What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Best Basic Affordable 4" Lift

B

badbowtie03

Registered Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Posts
95
Reaction score
9
Location
Florida [*><*]
Hey yall,

I got an 87 K5 on the cheap.. it wasnt running at first.. it had been sitting. But I cleaned the tank, new fuel filter and fuel pump and now it runs great! Drivetrain is great. 4x4 works smooth... drives straight at 65mph... No bad leaks anywhere and the body is straight with hardly any rust. So, I bought some new headlights for it and tails and markers. Now I want to put a basic 4" lift kit on it. Sooo is it worth just getting a factory "kit" from rough country or who? Or how much more money is it to get a custom set of 4" springs made and then a shackle flip in the rear? Is the shackle flip bolt on or weld on? Is it worth it for a basic woods/hunting/ranch K5? Or just put a block in the rear and be done? All I want to do is put some 33" mud terrains on it and use it in the woods to hunt... little bit of mud hear and there, run to town for lunch/buy bags of corn.. and some trail riding.

BTW, I tried to search and couldnt seem to find a good answer for just a basic K5. Thanks for the help!
 
I can answer this with recent firsthand experience. First, if you only want 33s I would go with a 2 inch lift to avoid having to lengthen driveshafts. But back to the question. I was in your spot looking for an affordable 4 inch lift for my k20 just weeks ago. I knew I didn’t want blocks though, so I bought the rough country 4 inch all spring lift kit (which is the same one as for your k5) and I am happy with it. You read mixed reviews on rough country but I am happy with the way it rides, it’s better than stock, drives well and seems to be decent quality. Unless you are doing serious off-roading where you really need huge flex I wouldn’t spend the money for custom springs. Feel free to ask any other questions you have about the kit and I will answer.
 
+1 for rough country all spring 4". I have it on my 73 and the ride is fine. It's never going to ride like a 2010's truck or SUV but for a 6,000 lbs of leaf-springed Nixon-era detroit iron, it's better than you'd expect.
 
i only remove rough country lifts . to many ride stiff / or the quality of the product is sub par . the last ifs lift i saw years ago there were down grading the hardware size from what factory was . that was it for me and there product line .

do a set of 2" tuff country fronts and a 2.5" flip or 3" block rear to kick the rear up a hair extra as blazers and suburbans are butt low anyway .
watch brake line lengths and grab some quality shocks like bilsien or yellow monroe .

anymore questions just ask .
 
I ran Rough Country for a long time and had no rough ride and 35's. Cornered will no roll, like the Tuff Country I put on later.
 
Back when i bought my first k5 it had 3” rough country lift. When through several iterations of spring setups but at 1 point the 8” BDS spring rode softer than the RC 3” springs.

I’d recommend BDS or TC springs and blocks in rear (or shackle flip or rear springs, it budget allows)
 
FWIW, here's my 79 on 285's and a 2.5" lift. I very much regret chosing superlift springs over Tuff Country.

I do like the look of 33's on a 4 inch lift. Some days I regret not going to a 4 inch lift, but for this truck 2.5" is perfect.Screenshot_20190821-154956_Gallery.jpg
 
It really comes down to you get what you pay for. People bitch and moan about many brands, rough country most often.

However if you can't afford any more, you know what you are going to get if you go RC. That being said, ride quality really depends on who's ass is in the driver's seat. As it's been pointed out here, some were ok with the ride some aren't. Problem is unless you know someone local with RC springs you are not judging for yourself.

I've swapped my RC front springs from one K5 to another K5. No doubt they are stiff. To me they were not totally annoying to use on either truck. Stock kit shocks were garbage after a few years of use. However with Bilstein shocks it's totally fine to drive. It's firm but the Bilsteins took the edge off for sure. I have no issues driving mine on the highway for 12 hours or on the trail all day.

Are there better options? Hell yeah. Could I afford them at the time I bought mine, no. If you can save up more money to get a better spring do it. I didn't want to wait and I knew full well what I was buying.
 
Thanks for the advice yall. Im gonna noodle on this a bit and read some more. For the time being I am going to fix up small things here and there on the k5.
 
Funny that people say Rough Country rides good, lives in Cali where the roads are smooth. In the northeast the roads are rutted, rotted, potholed ****ed to hell. Do like others suggested, tuff country, 52 swap, even an add-a-leave an maybe a zero rate.....
 
if you want cheap springs, just spend the couple extra sheckles and get TC EZ's, vastly better than RC's...... it's not like you're "springing" ;) for a set of $1000 custom, high leaf count mofos..

5100's are a huge upgrade for a little more money, hint, hint...
 
Stiff lift kit springs are for making the stance look nice while the truck is parked, or for rolling on/off the trailer. If you plan for the vehicle to move on-road or off-road with yourself in it, a soft suspension makes the vehicle much more enjoyable. Even if you're super tough and "don't care about ride", will you ever have passengers? Do you want it to look goofy with the front end going "boing, boing" on every bump?

How many times do you want to install a lift kit? It costs more to cheap out now and upgrade later. Plus, add up the hours you will spend behind the wheel. Moving from RC to TC EZ probably costs $0.25 per hour of use.
 
@79rustyk10 i’m digging the stance with 2.5” lift. Thats my intended route (already have the 2.5” shackle flip) when I get my next k5. Will still be able to fit in parking garages, which is a must for me.
 
muddybuddy said:
@79rustyk10 i’m digging the stance with 2.5” lift. Thats my intended route (already have the 2.5” shackle flip) when I get my next k5. Will still be able to fit in parking garages, which is a must for me.
Click to expand...

I like it. It's still a nice height that's easy to get in and out of, and get into smaller garages if needed, but still can fit a variety of wheels/tires.
 
The Tuff Country EZ rides have been good for me. Check out the ORD link above. We just swapped from superlift 6" springs to 2.5 flip kit with 5 leaf stock replacement springs (overload pulled out) and zero rates in the rear and 4" TC 4" fronts.
 
b454rat said:
Funny that people say Rough Country rides good, lives in Cali where the roads are smooth. In the northeast the roads are rutted, rotted, potholed ****ed to hell. Do like others suggested, tuff country, 52 swap, even an add-a-leave an maybe a zero rate.....
Click to expand...

Roads in Cali are just as bad as the rest of the nation, unless you live in the bay area or LA.
as stated above all people are not the same. To each their own. What is rough for one is firm to another. I have had Tuff country, rough county and Rancho, you have to have very good shocks to get the ride comfort. I like the stiffer springs as I hate body roll as it is basically a daily driver Super Mall Crawler.
 
Nobody has mentioned it, so I will. Before you buy anything, inspect your current front and rear springs really good. You are wasting your money if you buy add a leaves or a block for the rear if one or more of your current springs is cracked or broken.

This happened to me on my 89 k5. I put on Tuff country EZ ride 4" springs in front and a 4" ORD shackle flip in back. As we were working on the back, a piece of metal fell down. I picked it up and realized it was half of the wrap from the main leaf where it goes around the bushing sleeve! So the springs were junk and I ended up buying new stock height ones. If I saw that from day one, I would have ordered 4" springs for the back.

You can fit 33s on that k5 with no lift. It will only require a little fender trimming to the front wheel wells, not much. That is an option you can do for a little while. Maybe you would be happy with that and decide not even to put a lift on.

But if you do decide on a lift, and the springs are in good shape, then I would recommend add a leafs for the front and back from Tuff Country
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom