When deciding to transform your daily on-road hauler into a multi-functional on- and off-road assault vehicle, your top priorities would be increasing the vehicle's ground clearance, suspension travel, and durability. To achieve an intimidating image, you would start off by installing an aftermarket lift kit and bolt on an aggressive off-road wheel/tire combo.
We called up Jeff Yoder at RCD in El Cajon, California, to see about increasing the ride height of the front suspension of a 1994 Chevy Silverado. RCD uses a drop-cradle subframe, lifting the rockers 6 inches without replacing the factory upper and lower control arms. Also included in the kit are steering knuckles, shocks, and longer coil springs. The rear suspension is lifted with a simple 4-inch block inserted between the leaf spring pack and rear axle housing with a longer shock absorber. Larger-diameter wheels and tires will also contribute to the ride height increase.
RCD (Race Car Dynamics), located in El Cajon, California, is one of the leading manufacturers of off-road suspension kits and components for light trucks and SUVs. We followed along as Nick DiCredico at Wicked Trucks and Rods, in Garden Grove, California, installed the RCD 6-inch lift.
RCD's 6-inch lift kit includes: longer, stronger front coil spring replacements, Bilstein 5100 nitrogen-filled shock absorbers, front raised spindle and hub assembly, front and rear dropped subframe suspension pickup point brackets, shorter bumpstops, dropped subframe strut bars, urethane bushings, and brackets. Longer front sway bar end links and urethane bushings were also included. Rear axle housing/leaf spring 4-inch blocks with longer rear axle housing/leaf spring U-bolts, and washer/nut-fastening hardware.
2. After racking the '94 Chevy...
2. After racking the '94 Chevy Silverado, Nick DiCredico unbolted lug nuts and then removed the original steel wheels and rubber.
3. Stock front suspension...
3. Stock front suspension brake rotors, calipers, spindles, shocks, coil springs, etc., were ready to be disassembled.
4. High-mileage Car Quest...
4. High-mileage Car Quest gas-filled shock absorbers were disassembled and tossed.
5. Tie rods were disconnected...
5. Tie rods were disconnected from the steering knuckle of the spindle.
6. After removing the front...
6. After removing the front sway bar end links from the lower control arm, Nick disconnected the front spindle from the lower control arm.
7. The factory brake caliper...
7. The factory brake caliper was unbolted from the front spindle assembly, then removed from the spindle. The brake rotor definitely needs to be turned or replaced.
8. The factory coil spring...
8. The factory coil spring was carefully removed from between the upper and lower control arms.
9. The front lower control...
9. The front lower control arms were unbolted from the front suspension pickup points on the framerails and removed.
10. After unbolting and extracting...
10. After unbolting and extracting the factory upper control arm ball joint, Nick measured 2 inches above the ball joint hole lip, then drilled a 3/8-inch-diameter hole and secured the shorter urethane RCD bumpstop.
11. Nick used the factory...
11. Nick used the factory front control arm pickup point mounting holes to the mount RCD front drop cradle subframe for the 6-inch lift front suspension.
12. After mounting the new...
12. After mounting the new RCD bumpstops (red), the front RCD drop-cradle subframe assembly was secured.