New Shocks

Joshua200648 · February 7, 2010

Ok guys im about like every body else here with the torsion keys, cranked them up not 1.5" like i was told to be leveled but 3" and im still not leveled just an half inch off. Got talking to my friend who is a GM mechanic and said that mine may have just sat lower than others the reason it went so much, also its not maxed out either. So its been two years and nothing happens besides the crappy ride. I know im topping out, so I decided to finally break down to buy some shocks. Looks at the bilstein 5100 since there talked about alot then seen were a guy put some rancho's rs5000 and gained an half inch. So the mechanic told me to buy some keys to level it on out since I went so far and get a kit with the shock extenders that it would save me from buying longer shocks and it would be easier to find ones that would fit. So I looked and called around and talked to another guy and he told me the same to get keys(ReadyLift) and some Procomp shocks I think. So the question is...is it worth buying the dang over price keys to get it leveled out, or buy cheap ford keys or say screw it and just buy the shocks. I have an 06 regular cab 4x4. Im already running 285 on 17" and I still think my truck sits low than other trucks. If you want to check it out go to cardomain.com and put chevy350_1980 in search. Thanks

jimmyboy8301 · February 8, 2010

IMO buy some cognito front end parts consisting of tie rods, pitman and idler arm supports, upper control arms, some ford keys, and bilstein 5100's and call it a day. it will probably cost you a little over 1G but will be well worth it.

Joshua200648 · February 8, 2010

Well what would be the difference in buying a rough country lift, either a 4 or 6 for a thousand dollars versus being level and spending the same amount? Im not trying to make you mad but it would make more since IMO.

jimmyboy8301 · February 8, 2010

the quality of cognito comparted to rough country is like trying to compare a corvette zr1 to a hyundai tiburon. the quality of cognito is FAR superior to that of rough country. running your truck with 2+ inches of crank is going to be rough on your front end over time and buying these parts from cognito will really strengthen your front end. you said you just want to crank the truck not lift it, if you wanted to lift it i wouldn't reccomend RC compared to the bigger names anyway if you had extra cash to spare. if you crank that much without strengthening your front end your going to be spending some nice money down the road anyway.

jimmyboy8301 · February 8, 2010

i would get ford keys and pitman/idler arm, idler pivot assembly, tie rod steering kit, and upper control arm kit seen here:

http://cognitomotorsports.com/store/GM_6-Lug_4WD_Truck.html

05silvycrew · February 10, 2010

if you just want the truck to sit up a little higher, why not go with a 2" body lift? that way you don't put any more stress on the front end components. you could go with a 3" body lift, but I think that ends up showing too much frame rail below the cab.

Joshua200648 · February 12, 2010

Thats what I want to do in time but really soon is to a body lift. I would like to run the 295's on my truck but with the +18 offset i have on the wheels I have now they will for sure hit the fender well its so close. And also atleast i can run them wheels a while on the truck verses buying new wheels just to get a suspension lift under it. I have been keeping an eye on my ball joints and cv joints and they dont seemed stressed and the arms are not too far pitched down compared to two other trucks. But im not saying tomorrow the front end cant come flying out of it either. You think that I could just get away with just the arms for right now instead of buying the rest of the stuff? I mean I could fork out the 500 for them but for all the other stuff seems high priced...intil i looked at prices and dang, didnt know it was that much. Im not trying to be cheap but I would like to get a body lift on before spring and a body lift but that would push me into 1800 on that. But who knows if i just get the arms that might be all i want though.

Z'06 · February 12, 2010

Start with the Ford keys. Lots of us on the Z71Tahoe-Suburban.com forum run them, and many on that forum are running 295/70/17 with no rubbing (after adding rear coil spacers, of course, so blocks in your case) - even offroading.

jimmyboy8301 · February 13, 2010

Thats what I want to do in time but really soon is to a body lift. I would like to run the 295's on my truck but with the +18 offset i have on the wheels I have now they will for sure hit the fender well its so close. And also atleast i can run them wheels a while on the truck verses buying new wheels just to get a suspension lift under it. I have been keeping an eye on my ball joints and cv joints and they dont seemed stressed and the arms are not too far pitched down compared to two other trucks. But im not saying tomorrow the front end cant come flying out of it either. You think that I could just get away with just the arms for right now instead of buying the rest of the stuff? I mean I could fork out the 500 for them but for all the other stuff seems high priced...intil i looked at prices and dang, didnt know it was that much. Im not trying to be cheap but I would like to get a body lift on before spring and a body lift but that would push me into 1800 on that. But who knows if i just get the arms that might be all i want though.

it's your truck, do whatever you think suits you

Joshua200648 · April 6, 2010

Not trying to bring up old news but got to talking to the guys that work at cognito and they told me that i couldnt get the UCA because one of the back spacing of my wheels...5.71 and with the wheel being 9in wide and and I couldnt go over a 285. So I mean it kinda knocked that out of the picture because I have been talking to a buddy of mine to do a body lift and I would like to go that 295/70 or 305/65 or 305/70 and he told me not to even get any keys that he would de-crank mine after the lift to make it ride alittle better. But would it be worth getting new keys any way and shocks? Im afraid that they wont be able to get it aligned with the keys cranked that far or they will turn them back down to were the nose is hanging down. Cause before i cranked my keys i had people asking me if it was a 2wd and I would be like yeah and they threw them 4x4 stickers on there for free! It seems like the more you look into this it gets more complicated and you start back at square one. Another thing is how they hell is people getting away with running a 325/60/18 with either a 0 offset or less. Two friends of mine have them. One is just like mine to the damn T. That tire is almost 13" wide.