I want to put a 6" lift on my 05 truck and I've narrowed it down to CST and RCD as they seem to be the two that most have. I don't want anything taller than 6" and if I understand right both of these allow 6" with no cranking of the torsion bars. Is this correct?

I've read the Lift Kit Summary post in detail (thanks for putting that together afp1!) and have a pretty good understanding of how each kit is built. I've looked at a million pics. I'm open to other suggestions, but would like a "why" if you are going to suggest something else.

For those with CST and RCD kits, I'd really like to get an overall height measurement of the truck to the tallest point as I'd like to make sure it'll fit in the shop. If someone could post these measurements it'd be great!

I second your choice for those two brands, but would probably go with an RCD for the 6, and CST for anything larger. As RCD only does 6's, it's their flagship. Thus they have plenty of time to work out issues and make that particular product bulletproof. May actually be a bit cheaper as well.

I had an RCD 6 on my Avalanche, and it worked real nice.

Just my .02 cents

Rcd

sp33d, you can't go wrong with either one. I have the RCD and I am happy with it, however, it has a couple of drawbacks. Because the front differential is only dropped approx. 4" and the spindles drop it the rest of the way, you are limited to a maximum of 4 1/2" backspacing on the wheels. If you want to run more backspacing, like the H2 wheels with 5 1/2" you can not. CST uses your original spindles. Also RCD uses 4" rear blocks where CST uses 5" rear blocks. To level my truck the t-bars are cranked all the way, but the strange thing is it rides better than stock. RCD comes with the Bilstien shocks, while CST does not come with shocks. You will already being paying more for the CST, so adding Bilstiens to that lift will make it even more expensive. Many guys on this site seem to be using the RCD and are also happy with it from what I have read. I bought my truck already lifted, but if I was to do it over, I think that I would go with the CST because of more backspacing options. I will measure the height of my truck tomorrow and send you a P.M.

Thanks everyone for the info so far. The majority of the info I've read out there points toward CST as being one of if not the best lift for our truck in terms of overall build and quality. RCD is also at the top of the list. The only reason CST is my first choice at this point is because it's a full 6" lift/drop with no torsion bar adjustments. As Diesel Bob stated, the RCD is only a 4" drop at the diff with the rest being in the torsion bars.

I definitely want to make sure though that the truck fits in the shop. I'm concerned about this as my truck now with a 4" Rancho only leaves 2-3" of room at the top of the cab.

Hope you're selling it outright, if you are trading they usually won't give you extra for the rancho. Why not take it off and put it on the new truck? Simple welding to put the parts removed to install back on. Well not so simple for the diff if you don't have a wire feed welder set up for aluminum but you can find a shop to do it. I know a guy here that swapped it from his 2002 to his 2003. Unless you don't have those parts anymore.. Heck come over to my place and I'll swap you out my stock parts for your rancho...

It's being sold outright... Already sold with the Rancho once the new truck is here.

I thought about taking it off and if I had traded it would have came off but I wanted to try something different and it's just not as fun getting a new truck and putting a three year old lift on it.

Ah I see. Since you're in Utah you could go check out the Tuff Country lifts. That's where they are from, Salt Lake. Basically same as rcd and rancho and every other ifs spindle lift... Nothing special but you might be able to check out the factory or something neat like that.

Mine is roughly 88 inches to top of cab +/- Add a few for the on star antenna.. Go with the CST , I LOVE MINE lol . no regrets

5thgear, are your torsion bars cranked, or not? As I understand it that is the difference in the 6-8" in the CST lift. 6" with the torsion bars uncranked and up to 8" with the cranked, right?

Check this site out and call them. They do alot of high end work here in So.Cal. Talk to "Chris" he suggest's RCD as the way to go. Has multiple reasons why, Very helpful and very knowledgible. Look into re-arc'ing rear leaf springs also and forget about using blocks. http://www.offroadunlimited.com/

The 8" is when u use the optional keys CST sells, which i think are similiar to the "Green Keys" It sits taller then some others that i have seen, I did the install myself so I really have nothing to base it off of, I have to exhale to get it into my garage lol

Would you mind me asking how tall your garage door opening is? :)

Mine is 94" tall exactly so 88" would fit but it's awfully close and I don't want to go through the trouble if it won't fit. That's why I ask if yours is setup as a 6 or 8". Anything that won't fit in the shop is out of the question. I didn't build this shop but I am building one this summer and a taller door will definitely be in order.

sp33d, I went through the same delima when I bought mine, I wanted a six inch lift, but it had to fit in the garage. I went with the RCD and instead of running 315/75/17s like most, I put on 315/70/17s which are a little shorter profile tire, I knew my garage was 83'' so I knew it would be close. I put the torsion bars back at stock level, and crossed my fingers. My Onstar antenna bends back going into the garage,but it fits, you just have to go slow. Overall Ive been extremely happy with the setup, lifting a new truck is very enjoyable, no rust or dirt, disassembly of the front suspension was a piece of cake.

Well I have a 14 ft rool up door now, but my old garage was jus barely high enough, i dont remember the dimensions, but it was close. I posted some new pics so u can get an idea

That pic prolly didnt help u out one bit lol i realize after lookin at it

5thgear - is that your stock bumper repainted or did you go with an aftermarket? I want to paint mine like yours is done but the stock bumper plastic texture is rough and I'd heard that some people were installing Tahoe bumpers/masks with a smooth finish. I've also read that some are using paint with a lot of "rubbery" substance to them so that the paint gives and doesn't crack.

Any of you guys seen a good thread on this topic here?

Hey!! I bought a new top and bottom piece and had them painted, the tahoe front ends are not the same, I had mine primed and painted with several coats. Not totally smooth, but looks nice to me, kinda of a ***** to install, but worth the outcome.

The RCD would definitely fit than as that's roughly 10" of clearance. Sounds like the CST will be very close...

As far as painting the bumper, any good body shop (or you) can sand it smooth and prime and paint it... Takes some time but a lot of people have done it. That's what I will end up doing.

The CST is probably the best lift that money can buy. It rides like a dream does not require the bars to be cranked, looks like the cats ass, is premium in every respect of its build quality and is a true performance system if your interested in actually wheeling your rig. I've never had a RCD unit but it seems as though its a pretty popular mod on the site. I fully believe that if you have the extra dough, you will not regret the purchase of CST, I can't begin to express how satisfied I am with the unit and everybody who see's my setup concurs that I made the right choice. Good luck either way.

At My Shop We Install Both Rcd And Cst Lifts All The Time On Hd's. Never Had Any Complaints With Either. Cst Will Take Longer To Install As There Is Drop Steering And Lower Crossmember Is One Piece (some Trucks The Crossmember Is Tough To Install). On The Rcd Lift I Would Suggest Upgrading The Pitman / Idler Arm As The 35" Tires With Increase The Wear And Cause Sloppy Steering After A While. If Interested Pm Me About Heim Joint Upgrade Or Fabtech Heavy Duty Pitman Arm/idler Arms.

The Advantage Of The Rcd Only Droping The Diff 4.5" Is That It Has Better Differential Ground Clearance But Still Keeps Cv Angle Within Factory Specs. Most Of My Customers Think The Rcd Lift Rides Better Than The Stock Truck. You Can Safely Run The Rcd Under 6" Lift If You Have Overhead Clearance Problems And Still Clear A 35" Tire On A 8" Wide Rim.

Any Other Questions???

Yeah one. Why don't you have a link to some pics of the truck in your signature? I'd like to check out the coilovers and 12 inchs of lift... Bet it looks sweet.

Still Not 100% Done, Still Waiting On Powdercoating And Weld 22" Wheels!! I Will Post Pics As Soon As It Leaves The Shop. Have To Finish Customer Rides Before I Can Tinker With Shop Toys!!

trpr4mance I have a question, with the RCD 6" lift will KMC XD DIESEL 20"x9" rims fit on that lift?

the 20"x9" will fit the rcd with a full 6" lift. you can even run a 5" backspace on a 20"+ on the rcd so the tires do not stick out as far with the wider wheels. (rcd lift widen front track width 3/4" each side).

Cst.

Hey!! I bought a new top and bottom piece and had them painted...
do you have the mfgr/model of the top/bottom pieces that you bought 5thgear? if not, where'd you get them? I've looked at some of these but the ones I've seen are always kits to change the look of the front end - yours still looks stock and I'm trying to figure out how you did that if you installed additional parts on top of the stock bumper and bottom valance.

Thanks.

I don't like hijacking threads, but this one has deviated a little already so here goes:

I'd like about a 4" lift or so on my 2500 HD, but I'm not wild about the Rancho kit. It's the only 4" lift I'm aware of for this truck. I really like the looks of the RCD lift, but I don't want a full 6". If I don't crank the T-bars, would this work for me? What would the downsides be? I basically want to be able to run 285/75 tires or so without any rubbing issues, etc. I know a lot of people do this without a lift, but I personally don't like the really stuffed wheel well look.

I'm after a taller truck with bigger tires, but I don't want to go wild. As a rule, I've found that nearly all taller tires are wider, which translates into poor traction in snow. In Montana, I drive a lot of slick highways, so I don't want to get a tire that's too wide. Savvy? Thanks in advance for the advice!

Wide tires are alright on snow and ice when they are all terrains. Lots of gripping edges help a lot. I like the 285s I have on snow and ice. I've run narrower tires and they don't really dig a lot better than wide ones when you have as much power as we do. If the 285 is too wide for you you could get a 255/85 which is a little taller but is narrower. Nearly as narrow as the 245. There's a guy on here running 255/85/16s on stock rims and they look nice. But one thing about getting a lift and running narrower tires is less stability.

I would bor sure go with the cst before rcd, i dont care if it is there flag ship, cst is a good company and i would compare them to cognitos quality on all there parts, i would for sure go with this setup, good luck

We Have Run The Rcd As Low As 4.5" Lift With Out A Problem, You May Want To Change Out The Rear Block To 3" Instead Of 4" To Keep The Level Look.

I Would Agree The Cst Is A Excellent Kit, Just More Expensive And More Labor. You Get What You Pay For!

Anyone know of a good shop in Central California (Fresno) for installing a CST? CST has been useless in helping me find an installer - they recommended a shop 4 hours away and imply that there's not a single shop in Fresno that is "mfgr authorized" to install this kit. I know that any shop worth their salt *should* be able to handle this but I don't want to end up in a pissing match with some shop if there are warranty issues. I'm willing to spend the premium for CST quality but I still don't want to risk it if there *was* a problem.

There's a 4WP here but I really don't want to have to fall back on my contingency plan, which would be a ProComp. I bought one in 1997 for my 1500 and it was a nightmare. When I asked them if they'd install my CST (after spending $2400 on tires/wheels with them) they said no - they can only install kits they are trained on. I'm all for training and proper installation, but on the other hand I've got a lot of weekend mechnics on this forum saying they've installed the kits themselves and CST is telling me that anyone who's installed *any* lift should be capable of doing this. It ain't rocket science, but I know it's over my head, so I'll pay to have it done right.

There's another place called Extreme Offroad in Clovis - anyone familiar with their work?

Thanks.

coyotekid Trailmaster makes a 4" lift kit I had it on my last truck an 01 LB7. I installed it my self and it worked great. Never had one problem. I bought it from www.rockymountainsusp.com (http://www.rockymountainsusp.com) they where nice people and they sell all magor brands and have lots of pics. Also the ride was better than stock and the install was easy. Good luck in your decision.

Aron

you can do it man!!!. I thought the same when i was halfway there with the entire front end of my new truck with 100 miles laying everywhere. Jus plan on a full weekend to get it right. :ro)

OK now I'm worried because I actually find myself actually considering this. My wife will never let me hear the end of it if I don't pull it off.

So do you need any special tools to be able to do this? By "special" I mean:

1) any kind of lift more than a hydraulic floor jack?
2) a welder of any sort
3) a pipe bender?

I have a full set of hand tools, air tools, an impact wrench, grinders and hammers. Doable?

Do the kits normally come with instructions with pictures? Can anyone say if the RCD or CST kits come with good pictures?

I ask because I can't tell you the difference between a pitman arm, an idler arm and an A-arm or muffler bearings for that matter. :) I'm sure I would after this project, but the first time, I gotta have pictures.

I have the complete Heml factory manual set.

I know I would feel much better if I did this myself and would certainly take a lot of pride in the project, but I've always thought that things that required you to grind parts off or remove major suspension components required two men (or very tough ladies).

Or is this as simple as my marker lights were - more about being scared until you've done it? I remember the solution to tackling that project was to simply take a swig of JD before and then go for it! ;)

So do you need any special tools to be able to do this? By "special" I mean:

1) any kind of lift more than a hydraulic floor jack?
2) a welder of any sort
3) a pipe bender?

I have a full set of hand tools, air tools, an impact wrench, grinders and hammers. Doable?

Do the kits normally come with instructions with pictures? Can anyone say if the RCD or CST kits come with good pictures?;)Here you go CalDirt, give them holler :rolleyes:
phone: 951.328.9902
e-mail: infocst@cstsuspension.com (infocst@cstsuspension.com)

Thanks - but I'm looking for input from anyone who's actually done it. The mfgr will always make it sound easy since they built it and that's all they do.

I don't mean to change the subject here but I'm also considering a 6" CST or RCD lift and I already have a set of 35 inch bfg m'ts on 16.5x9.75 eagly alloy 589 wheels they have 4.75" of back spacing. I was just wondering if these tires/wheels would work?

i didnt know you were in fresno, you should look at full throatal lifts, they are real good, and probally as good as cst

I don't mean to change the subject here but I'm also considering a 6" CST or RCD lift and I already have a set of 35 inch bfg m'ts on 16.5x9.75 eagly alloy 589 wheels they have 4.75" of back spacing. I was just wondering if these tires/wheels would work?
I would expect a little rub at full to near full steering lock. On the CST at least I can't say about the RCD.

I vote CST!

I have a RCD on mine, and it has been a trouble free lift. I have also been looking into the CST. Already thinking about my next truck.):h The only thing I don't like about the RCD is how wide it makes your front track. Does anyone know if the CST is closer to the factory track width than the RCD? From looking at pics I would guess it is, but I don't have any hard figures to prove it.

I like my RCD kit. I bought 35x14 Nitto tires on 10 inch wide rims. They did not work, too big. I gave someone a heck of a deal on e-Bay and bought 33x12.5 on 8 inch rims. They fit real nice with only trimming on the plastic panel under the bumper. The truck is not as big as I would like, but it actually worked out nice for the pulls and drag racing. Pulled it up next to a stock twin truck to mine and there is a big difference. Park next to a stock Dodge and it sits about the same height. I have an 8 foot garage door and have no problems. I only wish my garage was deeper.