Bryan S. Leaman



1990 Chevy K1500

Rancho 2-3" Lift

For about 4 years I had the Rancho 2-3" GM IFS kit. Here's some information about my [bad] experiences with it. I now have the Rancho 4" GM IFS Lift which seems to be a much better design.

Fall 1997 - Rancho 2-3" Lift
BFG AT 32"x11.5"x15 tires

The Crash

After a really bad accident 1993 (I fell asleep while driving on an interstate and hit a guardrail), I had to basically replace the entire driver's side of the vehicle. At the same time, I had to do major front suspension work since I tore the left front wheel off at the ball joints.

I decided that it was a good time to do some customizing. I chose the Rancho 2"-3" IFS kit. It's a low-cost kit (and one of the few at the time for Chevy IFS) that replaces a few parts to allow you to crank the torsion bars for more ride height in the front.

The kit includes:

After the 2"-3" kit was installed, I replaced the pitman arm once, and the idler arm at least five or six times. Usually every six months or so. This was due to the very steep angle of the tie rods with respect to the steering centerlink. The result was lots of upward/downward forces on the idler and pitman arms. Also, as you tighten the torsion bars, you stiffen the ride. I had by bars tightened amlost as far as they would go to get the desired height.

The large-offset rims did not help either, since the custom wheels swing, rather than rotate, on their axis. Here's a technical bulletin from Fly-N-Hi regarding large offset wheels.

In an attempt to solve the idler problems, I installed the new 3-bolt GM idler arm (introduced in mid 1992 by GM). Thanks to a mounting bracket provided by Fly-N-Hi in Arizona, I was able to upgrade to the new style arm. The 3-bolt idler lasted somewhat longer than the 2-bolt version, but again my steering became loose.

If you're interested, here are the GM part numbers for the 3-bolt idler arm. There are two parts: the shaft that bolts to the frame, and the arm.

Summary

Even though this kit provided the extra height that I needed for 32" tires, and it looked nice, it was poorly engineered. I beleive that the design was rushed by the marketing department in order to put a GM IFS kit on the market (remember, this was 1993).

The shop that installed my new lift doesn't really recommend this kit either. The problem is that it takes a bad idea (tightening the torsion bars for added height) and allows you to take it to the extreme.

If you want a lift kit, spend the money (it's well worth it) and buy a "real" kit that drops your suspension components.

Last Updated: 1/22/98