Hello 21st century! Finally someone has come out with some Chevy IFS stuff that actually strengthens the truck. How many years has it been since GM introduced fullsize IFS trucks? Fortunately for us, Rough Country has taken the leap and has not only brought us a top-quality suspension system with some outstanding features, but also some much-improved replacement CVs to actually address the fact that we're going to be sticking a decent-sized tire on the truck. Those factory CVs are OK with 32-inch tires, but you start sticking on 35s or 37s and you're gonna be snapping those little chicken bones.
We got a firsthand look at what makes these complete kits so appetizing for a Chevy guy while installing a 6-inch version (8-inch kits are available as well) on an '06 Duramax truck at Pick-Up Parts in Mission Viejo, California. Besides the CVs, Rough Country is also offering a ton of nice little touches in its kits that make them stand out in a long line of suspension manufacturers today.
Now, we know that you're probably not going to be setting up this kit yourself, so don't use this story as directions for installing the equipment since we're just highlighting the cool benefits and features you gain. Besides, Rough Country provides complete instructions with full color images which make us wonder why so many other instructions for wizmos and thingamobobs don't follow suit.
We won't keep you waiting;...
We won't keep you waiting; we know this is what you want to see. Here's what your GMC or Chevy truck will look like underneath once you're done outfitting it with Rough Country's parts. They sell the kit in basic form or with all the options including Fox shocks, billet-aluminum upper A-arms, and heavy-duty CVs. Rough Country also sells its options separately, and best of all, they'll work with any suspension, stock or not.
The heavy-duty Rough Country...
The heavy-duty Rough Country replacement CV shafts are what you need for your '99-and-up Chevy or GMC. The CVs have incorporated a slip-shaft design (adorned with zerks for grease), allowing them to travel with the suspension without pulling apart, and are fitted with constant velocity joints that can take up to 50 degrees of angle before binding. They also make any CV spacers obsolete since they are unnecessary even on lifted trucks with Rough Country's CVs.
You'll have to trim the aluminum...
You'll have to trim the aluminum front differential housing of its mounting ears. An entirely new bracket bolts onto the 9 1/2-inch ring gear diff housing and mounts to the drop-cradle of the front suspension.
The one-piece machined billet-aluminum...
The one-piece machined billet-aluminum upper A-arm options mount directly in place of the stock upper A-arm. Rough Country recommends buying new ball joints for the arms and also gives stainless steel collars to keep them in place. Why? Well, even on the stock upper A-arms, Chevy customers are complaining to their dealers about the ball joints popping out, and Rough Country figured out that a simple collar would keep them from popping out of the new (optional) aluminum upper A-arms.
Notice one of the coolest...
Notice one of the coolest features on this kit: The torsion bars are not dropped below the frame. Rough Country provides an N.T.D. (non-torsion-bar drop) arm and a link (to join the new arm to the factory lower A-arm) that allow the torsion bar to stay in the stock location...
...This does not change the...
...This does not change the geometry of the suspension, nor does it change the spring rate, and the additional ground clearance (over other drop torsion-bar crossmember) is a huge bonus.
The 1/4-inch skidplates box...
The 1/4-inch skidplates box in the entire subframe, making it strong as heck and able to take the entire load of the vehicle in a major off-road impact. The skids come in pieces but join together with a zig-zag pattern that makes sure nothing moves around. All hardware for the skids is flush-mounted to ensure you won't get hung up on bolts that are sticking out.
Even the new antisway bar...
Even the new antisway bar links have ball joints on the ends to ensure that they do not bind and wear out prematurely like so many fixed links that rely upon the deflection of a urethane bushing to allow movement. These are the little touches that make the Rough Country kit so nice.
Again with the nice little...
Again with the nice little touches: Urethane plugs are put in the factory torsion-bar hex holes in the lower A-arms. They are merely cosmetic, but fill the hole, giving a cleaner look that does not allow dirt to build up.
Because of the way that GM...
Because of the way that GM runs its brake lines with a bracket on the shock mount, a bolt (that holds the bracket) comes very close to the shock. Rough Country realized this, and instead of just letting it dent the shock's body and not really worrying about it, they built a special shock with a slightly smaller diameter body that clears the bolt.
Once Pick-Up Parts had the...
Once Pick-Up Parts had the entire kit installed, we threw on a set of 35-inch Dick Cepek Fun Country IIs on the new Cepek DC-1 wheels. The Fun Country IIs are a great all-around tire, with tread a little more aggressive than a standard all-terrain, but with tread lugs still made for high-mileage results. The DC-1 wheels were 16x8s (the smallest wheel you can put on a new 2500 Chevy) made from a high-pressure casting.
We always like to pick the brain of the wrenches in install shops to see what their opinions are on IFS suspensions, since they're the ones usually putting these kits on, not the owners. They see so many go through their doors that we feel there's no one better to really tell you what's the best kit for your truck. We asked Justin Sagert and Adam Blattenberg of Pick-Up Parts what they thought of Rough Country's kit, and how it compared to other suspensions they've installed.
Justin and Adam had nothing but positive things to say throughout the entire install. In fact, cursing was kept to a minimum as all parts were there and went on as they should, in only six hours (once the stock suspension parts were pulled).
Editor Comments When we called Rough Country for a kit for Pick-Up Parts to install, they went directly to their stocked shelves and pulled a kit, just as a customer would get it when ordering. There was no special packing or a "checked" box that made sure to have all the pieces, so we know we were getting the same experience that any other customer was getting. We're not going to name names, but sometimes the parts we get for testing are "special" test kits or prototype units that are not what the normal consumer is going to see, which makes us fume a little bit.
And in fact, there was a problem with our kit and 11 others Rough Country had recently packaged and shipped: The links between the factory lower A-arm and the N.T.D. arm were for an 8-inch kit and not the 6-inch kit. The really cool thing was that Rough Country contacted us and had the new links in our hands before we could even figure out we had the wrong pieces. Rough Country's tracking systems were able to spot the problem and find what kits were sent where and resolve the issue before anyone had time to complain. As far as customer service goes, well, that's a class act in our opinion. They contacted us (not the other way around) and had the links to us in less than 24 hours.