Rough Country or Skyjacker Lifts

[muditup]

I'm looking into lift kits now for pricing and what not as my first mod.

The truck it will be going on is a 1976 K10 with 35x12.5x15 tires.

The Skyjacker kits appear to be cheaper but leave out a few items like shocks. If I bought them separately it seems I'll be paying about the same as if I bought a R.C. kit.

I hear alot about R.C., good and bad; It's either they love the lifts or folks say "they ride rough", which could possibly be because of the stiffness of the shocks, right?

This truck will be seeing mild to moderate mud once in a while but mostly daily driving on both city streets and highway.

Which one would you look into for this intended use?

*I want to get a 6" lift if that makes any difference*

 

[Mr Clean]

IMO it is up to the person. I have never ran a Skyjacker lift, or know anyone that has. I have heard they are better on hwy, than Rough Country. It has a softer ride. I have a Rough Country 4 inch lift on my Blazer with Rancho Rs 9000 shocks. It rides stiff, but I also have dual shocks on all four corners. My Blazer seen mostly hwy, and a bit of dirt, handled well on both. I say buy what you can afford.

 

[muditup]

I can definitely afford the RC and it was my first choice before I started searching around for more reviews and information. Highway/city driving is what I deal with on the daily basis and the roads aren't too bad. I guess I could always switch out the shocks later if I don't like the way it rides

 

[crazy4offroad]

Most rough riding lift kits has to do with the front spring's rear shackle angle. If the spring compresses and the shackles are too short, the spring eye will hit the frame and make the ride seem really rough. These truck ride like a buckboard wagon anyway, so when this happens you feel like you just dropped your ass onto a cement slab.

 

[Christian Nelson]

Most rough riding lift kits has to do with the front spring's rear shackle angle. If the spring compresses and the shackles are too short, the spring eye will hit the frame and make the ride seem really rough. These truck ride like a buckboard wagon anyway, so when this happens you feel like you just dropped your ass onto a cement slab.

So, what does one do about this, get longer shackles?

 

[skysurfer]

A friend recently bought an '89 Suburban like mine but with a Skyjacker 6" lift. After driving mine he wants to ditch the lift it has and go with some 4" EZ-Ride springs.

The spring rate on all the 6" lifts is quite a bit higher, so no matter what brand you buy it's gonna ride rough compared to stock or even a 4" lift.

 

[DoubleDingo]

The best lift is one that keeps the stock spring rates, lifts without arching the springs, and allows for maximum articulation. Unfortunately, I think for that happen, one has to do the lift themselves.

 

[muditup]

The best lift is one that keeps the stock spring rates, lifts without arching the springs, and allows for maximum articulation. Unfortunately, I think for that happen, one has to do the lift themselves.

Which I will be with assistance of course. A friend of mine said he will not let me take my truck to a mechanic when he can fix and teach me anything I need to know. He did the lift on his 98 K1500 which has the same configuration I'm looking at (6" with 35s) and it rides pretty smooth on city roads. He also did the one on his K5 which is strictly for off roading. That has a 8" lift and even considering the terrian we take it on it handles and rides pretty decent

 

[DoubleDingo]

I was writing quickly and didn't get to explain because my new supervisor was on his way. What I meant by doing the lift yourself, is by lowering the frame mounts for the leaf springs, and use springs that have the stock spring rate. But that requires a whole lot of modifications and knowledge of how to setup suspension so the vehicle doesn't dog-track or anything else. However, it does allow you maintain the stock ride but gain the lift. When I was researching lifts for my Cherokee, I read many articles about lift kits. The one that explained it the best, and I cannot recall where I found it, but it said that to get the best riding, most functional lift for your vehicle, the spring should be straight and not arched and that gives you equal articulation for each corner of the vehicle. Downfall to having straight leafs in the back is once you throw a load in the bed the springs will be sagging, unless you have some sort of helper spring setup that takes over to eliminate the sagging. That's why I recommend finding springs with stock spring rates. Old Man Emu has lift kits with stock spring rates, but I am not sure if they sell them for Chevy's. Great kits though. A rough riding 4x4 or any vehicle for that matter makes for a long drive even if it's a short distance because it just beats you up.

 

[Swims350]

rough country is a good kit and good price, but it's very stiff, and NO it's not the shocks, maybe a little but there was an online spring rate comparison i saw, and rc springs were on the top of it.

you want smooth ride check out the ez ride from tuff country or the soffride, I forget who makes them, either superlift or skyjacker.

 

[bigtalljohn13]

I have the Rough Country 4" suspension lift with their leaf springs and nitro shocks all around and it rides great, i couldn't be happier with it.

 

[skysurfer]

I guess "ride quality" is up to the individual to decide. The Rough Country 4" springs are rated at 604 lbs/in. I had them and hated 'em, they went into a recycle bin.

The E-Z Rides are 295 lbs/in. for the 4" lift. For comparison, the same E-Z Ride kit but with 6" of lft has the spring rate jump to 465 lbs/in. so the higher you go the rougher the ride.

I was curious about the rating of springs so I contacted Tuff Country and asked if the rating is based on initial compression, half-way compressed, or at maximum load. They said it's not progressive so the given rating stays constant all the way through the springs' operating range. I'm still not convinced though, considering a lightly loaded vehicle would only be flexing the longer leaves in the spring pack it doesn't make sense that the ratings are constant. I think Tuff Country's answer was given by someone that answers emails but doesn't fully understand the product. Skyjacker says their spring rates are progressive, but again, at what point in the travel is a spring rated.

I tried to find a load rating for the 6" kits but couldn't. I did find the 4" kits though.

http://coloradok5.com/springratetable.shtml