I want to raise my truck. I see a couple of recent conversations about the Skyjacker 3" lift. Anyone know of any other reasonably priced options? Do I lose my electronic adjustable suspension feature?

I am not familiar with that particular lift kit. I did put in a Performance Accessories 3" body lift into my truck. Haven't had any problems with it, everything is still working the same.

Have a nice day.

Bill

I've put in the Cognito 'A' arms, and cranked the torsion bars to get 2.5" of lift. It comes with an adapter to keep your stock shock absorber. The ride is better than stock.

I saw that Pro-comp has a 6" lift kit that will fit the quadrasteer, but you have to get a new driveshaft, so it gets really expensive.

G-

I've been thinking about buying that Cognito system, have emailed the company a couple of times on purchasing without the keys. Care to expand on your experience with the install/ride, G?

IMHO, I wouldn't consider a lift over 3", with the AWD and QS and don't let the loss of the selectable ride sway your decision from a lift. Just zip-tie the cable securely and pull the fuse, so you don't get a code. Ride can only improve.

The cognito systems can be seen at www.cognitomotorsports.com.
I have mixed reviews on the system. It is supposed to give increased travel, approximately 1", if I remember correctly. In the stock configuration, the shock absorber limits the downward travel. By adding an extension bracket, or using longer shocks, you get more travel. One of the problems with just cranking the torsion bars, is that it puts the shock at the limit of it's travel, and I have heard that the shocks are position sensitive, so they are very stiff at the end of their travel. So if you just crank your torsion bars, then that is where the stiffness comes in. By adding the extension, it puts the shock back into the 'soft' part of it's stroke. I have heard that some people can not get their truck aligned correctly after they crank their torsion bars, so that is where the cognito system is supposed to help, by changing the upper 'A' arm, you can get the truck aligned. If I had to do it over again, I would probably just get the longer shocks, or a shock extension, and then crank my torsion bars, and see if I could get my truck aligned. If I could, then I would leave it at that. If I could not get it aligned, then I would either get the cognito system or a lift kit.

I did not use the keys, and I don't think that most people need them. You can get about 2.5" of lift by just cranking the torsion bars. The aftermarket keys just start off cranked to begin with, and you can crank the torsion bars up more. Unless you have a front mounted winch, or a heavy aftermarket bumper, or your torsion bars have sagged, then I don't think that the keys are necessary. The reason why, is that with the stock keys cranked, the angles of the joints are getting pretty steep, and I would not want to get any worse than I can get by cranking the torsion bars alone.

The Cognito system did allow my truck to get aligned, and the ride is softer and better. The down side is that the instructions are not as good as I would have liked, and they tell you to torque the 'A' arm bolts to factory specifications. Unfortunately, the Cognito system isn't designed like the factory system, and the crush sleeve made contact with the mounting tabs, and by torquing it to factory spec's, it caused some damage and I had to spend hours to fix and remedy. I could not get it aligned until after I fixed the damage caused by the crush sleeve.

The one really good product that cognito sells is the bracket to reinforce the pitman and idler arms. I know that some members of this forum have had problems with them, and these brackets are supposed to fix that weak link.

Gary

This message has been edited. Last edited by: luchenbach,

Oh, I forgot to add what size tires that I have tried.

With the cognito system and my torsion bars cranked, I was able to fit 12.5 x 33 x 17 tires on 9" x 17" rims with 4.5" of backspacing. Minor trimming was required.

I then went to hummer tires and rims, which are 315/70/17 or 35x12.50x17 on 8.5" x 17" rims, with 5.5" of backspacing. Due to the large amount of backspacing and the wide tires, I needed to use a 1/4" spacer to keep the rubbing of the cognito 'A' arm to a minimum. This setup required more trimming and tucking, but no metal cutting.

Gary

Sorry DBMack, don't mean to sway away from your original question, but you'll need to do a search, here's a starter and welcome;

http://performancelifts.com/cgi-bin/cart/SKYC9461K.html

http://www.truckaddons.com/Catalog/subpages/skyjacker/s...cker-chevy-gmc-4.htm

http://www.4wheelonline.com/Products.aspx?CategoryId=23313&ProductId=70196