it
Oh yeah man, I leveled it, I grabbed a tape measure to measure what my distances on the rear fender/bedside height was and turned my torsion keys up just a few turns to get it to sit level In doing this, the ride does get a little stiffer but if you're only doing it to get yourself level with stock suspension, you shouldnt have any issues!
@aidanmulford9515 hey, I appreciate the comment. For one, looks, and for two, at my last job I was one of 2 people with a truck, so moving some trailers around the lot just made visibility a little easier
Thanks a bunch man! Believe it or not, found it on a Yukon at the junkyard! All I know is that the brand name is called "WAAG" if you'd like to look it up!
@@bobbymarino7082 hell yeah man, another thing you could do if you're looking for that brush guard is check LKQpickyourpart's website for a couple of different yards near you and just search c1500, c2500, c3500, k1500, k2500, k3500, yukon, suburban, tahoe That way you can see if any of them have one on before you make the trip!
Hey, sorry for replying late but I didn't use extension brackets, I had to get "lift shocks" which are just longer, and my upper control arm was VERY close to the bump stop at first but my alignment was so far off so I had to get the extended control arms and got an alignment and now they're resting on the bump stops
Honest truth, not long at all. I ended up replacing my uppers with the freedom offroad upper control arms so it would "hopefully" take some of the stress off but it ended up making my camber really bad. I'm currently in the process of getting a bunch of parts and money together so I can do a proper lift the correct way. I won't lie to you, I've faced nothing but problems with suspension and drivability :(
@@leemp337 of course! Try to stay away from the "torsion lifts" the more you crank, the more stress you're putting on everything else. I learned the very hard way :(
I agree with you, and since then I've upgraded to 33s... went with A/Ts, to get more of a smoother ride, but truthfully I'm trying to correct so many bad angles with this thing
@@Cricri760 I appreciate that man! I'll do one and kind of go over all the stuff, a lot of it I did after work back when we could use the lifts for personal stuff
@spud6365 honestly, it's all still pretty messed up, I recently moved states and haven't had the funds to really correct anything. Trying to get back on top of things so that I can do that
Shot in the dark question maybe you could help me, I have 2018 chevy ltz 18 rims and 2 inch 5 to 6 spacers, im wondering if I can fit tires without a lift and have clearance. Any advice? It's a 1997 chevy silverado
To be perfectly honest with you, I am not 100% sure. I do know that Chevy has been pretty good about making interchangeable wheels, the main things you have to worry about are backspacing (offset) and actual tire size. what are the tire sizes?
About to install the Torch 3" kit on my 99 K2500 suburban. Did you have to extend bake lines to calipers or did stock ones work? Nice looking truck BTW!
@@Brakenex I have a set of blacked out American Racing Wheels I bought a while back. I have a set of LT305/70R16 E Nitto Terra Grapplers that I will be putting on it. Basically 33" tires. I tried putting them on with stock sizes and they were rubbing the fenders when it turned. Hopefully this should clear now. Just wanted to make sure of any other issues. Shocks will be next but that's another $450 for Bilstein 5100s.
@@whodatnunyabiz6050 That's going to look good man! I'm running 31s now and since my truck's been down for a few months (finalizing some stuff on the new motor) I'm debating jumping up to 33s or just making the big jump to 35s! I'm so torn!
@@Brakenex Man that sucks! I have a lot of plans to swap in the 0411 computer and then cam, intake, heads, and full length JBA headers on the 454. Going to go with true 2.5 duals and high flow cats. Shooting for a solid 450 horse 500 plus torque. It’s doable.
@@whodatnunyabiz6050 Oh that's right, you have a 454. That's awesome, I love big blocks! 450/500 is going to feel insane! You got this. I want proof ;)
I haven't personally tried it (but have been thinking about it) but, someone told me you can, you just have to trim a little from the bumper and fender
I don't remember the offset to be 100% honest with you, I know that they're 15x8 and the tire's I'm running are 31x10.50R15 Truck has been down for a few months (motor gave up the day after I hit 365k miles... but I'm putting another 350 together and should be up and running in the next month! I plan to also bring her back on 35s!)
@@ifixboats5066 If you love it, that's all that matters man! Now is it the 6.5 N/A or 6.5 Turbo? either way, at this point in life I want a diesel, so mad respect!
To tell you the truth, I think that they're just indexed slightly differently Looking back, I probably would have still used stock keys and turned them since you have to do it with the new keys anyway
That's true, I ended up doing the lift at work and cant reeeeally film there. Messing with the torsion bar/keys took so long, I think my mindset for this was moreso a "how would it look on 3" But I always recommend Hartrock Garage's install video!
@@jjmccloud it's okay man, I definitely appreciate the feedback! And you're not kidding! Of course when I'm messing with customer vehicles, they aren't bad but when it comes to mine... you already know how that goes 😂
You could, yes because the ubolts are long enough to compensate (they're super long) However, the truck will have a really raked/stink-bug look. I highly advise against turning the torsion bars all the way up. I did and just regret it
Dang son! This is pretty much what Im thinking of. Exact brush guard. Light bars. Tow mirris. I have a 97 GMC k2500 with 665,000 miles Im restoring right now to its former glory.
Hell yeah that's awesome man! From personal experience, go with an actual lift with the torsion drop brackets, don't turn yours like I did on mine, ended up breaking a lot more than I would have liked. I'm trying to get my ducks in a row and get an actual kit now!
I ended up going with the 2.5" skyjacker lift, after having issues with the cheap 2" crank lift. This kit is AWESOME!
This, paired with a 3" body lift will give you a truck that is solid, performs better offroad, handles much better on-road vs a 6in lift, holds front end alignment like stock and wears the front tires evenly like stock suspension!
If you plan to do serious offroading often or rocks crawling, get a BDS Lift kit. Worth every bit of the $$$!
If you want overall better performance on a daily driver, then go with my above recommendations...
I also went with Skyjacker M95 shocks and they're also hands down, the best bang for the buck!
BTW, My truck is a 1997 K1500, ext-cab, 3dr, Z71, 4x4, 5.7L....
@@cardboardkiller6883hey seems you have knowledge, I did a torch 2 in rear 3 in front. It’s blocks and keys, have plans to get a diff drop, and 2-4 in lift upper control arms, aswell as shocks. Thoughts?
Much better than stock I've got a 98 c1500 4 inch rc lift 164k miles im never getting rid of it its easy to work on and when the engine dies crate motor I've read 300k is common on the obs trucks
That's awesome man, I'd love to see it! 164k is still super low miles ;) I'm sitting at 362k miles! I will also keep mine forever!
You lifted a 2wd💀
Truck looks amazing 🔥🔥
Dude thank you so much! Got some small goodies I'm working on this weekend too!
Hope you ended up adding control arms. I did the crank lift to mine and every time i hit a decent size bump, the control arms would hit the frame on their downward travel, there by knocking my camber alignment out!
Adding Skyjacker control arms remedied this issue, added much needed travel to the suspension! No more having to realign the front end on a monthly basis!
I did! I learned very quickly that I needed to change something. I have the Freedom Offroad upper control arms... overall I'm still not 100% happy with ride quality, I think next big move is BDS 6" kit (I don't want to deal with torsion cranks)
I torched off the bump stops.
@@jimwack1436 the metal bump stops? Or those triangle looking bushings?
@@jimwack1436 that’s a great solution. Did that completely do away with the alignment getting knocked out when you hit hard bumps & pot holes?
@@Brakenexany update just did this to my truck, didn’t crank it all the way up to three maybe 2.5, plan on doing control arms, diff drop in the next two months. And shocks
I just installed a rc front stabilizer to help with steering 60 bucks
Hell yeah man! I've got one myself (have a video on it too!)
Looks clean!!
I appreciate that man! Shes got her rough spots!
How your truck is in the beginning of the video when you mention stock suspension..Was your truck just leveled in the front? I’m going for the same look on my 96 so just wondering what exactly you did to achieve it
Oh yeah man, I leveled it, I grabbed a tape measure to measure what my distances on the rear fender/bedside height was and turned my torsion keys up just a few turns to get it to sit level
In doing this, the ride does get a little stiffer but if you're only doing it to get yourself level with stock suspension, you shouldnt have any issues!
im sorry the truck looks good and all but why do you have tow mirrors on a 1/2 ton
@aidanmulford9515 hey, I appreciate the comment. For one, looks, and for two, at my last job I was one of 2 people with a truck, so moving some trailers around the lot just made visibility a little easier
Super nice truck where did you get that grill guard it looks really good on your truck
Thanks a bunch man! Believe it or not, found it on a Yukon at the junkyard!
All I know is that the brand name is called "WAAG" if you'd like to look it up!
@@Brakenex thanks buddy looking good pretty much exactly how I want mine to look 👍
@@bobbymarino7082 hell yeah man, another thing you could do if you're looking for that brush guard is check LKQpickyourpart's website for a couple of different yards near you and just search c1500, c2500, c3500, k1500, k2500, k3500, yukon, suburban, tahoe
That way you can see if any of them have one on before you make the trip!
Nice job..on ur front shocks,did you add a extension bracket for front shocks, and is ur upper control arm,is touching the bumpstop? Thanks
Hey, sorry for replying late but I didn't use extension brackets, I had to get "lift shocks" which are just longer, and my upper control arm was VERY close to the bump stop at first but my alignment was so far off so I had to get the extended control arms and got an alignment and now they're resting on the bump stops
I did the same kit and torched off the bump stops
be honest, how long did your upper ball joints last. do a follow up....please!!!
Honest truth, not long at all. I ended up replacing my uppers with the freedom offroad upper control arms so it would "hopefully" take some of the stress off but it ended up making my camber really bad.
I'm currently in the process of getting a bunch of parts and money together so I can do a proper lift the correct way.
I won't lie to you, I've faced nothing but problems with suspension and drivability :(
@@Brakenex thanks homie. Really appreciate it. I'm trying to do research on the best route to go.
@@leemp337 of course! Try to stay away from the "torsion lifts" the more you crank, the more stress you're putting on everything else. I learned the very hard way :(
Personally the 31’s still look a little to small, I’m going with 20 inch rims and probably 35 with a 4inch spindle lift
I agree with you, and since then I've upgraded to 33s... went with A/Ts, to get more of a smoother ride, but truthfully I'm trying to correct so many bad angles with this thing
@@Brakenex I’m ready to see an updated video of what you done since your last post lol
@@Cricri760 I appreciate that man! I'll do one and kind of go over all the stuff, a lot of it I did after work back when we could use the lifts for personal stuff
@@Brakenexsorry for all the questions, but what did you narrow it down too?
@spud6365 honestly, it's all still pretty messed up, I recently moved states and haven't had the funds to really correct anything. Trying to get back on top of things so that I can do that
Nice truck man,good job..what size of rims are those..else what size are the tires?
Thanks so much! They are 15x8 and the tires are 31x10.50R15
I actually have a set of 16x10 and 33s I'm putting on next!
hey, what is the pushbar made from? I love it!
Thank you sir! Truthfully I'm not 100% sure but the brand is "waag" it's definitely heavy
You’re welcome
Shot in the dark question maybe you could help me, I have 2018 chevy ltz 18 rims and 2 inch 5 to 6 spacers, im wondering if I can fit tires without a lift and have clearance. Any advice?
It's a 1997 chevy silverado
To be perfectly honest with you, I am not 100% sure. I do know that Chevy has been pretty good about making interchangeable wheels, the main things you have to worry about are backspacing (offset) and actual tire size. what are the tire sizes?
About to install the Torch 3" kit on my 99 K2500 suburban. Did you have to extend bake lines to calipers or did stock ones work? Nice looking truck BTW!
Do it man! It's gonna look awesome, what's your wheel setup?
and I didn't have the extend them, mine have plenty of clearance :)
@@Brakenex I have a set of blacked out American Racing Wheels I bought a while back. I have a set of LT305/70R16 E Nitto Terra Grapplers that I will be putting on it. Basically 33" tires. I tried putting them on with stock sizes and they were rubbing the fenders when it turned. Hopefully this should clear now. Just wanted to make sure of any other issues. Shocks will be next but that's another $450 for Bilstein 5100s.
@@whodatnunyabiz6050 That's going to look good man! I'm running 31s now and since my truck's been down for a few months (finalizing some stuff on the new motor) I'm debating jumping up to 33s or just making the big jump to 35s! I'm so torn!
@@Brakenex Man that sucks! I have a lot of plans to swap in the 0411 computer and then cam, intake, heads, and full length JBA headers on the 454. Going to go with true 2.5 duals and high flow cats. Shooting for a solid 450 horse 500 plus torque. It’s doable.
@@whodatnunyabiz6050 Oh that's right, you have a 454. That's awesome, I love big blocks! 450/500 is going to feel insane! You got this. I want proof ;)
Did you get the stock Chevy shocks on rancho or did you get the 2.5 lift shocks?
I got the rancho lift shocks!
Do you think I can run 35s with a 3inch suspension lift? Extended cab z71
I haven't personally tried it (but have been thinking about it) but, someone told me you can, you just have to trim a little from the bumper and fender
Just wondering if you had tp changed your aamr contro?
Control arm? I did not
What size tires?
@@lht5dy31 at that time, they were 31x10.5R15
Cool truck
Thank you so much!
What's the spacing on those rims and the tire size
I don't remember the offset to be 100% honest with you, I know that they're 15x8 and the tire's I'm running are 31x10.50R15
Truck has been down for a few months (motor gave up the day after I hit 365k miles... but I'm putting another 350 together and should be up and running in the next month! I plan to also bring her back on 35s!)
@@Brakenex my dad bought mine brand new in 93. I put a 6.5 in it. Runs great. Truck has 400k on it.
@@ifixboats5066 Dude, that's awesome! How do you like that 6.5?
@@Brakenex I love it. I know it's not a big powerhouse. I just drive it. I made everything work. My tach. Ac cruise. It's nice.
@@ifixboats5066 If you love it, that's all that matters man! Now is it the 6.5 N/A or 6.5 Turbo? either way, at this point in life I want a diesel, so mad respect!
What is the point of changing the front key ? Just asking .. because i can make my truck the same height as youres with the stock ones
To tell you the truth, I think that they're just indexed slightly differently
Looking back, I probably would have still used stock keys and turned them since you have to do it with the new keys anyway
I feel like the reason people would wanna watch is to see the installation lmao otherwise were just looking at your truck 🤣🤣
That's true, I ended up doing the lift at work and cant reeeeally film there. Messing with the torsion bar/keys took so long, I think my mindset for this was moreso a "how would it look on 3"
But I always recommend Hartrock Garage's install video!
@@Brakenex im just messing with ya. Understand not being able to film, Definitely makes it look alot better especially with the flares
Sometimes them keys are simple quick and easy and sometimes they can be a pita 😆
@@jjmccloud it's okay man, I definitely appreciate the feedback! And you're not kidding! Of course when I'm messing with customer vehicles, they aren't bad but when it comes to mine... you already know how that goes 😂
That's a front leveling kit
Not a front lift kit
So I got my 97 stock height but I’ve added extra leaf spring, am I able to throw this in with having the extra spring still?
You could, yes because the ubolts are long enough to compensate (they're super long)
However, the truck will have a really raked/stink-bug look. I highly advise against turning the torsion bars all the way up. I did and just regret it