80vette383

I did the install up at my shop this past weekend. Everything went smooth, these struts are VERY easy to get out of the truck... just the 3 upper nuts and 2 lower bolts and it's out, didn't even need to loosen the end links. Going back in I needed a little more wiggle room, so I removed the end links, still VERY very easy though. I didn't take really any pictures during the actually install because I was rushing to get everything done before evening plans (I was also doing tires, rear brakes, new side steps and some other little things) Install notes: -I re-used the OE strut shaft nuts to avoid the Bilstein-bump. The OE nut is definitely better quality than the supplied nut with the strut. Ideally I would have gotten NEW OE nuts to use seeing you're technically not supposed to be re-use those oval lock nuts. But, I didn't have new OE nuts, and the old ones still seemed like a better option than the supplied nuts. -I went with the highest setting (4th notch) and got 2", but that was right after coming off the lift, so there should be some settling. Currently I have about 1/2" to 5/8" of rake. -I also re-used OE clip nuts, because again they seemed like better quality than the supplied nuts. -Alignment was not very far off after install. Camber and Caster were dead on, Toe was about 0.3* off on both sides. Review: I'd say about 95% of the reviews I read prior to buying the 5100's are accurate. The change is pretty significant. I should note my truck and it's stock Ranchos had 55k miles. They were pretty heavily rotted on the outside, but I didn't realize how blown they were until I got them off and felt how little resistance they had left. Handling I would say the biggest change I notice is the huge decrease in body roll. Turns, especially quick turn ins are SO much more stable. It's hard to describe in words, but very noticeable. It's most noticeable going around a rotary near my house. I used to have to take it much slower, and you could really feel the truck shifting it's weight. Quick turn ins would cause the weight to sort of bounce back and forth from left to right, to the point you could feel the wheel rocking, until it kind of settled in. Now it just stays rock steady. Brake dive was also something that has gone away. I never had given it much thought, it was just something I had gotten used to. Everything about the handling has greatly improved. NOTE: Some of this may be attributed to the change in tires, but the body roll improvement is definitely the suspension. Ride quality The ride quality is great. Like others mention it's definitely stiff, but not anymore than it was from the factory in my opinion. Smaller bumps and imperfections in the road are greatly improved over stock. They suspension just absorbs them and you barely notice them. Rougher roads and large bumps are where you feel the stiffness, but like I said it's nothing outrageous. I think it feels like a truck should, and the stiffness is well worth the improved handling! Tires: I went with the Continental Terrain-contact ATs. As I said above, I have always had good experiences with Continentals performance and passenger car tires, so I was looking forward to trying their newer ATs. The quality is great and the ride is awesome. The steering is WAY more responsive with more feel/control than the stock Goodyears. From a technical standpoint they balanced well with very little weight, which in my experience is a sign of quality tires. Also, for those that know Roadforce balancing, 3 of the 4 tires roadforced at under 10, which is again a sign of a quality tire. I love the BFG KO2s, but for how I use my truck I couldn't justify going with those and taking the mpg/acceleration/suspension wear/ride quality hit that comes with the significant added weight of them. Compared to the KO2s, or other LT options, these obviously aren't as aggressive, but I think they have a decent aggressive look, and at the same time have ZERO road noise, great handling, no noticeable impact on MPG, and an awesome ride. Also, for size I went with kind of an odd duck 265/70R18. Not many people on here have gone this route, but I decided they fit what I was looking for. I wanted a little bigger, but didn't want to jump to the LTs which is mostly what's available in the larger sizes. I also didn't want to significantly impact my MPG by adding wider tires. So the 265/70s gave me an extra 1" diameter while maintaining stock width. I think it's a nice size, not too obvious, but maybe something the truck could have come with from the factory. The size is 32.6" tall by 10.5" wide, vs 31.6" and 10.5" stock. Before pictures: After:

I probably will at some point, but for a small change from 31.5 to 32.5 inch tires it's not the end of the world. At 70 it'll be off by 2mph

I'm looking to get rid of some of the rake. I was under the impression with the bilsteins the impact on the wear parts wouldn't be as bad as with a strut spacer. Also, I've read nothing but retorted improvements of ride quality with the Bilsteins over the stock Ranchos, but who knows. Either way swapping control arms out in these isn't a big deal. If my ball joints wear I'll upgrade the arms. I decided to go with the Bilstein 5100s, set on either the 3rd or 4th highest setting, I haven't decided yet. I also ordered Continental Terraincontact ATs in 265/70r18 which will keep the stock width but give me an extra inch in height, just shy of 33s. I've installed a lot of Contis and they make a great tire backed with a great warranty. These have a decent aggressive look but should be very quiet/comfortable on the road and maintain good mpg. I'm doing the install at my shop Saturday. I'll update with pictures.

I've got a 2014 Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71 that I'm getting ready to modify slightly, and figured I'd make a thread for a couple reasons. First, I have a couple questions about which way to go with the truck. Second, I want to make it easier for guys looking to do a similar set up to mine to find info and pics, which I'll post once I'm done. I've done a ton of searching on here, there's a ton of threads on leveling and tires (as you know), but most of them are lacking pictures/info, or are 200pgs and cluttered with crap. Also, most seem to be guys with aftermarket wheels or stock 20s, so I wanted to make one specific to stick Z71 18s. Anyways, onto the point... Level: I'm going with either 1) Bilstein 5100s 2) Bilstein 6112s 3) Rancho Quicklift Like most, my truck sees mostly paved roads, with occasional offroad but nothing crazy intense (except a couple weeks on the beaches of the outer banks haha). I have a large polaris ATV that goes in the bed a lot, plus do small contracting jobs, so the bed is used for decent sized loads fairly regularly. I do occasional towing as well. So basically, I like the look of leveled, but think I may need to keep a slight rake to avoid the back end sagging when hauling. Of the 3 options, the Ranchos may be the hardest to accomplish this with because they don't have adjustable height, what you get is what you get (which is supposed to be right at 2"). There's a lot of info on the bilstein in here, but not much on the Quicklift. Does anybody have any experience? I'm thinking to keep a little rake, the Bilstein on the 3rd setting may be best? Also, I've seen mixed reviews in ride quality versus the stock Z71 Ranchos... Some day night and day difference for the better, some say unnoticeable, some say they're stiffer... Any input? Tires: My number 1 choice is the BFG K02s. I've always had good luck with these tires, and have installed them on many friends rigs. However, I'm trying to stay away from LT tires on this truck to avoid the performance /mpg/ride quality loss. I'd prefer the durability and look of LTs, but trying to stay with P/SL I've narrowed it down to -Firestone Destination AT2 -Continental Terraincontact AT I've had great experience with continental on my cars, but have never gotten an AT your from them (it's a new segment for the Conti line). Anybody have any experience with them? I'm sure they ride great, but I'm more concerned with they're AT and snow ability. The firestone AT2s were just released this past year. I just installed them on my mother in laws truck and they seem nice, plus they have the 3 peak snow rating, so I'm kind of leaning this way. Anybody have any experience with them on their truck? Size wise I'm looking at a less popular 265/70 because I'm trying to avoid the LTs in the 275/70 range. The 265/70 will keep the stock width of roughly 10.5" to hopefully not impact MPG, but will get me an extra 1" diameter to go from the stock 31.5" to 32.6" Depending on the advice I get from you guys in going to try to order everything this week and install next week. Pics to follow. I appreciate any input! Thanks

Did you get these installed? I'm trying to make the same decision for my '14 1500 LTZ Z71. Pics would help!

I'm thinking about adding Android Auto. I have a '14 LTZ with factory 8"nav etc. I'm curious what it'll cost though... sucks us 14 and 15 guys need all new hardware. For the guys that have done it, what exactly are the features I'll gain over the factory mylink? I know the basics, just curious if there's some things I don't know about. I did watch MVIs video about it. Also, what factory features will I lose? I'll text Anthony tomorrow for pricing

What are the Silverado guys doing for the DRLs to limit needless use of the HIDs? I turned off light notification for things like unlock/lock and remote start, but obviously the DRLs are still active and it seems like a waste to have the HIDs fired during the day. Anybody have any solutions other than shutting them off every time? Anybody running anything else as their DRL?

Installed my Xenondepot HIDs yesterday. I did the HID extreme 35w 5000k low beams, as well as 5000k LED fog lights. I like the look, but most imperative is the huge improvement in functionality. Being able to see at night without constantly using my high beams is awesome. I had custom retrofits and HIDs in my last car and am glad to finally have then again. As far as the stock projectors they really don't look bad, I'm happy with them for now.

Thanks, looks straight forward, not that I'm really concerned about the difficulty of the install. I'm just not too keen on hacking up my dust covers and putting them back together with tape just yet. I know it's not a huge deal and they'll be out of sight for the most part, but it'll bug me, and although I know roofing tape or something like a foil tape for duct work would seal it up well enough, I'd still be a little worried about moisture getting in somehow. I'd say theres a 99% chance though that once I get my HIDs in I'm going to wind up wanting to do the retrofit regardless, just based on the pictures of how superior the FXRs look compared to the stock projectors.

So I pulled the trigger on some stuff from Xenondepot. I went with them because I like how their kits use two relays to retain the factory redundancy in case one side goes out. As I had said, I wanted pure white. I was going back and forth between Xenondepot's 5000k or the Philips 4300k they offer for extra. I was leaning towards Philips as its a better brand bulb, but after speaking with a tech at Xenondepot I decided to go with the 5000k. He said even though the 4300k will colorshift it will still have a slight yellowish tint which I do not want. So I ordered the Xtreme HID H11 kit with CANbus. I also ordered matching 5000k LED fog lights. I'll post pics when I install it all.

Thanks, yeah I was thinking the same thing, start with the HIDs and I can add the projectors later if I want... Although knowing myself I'm sure I will, because seeing how much better they look vs the stockers it'll bug me knowing that now lol. I'm not worried about tackling the install, I know I can handle that, just don't feel like hacking up my stock stuff and risk exposing the headlights to the elements. The 55w doesn't get too hot? That's what I had been reading, that and shorter life and color change. Anybody with a Silverado try these? A lot cheaper than the extended plastic ones going for $82 each! https://www.theretrofitsource.com/accessories/rubber-housing-caps.html#.VrDSm8Q8KrU

Does it make a difference that I'm planning on a 35w kit not 55w? Also, what brand bulbs did you get? Do you have a Silverado or Sierra? I looked on their site and the only video was for Sierras? The FXRs definitely look great, but are the stock projectors so bad that it wouldn't be worth doing just HIDs? What brand bulbs did you get? Your 6500k really don't look that blue at all, they look good.

I have been following this thread for a little while, and am now at the point where I want to make a move with my stock headlights. I've got a few questions. I have a 2014 LTZ that I was planning on upgrading to HIDs. However, after following this thread I'm now leaning towards possibly doing a projector retrofit as well. Basically what I want to know is how the fitment is with the FXR retros installed. Will the dust covers definitely not fit. I saw someone post a link to extended covers, but at $82 per cover on top of the cost of the retrofit kit, that makes it too expensive to make it worthwhile. I've been looking at the different vendors like xenondepot, xenonhid, and theretrofitsource, but just recently found fastheadlight from this thread. I see they make a bracket for the FXR projector install, but they don't have any install info for the Silverado. Has anyone gotten this kit? Does it make the installation of the FXRs that much easier? Lastly, I'm up in the air about what bulb temp I want. I know I want pure white, but the actually temp seems to vary a lot between manufacturers. One I was looking at was the xenondepot kit with the Philips 4300k or the Xenondepot 5000k. The Philips is a pretty big add-on, is the bulb really that much better? Also, would the 4300k have any yellow? I know most brands at a temp that low probably would, but the Philips are advertised as pure white at the 4300k and even say they will color change closer to 5000k after about 100hrs. Anyone use the Philips? Thanks for any input. I'm sure a lot of this has been covered, but it's hard to go through 160pgs and most of the stuff I've found in here is for Sierras. I'm hoping to buy my kit today, I can't tolerate the LTZs crappy halogens anymore!