- All right guys so we oftentimes talk about installing
a lift kit here on the channel,
but maybe a lot of folks don't actually know
what that process looks like
and what goes into actually,
taking up stock factory components
and then installing your new lift kit components
into your truck.
So today we're actually gonna walk you guys
through that process.
We've gotta build back in the shop.
It's a 14 to 18 GM 1500.
We'll put in a six inch rough country Lift kit in here.
So what we're gonna do
is we're gonna actually walk you guys
through that process
and show you what that truly looks like,
going from stock to lift it.
Let's get right into it.
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The first thing that you're gonna wanna do
when you go to install a lift kit,
it's you're gonna wanna raise the truck up
and put on another jack stands or a lift, right?
And make sure that when you put that truck up in the air,
that you're putting those stationary points
on a part of the truck that doesn't need to come off.
You have to determine where you wanna start, right?
You can either start in the front or the rear.
Of course,
the front a little bit more difficult,
more in depth,
but, it's the hardest part of the lift kit,
so if you get that out of the way early,
it's done,
you don't have to worry about it.
The rear on the other hand is actually a little bit easier.
So it's gonna go a little bit quicker.
Regardless of what direction you wanna go,
You have to pick which one you wanna start on first.
So for today's example,
let's start in the back of the truck, right?
So starting in the back,
you're gonna wanna use an appropriate jack
and, you know,
put some tension on the rear axle ofcourse,
so that way you can take the rear shocks off, right?
So that way there's no pressure on him.
So from there you're gonna wanna unplug
and remove all of the wiring
and any brake line brackets,
you know that are on the rear axle there as well.
So you can create some slack in those cables and stuff
so that way you can bring the rear axle down right?
Next step then is removing the U bolts from one side
of the axle,
and then loosening the other pro tip here,
only do one side at a time.
Don't pull both sides at the same time,
'cause you're gonna have to balance that axle up on top
of that jack trying to make sure
that you can hold it steady.
Bring the axle down just a little bit, right?
That's gonna create that room for your lift block
if that's what you're installing,
and then you remove your factory block,
if you happen to have one,
some kits here are actually gonna reuse that factory block.
So make sure you pay attention to your instructions.
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Put U bolt on
and then run the nuts up snugger up tight right?
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So now you have one side done.
The other side is loose.
So really,
it's just rinse and repeat on the other side right?
Drop the U bolts,
bring the actual down a little bit.
Take the block out.
If you need to remove it,
put the new block in,
put the U bolts back on
and then zipper back up tight right?
Get everything nice and snug up there with your U bolts.
Next step there's gonna be to install your new rear shocks.
Now this one goes pretty simple right?
Line with the bolt holes,
put the bolt in.
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Just tie everything up, tidy it up,
make sure nothing's hanging down,
nothing's out of the way,
and you're done with the rear,
50% hypothetically of your lift kit is done.
However, this is where it gets a little bit more intense.
Looking back up front
then first step you're gonna wanna do
is unplug all of your wiring
and disconnect your brake line brackets
from the frame,
from the knuckle, et cetera, right?
We want to get those free.
So everything's kind of out of the way.
Next step here is gonna be remove your tie rod end
from the knuckle.
Pretty simple,
zip it out of there,
pop it up.
Might need a little hammer to actually get it out of there.
Next step is to remove your brake calipers,
take them off the brackets
and then hang them out of the way,
a pro tip here is,
nice heavy duty piece of metal
or a coat hanger or something.
The goal is to support that brake caliper,
so it's not hanging on that line,
you're not stretching up your brake line in any kind,
Next step then is to remove the CV axle nut now,
this is a four wheel drive truck only thing, right?
So if you don't have a four wheel drive truck
then you don't worry about it.
Once you get that nut off of the upper ball joint, right?
You can just take a hammer and beat the piece
out of the knuckling.
Usually that'll pop that upper ball joint out
and you should be good.
From there you're gonna wanna loosen
that lower control arm nut,
but you know,
keep it threaded a couple of turns,
this will come and play
in just a moment here,
because the next step is to strike the knuckle
to dislodge that lower ball joint, right?
And this is where keeping that nut on is gonna save you
from that whole knuckle assembly just falling on the ground.
Banker's done this once or twice in his life.
So, you know there's a couple of pro tips here along the way
that you will probably pick up.
They're gonna help.
Once you've got that done,
support the knuckle,
pull the nut off the bottom
and then you can take that whole knuckle assembly
right out of the vehicle.
From there you can get in there
and remove your CV axles, right?
Usually on these trucks it's,
I believe six bolts that they come right out
and then you can take your strut out as well.
Take your lower control arm out,
and you're right as rain,
you've got it pretty well tore apart.
A couple of other things you wanna do here
is disconnect any wiring,
the steering shaft,
things like that,
and then remove the steering rack from the vehicle.
Again, this is GM specific.
Next step is gonna be disconnect any wiring
and the vent hosing from that front differential, right?
Because you've gotta get that out of there as well.
You're gonna wanna disconnect that
before you go to drop it
so that way you don't have to worry about it.
Support that front diff from the bottom,
preferably with the help of at least one other person,
because they kind of sit a little funky
and they like to tip
and then bring that differential down out of the truck
and bolt it to get out of the way.
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This is where things get a little bit spicy
depending on the truck that you're building.
But in the case of this truck,
you're gonna wanna cut the frame
and then, you know,
notch that diff to make sure that you can make room
for that front diff relocation bracket.
From there,
you pretty much start doing everything in reverse.
You start by installing the steering rack
and then your diff drop brackets go in
and you can reinstall your front diff
in your drive tab,
right in the same the way you took them apart,
you can pull them back up
and then it kind of just works your way back from there.
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You got the cross-member drop brackets that go in.
You've got the lower control arms that go in,
and then of course the skid plates,
if your truck has skid plates on them of course.
Next thing is gonna be installing the spacers
on this truck or the new strut assembly
if your truck comes with that.
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And then you don't wanna turn your attention back
to the diff mount,
where you tighten all of that up
and then tighten all the cross-members
and leave your lower control arms loose here.
'Cause the next step is installing those wheel bearings
in the new knuckles
and then trimming the dust shield if you need to,
because sometimes those dust shields
maybe don't fit quite like they're supposed to.
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From there,
install your CV axles, right?
Same thing fold them up,
slide them through.
Put the old nuts on.
Next step is installing the knuckle assembly on the vehicle,
tighten up those upper and lower ball joints
and the CV nuts
and of course install the sway bar drop bracket,
the sway bar
and the end links.
These, you can crank tight.
Now from there,
the next step is to remove your stock tight rod ends
and trim or install the new ones, right?
But don't hook them up to that knuckle yet.
Next is to re-install those breaks
and the calipers
and now is a good time,
if you haven't yet to look at them
and replace them if you need to replace your pads or rotors
or upgrade them, right?
Because, there's no better time to put in a big brake kit
than when you're actually tearing everything apart.
Make sure you torque them correctly because if you don't,
your caliper bolts will walk out backwards
and then it will blow Caliper like Jerry did mama
down the road.
It's not a good time.
Okay, now you can install that tie rod into your knuckle
and tighten that guy up.
And then from there, install things like your brake lines
and your wiring brackets
and then route them as necessary,
you know, make sure
that your zip ties are your friend here, right?
You zip tie everything up,
get out of the way.
Make sure everything looks good.
If you need to do trimming
because of bigger wheels and tires,
now is the time to do it.
We're talking
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and it's not easier at any other time
than this point right here.
Get that fender taken care of,
get it out of the way.
Make sure you've got room for those bigger wheels and tires.
And then,
install your wheel and tire package, right?
Put it all in there.
Get her set to go,
put the truck on the ground.
Torque the lug nuts up.
Make sure everything's good.
And from there you should be set.
Now, couple of things that you still have to do,
you wanna send the truck having a line, right?
Make sure it's tracking crude on the road,
you're not gonna chew tires up.
And when it gets back,
give it a final over
to just make sure you didn't miss anything along the way,
because, regardless of how many of these you've done
and how good you are,
there's still a chance that you missed something.
And once you're done,
wash it up,
make it look good,
take it out take some photos,
and of course,
add your truck to the gallery,
at customoffsets.com/add,
so that way you can help other enthusiasts
know exactly what it looks like on their truck.
There you have it guys,
there is the install of a six inch rough country lift kit
on a 14 to 18 Silverado.
Let us know what you guys think of the video.
Drop a comment down below,
and as always,
if you guys need a rough country lift kit for your truck,
you can check those out at customoffsets.com.
With that, I'm Dustin,
we'll see you guys on the next one.
Peace.
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