most economic 4-6" lift, '95 tahoe

looking for advice on the best way to economically lift this truck.  I really want to get around the price of a pre packaged kit, if thats possible.  

Here is your answer, and trust me on this one.

When buying a lift kit for your truck dont think about the most economic way to lift it.  Think about the most economic way to fix it.  What i mean is it all depends on the type of wheeling your doing, and the limitations of the truck(AKA whats going to break).  That truck is an IFS nightmare.  So from the get go you have a weak base to start with.  With that front differential, you can not upgrade to anything lower than 4.56 gears.  which means you cant run big tires without seriously upgrading the engine.  That is also the weakest and most brittle front end in just about any truck out there nowadays, believe me, i blew mine once with 35 inch tires and another time with 38 inchers.  And   you cant put a locker in that front end! So what are you left with?  A front axle that cant handle more than 35 inch tires at best, and thats with no or light wheeling.  If your going to do heavy wheeling, then do what i did and swap out the IFS and hang a solid axle under the truck to save hundreds of dollars in replacing broken IFS parts.  ProComp is your best bet for IFS lift for that truck, and ORU for the solid axle swap(VERY MUCH WORTH IT).  Either way you decide to go remember you spend the right money now and wont have to spend it again every time you hit the trail.  (oh yeah, if your still an amature, why not just body lift the truck for $80 bucks throw some 33"'s on and call it a day????

Thanks, I suppose my real question was if the IFS was good enough to handle much of a lift considering the front diff. and drivetrain.  Solid axles are already my favorite and my only real experience building and driving.  This is my first build up of any kind on a 1\2 ton IFS. 

Do you know of anyone who has had any luck with a 3-4 inch lift and 34-35 tires? My only use for this truck would be light wheelin' down to the pond and second daily driver. I would like to stay away from as many bolt-ons for the motor as possible and would of course regear and lengthen the shaft, I was really trying to see if anyone had opinions on lift brands?

Yeah I had an IFS lift in my chevy pickup.  it to was a 1/2 ton.  for what you said light wheeling, yeah you should have no prob.  i had a pro-comp kit with the triple shock kit.  it was a good lift and i never broke any parts of it.  i broke parts of the IFS a few times.  but its really in your driving.  Thats why i upgraded to the solid axle.  But i was running 35's on the IFS kit as my daily driver and wheeled it almost every other day.  the truck held up and that 10 bolt rear is tougher than most people think.  like i said for chevys pro-comp is the way to go.  just remember that fr0ont end wont allow anything lower than a 4.56 gear ratio so dont plan on going larger than 35's without seriously upgrading the engine.  a four inch lift and 33's on that truck would be mint.  as long as your doing like you said "light wheeling"  i blew my front diff because i wsa really beating on it.  as long as your not really beating on it itll handle light wheeling no prob.  and the best part is when you blow axleshafts on that font end they're only abot 180$ and you can fix em on the trail.

thanks, i appreciate the info. 4 inches and 33's are what i was thinking anyway. i have never built a truck with all in one( or close enough) kits, but i have seen plenty of each design at use. usually i'm just buying pieces i need for certain applications.  have you ever noticed a great price difference between piecing and the kits and do those kits offer good shocks and good replacement linkage on the spindles, brake lines and such?  

  Yeah your better off just getting th all in one kit.  I just sold a 6" kit for that truck and i didnt have all the hardware for the kit.  So the guy i sold the kit to had to buy the hardware separate.  ProComp charged him $200.00 just for the nuts and bolts!  So deninately buy the whole thing at once.  Especially because that kit is intracit and it is not a good idea to buy a conglmerate of parts and combine them.   For some reason the aftermarket is great at making parts to match and bolt onto factory OEM parts.  But they dont make the same parts to match with other aftermarket parts.  so buy the whole thing once and get everything you need so you dont have to worry about buying things to match other things and then not knowing what part with what and well you get it.  This is a lift kit that seriously alters the geometry of the vehicle and needs to be precise in every way, so buy whats made for it and call it a day.  it might be more expensive, but itll be ten times less stressfull knowing you have everything you need right THERE.Thats huge in the truck fabrication buisiness.  As far as spindles, ProComp was making a kit that retained your factory spindles, looki into that before ggoing out and getting new ones.  the kit i had i did not have to change them, and either did the guy i sold the kit to.  shocks are going to be pro comp es 3000's they are all you need for what your doing.  usually the parts are plenty good if not beter than factory parts. 

good luck. 

MUDNUTT is right, there's no real cheap way to properly lift an IFS truck.  I've got a 1995 K1500 with Rancho 6" lift, 35" ProComp Xterrains.  I had 3.73 gears for awhile and did OK, but I last year I swapped in 4.56's and am a lot happier.  I didn't have very good luck with the stock drivetrain. I blew up the stock 10 bolt and all I had was 33's at the time, the front diff went out on me also, and I wasn't even wheeling hard.  I swapped out the rear for a 6 lug 9.5" 14 bolt out of a 3/4 ton (not quite as strong as the 10.5" full floater 14 bolt, but way better than the 10 bolt).  The only thing a stock 10 bolt is good for is a boat anchor... In hindsight, I wish I had gone for the front solid axle swap from the get go.  If you plan on running 35's, or bigger, you WILL break things.  Gentle wheeling and 33's will probably be OK.  I don't like body lifts, but they are a LOT cheaper than a suspension lift, but they look like crap and can break body mounts off the frame. 

As far as new spindles and knuckles, as far as I know only the lifts for 1998 and up Chevys use new knuckles, the earlier lifts use drop brackets for both the upper and lower A arms.  I like the Rancho kit better than the Pro Comp kit.  The Rancho kit uses a fully welded one piece subframe that is very rigid and strong, where as the ProComp lift uses a bunch of smaller pieces bolted together that can shift around and screw up your alignment. Plus, what's better a solid welded frame or an erector set bolted together? 

Which every kit you decide on, get the most complete kit that you can afford, don't skimp.  Make sure it includes everything you need, including shocks.