Rough Country, Hellwig Suspension

[ballisticexchris]

Hi everyone. My name's Chris. I have been a "lurker" here for a while. I want to thank everyone here for all the good info on the GM trucks. I wanted my first few posts to be informative instead of the usual question "how big of a tire can I put on" post.

 

A little background on me: My last truck was a 94 Chevy Silverado I just retired it at 312,000 miles. My parents gave me this truck: An 05 GMC Sierra bare bones standard cab with 60,000 miles on the clock. It's got a NV3500 trans, 4.3 V6 and lame 3.23 gearing. Here it is stock height.

 

 

I am fixing to put a small lift on it tomorrow. I figure there are some guys just like me who don't have any fancy garage or tools. So here is the beginning of a little tutorial for the lift, tie rod sleeves and sway bar installation. I am on a tight budget so Rough Country fits the bill for me. As far as sway control, budget or not, IMO Hellwig is the only way to go. My last Hellwig sway bar was on my Silverado for well over 250,000 miles of a hard mix of towing and offroad desert use.

 

Here is the truck ready to work on:

 

 

Here are the parts all laid out:

 

 

I'm hopping to have it completely installed by Friday. I will take lots of pics and inform you guys of any and all installation "issues" or difficulties. Enjoy!

[Colatiger42]

Nice man. I'm looking forward to this. Keep the pics coming and good luck!

[ballisticexchris]

Well, I started the lift process today. Lets dig in!

 

The first part is pretty straight forward. Remove abs wire and brake line, remove and secure caliper:

 

Remove three bolts holding on rotor/bearing assembly (The cool thing is I still have well over 50% brake pad left!):

 

Now you are ready to remove the knuckle. Remove the tie rod and upper ball joint nuts, give a love tap or two on the knuckle next to each and they will pop right off.

 

The lower ball joint on the other hand, was very hard to dislodge. I tried a ball joint separator. Did not fit. Tried and broke two pickle forks and ended up with this

 

As you can see, you cannot just unbolt these. The ball joint is riveted! Out comes the grinder and punch. No good. Will not budge. Then, I am embarrassed to say, I end up with a huge mess. My eyesite is so bad these days! Remind me to stay away from the smoke wrench! I really screwed the pooch with this nightmare. Here is what I ended up with.

 

After much thought, I decided to buy a Moog Ball joint, some grade 8 x 7/16 flat washers (to cover the holes) and bolt it up tomorrow. I thought about building up the holes with my little inverter welder. I decided against it as I don't want to open another bag of worms. It was hard enough keeping a wet rag around the coil while cutting the rivets out.

 

Here is the PROPER tool and technique for a very simple lower ball joint removal:

 

Tap a few times and bingo! Falls right out!

 

Tie rod sleeves were very simple. I just measured from the outer boot to tie rod end, ditched the jam nut, and replaced with a nice beefy sleeve. 10 minute job both sides.

 

The front sway bar is a beast! Super duper heavy duty. Solid chunk of steel. Twice the weight as the stock hollow butter bar. Very simple install.

 

Tomorrow I finish the project.

 

Chris

[ruggedlife]

for the record... a bigger hammer next time and screw the "love" tap, man up and bust that thing loose no problem works for me every time. i dont even mess with small hammers like that... 6lb sledge for regular use, 12lb for anything made before 1990 with stock parts

[ballisticexchris]

for the record... a bigger hammer next time and screw the "love" tap, man up and bust that thing loose no problem works for me every time. i dont even mess with small hammers like that... 6lb sledge for regular use, 12lb for anything made before 1990 with stock parts

 

LMFAO!! I hear that! Love taps don't work when doing HD suspension!

 

OK, back on track. I pretty much finished everything today with the exception of the rear sway bar and hitch. I'll do that on my next days off. My truck is being aligned as I type. I left off yesterday with everything torn apart.

 

Putting it together is WAY easier than the disassembly process. Its pretty much in the reverse order.

 

Here is a new knuckle next to the old:

 

 

First thing was the ball joint repair It actually came out very nice:

 

The biggest thing to remember when doing ANY knuckle and/or coil lift is to make sure all the brake lines/abs wires turn freely and do not stretch or rub. It looks like they are stretched but there is just enough slack when steering is locked in either direction.

 

The lifting blocks and rear shocks were a straight forward super easy install.

 

Here is the end result:

I wonder what size wheel I can fit underneath it?

 

 

OK here is the real before and after pics:

For some reason the after photo looks like the truck is bent down in the rear. It's just the way the sun was hitting it.

 

All in all I am very pleased with this setup !! I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a small lift with a factory quality ride.

 

The new knuckles were super heavy duty with gussets cast into them. and the shocks are a great value with a quality ride. I slammed over a few speed bumps and dips before taking it the alignment shop. No funny noises or clunks. I have heard bad things about Rough Country products. I think this knuckle lift is every bit as good as a Fabtech. The only fitment issue I had was having to bend the sheet metal dust cover on the rotor for caliper clearance. Every thing else bolted up very tight and lined up perfect.

 

Another thing to note is the tapers for the ball joints and tie rods. I have seen sloppy loose tapers on other aftermarket lifts. Not this one. Very tight and precise fit. The machining was very smooth and everything bolted right up as good as stock.

 

Again, just be mindful of the brake line and abs wire routing.

 

Next week will be the hitch and rear sway bar.

 

Any questions and comments good or bad are welcome. Heck maybe I can learn something from some of you gearheads that have done this before.

[ballisticexchris]

So I'm bringing up an old post since I got new tires for the truck.

 

First off let me make it very clear on the size of tire that will fit a 2005 GMC sierra 1500 with 3" knuckle lift. Maximum tire size you can squeeze is a 265/70/17.

 

A 285 will not fit without MAJOR trimming to bumper plastic and wheel well plastic removal. Any one who has done it (with a 3" lift) please post pictures and show me proof. I went my local tire store and we tested a 285. Even with aftermarket wheels there is no way to fit a 285 tire in there.

 

So all this internet BS of a 285 fitting is just that. BS! To keep a 285 from rubbing, you have to remove so much bumper and wheel well plastic, that your radiator and engine compartment are fully exposed. This is with the truck just sitting and turning the steering wheel. Not to mention the guy installing the tire (who does this every day), said you need a minimum of 4" lift for the 285 to fit. And even then you will need to trim some.

 

That being said, I'm very pleased with the 265 tires. They don't stick out too far, I'm able to use my stock rims, and the LT "E rated" tires ride very nice.

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this will save someone the headache I went through when trying to fit a tire. OTOH, if you want to butcher up your wheel well and have the front tires lock up when turning and hitting a bump, then go with the bigger tire.

[Chris]

I can fit a 285 on my stock 16" wheel with a level. I didn't go that route because of cash at the time so went with the 265/75

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Xparent Red Tapatalk 2

[MikeNH]

Gotta disagree. My friend who did the bedliner on my rockers has a sister with 285s on her 2004 1500. Ridden in the truck, never rubbed, no trimming. I always thought 285s stock was BS too.

[kstruckcountry]

I drove a friend's 2004 with nothing but cranked t bars and he ran 295's. Only rubbed at full lock.

[Chris]

But the OP has a 2wd like myself, Danny thats a 4wd, and Mike was your friend's sister's truck an 800 2wd?

[MikeNH]

Yeah I missed that. Hers is a 4WD. My bad.

[Chris]

if the offset is too low the tire hits the coil or sway bar, too high it hits fender or plastic. I test fitted a 285 on my stock 16 and was fine after a level

[travishale84]

I also had an 04 z71 with pro comp wheels with 285 75 16's with cranked torsion bars. i had to trim the front bumper a little, but that was the only rubbing i had.

i later traded that truck for an 08 1500 and fit the 16's with 285's with a 3" lift and they rubbed a little on the mud flaps(ripped the mud flaps off the truck) I did have to grind the calipers down no more than 1/16" on the high spot to get the wheels to fit

[Big Whiskey]

Guys, lets keep in mind that this is a 2WD....and that it has coil springs instead of torsion bars. We all know that 285's will fit on a 4x4.