5RWill

I agree! Now looking for lugs. Lugs for the 2014+ are 14mm x 1.5" right?

295/70/17 RTs on the way. Ordering Method NVs tonight

Tax return is going to grab me a set a 17x8.5 Machined face method NV. Then ordering some 295/70/17 Toyo RTs.

Would love to see more pics and the specs.

They'll make bronze but have no plans of titanium...dafuq

How do you like the RTs? Been in any mud?

The truck is making it harder to choose a muffler, that much i know. Having no way to preview various mufflers without spending tons of money i'm left to youtube and video quality. I like the borla cold start and when people stomp it but in some videos the XR1 almost seems silent at cruise. Which i don't want.

Did the zip tie on our 2500hd it definitely works. I'll be looking at 295/70/17 Toyo MTs if the price isn't too bad. Been looking at them for 270-290$ a tire. Could also have RTs at 266$ a tire. Will just depend. I keep thinking i don't need a mudder because i'm mostly on pavement and some turn roads on the farm. But in deer season when you need mudders you just need them.

Thanks honestly was scratching my head. Though admittedly i know nothing about mufflers/exhaust.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/bor-40086 https://www.summitracing.com/parts/bor-40722 Can anyone explain to me why there is a 150$ difference between these two? Besides small dimensions is the internal construction what's causing the difference?

So for those wanting to know i emailed method about them offering their Titanium finish in other wheel sets and the answer was no only Grid...

Guess I'm just used to mine. It's just not that rough to me, i'm also running stock tires still so maybe my opinion changes vastly after i get new tires and rims. My dads F250 is what I would describe as rough. Thing is freaking miserable. You do feel small bumps in the road with the Bilsteins but I love mine on the farm if I feel like hitting the back roads and having a little fun. Much more so than my ranchos. Though I never used my ranchos with spacers. Of the two I tried on previous model trucks i didn't really like. Different strokes for different folks as they say. So you got rid of your Bilsteins and went back to ranchos rather than lowering the Bilsteins and using spacers with them?

The way i understood it was that he was saying preload is a misnomer. How is the truck lifted once the strut is put into place? It isn't the length of the shock it's the spring perch and the spring. Hence the simple fact that you can get the 5100s and have no lift at all. The spring displaces the same due to the exact same force of the truck weighing down on the spring with the same spring constant that is representative of said spring. The spring that has been preloaded lifts the truck and the only load is that of the truck, that is now lifted. If the spring remained compressed (as it were before put in the truck) there would be no lift. The spring constant doesn't change because the perch is moved up. This is how i had interpreted at least. Or maybe my interpretation of pre-load is just off. http://www.zoomsquared.com/technical-information/coilover-spring-preload-explained The ride is more stiff but so are the spacer kits i've ridden in. No truck leveled i've ridden in road as it did before the lift. That includes two RC leveled truck, one coil spring spacer leveled Ram, and my truck with the bilsteins. And no worries the bilstein guys like bilsteins, RC guys like RCs, and hell if you can afford it i'm sure the Icon/Fox guys like their stuff. They all accomplish what most are wanting: a better looking truck. I wish i could test my z71 struts to verify them against some standard because mine felt bouncy as hell. Like cross a railroad track and your jumping in the seat and the bed is swaying everywhere.

Anyone have any info on the RTs in mud? When i will actually use my tires they'll be in deer season in gumbo which technically would call for a mudder but i don't go off road enough to warrant a mudder. I can't seem to find any info on how the RT handles mud.

FWIW the ranchos come with their own sets of springs. Finally found Spurshot's post on the matter. Fact of the matter is without spending money on a proper lift the ride is going to change and even then it's going to change for better or worse will be up to the driver to decide. Problem is it's hard to take the preference/perspective of anyone else because we're doing this for our own personal trucks and it's not like most of us want to buy both just to figure it out. My bilsteins are stiffer than my ranchos that came on the truck but they're considerably more stable and nowhere near as bouncy. I like this thus prefer my Bilsteins. They especially are more comfortable off road when going down turn roads on the farm i'm not bouncing everywhere. http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/168768-leveling-bilsteins-vs-lift-kit/?p=1563456

I agree the angles are the same of the desired lift either way. But the Bilsteins aren't limiting upward suspension travel just changing the static ride height of the truck. At least that is how I understand it from all that I've read as to why someone would want the Bilsteins over spacers. Maybe spurshot or someone else knowledgeable will chime in and elaborate. Either way they both get the job done and if your not ramping and pre-running your unlikely to run into problems.

The quarter inch might facilitate some help in achieving the lift but the literal length of the strut isn't what's causing the lift. It's the "pre-load" if you will on the spring. Maybe I'm misinterpreting what your saying. Are you saying that by doing that they're basically increasing the length of the strut in a different way? As to the spacer kits as I said its personal preference. I strongly dislike how my brothers truck rides. Before with stock tires and after with duratracs. I will say my cousins is a little better albeit not much. My brother has stock gm shocks and my cousin has the ranchos that come on the z71

I have the same color (essentially) and was thinking the same but kept coming back to black because i liked the way it looked on darker trucks and in many instances our truck's color. Thing is our truck color tends to change depending on the light it's in. Having said that i had never seen machined face on that color and have to say it looks great.

This is becoming harder and harder to decide between machine face or matte black

For the Billies at least, lift isn't achieved due to a longer strut it's due to the springs. Angles aren't entirely the same in the case of Bilsteins either, 1.8" =/= 2.50" there is a reason Bilstein went with 1.8" you could argue that angles are nearly the same with a 2" spacer which is a better comparison, but your still extending the strut with the spacer. Having ridden in both and been in both i'll take my Billy's every day of the week over spacer kits. Of course there are struts that are much longer, but Bilsteins are 1/4th an inch longer than factory. My brothers truck rides like crap (RC2), My cousin's the same (RC 2.5). At the end of the day it's preference and what your willing to spend. Had i had it to do over again i just would've went with more and waited on 6112s and gotten rear shocks with reservoirs. In the end they both work, i vastly prefer one over the other though. http://www.bilsteinus.com/fileadmin/user_upload/user_upload_us/pdfs/Bil_LevShks_WebArticle.pdf

That's awesome Bwood, i just paid for my windshield and am finishing up a custom rifle then will be putting all my attention to the truck.

More pics please

I have to disagree. They market them as an off road oriented shock. Just like the 6112s and the ones on the ram rebel. They feel very different to me. Not sure how one could not feel the difference. Granted I have mine at max setting. But I think you'll like them over the ranchos. Bilsteins should come standard on these trucks IMHO.

Did you color match your handles and mirrors?

Agreed the ranchos are a pavement shock that's pretty much it. Hit a large hole, bump, whoop, or cross a rail road track and it seems like the body is bouncing off the chassis with the ranchos. It's greatly reduced with the bilsteins. As such the ride is a little stiffer when going over cracks and binds in the pavement. But you trade one for the other. I do wish i would've held out for 6112s. Would love to have that huge 60mm shock.