Why Chevrolet Spin Phase Out

2019 Chevrolet Silverado Fully Revealed and Explained - New Engines, Specs, & Trim Levels

AmericanTrucks Chevy & GMC:

Hey, guys.
Adam here with americantrucks.com.
And today, we've got some bigger news revolving
around the 2019 Silverado.
As you might be aware, the Detroit Auto Show
is going on right now and Chevy, as expected,
made a big appearance to show off a lot more
of the 2019 Silverado than they did at their
100th Anniversary event in Texas.
Now, if you didn't catch my news piece on
that, you might want to head there to check
it out to see what they had to share because
it was pretty cool, considering they flew
the truck in on a helicopter.
This time, they did things a little simpler
with a platform full of a few different trim
levels of the newly redesigned truck.
So let's break down what we found out this
weekend.
Now, for one thing, Chevy updated us on the
trim levels we can expect for this upcoming
model year, and there are some good things
going on that I'm super-excited about.
As you know, the truck looks completely different
than previous years, new headlights, new front
end completely, new rounded wheel wells -- hopefully,
easier on aftermarket wheel and tire setups,
we'll see -- and a few new looks in the rear.
There's a bunch of new info on that appearance
coming to life this weekend.
We now know that the fourth-gen Silverado
is offered in eight different models and trim
levels with six different powertrain options.
Mark Reuss, the Head of Global Development,
introduced a new 3-liter, inline 6-cylinder
turbo diesel to compete with Ford and Ram's
diesel options, which he claims will be better
fuel-wise, seeing maybe 30 miles per gallon
highway.
There's also the 5.3 and the 6.2 that we already
know and love that will have an industry-first
technology that can shut off up to seven of
its eight cylinders when not needed, like
if you're coasting on the highway.
Which is a lot more than our current Ecotech
option that only has the ability to shut off
up to four cylinders.
This would mean a decent improvement in highway
mileage, which I know I can really appreciate.
Now, Reuss also mentioned a 3.6-liter V6 option
is available, but he did not confirm or deny
the possibility of a 4-cylinder hybrid option
which we could see in the future.
Finally, and this is a biggie, there's a 10-speed
automatic transmission with start-stop technology
coming to the new models, which is new to
GM's lineup to compete with Ford's already
existing 10-speed trans, although it has not
been confirmed for all trim levels.
Unfortunately, we do not have any horsepower
or torque specs for the six different powertrain
options.
But once they are announced, we'll be the
first to let you guys know.
Now, when it comes to the actual body design,
we know that the new redesign gives us a 1.6-inch
longer body, a wheelbase stretched by 3.9
inches for added rear seat legroom, which
was confirmed to have 43.8 inches of room
which is 3 inches more than our current trucks
on the road.
In the last news episode, I mentioned Chevy
and Ford's differences of materials used in
their trucks and how Chevy wasn't looking
to pick up Ford's aluminum body idea.
But instead, they're going with a mixture
of materials in the interest of shedding weight.
We now know that they've managed to do so,
shedding up to 450 pounds of weight for better
fuel efficiency, which is very impressive.
We've got a little more info on the suspension
of the trucks as well.
Chevy noted that we'll see new forged upper
control arms in the independent front suspension.
In the rear, there are new live axles and
a revised leaf spring suspension.
Some models will even have carbon composite
second-stage rear springs, similar to that
found in the Corvette's handbook.
Now, the body is something without a doubt
carrying some of the biggest attractions with
changes a lot of which we've seen in pictures
and the reveal footage.
But there are definitely some things worth
pointing out specifically.
All new to GM is a power lift tailgate, which
can be controlled by the key fob, an interior
button, or by hand.
The tailgate can open and shut itself to make
it a huge hands-free help to High Country
owners, but we're not entirely sure just yet
if it's available in any other trim levels
as an option.
Now, the bed itself is 7 inches wider -- 7
inches -- and now it's got a total of 21 tie
down points, which is a huge jump over the
mid-single digit options of tie downs we currently
have up until now.
We can see four new tie downs welded to the
middle section of the side of each bed on
each side, along with the four lower corner
tie downs we've previously had.
Now, if you're carrying a lot of cargo in
your bed, this is a huge help.
The beds offer the largest cargo volume across
all trim levels and bed lengths, the short
box option boasting a 63 cubic feet cargo
volume, which is 20% more than its competition.
The rear bumper has small changes including
larger corner steps to access the bed a little
easier.
Now, inside the bed, you'll also have options
to include accessory storage bins above the
wheel wells for short box models, which will
be lockable while still allowing for, say,
a 4 by 8 plywood to lay flat in the bed.
The new trim level options gave us a glimpse
into what will change between the few options
that we have.
We can expect the same High Country LTZ, LT,
Custom, and Work Truck models.
But in addition to that, there are new RST
and Trailboss editions mixed in there.
Now, Chevy hasn't released all the exact specifications
as to what the models will feature individually,
but we did catch a look at their appearances.
The RST or Rally Sport Truck, is going to
be the street performer option with a sporty
performance appearance with up to 22-inch
wheels.
The High Country model is, of course, the
top-of-the-line, luxury-based truck of the
trim setup for the Silverados, and it still
carries that look and feel in the 2019 design.
The truck as a whole looks a whole lot bigger
and more capable.
The High Country sports one of the more intimidating
front grille designs with a tri-bar lower,
a dual upper, and a horizontal bar on both
sides of your bow-tie badge in the middle.
Now, it's a super-sleek look that is a bit
different than the previous models and similar
designs are found on the LTZ trim level, just
with one less bar in the lower portion and
small detail switches.
This exact grille carries over through the
LT Trailboss model as well.
Speaking of the Trailboss, that edition is
found on both LT and Custom trim levels.
From what we've seen, the Trailboss editions
will have a 2-inch suspension lift and level
all around the truck to make it more off-road
capable on the trails, hence the name.
Now, they also get a slightly more aggressive
tire, the Goodyear Wrangler 275-65-18, which
would make sense for guys looking for more
traction and performance on rough terrain
like dirt and sand.
This will also be on top of the LTZ off-road
package, which boasts its usual added goods
as well.
Now, the Custom and LT Trailboss models also
see a locking differential, skid plates, and
Rancho shocks to go along with that lift.
The interior we've seen pictures of on the
Chevy site, but there hasn't been a ton of
talk on the specifications.
We do see the 8-inch touchscreen and smaller
options available in the respective trim levels,
and what looks like a big upgrade to the climate
control technology as well as just all around
creature comfort designs.
But we haven't gotten all the full scoops
yet.
It looks like there is a plethora of buttons
and controls under the Dual Climate Control
knobs on what presumably is the High Country
model.
But once we know more, we'll let you know.
Before we go, of course, I want to give something
away.
To be entered to win our giveaway, you want
to subscribe, share the video, and comment
below letting us know what you want to see
in the next episode of "The Haul" in the future.
Now, this time around, you'll be entered to
win the WeatherTech DigitalFit front over-the-hump
floor liners, and the winner will be announced
in the next news piece.
Now, speaking of announcing a winner, I want
to give a big congratulations to the winner
of our last giveaway, Scott W. Congrats, dude.
Definitely, spend the $100 gift card wisely.
Well, that just about does it for me.
You want to make sure you subscribe to our
YouTube channel to stay up to date on the
upcoming specs for the newly redesigned 2019
Silverado and the Sierra, which will be announced
later this year.
You'll catch more news pieces, upcoming truck
builds, and cool product reviews.
So keep it locked right here at americantrucks.com.

Electric Trio: The Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3 Square Off | Edmunds

Edmunds:

[MUSIC PLAYING]

DAN EDMUNDS: What we have here
are three electric vehicles
that are well known,
perhaps because each
is a dedicated EV that has
no gasoline counterpart.
Chevrolet has plugged
everything they
learned from their Bolt plug-in
hybrid into the Bolt EV.
JASON KAVANAGH: The Model 3
represents Tesla's first foray
into a more accessible EV.
CALVIN KIM: And the Nissan
LEAF, the first widely available
electric vehicle in
the United States,
is now in its second generation.
And while they're all
mainstream offerings,
they're not true
direct competitors.
JASON KAVANAGH:
Today, we're going
to explore the differences and
similarities among these three
popular EVs.

Well, the Tesla Model 3 has
a lot of power, actually.
I mean, there's no
complaints that I have
with the acceleration in this.
And like all EVs, it
has that instant torque.
You can punch around cars on the
freeway pretty much instantly.
I mean, you dip your foot
down on the accelerator,
and there's just an instant
reaction from the car.
That's one of the
things that EVs
and in particular, the
Tesla does really well.
DAN EDMUNDS: One of
the things I like
about the Bolt is it's quick.
I'm just rolling into the
throttle, not really laying
into it hard at all.
And it's up to speed
and in a short order.
And I am having no problem
getting around folks.
People think these
things are golf carts.
Uh-uh.
CALVIN KIM: The Nissan LEAF has
what sounds like a low number--
146 horsepower.
But it's the torque that
really gives it the beans.
It's got about 236,
possibly the torque.
Don't quote me on that.
But 236 is a lot for
a small car like this.
The car weighs
about 3,500 pounds.
So it's well in line.
I mean, basically, it'd
be equivalent to a bigger
engine in a compact car.
Needless to say, acceleration
is easy and brisk.
JASON KAVANAGH: Well, compared
to the Bolt or the LEAF,
the Tesla Model 3 is
definitely the most powerful.
It's the most capable.
It's also the most expensive.
It's also the only rear-wheel
drive EV of the three.
The other two are
front-wheel drive.
And that affects the driving
dynamics in a beneficial way
for the Model 3.
The Model 3 has the best
steering and handling
of the bunch by far.
It's just a more
grown-up feeling
car in the way it
goes down the road.
The steering feel
is really good.
It corners flat.
It picks up its speed
well over bumps.
In terms of steering
and handling,
the other two don't
touch the Tesla Model 3.
DAN EDMUNDS: The
Bolt handles great.
I mean, you wouldn't
think so to look at it.
It's tall and skinny.
But the battery pack is low
and underneath the floor,
so that keeps the
center of gravity low.
And that makes it feel
more like a go-cart
than an SUV or
something like that.
The steering is also
nicely weighted.
It's immediate, but not darty.
It's just what you want to kind
of maneuver around in traffic.
JASON KAVANAGH: Now,
the range in the Model 3
is kind of its trump card.
We got the long-range
version, which
has a 310-mile max range
in normal mode, which
is what Tesla recommends you
use on a day-to-day basis.
This will do 279 miles, which
is still really impressive.
It's still more range
than the other two.
In fact, it's the longest range
EV you could buy currently.
CALVIN KIM: This
face-lift of LEAF--
you get 150 miles
of claimed range.
Wonderfully for us, if
you put it in ECO mode
and enable e-Pedal, you can
get a lot more than that.
With our long-term
LEAF, we've been
able to drive it a
little bit already.
And we've routinely
gotten over 150 miles
with those features enabled.
That's great news for
commuters, especially
those that drive a little
bit longer distances.
So they can go a week
without charging.
Now, for EV owners,
the best way to do it
is to charge every night.
But, hey, if you're going to
go visit a friend's house,
or maybe go across town
to hang out somewhere,
it's nice to have that option.
DAN EDMUNDS: The Model
3 has a higher range
rating than this one.
But I don't really think
that at actual practice
that would be the case.
Because I've had a
really hard time getting
close to the Model 3's rating.
And yet, with this car, which
is rated at 238, I've gone 334.
That's almost 100 miles
more than the rating.
And if I'm paying for
more battery than I need,
then that's a big part
of the price of the car.
And this car could be cheaper
if it had a 150-mile range
or a 175-mile range.
CALVIN KIM: One of
the best advantages
of electric vehicles is
the ability to regenerate,
which is regenerative braking.
That means you can use an
electric motor that propels
you to help slow you down.
And one thing that
they did very cleverly,
though, is give you a
switch right on the center
console here called e-Pedal.
And just by clicking the
switch, you immediately
engage that
regenerative braking.
Nissan says you can
break as much as 2/10
of a "g," which doesn't
sound like a lot,
but from our
testing, it's plenty.
JASON KAVANAGH:
And in the Model 3,
the regenerative
effect is strong.
You can basically
one-pedal drive this thing
most of the time.
DAN EDMUNDS: Now, the Bolt is
especially good in this regard,
better than I think any
other car that you can buy,
any other EV.
Because when it's in
drive, like it is now,
I toggle using this here.
When it's in drive, there's
no regenerative braking.
It's all pads and rotors, so
the brake feels utterly natural.
A lot of cars--
EVs and hybrids use something--
a computer that kind of
decides whether it's
going to be regenerative
or brake pedal, based on demand.
And so then the
brakes feel weird.
This never feels weird, indeed.
And then when you
put it in L, there's
so much regenerative braking
that the brake lights come on.
And you can actually execute a
stop all the way down to zero
without ever touching
the brake pedal.
You just modulate the throttle.
Compared to the
Model 3 and the LEAF,
I like the Bolt's
setup much better.
Click it into L. You've
got all the regen you want.
Put it in D. You've got the
brake pedal feel you want,
if you want that.
The Model 3-- it's poke
through the touchscreen.
And the LEAF requires
you to flip a switch,
and you may not
remember to do it.
And it's not where you
think it should be.
This is really intuitive,
really easy, and very effective.
CALVIN KIM: Inside
the Nissan LEAF,
you'll find a pretty
much traditional car.
The materials are good.
There's not a lot of busyness
with the colors and design
choices.
We're in the top SL
model, so the seats
are this nice leather
with microsuede inserts.
The controls-- again, easy
to use, well laid out.
Again, it's more like a regular
car, instead of maybe a science
project, or a sci-fi set you'll
find in some of the other EVs.
DAN EDMUNDS: The one thing
that really disappoints
me more than anything
else about the Chevy Bolt
is the quality of the
interior materials.
It's just hard plastic
which would be OK
if it was attractive.
But there's just a
lot of weird lines.
And this color scheme
is kind of hard to take.
I mean, I would trade
away some battery capacity
and range to get
a better interior.
I mean, it doesn't
help that we've
got the light-colored
interior here.
I think that really does not
show it in its best light.
A darker color might
mask some of this stuff,
even like the reflections of the
dashtop or in the windshield.
Everywhere I go at just
about any light condition.
And that's kind of annoying,
because the visibility as a car
is great otherwise.
This car is probably
the least well equipped
of the three when it comes
to active driver aids.
It has a Lane Keeping
Assist System.
It has a Forward
Collision warning,
but it doesn't have
Adaptive Cruise.
It has nothing like Autopilot
or Nissan's ProPILOT Assist.
That's not bad because
you're not paying for it.
But at the same time,
it does lag behind.
And you couldn't get those
things if you wanted them.
JASON KAVANAGH: The design
of the Model 3's interior
is pretty unusual.
There's not a whole
lot of stuff in it.
I mean, it's a wide-open
space with a big touchscreen
in the middle, and
that's about it.
I mean, you could
even go and say
that maybe this is a
little generic looking.
But what you can't say is that
it's cluttered or crowded.
It feels really breezy
and airy in here.
There's a lot of space.
If you need anything, you
have to go to the touchscreen.
Or you've got a couple of
controls on the steering wheel,
and that's about it.
A good amount of
headroom for me.
I'm over 6 feet tall.
It does have this panoramic
sunroof arrangement
up here, which gives you a
little bit extra headroom.
Compared to the Bolt and the
LEAF's interior, or the Model
3's cabin-- is
definitely a departure.
And some people really love it.
And some people--
they're maybe going
to have to warm up
to it a little bit.
In terms of material
quality, the Model 3
does pretty well there.
The seats are this
synthetic leather,
which feels pretty convincing,
and looks like the real thing.
There's this synthetic
suede on the headliner
and on the door panels.
There's also this wood
applique on the dashboard.
Overall, the materials look
pretty good at a glance.
If you look closer at
the Model 3, though,
you'll notice some build
quality issues here and there--
cheap plastics, things
that don't fit quite right.
We've had some issues with
things falling off our car.
But it is built to a
higher price point,
certainly than the
Bolt or the LEAF is.
CALVIN KIM: The Nissan
LEAF is a hatchback
which means, obviously,
it's got a big hatch.
A lot of interior cargo room
with the seats folded up.
The rear seats do fold 60/40.
You'll find that once
you do fold them up,
there is a bit of a shelf
from the seatback to the cargo
floor.
But I'd say that between
its comp competitors,
this general cargo
area is very useful--
the low-loading height,
and the nice, deep floor,
and the tall ceiling height.
So you can fit taller cargo,
bulkier cargo in a little bit
easier.
DAN EDMUNDS: Of
the three, the Bolt
does have the least
cargo-carrying capacity
on paper.
But it is very flexible,
because of the way
the seats fold, the
way the floor can
be set into two positions.
And because you can
put roof racks on it.
JASON KAVANAGH:
The Model 3 might
look like a hatchback
from the outside,
but surprise, it's
a sedan, which
means it has a
traditional sedan trunk.
But that's no bad thing, because
the Model 3's cargo space
is pretty huge.
Not only is the trunk really
deep and a good width,
there's extra bonus storage
in the floor of the trunk
and an additional trunk
at the front of the car.
So you're not hurting for
cargo space at all in this.
Another thing it has is a
60/40 folding backseat, which
goes basically completely flat.
You could sleep in the
back of the Model 3
if you fold the seats down.
That's how much space there is.
CALVIN KIM: Compared
to its competitors,
the LEAF prices pretty well.
Now, in this SL trim with the
Pro-PILOT Assist and everything
like that, that'll set you
back a little over $37,000.
That's a little bit
less than the Bolt
Obviously, a lot less
than the Model 3.
And the federal tax credit is
still available for this car,
so you can get out the door
for a lot less than that.
You do get a lot of
car for your money.
The biggest attractor,
though, will be the range.
Both the Bolt and
the Tesla Model 3
have a lot more range
than the LEAF does.
Now, for those that are truly
range conscious that really do
want to go on
longer trips, rumor
has it that the Nissan LEAF--
bringing out a higher
range LEAF next year--
one with a 60-kilowatt battery
that cracks the 200 barrier.
Even if you're on
the fence about that,
this standard range
LEAF with 150 miles
is nothing to sneeze at.
DAN EDMUNDS: The
thing about this car
is you can buy it with
a premium package,
or you can get the
lower-priced base
model that does everything as
far as the driving experience.
It just doesn't have as
many bells and whistles
for a lot less money.
The Model 3-- right now,
the mythical $35,000 one
doesn't exist.
It's vaporware.
Certainly, this is a lot
less money than the Model 3.
If the $35,000 one
ever comes out,
well, we may have
to re-evaluate that.
JASON KAVANAGH: When the
Model 3 was launched,
it was purported to be the
$35,000 entry-level Tesla.
While that might
be the case, Tesla
is not shipping the $35,000
variant of the Model 3.
They're only shipping
a long-range variance.
And once you have
even a bare minimum
of options like this one--
I mean, this one's
sticker price is $55,000.
So we're in a totally different
segment than the other two
cars, which are substantially
less expensive than this one.
Tesla's Autopilot system
makes Nissan Pro-PILOT Assist
look like it's in diapers.
And in a way, it is.
It's Nissan's first attempt
at a semi-autonomous driving
mode, whereas Tesla has
had several years now
of real-world use of Autopilot.
And they've accumulated
a lot of data.
With that said, it's
not a perfect system.
We've discovered some
issues with it in the past.
But the continual
software updates
are a means to
address limitations,
not just in Autopilot, but
in any system in the car.
So again, pros and
cons with being
at the leading edge of things.
CALVIN KIM: Definitely one
of the coolest features
of the LEAF is Pro-PILOT Assist.
Now, it's not an
autonomous driving system.
What it is, though, is
a very, very connected
driver-assist system.
Now, just one button push
on the steering wheel
enables the system.
And then to turn it on, you just
activate your cruise control.
Now, what that gives you
is adaptive cruise control,
which keeps the distance from
ourselves and the car in front.
It does lane centering to--
keeps the car in the
center of the road.
And it'll even bring
you to a complete stop.
It's not a self-driving car.
All it's doing is just
keeping it in the center
and at a safe distance
from the car in front.
In an interesting twist of
fate, this system actually
works pretty darn good, even
alongside the Tesla's Autopilot
system.
Now, the Tesla has
the advantage of a GPS
and a connected system, where
it knows road conditions
to a certain extent.
The Nissan does not
have that feature set.
But considering the price
premium that Autopilot has
and that Tesla has, we believe
Pro-PILOT is a fantastic
addition to the Nissan LEAF.
DAN EDMUNDS: The thing
about the Bolt EV
is while I like
the way it drives,
I'd trade some of its range
for a nicer interior and better
seats.
JASON KAVANAGH: Yeah.
And while the Model
3 is definitely
the best driving,
most capable EV here,
you're going to pay
for the privilege.
The least expensive Model
3 you can get is $50,000.
The $36,000 version
just doesn't exist yet.
CALVIN KIM: Speaking of price,
that's the Nissan LEAF's forte.
It's the least expensive.
But it's also one of the more
comfortable out of the three,
which begs the question,
which of these three EVs
is the right one for you guys?
DAN EDMUNDS: Well, for me,
151 miles of range is enough.
And I do like those
seats, so yeah, the LEAF.
JASON KAVANAGH: Yeah.
For me, the cost is the
single overriding factor.
And while I don't think the
Nissan LEAF is necessarily
the best driving one
here, its price point
is really attractive.
So that's the one for me.
CALVIN KIM: Well,
we're unanimous.
It's the LEAF for
me also, thanks
to its price and practicality.
DAN EDMUNDS: But I
do reserve the right
to change my mind
when the $36,000 Tesla
Model 3 becomes available.
For more videos,
click Subscribe.
[MUSIC PLAYING]

2019 Silverado 1500 Barricade 3 in. Bull Bar - Black Review & Install

AmericanTrucks Chevy & GMC:

Hey, guys.
It's Joe from AmericanTrucks.
And today we're gonna be working with the
Barricade 3-inch Bull Bar in Black fitting
all '19 and newer Silverado 1500s.
Now, this is gonna be a great option if you're
looking to add some cost-effective protection
and off-road looks to the front end of your
brand new Silverado.
So, what do we have here with the Barricade
bull bar?
Well, this thing is made out of heavy-duty
3-inch tubular stainless steel.
It's finished in that gloss black powder coating
which is not just there to add to the looks.
Albeit if you were going for the blackout
look on your truck which this truck is obviously
not, there's a lot of chrome on here, this
would fit perfectly with that blackout look
but mainly that black powder coating is there
to serve as a second layer of protection over
top of that stainless steel.
Now, as far as features go, you do get a little
bit of a skid plate here, it's got some holes
in it for airflow, and at the very least,
it's going to encourage things to go under
the truck rather than into the front end of
your truck.
We also have some pre-drilled holes on this
crossbar right here for some extra LED lighting,
you can throw in a couple of cube lights there
or up to a 20-inch light bar.
However, if you don't plan on running any
lighting, the kit does include two plugs to
clean up the looks.
Now, if you're not a fan of the black looks
with this one which I have to admit I typically
do like that stealthy blackout look, but on
the case of this truck, we do have a lot of
chrome here from the factory.
So, I would understand getting a bare stainless
version of this which Barricade does offer.
It would match perfectly to the front end
of this '19 Silverado we're working with today.
However, it is gonna cost you a little bit
more to get that polished stainless.
We're looking at right around 290 bucks for
this one.
However, the black version is going to be
a little bit cheaper, looking at around 230
bucks for what we have here today.
And that's gonna be a great price.
You're getting a little bit of protection,
the off-road looks, and good build quality
with that stainless steel.
Definitely, well worth the money.
Now, before we move on to the install here,
one thing I did want to touch on is fitment.
This is not intended to fit the Legacy Silverado
model so that's gonna be the third-generation.
This is only intended to go on the newest
fourth-generation Silverado.
But with that out of the way, the install
is going to be extremely easy, even easier
if you have tow hooks because you already
have holes pre-cut in the bumper to get some
mounting brackets into the frame rails.
If you do not have tow hooks, you will have
to cut those holes.
And that's gonna give this an easy one out
of three wrenches on our difficulty meter.
Should take you about two hours to get this
hooked up fully.
So, without any further ado, let me show you
exactly how it's done.
Tools required for this install are going
to be an impact, U-joint, ratchet, extension.
You want some deep and short socket versions
of 17, 18, and 19-millimeter sockets.
Pliers aren't necessary but they do make things
a little bit easier.
You'lll see how we use these in just a second
here.
An 18-millimeter wrench and a 16-millimeter
wrench as well.
Now, like I said earlier, this is going to
be extremely easy.
However, if you don't have tow hooks, you're
gonna have to start by cutting some holes
to allow you to get to the frame rail in the
front bumper right here.
Now, afterwards, you can pick up right with
us as it's pretty much going to be the same.
If you do have tow hooks, you can pick up
with me right now.
We're just going to loosen those up with an
18-millimeter socket and wrench behind our
front bumper.
So, here we are behind the bumper on the driver's
side tow hook.
And this one is the one we're gonna start
with and it's a little bit tough to get at
with this bumper mount right here.
So, I'm just gonna take that 18-millimeter
short socket on a ratchet and wrench on the
nut over here and I'm gonna loosen that up.
So, the one in the rear, I'm gonna hit next.
This one you should be able to get to with
the impact gun.
If you have a U-joint, that's gonna give us
some wiggle room to be able to slide this
out past this bolt.
And that one I just removed with the impact
gun threads right into the tow hook itself.
So, as you can see, we're actually still running
into that other bolt.
This is a design flaw that's existed on the
older Silverados as well.
Fortunately though on the new trucks, you
probably don't have to remove the whole bumper,
just this bolt.
I know in the old trucks you did have to remove
the whole bumper to get this one tow hook
bolt out.
So, what I'm gonna try to do first is get
this bolt out of the way and that might be
able to give us a little bit more clearance
past that welded on nut.
So, that will give you enough clearance to
pull that tow hook bolt out.
Now, we shouldn't have this problem on the
other side but it's pretty much gonna be the
same process.
And with the tow hook out of the way, I'm
just gonna tighten this back down right now.
I think I forgot to mention this but this
is an 18-millimeter bolt on top as well.
So, moving on to the other side.
As you can see, the bolt head isn't even on
this side because the tow hook hardware isn't
mirrored.
They're actually the same for both frame rails.
So, once we get this nut off, we can pull
the bolt out on the other side of the frame
rail.
Now, we're going to hop over to the other
side of the frame rail.
There's that one last bolt that's threaded
into the tow hook itself.
So, now we're just going to take a mounting
bracket, we're gonna push that through the
hole in the bumper there and get this to mate
up with the frame rail.
You wanna make sure you grab the right one
for whatever side you're working on.
Passenger side first for us.
This one is marked right there with a P, driver
side will be marked with a D. Now, before
we do this, one thing I did wanna touch on
here is when we slide this in, it's gonna
be a tight fit.
I already tried this and you can see it's
eaten up the plastic around where your tow
hook used to be.
If you're not into that, you could easily
clean that up with a Dremel tool or a body
saw, something like that.
But I did just wanna mention that because
I know some guys would not like that on the
front of their brand new Silverado.
But if you're willing to get over that, this
isn't gonna be extremely easy.
We're just gonna line it up like so and push
that through.
Now, we're gonna go over to the driver side
and do the same exact thing.
So, now we have both of our mounting brackets
in place, we're ready to tighten them down.
And to do that, we're just gonna push in some
bolt plates.
These are gonna go in the frame rail and then
poke through.
Then on the other side, we're going to tighten
these down with a 19-millimeter nut.
This double bolt plate right here, this is
going to be toward the left of the frame rail.
The single bolt plate, that's gonna be toward
the right.
So, now we have the double bolt plate on on
this side, we're gonna do the same thing with
the single bolt plate on the right side of
the frame rail.
Over on the driver side, we're gonna do the
same thing here.
Double bolt plate on the left, single bolt
plate on the right.
Now, a helpful tool here, you can probably
hold on to the end of that tab on the bolt
plate with some pliers and that makes it exponentially
easier to get these into place.
So, now we're gonna go back underneath of
our truck here to those bolt plates, we're
just going to install a flat washer and a
19-millimeter nyloc nut.
And on the double bolt plate, we're gonna
do that twice.
On the other side of this frame rail, we're
only gonna hit one, obviously.
Now, we're gonna tighten down our mounting
bracket with a 19-millimeter socket.
And as you just saw right there, this bracket
is slotted on the holes so you could always
come back and loosen that up later on if you
need some adjustment.
So, now we have one side in place, we're just
gonna jump over to the other side here and
install that as well.
You want to be careful not to push that back
in.
Now, this is going to be in a pretty tight
spot here, so I'm just gonna take the 19-millimeter
short socket on a ratchet and get that snugged
up.
Now we have the nut on and we were just thinking
of the best way to tighten this thing down.
Since it's on a bolt plate in the frame rail,
it's kind of tough.
If you're using a ratchet, it's just gonna
ratchet back on you.
The best way that I found to get in there
is with an extension and maybe a little bit
of a U-joint.
And that'll get you around the nut and you'll
be able to impact this down.
Now, we're gonna jump over to the other frame
rail, get all of our hardware situated and
tighten down as well.
And for this side, you should have plenty
of room.
You just get a socket on that single bolt
plate.
On the other side of the frame rail here,
we have the double bolt plate interfering
with that one bolt.
And again, we're gonna get our hardware on
there and then we're probably gonna break
out the short 19-millimeter and the extension
just like we did on the other side.
Again, a U-joint will probably be a good idea
and that will get this tightened down.
So, we're over the hill as far as the hard
part goes for this install, our mounting brackets
are all set up and good to go.
You can probably guess what the next step
is.
We're gonna mount up our bull bar and that's
gonna be with the 16-millimeter bolts and
17-millimeter nyloc nuts as well as a couple
flat washers all of which come included in
the kit.
We are gonna get the hardware started on the
other side here too.
And just like the brackets, these are slotted
so we're gonna dial in the adjustment here
and then tighten all of these down.
Again, 16-millimeter bolts and 17-millimeter
nyloc nuts.
Now, if you're like me and you want the nuts
to be hidden on the inside here, this bottom
one is at an odd angle so you'll probably
need the ratchet and 17-millimeter socket
to get that one tightened down.
But guys, that is pretty much gonna do it
for me and the Barricade 3-inch Bull Bar in
Black fitting all '19 and newer Silverado
1500.
Thank you for watching.
For more videos like this one, make sure you
subscribe.
And as always, keep it right here at AmericanTrucks
for all things Chevy.

2007-2016 Silverado 1500 Rough Country 3.5 in Suspension Lift Kit w/ Upper Control Arms Review

AmericanTrucks Chevy & GMC:

Hey, guys, Joe from American Trucks, and today,
we're gonna be working with the Rough Country
3.5-inch Suspension Lift Kit with Upper Control
Arms, fitting all '07 to '16 Silverado 1500s
with four-wheel drive and either the cast
steel control arms or the aluminum control
arms.
This kit is going to be perfect for any Silverado
owner out there looking for a full-on real-deal
suspension lift.
It's gonna make your truck better off-road,
allow you to fit some bigger tires, and give
you more clearance.
This kit also has everything you need.
It comes with some great extras as well to
really top off your truck.
And it all comes in at a cost-effective price.
This kit is going to include new struts for
the front.
Where that perch sits is what's going to create
your lift.
All in all, that's gonna be a three-and-a-half
inch lift up front.
As far as the rear goes, we have new fabricated
lift blocks.
All in all, that's going to install in between
our axle tube and the leaf springs and give
us about one and three-quarter inches of the
lift in the rear.
I think this really does hit a sweet spot.
It allows you to get that off-road performance
but, you know, not to deal with a lot of the
hassles that come with having a seven-inch
lifted truck or a six-inch lifted truck.
Now, if you're not familiar with lift kits,
at this point, you're probably asking, "What's
the difference in the numbers, therefore?"
Well, the idea there is to correct what's
called rake.
All Silverados, and trucks for that matter,
sit a little bit lower in the front than they
do in the rear.
Now, if you have any heavy weight in the bed
or if you're towing something, the truck would
then level out and ride level.
But if you're not doing either of those two
things often, it's more of a looks thing,
bringing the front a little bit higher than
the rear is going to lift it all around, but
also bring it level and correct, again, what's
called rake.
This kit isn't gonna be your typical lift
blocks in the rear, strut spacers up front.
It pretty much has everything you need to
correct the problems that are created with
a lift.
I'm gonna go through all of those.
We're gonna start with the struts up here.
So, these struts are Rough Country's N2.0.
So that's a nitrogen charge shock.
And what that means is this is going to be
a little bit more resistant to shock fade
than the factory shock would be.
So when you're rapidly compressing this and
expanding it like going over washboards on
the trail, that heat can cause what's called
cavitation and it's basically air bubbles
in the strut.
Now, you don't want that because air compresses
easier than hydraulic fluid does, and that
nitrogen charge is going to help combat that.
So, you could definitely lean on these a little
bit harder than you would the factory struts.
And the same thing goes for the shocks in
the rear.
Again, those are Rough Country's nitrogen
charged N2.0s, and they're definitely gonna
be able to soak up the trails.
Exactly what you want if you plan on doing
any off-roading.
We have a new skid plate under our diff here.
That's to accommodate for our diff drop, which
also does come included in the kit, and the
reason for that is you don't want your CV
angle to get too sharp.
That would cause premature wear.
So, you drop the diff to level everything
out and keep that factory geometry and factory
ride quality.
On top of that, in the rear, we have longer
U-bolts.
That's to accommodate for our new lift block
to make sure it can get around and get installed.
On top of that, our new lift blocks are fabricated
rather than cast.
So they should hold up to the abuse a little
bit better than any factory style block would.
And up front, one of the biggest upgrades
here and one of the biggest selling points
for this kit is going to be our new upper
control arm.
Now, this thing is way beefier than the stock
one.
We're gonna put the two side-by-side in just
a second here, and you're going to see that.
But on top of that, it also gets this ball
joint at a steeper angle to accommodate for
the lift.
And it'll allow this to drop further down
than the factory control arms would.
Now, with all that stuff on there, Rough Country
does obviously give you all of the hardware
needed to install that.
And once you have it installed, one of the
biggest benefits of this kit is all of that
is gonna work to give you that factory sort
of feeling.
But also when you take it off-road, it's gonna
have that performance as well.
Now, a lift is going to give you more clearance.
It's going to improve your approach angle.
It's going to improve your departure angle.
But also, it's going to allow you to run some
larger tires.
Stock, this thing comes with 31.6-inch tires.
We put some 33s on there and they did clear
pretty well.
The 35s are a little bit tight.
That might rub under extreme circumstances
with this square wheel well here.
They are a little bit tough.
So just keep that in mind.
Now pricing for this kit is going to come
in right around that $750 mark.
Now, that is a little bit more toward the
budget-friendly side than I would expect this
kit to land.
And it's definitely going to be more than
that regular old spacer kit.
But for what you're getting here, 750 bucks,
again, is a good price to pay.
I think this lift, it does land in that sweet
spot.
So before we move on to the install here,
I did just wanna make a quick note on fitment
as far as the control arms go.
I said this would work with stock cast steel
control arms or the aluminum control arms.
This is actually two different kits for each
setup, and you're actually going to have to
pick when you look at this on our website.
So in order to tell the difference, hold a
magnet up to your lower control arm.
If it sticks, cast steel, if not, you have
aluminum and you can pick your kit based on
that test.
As far as install goes, we're looking at a
hard three out of three wrenches on our difficulty
meter.
This is not only going to test the toolbox
but the skills as well.
We have to grind away some fins on our differential.
We have to cut a hole in the cross member.
We're gonna be working on the spring compressor.
So, this kit definitely has it all.
I wouldn't blame you for having a shop do
this install.
But if you wanna work through it, I'm gonna
show you how to do it in just a second here.
At most, I think if you have all the tools
ready, this should take you about a day.
So without any further ado, let me show you
what tools you'll need, and there are a lot
of them.
And then let me show you how it's done.
Tools here are going to test the toolbox,
and there are a lot of them.
At any point, feel free to stop the video.
Look at exact sizes.
But I'm gonna run through all of these.
And we're gonna start with the die grinder,
cutoff wheel, pry bar, impacts, ratchet, U-joint,
a bunch of extensions, trim panel removal
tool, needle nose pliers, electrical tape,
measuring tape, a basic ratcheting wrench
set from 21-millimeters all the way down to
13-millimeters, and a regular wrench set from
13/16-inch all the way down to 10-millimeters.
From there, we move to the PB B'laster.
This is going to be a must, dead blow, vise
grip, hammer, paint marker, Sharpie, bungee
cord, safety glasses, also a must, and lastly
and most obviously, a basic socket set ranging
from 22-millimeters all the way down to 7-millimeters.
So the very first step of our install here.
We're gonna take a 15-millimeter socket and
remove the bolts holding in our skid plate.
There's two at the bottom and two more up
top.
So now we're gonna turn our attention to the
actual suspension portion on our truck.
Now, we're gonna start with this ABS line
bracket right here.
It's held on with a 10-millimeter bolt.
We're gonna remove that and drop that bracket
away.
And it's not like we'll be reusing these upper
control arms, but I'm just gonna thread that
back in.
That way, I always have a good track on it.
Now, up the line here, you're going to come
to this guy right here, which should be clipped
in right about there.
Just pull that out and we're gonna disconnect
this by pressing down on this tab here, and
we're gonna pull that apart.
And this way, we don't stretch our ABS or
brake line.
Now we're going to turn our attention to the
tie rod here that's held on with a 21-millimeter
nut.
Now, what I'm actually gonna do for this guy
is I'm gonna thread that back on here because
usually, the tie rod is stuck in this collar.
I thread the nut back on just to protect the
studs.
We're gonna tap that collar with the hammer
to break it loose.
Now we can unthread the nut and pull that
out.
Next thing we have to remove is going to be
this sway bar right here.
It's held on with a 15-millimeter nut on top.
I'm gonna put the wrench around that, and
then the bolt is going to be a 15 as well.
That's way on the bottom here.
Now, the sway bar is just a little bit rusty.
So I'm gonna give that a healthy dose of some
rust penetrating PB B'laster.
We're gonna let that wick through and try
again.
If not, we'll have to apply a little bit of
heat.
Thankfully, that popped out.
We didn't have to apply any heat.
If you do have to do that, you just wanna
be careful to not melt this rubber for the
bushings on your sway bar because we will
be reusing those.
But with that nut out of the way, you can
go ahead and pull down on the bolt, which
is all the way through the end link.
And that is pretty stuck as well, actually.
So, I'm just gonna use some of the threads
here to try to loosen that up.
Next up, we're going to do this ball joint
on the upper control arm here.
It's a little bit tight so you're most likely
going to need a wrench to break this loose.
And just like the tie rod, we're gonna do
the same thing.
Once we get this off, we're gonna leave it
on there just a little bit finger-tight so
we can hit that collar with a hammer and break
that ball joint loose.
Now that nut is back on finger-tight.
That is a 19-millimeter nut, by the way.
I don't think that's factory.
I think that's supposed to be an 18, but regardless,
break that off.
Put it on finger-tight.
We're gonna turn the rotor out of the way
here and hit this collar with a hammer.
Now, that doesn't wanna break loose.
So what I'm gonna do is turn the rotor here,
try to get a bigger wind-up from the other
side.
And you saw that pop loose right there.
Now you can see that space between the ball
joint and the knuckle right here.
So, now what we're going to do is pry down
on that upper control arm and remove that
nut.
So what I'm gonna do next is take a bungee
cord here.
We're gonna wrap this around the lower control
arm and hook this onto the frame with the
idea of basically supporting that lower control
arm.
Reason being the step we're going to do next
is take an 18-millimeter wrench and loosen
up the three nuts on top of our strut assembly
here.
And that's basically going to put all the
weight on this axle boot right here, which
is just rubber basically.
So what we wanna do is support that lower
control arm, make sure that doesn't take too
much of the stress.
So now we can remove those three nuts on top
of the strut assembly here.
As you can tell by the tool I have in my hand,
there is a plastic wiring loom clip on here.
I'm just gonna pry that off with this trim
panel removal tool.
And there's another one also way in the back
here that's gonna be really tough to see on
camera.
I'm just doing the same thing for that as
well.
Take a look at the last one here, and that
one has one, too.
With those three loose, we can now get the
wrench in there and loosen up those nuts.
So, as I remove this last nut, you saw that
lower control arm basically fall down and
along with it, the strut assembly.
Now, if we didn't have this bungee cord here,
it would have fallen further and stressed
this axle boot, which, again, is just rubber.
You don't wanna put too much stress on that.
Same thing goes for this brake line here.
Keep an eye on that.
You want that to stay nice and loose.
That's why we removed the bracket for it earlier.
Everything looks good right now.
So we're just gonna remove these two 15-millimeter
bolts on the bottom of our strut assembly
and then this will fall inwards and off the
truck.
So, now we're gonna turn our attention to
the control arm here.
This has to come out as well to make room
for our new ones.
One thing I'm gonna do before I completely
remove this is I'm just gonna mark these lobes
here with a paint marker so I can get the
alignment close to where it was.
But we will definitely need to get a real
alignment after this is done.
So, gonna mark this.
And you don't have to hit the inside but these
ones are.
Now, I'm just gonna take the impact gun, get
the 21-millimeter socket on the nut.
You'll probably need a U-joint for this step
and then remove the nut.
And do the same thing for the other side.
And now that those are out of the way, we
can pull on our upper control arm.
It should fall right off the truck.
So now at this point, we have the strut assembly
out.
We have the upper control arm out.
We have all of our hardware on the table and
organized.
You wanna make sure you get the other side
caught up as well.
And then next, we're going to take out our
differential here.
Now, this is where things do get a little
bit tough.
But I'm gonna show you exactly how to do this.
The first step to dropping the diff here,
we're going to remove the driveshaft that's
held on with four 11-millimeter bolts.
You'll probably need a U-joint to get to those.
Now we're gonna take an 18-millimeter wrench
and an 18-millimeter socket and remove the
four bolts holding in our cross member here.
There's two on each side.
Next, we're gonna keep working on the diff
here.
On the driver side, there's this little rubber
vent hose.
I'm just gonna pull that straight up and off.
It was on there pretty good.
And that should pop right off.
And then we're gonna remove these six bolts
holding our axle to this flange here.
And then we can secure this out of the way.
We're gonna do the same thing for the other
side.
Now, you wanna do the same thing for the axle
on the other side and then we can do this
electrical connector here.
All you have to do is pull back on the blue
tab and out, and that will disconnect.
So now we're ready to drop out our differential
and start grinding off some of those fins.
We're gonna need an 18-millimeter socket and
an extension to get to these two over here.
Once we have those removed, we're gonna slowly
lower this to the ground.
So for the side near the electrical connector
we disconnected, you're gonna use a 21-millimeter
socket.
And for this side over here, you're gonna
need an 18-millimeter socket and an extension.
Now, when these two bolts come out, this is
going to be loose unless you have a trans
jack that you could bolt this to, which no
diff will be able to do that.
It's gonna wanna rock.
So make sure you have another set of hands
available to help you steady this as we drop
it out.
So, now we get to the hardest part of the
install here, and that's grinding off this
little fin on the diff.
I'm gonna use a cutoff wheel to do that.
You can see the area, I marked it with a Sharpie
and crossed it out with an X.
That's gotta go.
Once that's out of the way, we're gonna grind
it nice and smooth.
So now we have our fins cut off and ground
down.
We're gonna flip this over, put it back on
the transmission jack, wheel this back over
to the truck.
And before we get this back installed and
ready to go, we actually have to lower the
mounting bracket for the differential.
So, now we need to get this differential bracket
out of here.
Now, on each end of it, it's held on with
an 18-millimeter nut.
Now, you will need to get a 15-millimeter
socket all the way up here on the bolt head.
You can barely see the ratchet that I have
in there.
I used a short 15-millimeter, an extension,
and the ratchet to get ahold of that.
So we're just gonna spin this loose.
Now, we're gonna do that for the other three
places where the differential brackets mount
up to the frame.
Now, we're gonna remove those factory differential
mounting bracket bolts and replace them with
the longer ones that come in the kit from
Rough Country.
And you can see they're just a little bit
longer.
That's to accommodate for our spacer, which
is going to install in between the bracket
and the frame.
Now to tighten these down, we're going to
use a 16-millimeter socket for the bolt head
and that 18-millimeter socket for the nut.
So we removed our differential bracket.
Again, that was with a 15 and 18-millimeter
socket.
Now we're gonna put in our new hardware here.
That's 16 millimeters for the bolt head and
18 millimeters for the nut.
Now, we're just gonna bring the differential
up here and get it started on the heavy side
with the 18-millimeter bolts from the factory.
So now the differential is in, the hardware
is hand-tight, we just have to tighten it
down.
These nuts are going to be a 21, and the bolts
on the other side are gonna be an 18.
Now we're gonna get the driveshaft back in
place before we put in the cross member while
we got a lot of space here.
We're actually going to have to cut this cross
member as well before we put that back in.
So we're gonna button this up starting with
the driveshaft.
Then I'm gonna grab the plates and bolt this
back down with that factory 11-millimeter
hardware.
Now we're just gonna come back here to this
harness, put that back in, and plug it back
into our diff.
So the next thing we're going to cut is our
cross member here.
Reason being is our new lower differential
is going to impact this right here if we don't
cut away this portion.
Let me give you the measurements for this
real quick.
This is four-and-a-half inches in from the
end on this side and eight inches in from
the end on this side.
We're also two inches away from the back and
a quarter inch in the front.
We're gonna cut that square out of there and
then this will be good to reinstall.
Now we're just gonna swap over to the grinder,
clean this up a little bit, and we should
be good to go.
Now, we're gonna put our cross member in place.
You can see the part of the diff right here
that we cut away for, and this is a tight
squeeze.
So, as you can guess, I have the dead blow
ready.
Next, we're gonna come back to the truck here
and reach up and reinstall our vent hose.
Next, we're going to reinstall our axle shaft
to the diff.
We're gonna use the 15-millimeter hardware
we uninstalled earlier.
And I'm using a pole jack just to lift up
on the lower control arm to get that in the
right neighborhood.
So we're pretty far along in the install at
this point, and we still haven't installed
anything.
We're just about to put on our new control
arms.
But before I did, I figure now would be the
perfect time to stop down, point out some
differences between our new ones and the old
factory control arms here.
We're gonna do the same thing for the struts
as well while we're here because they're about
to be up next.
So, control arm.
If I take this and put it next to our old
factory one, I actually think this one is
recently swapped out and aftermarket.
So I'm gonna put that aside.
Next, to this factory control arm.
Not only does it look a lot better with that
new finish, but it also is going to be a lot
beefier.
If I put that sort of next to each other,
you could just see the thickness in the metal
there is going to hold up to some more abuse.
Definitely what you need if you plan on taking
this truck off-road.
That extra metal there is going to add to
the durability and make it be able to stand
up to what a lift was meant to stand up to.
On top of that, we have a nice Rough Country
logo here.
It's raised up, same thing on this ball joint
cover.
Now, this ball joint is a little bit interesting.
Reason being it's at a harsher angle up than
the factory one, and that's just to accommodate
the lift and keep the geometry correct.
So, as far as the struts go, not only are
these going to be a huge upgrade in the looks
department, these are looking pretty beat,
definitely well-worn and well used over their
life.
But they're also going to accommodate for
the geometry of the lift that we'll be applying
here by this spring perch.
And if I put these two next to each other,
you could see what I'm talking about a little
bit better.
This difference right here in where the strut
meets up with the shock is going to be what
gives us our lift that's going to accommodate
for that geometry again and make sure we're
in the sweet spot where the springs want to
be and do their job for the lift.
So now we're ready to install our control
arms.
We're gonna need the bolt with the lobe on
it for the alignment to get that new one in
place.
We're also gonna need to remove this bolt
out of the factory one.
I put that back in there when we removed the
brake line bracket.
I'm just gonna transfer that over to our new
control arm right now.
So I'm just gonna get these bungee cords out
of the way.
I have the lower control arm supported with
a pole jack.
Again, we don't wanna stress this axle boot
here.
And I'm just gonna remove these.
Once that's gone, we'll drop our upper control
arm right in place.
So now you can see those little yellow marks
that we left earlier to get our alignment
roughly where it needs to be.
I'll say this again, we're gonna get a real
alignment done after this for sure.
But right now, we're just gonna get it close
so we can drive it to the alignment shaft.
I'm gonna take the 7/8 wrench, come to the
bolt side here, and just dial in our alignment.
And then we're gonna take a 21-millimeter
socket and tighten down the nut on the outside.
And we're gonna do the same thing on the other
side of the control arm and then do the same
thing on the other side of the truck.
We're going to tighten up our axle while we're
over there first.
Now we're gonna go over to the passenger side
and do the same thing.
Now, if you haven't tightened up your axle
already yet, make sure you do that first.
So after the control arms, we're going to
move on to the struts here.
And like I said, this kit does not come with
springs.
So we will be reusing those.
We gotta get those factory springs off of
these factory struts.
We're gonna head over to the spring compressor,
but before we do, we need to get this out
of its packing position.
As you can see, this is what it will come
like new in the box.
This is out of the packing position.
I'm just gonna take a seven-millimeter socket
and twist the shaft to the left.
That's gonna loosen it up.
So now we're gonna take our old struts and
our new struts, head over to the spring compressor,
and transfer over our springs.
So here we are at the spring compressor, and
our spring is nice and situated in the fingers
here.
Now, if you don't have one of these nice wall
mount spring compressors like we do, you could
run to your local auto parts store and grab
one.
It usually doesn't cost too much.
Sometimes they'll even let you borrow it for
free.
Now, you wanna be extremely careful when using
this.
There is a lot of kinetic energy in this spring
right here.
You wanna make sure everything is lined correctly.
Once you have it situated properly, we can
go ahead and compress that spring.
And it doesn't take much before that peels
away from the spring.
Now we're gonna take an 18-millimeter socket
and loosen up that nut on top.
Now the shaft was spinning in there so I just
threw a pair of vise grips on it, and then
that should hold it still.
And you can remove the nut.
Before we put this up into our spring, which
is currently still sitting in the compressor,
we do have to press on this cap.
And to do that, I'm just gonna put it in the
vise upside down, make sure I'm straight up
and down and tap this end with a dead blow.
Now we can head back to the compressor.
Now, we're just gonna come up through the
spring, through the boot, through the top
hat and tighten down our 18-millimeter nut
that is new, and it comes in the kit.
Now we're going to slowly release tension
on our spring here, then take out our strut
and do the same thing for the other side.
So while we were at the spring compressor,
we transferred over the other spring as well.
Once you have that done, you can come back
to the truck, put that in place in the bucket,
and secure it at the top with the factory
18-millimeter nuts.
Before we tighten down the top, we're actually
gonna get the hardware through on the bottom.
While that strut's loose, now is the easiest
time to get these started.
This hardware is new.
It comes in the kit from Rough Country, and
it's 15-millimeters to the bolt head and the
nut.
With that out of the way, we can now jump
back up top and tighten down those three 18-millimeter
nuts that were factory up here, then we can
reinstall the plastic connectors on top.
So now that we have the strut in the truck,
we can now take care of this ball joint on
the upper control arm.
And to do that, I'm just gonna put a pry bar
on this lowest coil here, then push the brake
rotor up into place.
And pry down to get that seated.
There's just barely enough thread poking through
for me to get the nut started.
Now, I don't believe this nut is factory.
I'm tightening with a 19-millimeter ratcheting
wrench.
I believe this is supposed to be an 18-millimeter.
Now, we're gonna do the tie rod.
Just turn the brake rotor and get that situated
in its collar, and that gets secured with
the factory 21-millimeter nut.
That ball joint was spinning pretty good so
I'm just gonna take the 21-millimeter ratcheting
wrench and the 10-millimeter wrench and tighten
that down.
Now, we're going to get our sway bar situated.
We're gonna make sure we have the bushings
in the right spot.
Then we can tighten that down with a 15-millimeter
wrench and socket.
Now we can do our brake line bracket.
And again, this is a 10-millimeter.
And for the very last step, we could reach
back up here, plug in our ABS line, and then
we could press that back into the truck.
So now there's one last thing to do here in
the front and that is install our new skid
plate with the included 14-millimeter hardware.
Now before we start on the rear, now is the
perfect time to button up the other side if
you haven't done so yet.
So, a couple of things before we get started
here.
Safety glasses are going to be basically a
must.
This is a pretty rusty truck you're about
to see in just a second.
A good pair of glasses is definitely a good
idea.
Secondly, the pole jack, floor jack, something
to support that rear axle tube just to hold
it in place.
Right now all we'd wanna do is just have that
kissing so it doesn't fall when we remove
the shock.
Now, with that all being said, I'm gonna take
the 13/16 wrench and a 21-millimeter socket
and loosen up the bottom shock mount.
That's in there pretty tight so I'm just gonna
work it out with a dead blow and use the threads
to sort of back that bolt out.
As far as the top goes, it is gonna be a 21-millimeter
socket and the nut's actually welded on, on
the other side.
So that makes it a little bit easier.
So, that shock removal, which is pretty easy,
before we get started on our lift block, I'm
just gonna pop this clip loose here in order
to not stress this line.
Our U-bolts around the leaf springs are held
on with four 21-millimeter nuts.
We're gonna remove those right now.
And with those off, we can pull out the U-bolts,
not before we take this bottom piece off,
though.
Now, with everything loose, our leaf spring
and the shock out, we can lower our pole jack
or if you're using a floor jack, same thing.
And I'm just going extra low because I'm thinking
ahead for when we have to put that bigger
block in.
Now, it is a little bit seized, but I'm gonna
pop out this lift block here and take that
with me.
So we have the rear all taken apart.
Before we start putting that back together,
I figure now would be a great time to put
the old stuff next to the new stuff and point
out a few differences.
We'll start with this lift block here.
Again, we have a one and three-quarter inch
lift in the rear.
Considering rake and all, that's gonna bring
the truck level.
And you could see where that lift is generated
in the difference in size between these two
blocks.
On top of that, not much going on here.
This is a cast block.
Our new block is fabricated.
That cast block did hold up pretty well.
But the new fabricated block should hold up
even better.
So moving on to the shocks here, you can tell
this guy is just a little beat up, but that's
neither here nor there.
Our new Rough Country looks a lot better with
that silver finish.
If I roll it in next to each other, you could
see just how much longer it is.
That's just a little bit longer just to accommodate
for that extra lift here that we're generating
from this lift block.
On top of that, we are losing this boot.
But what we're gaining here is a nitrogen
charge in the shock body.
Now, that's gonna be good.
It's gonna be more balanced than this one
was.
This is more for comfort.
This is more for off-road use and daily drivability.
That nitrogen charge is going to resist fade
by cutting into the cavitation and making
sure that doesn't happen and it's going to
hold up a lot better under intense abuse than
this factory shock definitely would.
So without any further ado, let's grab our
new lift block.
We're gonna need the U-bolts that come in
the kit as well and let's head back to our
truck.
All we're gonna do here is drop that in place.
You could see that little nipple on the bottom.
We're just gonna put that into its mounting
position.
And one thing I did wanna note, I'm just gonna
turn it to the side so you can see, this block
has a very, very, very slight taper to it.
It's smaller on this end.
You wanna make sure that's facing toward the
front.
Then we can jack this up.
I'm just gonna put a little bit of pressure
on it.
And I'm just gonna use a dead blow to get
the shock seated in that lift block.
Now, I'm just gonna put our new U-bolts around
and take the cap here and get that started.
And then I'm gonna secure it with the four
22-millimeter nuts and flat washers included
in the kit.
Now, we're gonna tighten this down.
And when you're doing this, keep in mind tightening
down a tire.
We're gonna do this in a cross pattern just
like the star pattern to make sure this tension
is evenly distributed.
Now we're just gonna put in our new shock
here.
And that's just gonna go right up into that
mount.
Now, between the rust and the new bushing,
this can be a little bit tight.
Once you have that in, though, we can tighten
it right back down with the 21-millimeter
socket.
Now we can take our shock, bend it into the
lower shock mount, and I'm just gonna get
that started with the original 21-millimeter
hardware.
If this does not line up again, obviously,
just apply pressure to the pole jack.
Get it where it needs to be.
And the last step here is to just take the
wire we disconnected earlier and clip that
back into place.
And lastly, we're gonna release our pole jack
and do the same thing for the other side.
So that's gonna do it for the install, guys.
A couple of things left.
Make sure everything is tightened down.
Be extra careful when you take this thing
out for a drive the first time.
And once you're out there, make sure you drive
it right to the alignment shop because you
are most certainly going to need one after
this.
But that's gonna do it for my review and install
of the Rough Country 3.5-inch Suspension Lift
Kit with Upper Control Arms, fitting all '07
to '16 four-wheel drive Silverado 1500s with
either the stock cast steel control arms or
the aluminum control arms.
Thank you for watching.
I'm Joe.
Make sure you subscribe for more videos like
this and all things Chevy.

2007-2013 Sierra Rough Country 1.25" Body Lift Kit 2WD 4WD Review & Install

AmericanTrucks Chevy & GMC:

The Rough Country 1.25-inch body lift is a
good choice for any '07 to '13 Sierra owner
who's looking to get a very mild, full body
lift kit, in order to get the truck in the
air, just a little bit over the stock look.
Now, this 1.25-inch lift offers everything
you need to properly lift the front and rear
of your body off the frame, in order to fit
up to 33-inch tires with very minimal cutting,
depending on size, and still maintain a factory-like
suspension ride quality.
This is still super affordable, right around
the $100 mark, which is great for anyone on
a budget, and installation isn't too hard
at all.
So, I'm giving it a one out of three wrenches
on our difficulty meter.
Clearly, this is an extremely mild bump in
the world of body lifts, but it is enough
to get you a nice set of 33-inch tires, if
that's what you're looking to do.
Now, 33s are a bit too big for the stock set
up, so that would require some cutting and
trimming to make work.
The easiest way to fit larger tires would
be to add a super inexpensive body lift, just
to get those 33s in the square wheel wells.
Now this way, you avoid any permanent modifications,
if you're going with something relative similar
to a stock offset or something very, very
mild in the way of poke.
Now, you still get the aggressive look that
you're looking for with the body lift here,
mixed with the 33-inch tires, without going
anywhere massive with 35's, which would require
some serious modification.
Now, we'll be installing this applied lift
box to your frame just to lift the body up
an inch and a quarter over the stock height,
while leaving your suspension as is to keep
the OEM steering geometry.
Now, one of the concerns people have with
a body lift is that it can leave an ugly gap
between the body of the truck and the frame.
Now, this kit actually corrects that issue
by including bumper relocation brackets in
order to make everything sit flush.
So, you wouldn't need to pick anything up
separately to make them all fit together perfectly.
However, we have seen with some of the aftermarket
bumpers in the world that attach to your frame.
If you're lifting your body above the frame
and your aftermarket bumper attaches to the
frame, the bumper's going to stay the same
and leave that little bit of gap between that
and the body.
Now, some people don't really like it.
Some people it's a very aggressive look.
There's a very polarizing decision there,
which obviously there is everything to fit
your own personal preference.
If you're not looking to do any of that, a
suspension lift is probably what you're looking
to grab.
This kit is going to include the bare necessities
to get your body lifted.
A set of fiberglass reinforced nylon spacers,
which will go along with the factory body
mounts to keep the body and the frame properly
aligned.
Now, that will also cancel noise vibration
and harshness.
There are aluminum and steel options out there,
which usually don't reduce the NVH, like the
nylon or poly options would.
So, this is a great route to go if you're
doing mostly on road driving.
Off road, the aluminum will be sheering a
lot easier and may warp depending on how hard
you go.
You'll also receive relocation brackets, as
I already mentioned, along with Grade A hardware
and a ground strap bracket.
Now, if you're not too familiar with Rough
Country, then I do want to point out that
their products do typically fall on the more
affordable side of the pricing spectrum, and
this kit is absolutely no different.
Should expect to be spending just about 100
bucks, which, of course, is very mild for
a set of lift kits. if you're looking for
a bigger lift kit, or a lift kit that is more
involved like a suspension lift, then you
might want to throw down a little more cash
for those types of options.
Combining a suspension lift kit like a 2.5-inch
with a 1.25-inch body lift like this, can
save you some money when compared to buying
a 4-inch suspension lift.
So, you can kind of weigh your options with
that in mind.
Suspension lifts actually help with ground
clearance, which is more beneficial off road,
or as body lifts keep your frame in the same
spot, so you don't actually benefit in that
department.
It depends on what you want, if you're hitting
off road or not.
Now, a body lift like this, in my opinion,
is for the guys out there, not doing off road
driving, but just looking for that extra aggressive
look, fitting larger wheels and tires without
wanting to take too much drastic change to
their suspension, and have to worry about
suspension geometry.
This is the more affordable route to go, for
the guy looking for styling over functionality
more so, if you're going on road driving or
maybe a daily driver, this would be the best
way to go for that.
If you're really looking to do it the right
way, as far as off roading, and ground clearance,
and suspension lifts, that's going to be your
best option there.
Now, as far as the installation, we have that
exact combination I just mentioned installed
on our 2013 62 Sierra, and we threw on a set
of 33-inch tires, which again, is the maximum
recommendation from Rough Country.
Now, it took our team out here at American
Trucks about five hours from start to finish
to install this, on top of a 2.5-inch suspension
lift, which a lot of guys will actually do.
For this one alone, expect about two to three
hours from start to finish.
It'll be a direct bolt on install, expect
one out of three wrenches on our difficulty
meter.
Have simple hand tools on deck, like a ratchet
and a socket set with extensions, along with
a jack and jack stand or a lift and pull jack,
if you have access to them.
There's a couple of steps you have to take
before getting the body of your vehicle up
in the air.
A couple of those will include removing the
front bumper brackets, the intake hose, the
fan shroud hoses, the frame in straps, the
skid plate, marking the steering shaft as
per required in your instruction manual.
There's a couple other bolts here and there
you'll remove, and all of that is detailed
for you in the manual, included for you in
the kit.
Once all those steps are taken care of, you
can finally get the body of your truck up
in the air.
Slide the pocks into place and tighten them
down using a hardware provided in the kit.
From here, you can remove and reinstall your
toe hooks, after drilling a half inch hole
into the factory knotting positions where
the relocation brackets will go.
The bed lift is going to be extremely similar.
You're going to be unplugging a couple of
harnesses, removing the bed frame bolts, your
rear toe hooks, and then your rear bumper.
Once that's taken care of, lift it up in the
air, insert the rear end pucks and torque
them down using the hardware provided for
you in the kit.
You'll have to mark down some cutting locations
into the bed frame, as well as marking some
drilling locations as provided in the instruction
manual.
Once that's taken care of, you can make the
cuts necessary, but make sure you're measuring
twice and cutting once.
Once that's taken care of, you can install
the bumper relocation brackets, relocate that
rear bumper in order to close the gap between
the body and the frame at the rear.
Overall, this should take you about two to
three hours from start to finish.
Once everything's put back together, you are
good to go.
That pretty much does it.
So just to wrap it up there, if you're an
owner of a 2007 to 2013 Silverado or Sierra,
both two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive
models, you can check out the Rough Country
1.25-inch body lift kit, which is available
right here at americantrucks.com.

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2007-2018 Silverado and Sierra 1500 MotoFab 3 in. Front Leveling Kit Review & Install

AmericanTrucks Chevy & GMC:

It's Joe from AmericanTrucks and today we're
gonna be taking a closer look at the MotoFab
3-inch Front Leveling Kit fitting all '07
to '18 Silverado 1500s, including the 2019
Silverado LD, '07 to '18 Sierra 1500s, including
the Sierra Limited and it's going to be excluding
the '14 to '18 Denali models.
Now, this is gonna be a great option for any
Silverado or Sierra owner looking to get the
benefits of one of the most aggressive front
spacer lifts available.
And of course, this being a front spacer lift,
it is also gonna come in at a really budget-friendly
price tag.
So, what do we have going on here?
First things first, let's talk a little bit
about build quality.
And these are made out of CNC machine billet
aluminum sealed in a nice black powder coat,
which is gonna provide a nice little layer
of protection against the elements.
Now, these are gonna give you three inches
of lift at the front that's gonna be the most
aggressive in the category here.
One thing I do wanna make a quick note of
is if you take these out of the box, they're
not going to exactly measure 3 inches.
But once you have them installed due to suspension
geometry, this is going to get you 3 inches
of lift at the front.
Now, before we dive into some of the benefits
of that, we have to explain what the problem
that this is going to be fixing is, and that
is what's called rake.
Now, out of the factory Silverados and Sierras,
and this applies to not only that but old
trucks in general, for that matter, they sit
a little bit lower in the front, little bit
higher in the rear.
Now that's to counteract any added weight.
If you have something heavy in the bed, you're
towing a heavy payload, the truck would then
level out and ride flat.
Now, if you're not doing either those two
things, often it's more of a looks thing.
And by applying a front spacer lift like this,
you're bringing the front up level with the
rear.
There are a lot of benefits that something
like that is going to give you but the first
one is going to be the looks.
By eliminating that sort of nose down look
it really does improve the side profile of
any truck.
There are some bigger benefits though, and
they're going to apply a little bit to off-roading.
First thing's first, you're gonna get 3 inches
of lift and that is going to give you 3 inches
of ground clearance, that is good in every
situation.
Also, if you have anything heavy up at the
front like heavy-duty off-road steel bumpers,
maybe a bumper with a winch that is heavy,
it's gonna add a little bit of sag to the
front end of again, any truck out there, and
by applying something like this to the front,
you can help correct that a little bit.
Something like this is also going to allow
you to run some bigger tires, factory size
and you're looking at that right now, that's
gonna be 265-65-18 and that equates to about
31.6 inches.
This is also going to allow you to comfortably
fit a 33.
I would stay away from the 35s and that's
not due to the lift, that's more of the wheel
wells, you can see they're really boxy.
The 33 is gonna fill that out pretty nicely,
35 that's gonna be limited just by the body
of the truck.
The lift would fit it if it wasn't for those
boxy the wheel wells, that's going to apply
to any 3-inch front leveling kit for these
generation trucks.
Pricing, it's gonna be really, really budget-friendly.
We're only looking about 75 bucks for the
set here.
Obviously that is not a lot to pay and you're
getting a lot of off-road benefits that are
gonna help you in any off-road situation.
And MotoFab even throws in a limited lifetime
warranty.
Before we move on to the install here, I do
just wanna make a really quick note about
fitment.
I mentioned earlier these are gonna fit '07
to '18 Silverado.
These are also gonna fit '07 to '18 Sierra,
with the exception being '14 to '18 Denalis.
They do have mag ride and that doesn't take
well to spacer kits like these.
Also for 2019 truck owners out there, this
is gonna fit the third gen Silverado and Sierra.
So, that's gonna be the Silverado LD and the
Sierra Limited.
This will work just fine on those trucks.
They were redesigned for the fourth gen in
2019, and the third and fourth gen trucks
were released alongside each other.
So, as long as you have those two, the Sierra
Limited and the Silverado LD, this will just
work fine.
So, now let's get to the good stuff.
Let me show you how to get this on your truck.
First things first, this is gonna be a three
out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter
here, no cutting or modification, no spring
compressor, however, we are gonna be seriously
tearing apart our suspension here and for
that, you better have the toolbox ready.
Should take you about four to six hours depending
on how fast you're moving along.
But with that said, let me show you what tools
you'll need and how it's done.
Tools we use for this install will include
somewhere else penetrate like PB B'laster,
an impact or two, trim panel removal tool,
ratchet, pry bar, of course some safety glasses,
a socket set ranging from 22 millimeters all
the way down to 10 millimeters, an 8-millimeter
Allen key, 18 and 15-millimeter ratcheting
wrenches will help you a ton.
We also used the open-ended 15-millimeter
wrench and last but not least, a hammer.
So, first step for our install here, you wanna
get your truck jacked up safely, we're gonna
be doing a little bit of work under the suspension.
So, you definitely wanna make sure you're
safe about that, use jack stands if you need
to.
If you're on a lift like ours, you'll be just
fine.
Secondly, we're gonna wanna get the wheel
off, 22-millimeter socket for the lug nuts,
you're gonna put that aside and what I did
before I touched anything, is I went ahead
and dosed this with a nice healthy squirt
of rough penetrant, we used PB B'laster in
our case.
This truck is a little bit rusty so you'll
see what that's like.
If your truck is a little bit older, you're
gonna be dealing with something that looks
a little bit like this.
And now we can start on the actual wrench
turning, 10-millimeter socket on the impact
gun, we're gonna disconnect some of our brake
line brackets and ABS line brackets.
First one is right behind the brake rotor,
that big bracket right there.
We can flip that off to the side, I'm just
gonna thread that 10-millimeter bolt back
in for safekeeping.
And the second one is gonna be back here on
the upper control arm, we're gonna do the
same thing.
And with that out of the way, we can go ahead
and start on the big stuff.
The first thing we're gonna do is our tie
rod, 21-millimeter socket for the nut on there.
We're gonna try to get this out, hopefully
that ball joint doesn't spin on us.
If so, we can hold this still with a 10-millimeter
wrench.
So, as you can see, the ball joint is still
stuck in that collar.
So, what I'm gonna do, is thread the nut back
on finger tight.
That's just gonna protect the threads while
we do what we're gonna do next, which is gonna
be to grab the hammer, we're gonna try to
shock that taper loose.
And that'll pop right out.
So, in this shot, you can see our next step.
Here is our sway bar.
There's a 15-millimeter nut on top and this
big bolt goes all the way through this plastic
piece.
It's got a 15-millimeter bolt head on the
bottom.
Now, I hit this with a healthy dose of rust
penetrant, you're gonna need it because this
one can put up a fight.
If you're lucky, you might be able to spin
this with the impact, we'll see.
No dice as you saw there.
So, what we're gonna do is we're gonna grab
the ratcheting wrench and we're gonna work
this loose.
This is gonna take a little bit of a while.
And go ahead and pull that nut off at the
top, and gonna go ahead and throw that aside.
Then what's gonna come next is the bolt and
that'll pull right out the bottom like that.
And then this plastic piece in the middle,
and get rid of that as well.
And one more thing just to make sure we don't
lose it, this rubber bushing is kind of stuck
on the sway bar at the top, so I'm just gonna
pry that off.
So, these are the two 15-millimeter bolts
that hold the strut assembly to the lower
control arm.
We're gonna remove those next, again, a nice
healthy dose of rust penetrant will do you
really well right here.
The next thing we're gonna remove is this
18-millimeter nut right here, this is gonna
hold the upper control arm to the knuckle.
And we're probably gonna do the same exact
thing we just did with the tie rod to break
this ball joint loose.
So, now we have that nut removed, we're gonna
thread it back on a couple threads here.
Now, not only is this to protect the threads
while we unseat that ball joint with the hammer,
but this upper control arm is gonna wanna
spring up and this nut is going to catch it.
So, you just saw it snap loose.
What we're gonna do is it's still under a
little bit of tension.
Just take the pry bar, pull down on the upper
control arm, then we can release that nut
and all the tension will be released as soon
as we get this pry bar out there, like so.
So, that's the hard part removed, getting
that back together is gonna be the second
hard part, but obviously, we need to get our
spacer in first and our strut assembly is
still held onto the bucket by some 18-millimeter
nuts.
You can see them if I push that back up at
the top here, they do have some plastic clips
holding on that wiring harness.
So, what I'm gonna do is just take the trim
panel tool, get those out of the way.
There's another one back here.
Now, that they're gone, we can use the ratcheting
wrench to remove those nuts.
Just a helpful tip with these, you want to
start with the two that are at the back and
let this front one here, the easiest one to
get at just hold the weight and that way,
you can kind of spin these off with your fingers
once you get them loose, since that nut up
at the front has all the weight.
One down, one on the other side.
And we have one left, which is the front one.
You're gonna see what I mean, that's basically
carrying the whole weight of the strut assembly,
so it's gonna be a little bit of a bear to
turn this all the way and it's easier to have
that on the front one than it is one of the
back ones that are harder to reach.
It's starting to loosen up now, so I'm gonna
grab the strut assembly and catch it as this
nut comes off.
Then we can pull that away from the truck.
So, now that we have the strut assembly off
of our truck, we actually get to do the easiest
part of the install which is actually installing
the spacer.
Now, there's only one way this could go on
to these three studs right here.
So, let's go ahead and try to line it up,
spin it around if it doesn't quite line up.
Now, we can take these three 17-millimeter
nylock nuts included in the kit.
We're just going to thread the spacer onto
the studs on top of the strut assembly.
So, now that we have those started on the
threads, we're gonna use this 17-millimeter
thin wall socket, the impact sockets are a
little bit too big to get into those holes.
If you're using this on a ratchet, you'll
be just fine.
However, if you're using this on the impact
gun like I'm about to be, make sure you wear
a pair of these.
So, now we're gonna head back to the truck
and as you probably gathered, this is going
to be flipped 180.
So, we're gonna go ahead and drop the strut
assembly in flipped 180 and we're gonna get
the bottom started before we get the top started
and you're gonna see how I do that.
That's gonna go in there like so, I like to
leave the top sort of out of the bucket like
that, makes it a little bit easier to line
up the bottom like that.
And go ahead and get our 15-mil bolt started.
And once you put one thread on that, take
it up a little bit, again 15-millimeter socket,
you can see it pop out the top of that nut
clip, that is fine.
We're gonna get the other side too and snug
that down just a hair, that is looking good,
then we can move back to the top.
So, why I like to do it in that order is because
this bushing at the bottom here is a little
bit tilted.
Since we flipped this 180, it's gonna be angled
the opposite way and basically fighting you
but once you get that started, you can go
ahead and just use the leverage on the strut
assembly itself to get that seated in the
bucket like so.
Then we're gonna use these bolts that come
in the kit, they tighten down with an 8-millimeter
Allen key to secure the spacer to the bucket.
That's one in, get the other two in then we
can tighten that down.
Now I have my Allen key on a fancy ratchet
like this.
If you don't have that, unfortunately, you
will just have to use the 8-millimeter Allen
key but if you have something like this, it
makes really quick work
of these.
Now that the top is done, we could jump back
down to the bottom and tighten down these
two 15-millimeter bolts that hold the strut
assembly to the lower control arm.
And you can kind of see how that spun into
place.
That's exactly why I keep the top out of the
bucket until everything is started.
So, now we have our strut assembly completely
installed, we got one more hard part to take
care of, and that is the upper control arm
ball joint to the knuckle.
Now, what we're gonna have to do here, is
we're gonna get the pry bar in on the coils,
we're gonna pry down on that to get that single
thread through.
We're going to catch that on the bottom side
with an 18-millimeter nut just like that.
Another thing to note is this ABS line.
This does need to be over top of this upper
control arm here.
So, make sure you're aware of where this is
before you tighten anything down.
Now once you have a few threads, you can go
ahead and tighten that ball joint nut all
the way down.
Again, 18-millimeter ratcheting wrench for
this one.
The rest of this is going to be really, really
easy, just basically putting the suspension
back together.
We're gonna start with our tie rod and that's
gonna slip into that collar right there.
21-millimeter nut is gonna thread right onto
that and if you need to hold this ball joint
still, you got a 10-millimeter end right here.
Before we do our sway bar end link, now would
be a good time to get the other side caught
up in the front.
Since those two are connected with the sway
bar, it's easier to leave this off until you're
completely done.
We're gonna do that off-camera.
But for right now we're going to put that
plastic separator in, gonna put our bolt up
through on top and go one more bushing.
And then last but not least the 15-millimeter
nut.
Now, last but not least, and go ahead and
bolt back down our brake and ABS line brackets.
Now a few hours and some dirty hands later,
this guy is completely wrapped up.
You wanna make sure everything is nice and
tight.
Again hit the same thing over on the other
side and that is gonna do it, take your truck
for a good alignment and you'll be all set.
That's gonna do it for me.
It's also gonna do it for the MotoFab 3-inch
Front Leveling Kit fitting all '07 to '18
Silverado and Sierra 1500s.
Again guys, thank you for watching.
Keep it right here at AmericanTrucks for all
things Chevy.

The 7 Parts You Need For Your 2014 Chevy Silverado Work Truck - The Haul

AmericanTrucks Chevy & GMC:

Hey guys, Adam here with americantrucks.com
and on this episode of "The Haul" we pulled
in our 2014 5.3 Silverado into the shop for
a cool utility build and I personally handpicked
a bunch of parts for this build related to,
you know, using your truck for work-related
tasks, maybe on and off-roading so we've got
a lot of suspension enhancements off-road
and on-road protection, lighting and bed storage,
things of that nature.
Now, before we get into the build, make sure
you subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay
up to date on cool builds like this, truck
news and product reviews.
Now without further ado we're gonna start
up here on the front with the bull bar, so
let's get to it.
All right, guys, so we got the Black Horse
Off Road 3-inch Beacon LED Bull Bar attached
to our front end here, everything is secured
in place.
In order to get the tow hooks out the front
grill, the radiator shroud, and the front
bumper all had to come off in order to remove
those tow hooks and then it all goes back
on and then the brackets for the bull bar
go on to the tow hook positions.
It's really not that hard of a job at all,
anybody can do it at home.
And if you're running a truck that you use
for your work site a bull bar is a great choice
for protection not to mention it's just a
really aggressive look.
This particular one from Black Horse is one
of the thicker more durable options, it's
a 3-inch fully welded steel so it is a little
bit more suitable for those work-related tasks
to kind of protect that lower front end from
brush, trail hazards, rocks, cinder blocks,
whatever you might be tackling.
Now, what makes this one really cool is that
it does come with a bottom skid play which
adds so much more protection that's kind of
the big selling point to this bull bar option
from Black Horse.
And then the other selling point here is gonna
be that integrated light bar.
Now, a lot of guys pick up a bull bar for
on and off-road and really want that additional
lighting output, this one you don't have to
pick up something separate.
There's no drilling required, you don't have
to make your own modifications.
The bull bar already comes with a 3-inch Beacon
LED here.
It's a really, really bright option that comes
with some switch.
So you actually just wire it into your battery,
run it through your firewall, and you can
switch this up to your cabin and just flip
it on from the driver's side position.
Now, if you find yourself wanting a lot more
protection for extreme off-roading you'd probably
want to go with a full brush guard.
This doesn't protect the top upper portion
or the headlights, it's really just good for
those smaller work-related tasks.
Now that we've tackled the bull bar at the
front end let's spin the truck around and
we've got some suspension to do.
So now that we've got the truck turned around
we put it up in the air to show you exactly
what we're throwing on for the suspension
for the utility build.
This is the Timbren Suspension Enhancement
System.
Now, obviously, this is just one.
We've got two, one for each side.
But this is essentially gonna replace your
factory jounce stops which you can see up
here.
And as you can see it is a pretty significant
difference in not only materials and durability
but also just size all around.
Now what this is gonna do is essentially cushion
a lot of the sagging that your truck will
have when you throw on added weight into the
bed which is really gonna come in handy when
we throw on the bed rack we have later on.
Now, with that bed rack you'll be throwing
on all kinds of lumber, maybe an ATV or a
motorcycle, a kayak, whatever you're doing
with the family, or for work.
This is not only gonna prevent the sagging
but it's also gonna prevent unwanted oscillation
from your bed.
It's gonna give you a better suspension feel
and handling giving you a lot better ride
comfort.
And now, the really good thing about this
as you can see from the jounce stop is when
weight is not applied to the bed it's essentially
just gonna feel like a stock ride, nothing
is gonna change, it's only until there's enough
weight on the bed to have this come in contact
with the axle that you're really gonna feel
the difference.
So what we're gonna do to demonstrate this
is we're gonna put this truck on the ground
and we have a bunch of 33-inch and 35-inch
tires, we're gonna throw in the bed.
So that should be a pretty significant amount
of weight to show how much sagging you'd get
without the Timbren System and then we're
gonna install this, throw it back on the ground
and throw the same amount of weight back in
the bed and see the difference.
So we got the truck back on the ground and
as you can see we added a ton of weight into
the bed of our '14 Silverado.
Now, I know a lot of you guys might not be
hauling around 10 individual 33-inch tires,
which all of these weight combined is about
a thousand pounds, maybe just a little over
a thousand pounds of weight in the bed.
Now, we're still working with the factory
setup right now, the stock jounce stops are
still in place above the rear axles.
And as you can see from our cameras here this
thousand-pound added weight to the truck is
not an off-weight to have the factory jounce
stops contact the axle and support that weight.
So right now it's kind of just free weight
sitting on the rear end making your truck
sag down which you'll see in the driver seat
when you're driving along.
It definitely feels like it's not supported.
So what we're gonna do is we're gonna throw
this exact weight setup back up in the air,
uninstall the factory jounce stops, throw
the Timbren suspension system in their place
and we'll show you that it is gonna support
this thousand pounds of weight whereas the
factory setup would not.
We got our 2014 Silverado back on the ground.
Timbren System installed for the suspension
enhancement qualities, thousand pounds of
weight still back here, about a thousand pounds
with our 33-inch tires, and this is really
gonna be the difference between your rear
end sagging down too much and keeping your
truck leveled out and really supported with
that added cargo.
Now, as you saw here, the Timbren system is
a lot different in size and quality of materials
as opposed to the factory jounce stops.
There's a really a couple of inches difference
as far as height goes and that's the difference
between having this weight supported and the
factory setup just not cutting it.
Now, since that's on there, it does support
up to 8,600 pounds of added weight which I
know we don't have back here but with our
next mod which is the Leitner Cargo Rack if
you're gonna add that much storage space you're
gonna have the opportunities to load up to
about 8,600 pounds of cargo.
You can throw a motorcycle back there with
some added things above the rack which we're
gonna show you later on minus the motorcycle.
So while we have this truck back here with
the rear end facing us let's get this tires
off here and get started on that bed rack.
Now, guys, we talked about the suspension
and added weight and when it comes to added
weight you're gonna have a lot of storage
opportunity with some of the new mods out
there for Silverados.
The Leitner Designs active bed cargo rack
system is a great way to add some extreme
functionality and practicality to your truck.
If you find yourself using this truck to its
fullest potential or you're hauling around
a lot of cargo moving stuff from the work
site or the campsite you're probably running
out of room in hauling around things that
are just a little too big for a basic 5.5-foot
bed.
Now, this is a great way to add some more
cargo space, a lot of them at a tie-down points,
you have quad slot support beams all around,
all of these is rated to just about 70-pounds
of extra weight on top of your bed really
not that much in the grand scheme of things.
Now, as far as how much weight this can hold
on-road you're looking at about up to 500
pounds, off-road, 250 pounds or weight capacity,
and then a static weight of a thousand pounds,
definitely a lot of opportunities for putting
stuff in your bed here that you otherwise
would not be able to fit.
Now, this cross beam here and the cross beam
in the back clear the top of your roof so
if you were looking to fit maybe a 12-foot
ladder, 12-foot 4x4s or 2x4s you can definitely
do that here with this bed rack and still
have access to your full bed.
In addition to that, if you find yourself
hauling around maybe something taller like
a refrigerator or an ATV or a motorcycle,
these beams right here have twist knobs on
the front.
You can untwist both sides all the way and
push this all the way back to your windshield
and have full access to the bed for taller
items.
In addition to all of this, you actually have
tied opportunities on the outside as well
for additional storage bins that Leitner actually
sells separately and we have here today.
There's a couple of things we have to finish
up with this and tighten up a couple of bolts.
This is some drilling into the side of the
bed here for these support beams.
In my personal opinion, if you find yourself
needing a bed rack system like this and you'd
use it to its fullest potential definitely
worthwhile.
The whole rack here is about 1,500 bucks.
It is the most expensive thing on our utility
build but, again, if it's something that you're
looking to get for additional storage and
really want to clear up your bed space and
haul around different things with a better
tie down and security point this is definitely
gonna be worthwhile.
So let's finish this up, we're gonna load
up a couple of things on top of the bed rack
to kind of demonstrate what it looks like,
the functionalities of it, throw a couple
of things in the bed to show you the added
space we've got here, and then we've got some
attachments we want to put on the side.
So let's get to it.
All right, guys, so the Leitner Designs cargo
system for the bedrock comes with a bunch
of additional things that you can buy separately
to kind of utilize and maximize the space
that you have here.
One of the things is this lockable storage
boxes which are waterproof, rated for up 60
pounds each, we've got two of them so that's
another, a 120 pounds you can add on to this
bed.
Now, these being waterproof and ABS plastic
they're pretty resistant to a lot of the elements
outside.
That in combination with a bunch of the other
add-ons you can really use this thing to its
fullest potential and get the most out of
it.
Now with all these added weight and the Timbren
suspension system in place, they're really
gonna work hand and hand here.
Working with that system there is gonna come
in contact with the axle and just utilize
the truck making it more comfortable and capable,
really using it to its best performance.
And we have a couple of things left to do
for this build not as big as this one per
se but we've got side steps and mud flaps
and that'll kind of wrap up this utility build,
so let's just keep things moving along.
Just a couple of little things I want to touch
on before we go that we just got finished
up on.
One of them is the Barricade 4-inch Oval Body
Mount Side Steps.
Now, as you can see they are pretty bad ass
looking so styling is definitely an aspect
here but most importantly and most obviously
it's gonna help you get in and out of your
truck safely and securely at the same time.
So it has that functionality to it as well
especially for work truck guys.
A lot of guys hopping in and out from the
passenger side and the driver side, of course,
front and rear, the slip-resistant pad is
an ABS plastic so that's pretty durable over
time it's also got that tire tread-like patterns
so it keeps your grip on your boots when you're
hopping in and out.
That's also good for guys in the wintry weather
areas seeing a little bit of road salt, some
icy conditions that'll make sure you get in
and out safely.
The black powder coated finish matches that
bedrock that we have up there with the Glock
boxes so it all kind of flows together as
well.
Now, the body mounts for those mount right
up to preexisting holes under the rocker panel
so no drilling required it's a really easy
kit from Barricade so I' really recommend
it for any truck owner out there, utility
or not, even if you're using your truck as
a daily driver they're definitely a must.
Now, finally, to wrap up the exterior here,
we've got the WeatherTech No-Drill Mud Flaps.
Keyword is being "no-drill."
A lot of guys don't want to drill into the
wheel well liners like that, so this one will
just pop out your end cap screws and replace
them right into their factory locations with
the WeatherTech installed.
So this is good for guys hitting the off-road
trails, kicking up mud to their paint, that
will protect that in a long-term and it also
keeps your sidesteps pretty clean and mud-free
as well making sure they're as slip resistant
as possible.
Moving on to one more thing from WeatherTech.
This is the Over The Hump WeatherTech Front
Floor Liner.
This is also a black to kind of keep with
the theme here today, but also when you're
hopping in and out of your truck from that
muddy terrain you're tracking in stuff inside
here.
This is gonna make sure your carpet stays
factory fresh.
The good thing here is it's got that tire
tread-like pattern also to keep that slip
resistant, also keeping all the spills and
messes in their confined to the floor mats.
They've got the tie down points or the lockdown
points here to make sure they don't shift
around in your car or your truck while you're
driving around, so that's really a no-brainer.
Over the Hump gives it total floor coverage
to cap that one off.
All right, guys, that just about wraps up
this utility build for the Chevy Silverado.
Now if you're using your truck to its fullest
potential, all of the mods on this build are
gonna be super useful, very functional, very
practical.
The bed rack in the back obviously helping
with hauling different kind of storage, suspension
mods for the added weight, bull bar up front
for protection, sidesteps to get you in and
out, and WeatherTech floor liners to help
with keeping your truck clean as well as those
mud flaps.
If you like this build and you want to see
more like it, subscribe to our YouTube channel
to stay up to date on those future projects,as
well; as product reviews and news pieces on
the new model trucks.
Make sure you keep it locked right here at
americantrucks.com.

2007-2018 Silverado Max Trac 3" Leveling Kit Review & Install

AmericanTrucks Chevy & GMC:

You should be checking out Max Trac's 3-inch
leveling kit, if you want one of the biggest
strut spacers available for your 2000 and
up 1500.
Now, these spacers will allow you to easily
fit up to 33-inch tires inside those square
wheel wells without the need for any cutting
or permanent modification.
All hardware is included to make these spacers
an easy bolt-on kit, but it can be time consuming.
So, I'm giving this install two out of three
wrenches on our difficulty meter, and you
should be able to get it done in about three
hours.
All right.
So, like I mentioned, these will not fit 35-inch
tires on your Silverado, in fact, most kits
will not, unless you go crazy and get like
a 6 or 7-inch lift.
But if you want to fit 33-inch tires on your
two-wheel or four-wheel drive truck, and you're
not interested in much else, then these spacers
are the ticket.
Now, I say that because compared to a conventional
lift kit, you're saving quite a bit of cash.
These spacers come in at around $150 mark,
making them one of the least expensive options
for a 3-inch front lift.
Whereas, a lift kit that includes struts,
shocks, control arms, and all those other
goodies, we usually start at around $450 to
$500, and they easily go up from there.
Now, keep in mind, you can easily knock this
out at home, saving you even more money on
time and labor because you're keeping all
your actual suspension component stock.
All right.
Now, while those more expensive lift kits
will add some benefits off-road, spacers like
these are the way to go if you're only interested
in the occasional four by four excursion and
you spend most of your time on the streets.
I say that because these will modify your
CV angles.
And if you really put your truck through the
wringer on rocky trails, or if you put your
suspension through a lot of articulation,
you might wear out those CV joints a bit quicker.
Now, if that is a concern for you, it's not
a big deal.
You can easily get those CV angles back into
factory spec with a supreme suspension at
diff drop kits that we sell for about $30.
Now, if you're wondering why you want 3 inches
instead of the 1 1/2, 2-inch or 2 1/2-inch
options, you just have to consider clearance.
Three inches will give you the most clearance
inside those wheel wells if you do spring
for 33-inch tires, and it'll help you level
out your truck more than those smaller spacers
if you've installed, say, a heavy front bumper
or a winch, and you're sagging a bit.
Now, I'd also suggest 3 inches if you're doing
any plowing during winter.
Now, the spacers that I have here are made
out of stamped steel and they come in a nice
gray powder coat finish.
All the mounting hardware is high-tensile
10.9 grade, so you won't ever have to worry
about any bolt sharing or these things breaking.
Now, there are some spacers made out of different
materials, but popular opinion says there
is no difference in how they perform.
And I've seen no complaints or concerns about
going with steel over something like polyurethane.
I would actually weigh that these will be
a bit tougher overall, and the powder coat
finish will prevent any rusting.
Again, as far as the install goes, you're
looking at two out of three wrenches on our
difficulty meter, and I expect you can tackle
this at home in about three hours or so.
This is a bolt-on kit, so you'll need a ratchet
and socket set, a hammer or mallet, and you'll
need some penetrating oil to break loose some
of those stubborn suspension components, and
you'll definitely need a jack stand or a lift.
Now, I'll hand the install over to our team
in the Install Bay and I'll show you how to
get this done yourself step-by-step.
We're gonna begin by lifting the vehicle and
securing it.
If you're doing this in your driveway with
a floor jack, please use jack stands.
Now, that the truck is lifted and secured,
we're gonna go ahead and remove the front
wheels.
This leveling kit is for the front end only,
so we don't have to worry about the rear at
this point.
After that, we're gonna disconnect our tire
rod end and our lower strut mounts.
Next, we're gonna go ahead and disconnect
our upper ball joint.
Now, you'll want to go ahead and pop off this
clip here that holds your ABS line in place,
just so there's no tension on it.
Removal of your upper ball joint will make
things easier, putting your strut back in
with your leveling kit spacer on it.
After that, we're gonna go ahead and remove
the three nuts holding the top of the strut
in the strut tower.
Installation of your strut spacer is very
simple, just properly orient it.
It just slides down right over top of the
studs on your factory struggle.
Then, you're gonna wanna go ahead and take
your original factory hardware and just tighten
down right on top of it.
You do receive new hardware with the kit.
From here to the end, it's just reinstallation
as a reverse of this assembly.
There is a little bit of finagling to get
the strut back into place, but I guarantee
you, it'll go right back in.
Once your strut is up into place, you're gonna
install the new hardware that comes with your
kit to hold it in place.
After that, you're going to use your original
hardware for the lower strut mounts, just
to get them started in your strut lock into
position.
Actually, you wanna go ahead, pop your ball
joint back into place.
Once you got your ball joint started with
your threads, you're gonna wanna go ahead
and assemble everything else.
Lower your vehicle back down.
If you're using a jack and a jack stand, you're
gonna wanna go ahead and put a jack underneath
your lower ball joint and jack it up using
the weight of the truck, to put a little pressure
down here, so you can get the ball joint the
rest of the way in.
You can go ahead and tighten up all your hardware.
Reinstall your tire right in, tighten it up.
That concludes the installation of our Max
Trac's 3-inch front leveling kit for the '07
and up Chevy Silverados.
This will work on four-wheel drive and on
two-wheel drives.
You wanna go ahead and just make sure everything's
nice and snug.
And like anything, when you take a part of
your suspension, go ahead and get an alignment
done right afterwards.
In about a week or so, go back, make sure
everything's still tightened.
After your suspension settles, things do tend
to loosen themselves back up.
But, as it says in the instructions, just
go ahead and go back and tighten it all back
up.
All right.
So that wraps up my review and install of
Mac Trac's 3-inch leveling kit for your 2007
and up 1500.
I'm Travis, and you can find everything you
need for your Silverado or Sierra right here
at americantrucks.com.