Rancho Quicklift Loaded Install 2011 Silverado

sams819 · July 12, 2011

My truck, a 2011 chevy silverado crewcab. LTZ, Z-71 1500. I purchased 2 Rancho Quicklift Loaded front strut assemblies, and 2 rear Rancho RS9000XL shocks from My4by.com The part numbers are as follows, Strutts #rs999901 $166.11 each Total shipped to my door $519.47

Shocks #rs999168 $ 81.15 each

1 Readylift #66-3002 rear block kit from Ebay $139.95 shipped $139.00

Total $658.47

The Install was easy, First, open the hood and remove the 3 nuts on the top of the strut 18mm. Do this on both sides. Then jack the truck up on the frame so the tires are about 3 inches of the ground. Place 2 jackstands and lower the truck on them. Remove the wheels 22mm, Take the 15mm bolts off the swaybar on both sides. Then using a 10mm wrench, remove the 2 brake sensor brackets so that you do not strech them. Take the 2 15mm bolts from the bottom of the strut. You then can pull down on the strut assembly, and bring it up through the upper control arm. Take the new strut assembly and put it back through the a arm and just reverse the process. Because the strutt is only a 1/2 inch longer then the factory one, you do not need to remove the upper ball joint bolt or the tie rod end. Torque the lower shock bolts to 37 foot pounds, the upper shock bolts to 37 foot pounds, reinstall the 2 10mm bolts, but leave the sway bar loose until you do the other side. When you complete the other side, reinstall the sway bar bolts and tighten them to 37 foot pounds. I set the shock to #7 setting and it seems good for me. Reinstall the wheels and torque them to 140 foot pounds. Lower the truck to the ground. My height before install was 36 3/4 and it was 38 3/4 after install. 2 inch height gain.

The rear was 39 before install of the ready lift rear blocks. Without jacking up the truck, Remove the 4 spring ubolt nuts on one side. Remove the 2 u bolts. Using a floor jack I the placed a piece of wood on the jack and jacked up the spring until I could remove the factory 1.25 block and replace it with the ready lift 2.25 block. Make sure that the taper, smaller end of the block is facing the front of the truck. Lower the truck making sure that the pins are in the proper holes. Reinstall the 2 new ubolts, and washer and nuts. Torque the bolts evenly to 120 foot pounds. Repeat this on the other side.

Install the 2 rear shocks by removing the upper and lower bolts and replacing the shocks and torqueing them all to 85 foot pounds. The rear now measures 40 inches. Exactally a 1 inch gain in height. The truck now sits at 38 3/4 in the front and 40 inches in the rear. Looks good. I do have some photos, but do not know how to load them on this sight. I left the shock setting at 5 and it seems good to me.

I am taking the truck tomorrow to have the front realigned. Hope this is helpful. The front install took about 2 hours total, that was not being in a hurry. The rear blocks took less than an hour, and the shocks about 45 minutes with installing the boot.

One other note, The springs on the new unit are gm factory springs with the same part number scan tag still on them. The top of the strutt with the new bolts and the rubber boot inside the spring are also all gm factory items. Exactally the same as the factory except for the shock.

There is also a $100.00 rebate visa debit card on this deal from rancho until aug. 31, making my purchase $419.47.

old-chevy-dude · July 12, 2011

kinda hard to read as one long run on sentence/paragraph..

mind editing it and breaking it up a bit?

redjewel2ss · July 12, 2011

very interesting...

curious to see how much the front is lifted. their quickLIFT loaded shocks are like a levelling kit according to their website, but you replace the whole strut assembly, without having to swap out the springs, and without having any spacers.

this setup would go great with Rancho's MyRide wireless controller, which allows you to change the shock settings on the fly.

but my truck isn't 4wd, so i think i would be wasting money doing all that to mine... i think i'll just spend the $70 for a RC levelling kit to get rid of that wierd stock stance!

EcWrestlr · July 13, 2011

Great info. Would like to see pics of the finished product! Might be worth considering.

sams819 · July 13, 2011

Great info. Would like to see pics of the finished product! Might be worth considering.

I have some photos, but do not know how to post them.

ChevyTech77 · July 13, 2011

Complete Zone Off Road 2" lift is $130 + shipping and will accomplish the same thing.

EcWrestlr · July 14, 2011

Great info. Would like to see pics of the finished product! Might be worth considering.

I have some photos, but do not know how to post them.

Upload them to photobucket (or another image hosting website) and then copy and paste the picture link here with the img/ code things.

sams819 · July 14, 2011

Here are some photos of the Quicklift after install. Thanks for telling me how to post.

mhenshaw · July 14, 2011

Looks pretty level. You said 2" front and 1" back?

sams819 · July 14, 2011

Yes it sits level 38 3/4 on the front fender and 40 inch on the rear. 2 inch on front from the quicklift and 1 inch with the readylift on the rear. The ride is great and the larger shocks look good. This was a super easy install and the price with the rebate was $419.47.

sams819 · July 15, 2011

Here are a few more photos. Gives a better picture of the height.

dave_benn · July 15, 2011

IDK i think $419 is alotta money for 2" of lift, does this make the ride better, is there no bottoming out the suspension with this set up? I mean what are the perks that make it better than the $130 zone lift?

sams819 · July 15, 2011

No bottoming out of the suspension. The replacement strutt was only less than a half inch longer. The shocks are adjustable for the ride that you want and that price includes new rear shocks to accomidate the 1 inch longer rear height with the taller rear block.

Also I sold the two factory front struts and the factory rear rancho shocks to a guy with a 2007 for $375.00. That makes my install cost me a total of $44.Also, there is also a lifetime warranty.

You are just getting a spacer and 2 rear blocks for $130.00. I got 2 new rear rancho rs 9000 xl adjustable shocks, 2 new complete front struts with new springs,shocks and all new strutt componates. 2 new rear lift blocks with new ubolts and hardware, and a lifetime warranty. On a $44.000 truck, I did not feel that was to pricey.

redjewel2ss · July 15, 2011

nice! sold the old ones to make up for the price!

did you did your total cost include the alignment cost?

for some reason your math isn't adding up to mine:

Shocks & struts $419.47 after rebate

rear blocks $139

parts total: $558.47

sold old struts and shocks $300.75

sub total $257.72

plus alignment cost??

how did your install only cost you $44?

sams819 · July 15, 2011

I sold the old struts for 375.00 misprint but corrected. I had the rear blocks from my 2008. I was giving the cost of what it costs me for the install. I listed the cost of all the parts for someone elses information.

As far as the alignment, My dealer gives me free alignments, Inspections, and oil changes as I am on there Loyal customer list, as I have bought from them for over 35 years.

I am only relaying this info to help someone else who may want to do this install, not to compare this one way or another with any outher leveling method.

And just for your info, I today sold the stock rear blocks and spring bolts to a guy with a 2006 for $50.00. making MY install a $6.00 profit. But I guess if you count the electric for my air tools, and the lights, I probably just broke even.