Propickup Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/93737
door started moving back and pulling out their smartphones as the last lugnut was cinched down. Big Red was about to roll out where A everyone could get a picture. The buzz started the day before when Daniel Parker and David Adair, the two TSO installers who have been upfi tting our project truck from day one, started on Big Red's biggest change – a six-inch Cognito suspension lift. But the lift alone wasn't creating the excitement as a fair number of the heavy-duty pickups that roll in and out of the TSO shop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, are running suspension kits. It was the combination of the lift and the tire/wheel package going on with it that everyone wanted to document for their Facebook and YouTube accounts. The wheels we chose for Big Red are American Force Combat 22s, forged aluminum beauties with the big-rig 10- lug bolt pattern, are more than capable of handling the heaviest of loads a GMC Sierra 3500HD Dually would ever be tasked with in the construction world. Wrapped around the black 22s, 35x12.50R22 Toyo Open Country M/Ts that set off Big Red like no other combo we've seen. Our crowd of ap- preciative onlookers, some of which own their own construction companies, seemed to agree as smartphones clicked like they were taking shots of some celebrity. GETTING HIGH These types of lift kit installs aren't for the typical fl eet's shop mechanics;they take a lot of time – and certain level of expertise to do them right. And, bigger lift kits are not a A sharp sawzall makes quick work of slicing off the back of the driver's-side lower "A"-arm pocket so the front diff can be removed. small crowd of pickup owning-customers stand- ing in the Truck Supply and Outfi tters shop bay suspension is put back to stock. is cut off for the lift installation. But Cognito has a replacement in case the Top diff mount It helps to have an extra pair of hands for the installation – and a strong working knowledge of lift kit installs like Parker (right) and Adair have. 26 PROPICKUP October 2012