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Chevrolet Silverado 2007-2013: Lift and Leveling Modifications

Some people want to go sky-high, and others just want their trucks to sit level. Either way, there are readily available modifications for your truck to get it sitting pretty.

By Pizzaman711 - July 6, 2015

This article applies to the Chevrolet Silverado GMT900 (2007-2013).

Adding a leveling or lift kit to your truck can improve the look and give you more clearance to run bigger tires, which means more ground clearance for when you're off the road. However, leveling or lifting has drawbacks as well. Besides the initial cost, maintenance can become more frequent for components like ball joints and tie rod ends. In addition, tires get almost exponentially more expensive the bigger you go and depending how big you go, you may need to re-gear the differentials as well. For all the options that are listed below, it's important to keep in mind that the DIY costs do not include the cost of an alignment. Alignment costs are highly dependent on your area, and can range anywhere from around $50 to $120. Regardless of how you lift or level your truck, you will need to get an alignment right after installing to protect your tires from getting odd wear patterns and to protect the front suspension components from premature wear. Any increase in tire size will also cause your speedometer to read slower than you are actually going, so you'll need to get that corrected as well.

Table of Contents

Leveling Kits: 0"-3"

88-06 Chevrolet 1500

  • For 2WD trucks, you can use either coil spring spacers or replacement coil springs.
  • For 4WD trucks, you can use torsion keys.

06-14 Chevrolet 1500

  • You can use either strut spacers or leveling struts for both 2WD and 4WD.

All trucks are different, but the best way to figure out how much height you need to level is to take a measure tape and:

  1. Measure the distance from the center of the hub cap to the top of the wheel well at all four tires.
  2. Average the front measurements together, and then average the rear measurements together.
  3. The difference between the average of the rear and the average of the front is what you need to level your truck.
Figure 1. Truck with leveling kit installed.

Coil Spring Spacers

DIY Cost – $60

Professional Cost – $200-250

Skill Level – Easy; you just need to compress the spring enough to place these on top.

These are by far the cheapest way to level your truck. They work by putting extra tension on the coil spring so that the spring doesn't compress as much, which leads to lift. Anything this cheap has drawbacks, and the biggest drawback to these is that your ride quality will suffer. These stiffen up the ride, so the more height you get with them, the stiffer the ride will be. Not recommended due to its drawbacks.

Replacement Coil Springs

DIY Cost – $250-400

Professional Cost – $600-900

Skill Level – Moderate; you need to remove the old coil springs, which requires tearing down the front suspension.

If you have the money, it is recommended going this route over the coil spring spacers to level your truck. Instead of applying tension to the springs to gain lift, these use a longer coil spring (usually) with a slightly softer spring rate. This leads to the same or even better ride quality as well as a slight (1" to 2") increase in wheel travel. Recommended for its better ride quality.

Torsion Keys

DIY Cost – $80-150

Professional Cost – $300-400

Skill Level – Easy; these are a bolt-in swap.

Like coil spring spacers, the more lift you get with these, the rougher the ride will be. The good part about these is that they're adjustable. So if the passenger's side of the truck sits slightly lower than the driver's side, you can adjust these keys to get the perfect level height between the two. Recommended for its adjustability.

Strut Spacers

DIY Cost – $80-150

Professional Cost – $350-450

Skill Level – Moderate; you need to remove the strut, which requires tearing down the front suspension.

Strut spacers work by bolting on top of the strut assembly, and moving it down a certain amount to simulate having a longer strut in place. The good thing about these is it doesn't effect the spring rate, so your on-street ride quality won't suffer. They do, however, effect the wheel down travel, which means you have a better chance of bottoming out the strut off-road. Recommended for its on-street ride quality.

Leveling Struts

DIY Cost – $300-500

Professional Cost – $600-800

Skill Level – Moderate; you need to remove the old strut, which requires tearing down the front suspension.

If the money allows for it, go for leveling struts. Like replacement coil springs, these work by using a longer strut with an altered spring rate to give you both height and good or better than stock ride quality. Some of these leveling struts, such as the Rancho 9000, even have a dial on them that allows you to fine tune the ride quality. Recommended for its fine tuning capability.

Body Lifts: 1"-3"

A shorter lift, on the one to three-inch range, plays a more practical role than aesthetic. One reason to go for a shorter lift is if you are simply adding components to your truck that increase its net weight, such as heavy towing accessories. Also, added height allows larger tires to be installed without significantly affecting quality and fuel economy. The higher up you lift your truck, both of these factors tend to go down. But of course, depending what your truck will be used for, a higher lift might be necessary.

Figure 2. Truck with body lift installed.

Body Lift

DIY Cost – $200-350

Professional Cost – $900-1,500

Skill Level – Difficult; you are removing the truck body from the frame to install spacers.

If you can do the install yourself, body lifts can be a very cheap way to gain a couple inches. However, if you are planning to have a shop do it, be prepared to pay close or as much as a 4-6" lift kit would cost. This is a very labor intensive install, most weekend warriors will allow two to three days for the install. Because you are lifting the body from the frame, you'll be left with gaps between the top of the frame rails and the body. These can be fixed with the purchase of gap guards, but those will run you another $200 to $350. Recommended for weekend warriors.

Lift Kits: 4"-12"+

All lift kits utilize the same method to lift. They'll have to drop the sub-frame to lower the lower control arms down; a larger steering knuckle to correct for suspension geometry, and longer coil springs or struts to provide the lift. It's important to note that because these kits allow for a lot larger tires than stock, re-gearing your differentials should be considered for a 33" to 35" tire. Re-gearing is a must for anything around a 35" tire.

Figure 3. Truck with lift kit installed.

Four-Inch Lift Kits

DIY Cost – $800-1,500

Professional Cost – $600-800 parts plus labor

Skill Level – Difficult; you'll need to tear down the entire front suspension.

Four-inch lift provide that perfect middle ground between a leveling kit and a larger suspension lift. For those of you who just want a little more ground clearance while still being able to get into the garage, this is the perfect kit for you. However, if you ever think you might go bigger in the future, you should go with a 6" kit to start since they'll only run you $100 to $200 more. A four-inch kit will allow for clearance of around a 33" to 35" tire depending on wheel choice. Recommended for drivers who want a lift and still be able to get into the garage.

Six-Inch Lift Kits

DIY Cost – $1,300-3,500

Professional Cost – $600-800 parts plus labor

Skill Level – Difficult; you'll need to tear down the entire front suspension.

This is the most common height you'll see for lift kits. Six inches is generally the perfect balance between height and still daily driveable. Even though you'll still only be able to clear about the same size tire as a four-inch kit, those tires will have more room to flex off-road. Also, you'll have less chance of any rubbing issues when going with a wheel with a more negative offset. Recommended for its balanced height and driveability.

Eight-Inch and Up Lift Kits

DIY Cost – $2,800-5,500

Professional Cost – $600-800 parts plus labor

Skill Level – Difficult; you'll need to tear down the entire front suspension.

These kits are way the sky and your budget are the limit come into play. Off the shelf, you can find kits from around 8" to 16". But with a big enough budget, a lot of off-road shops can build you a custom kit a lot bigger than that. It's important to keep in mind that because the kits allow for such big tires, you'll need to look into upgrading both your braking and steering system to keep the truck safe for the street. These kits will allow for a 37" or bigger tire. Recommended for drivers who want bigger tires.

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