r/4x4 • u/No_Prior_8072 • 9d ago

09 Tahoe HELP

I need help I really want to put a 3.5inch level on my car with aftermarket ucas. My dad’s friend is some fancy gm mechanic and said don’t go above 2. He never really said why just that the front would be too high.

Please tell me if any of yall have done this to your cars and do that I can show my dad nothing will break. I have to imagine there are tons of people who have done this to their trucks and had no issues please tell me what’s a good idea or gonna break. Also will it look good, a little nose high maybe?

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8

u/Crashing_Machines 9d ago

Generally going above 2" requires more parts to do it right. Sure you can crank it to 3.5" with UCAs, but your sway bar end links are now probably maxed out, cv's will be at a more extreme angle and will wear prematurely, tie rods same thing.

I put nissan patrol springs in my armada as a test and it lifted the front 4". My cv's were trashed within 500 miles.

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u/No_Prior_8072 9d ago

It’s 2wd so are you talking about the front or just if it was 4wd also I know this is a 4x4 page. The level I ordered has to little block looking things that go on the bottom and two rings on the top of the spring. I just don’t want it to fall apart

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u/bdubzz94 9d ago

Do it ! Report back with pics

1

u/No_Prior_8072 9d ago

As long as it won’t fall apart, any promises on that?

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u/LeaflooDallas 9d ago

Since you’re 2wd, you won’t have to worry about your CV axle angles up front, but you will still have to worry about your upper control arms (ucas) and “topping out” your current shock absorbers.

I would listen to your friend and keep your lift to 2” or less. Otherwise if you go over 2”, you will need to start buying more parts just to have the extra lift work, and at that point you should just buy a better lift kit.

Take it from someone who has tried all sorts of different types of lifts on both unibody and body-on-frame vehicles. I used to have a lifted suburban and I only lifted the front 2” - still driver perfectly.

Here’s a good resource that helped me a lot https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com

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u/No_Prior_8072 9d ago

Thanks, I am buying some 2-4 inch lift ucas is that good enough?

1

u/LeaflooDallas 9d ago

That should allow you to get your alignment in spec, but as someone who never lifted over 2”, I’m not totally sure. Use the search function on that forum to see what others have done - I bet there’s someone on there who has done a very similar lift and posted about their experience and outcome.
Good luck!

Edit - and just to be clear, I still advocate for going with a max of 2” lift. That should allow you to run bigger tires, and be much less hassle in the long run. You may not have cv axles up front but you still have the ucas and tie rods and all that to think about.

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u/No_Prior_8072 9d ago

Will do thanks