Snakes709

I replaced the axles with the oem ones from a sierra slt

Hey all, awhile back I removed the lift kit off my at4 and lowered it originally 2” and then later another 2” using bilstein 5100 on all 4 corners, belltech lowering shackles in the rear and belltech drop spindles in the front. All was fine for quite awhile until after i did a time attack event at the track I then started hearing light clunking noises on the right front and now im hearing alot more on the left front when going over bumps. I also noticed my right front sits about 1/2 to almost an 1” lower then the left front. I searched high and low for issues, took the wheels off, jacked up the suspension so it would be at normal height and i cant see anything visually or hear anything when i try and shake things. I am guessing one or both of the bilstein struts are blown. Wanna get your guys thoughts on the matter before i take it in and get it diagnosed. I wanna replace things myself but before i throw money at parts, i wanna know what parts i need. Either way i was thinking about going to belltech adjustable coilovers.

so your theory is its better to wear out more components evenly and faster instead of wearing the rear out first and the front out later. Ok, have fun with that.

yea thats what i meant.

The more a part gets used, the more it wears down. 4auto uses clutches to activate 4wd when it detects slip. 4wd is meant to be used on low traction situations. Have you ever tried to turn sharply with 4hi or 4low on dry surfaces? It can damage the drivetrain. The clutches help minimize that so it can be used when its dry. But my question is, why would you? If the driving conditions are ideal, why would you need anything other then 2wd?

I live in Edmonton so i have the same driving conditions. Will it hurt the truck? No, its what its made for. But if the driving conditions are good, ie dry pavement, why would you keep in 4auto? It just puts more wear on the parts and uses more fuel as now there is more driveline drag. If the road is dry or very little snow, 2wd is what i run in. Only time i use 4auto is if im on ice or hard packed snow. Had it onto as there was alot of black ice on the road and the median/ramps filled with cars. Only saw it kick in once when i made a turn and gave a little to much gas. I only use 4hi if its really bad out or im in deep snow.

I know a local guy (alberta, canada) has done it as my buddy tuned his truck. No idea how its running though.

I think it was much weight either. I think it was more the drag the trailer was creating. I was actually shocked how it mainly wanted to be in 9th gear most of the time. What i also found is if it was accelerating either to get up to speed or to hold speed up a incline, it would go to 9th or 8th, once it gets there it would just stay in that gear when using cruise control. I would have to drop 1mph, let it upshift and then increase by 1mph.

I had it in tow mode on fhe way there but not on the way back. Fuel mileage was the exact same but i found with it in tow mode it would drop more gears to accelerate/hold speed and drop more gears for engine braking going down hill. Total weight was 2900lbs, so not that heavy. if i do this trip again, ill probably rent a trailer from another company. There is a local one that has a single axle, nosed shaped and fiber glass so its only 900lbs. Vs. The 1800lb square shaped tandem axle uhaul trailer.

done and done. Rotated the tires the day after i got home and got an alignment done. Had to to back for a second alignment because once everything was within spec, the tires were rubbing. So i asked them to adjust the caster to 4.3L and 4.8R which is out of spec but no rubbing and wont effect tire wear. Ill pick up 2 new tires in the spring. Another month or two until my winter tires go on.

Recently loaded mine and the wifes bikes in a uhaul trailer and drove from Edmonton, AB to Halifax and back, dropping into the northern US. A total of 10,539kms and not a single issue other then my own stupidity of not getting my alignment done. I lowered my AT4 2” awhile back, got it aligned and then recently lowered it another 2” and knew i needed an alignment but last minute went on this trip. Which killed my 2 front tires. Other then that the truck did great. The uhaul trailer was causing more drag then i expected so the 10 speed was dropping to 9th or 8th gear alot when we were going 70-75mph. Used our truck bed tent and air mattress each night at truck stops. it was nice to visit the family and ride our bikes around Nova Scotia. If i can afford it, ill be doing the trip again this summer.

I have seen no proof of that at all. I see just as many lifter failures on trucks where owners disable dfm as owners that dont. Even the service advisor that i dealt with that was extremely knowledgeable on this topic said he has had just as may owners come in that disable it. You cant “tune” out a hardware issue.

Smh. Using range, pulsar or putting it in l9 doesnt stop the issue. It will disable the truck from using dfm but the shitty parts are still being used in the motor. Only true way of deleting it is a new camshaft, new lifters and physically swap out all the parts that are used and get a legit custom tune.

I posted awhile back that I was following. Never saw anyone lower their at4 so i went ahead and did it. 4” drop all around. Bilstein 5100’s meant for the slt/elevation, oem axles for the slt/elevation, beltech 2” drop shackles for the rear, beltech 2” drop spindles for the front and custom made ubolts for the rear from a shop.

that was one od the reasons i lowered the truck. My bike would bottom out on my ramps when i loaded/unload it.

Could have met im the middle yesterday. We were in red deer picking up the wifes new bike

Thought about but i think that would involve doing a flip kit? It would also cause the same thing as before. I recently had it at 2/4 (from at4 factory), It was fine 95% of the time but if i had my bike, trailer or something else heavy in the back, it would squat which was causing more air to get into that gap in front of the latch on the hood, making the hood shake abit. I am worried that it will rip the threads out of the bolts holding the latch to the hood. I guess hood pins would be a good idea in that case. I think ill leave it at this height. I dont want the slammed look, just a slight drop.

Elevation wasnt available in canada for another 6 months after i bought my at4 nor does it have the options i want.

Partially. The at4 comes with a factory 2” lift kit. The front oem rancho shocks provide the 2” lift in the front and the rear has a 2” block on the axle. So swapping out the struts and block drops it down the other 2”

Nothing really. Before i dropped the front a other 2”, which made the truck level, I had my 529lb motorbike in the bef it would squat pretty good. This would cause, what im guessing more air flow to get in the gap where the hood latch is, causing the hood to shake at highway speeds. Without a load i been up to 157kmh which is the speed limter on my truck. With it dropped another 2” in the front and adjusting the latch a little more, its as stable as its going to get but you can see the fibreglass flexing on the hood scoop. Guess thats just because how thin the fibre glass is.

Decided to lower my truck for many reasons and added a new hood with a functional ram air duct. Truck is lowered 4" all around (minus the 2" factory lift plus an additional 2") with belltech 2" drop spindles, belltech 2" drop shackles and bilstein 5100's on all four corners. Rides so much better now that I got rid of the rancho's. Being lower makes it easier to get my bike in the bed the odd time i do haul it. Also made a little difference in fuel economy. My past trucks (rams) my afe magnum intake would seal against the hood. The sierra with the 6.2 did not do this and left a 2" gap between the box and hood, letting in a bunch of hot air. So I decided to get a Amerihood Type RS hood that has a ram air duct going straight to the intake box. I have no way to test before and after IAT's, but im assuming cooler air is getting to the intake. I did a before 1/4 mile run at the drag strip, been trying to do a after run but weather and my schedule isnt lining up. Being a fibreglass hood, it does flex a little but so far no issues.

I drag race mine. Ran 14.95@93 stock, 14.4@95mph with a afe magnum intake and the truck lowered 2” in the front, 4” in the rear and lighter wheels/tires (10lbs each corner) Now at some point i had a bad lifter, no idea when it failed, its fixed now and I also have a new hood with a functional ram air scoop to bring fresh air straight to my open box intake. So hopefully that hood gives me some power back since the i take wont be sucking in as much hot air from the engine bay. Been trying to get back out to the drag strip but rain keeps canceling the events.

Just an update. We are getting a bunch of rain so i was able to do some highway driving and checked the air filter box and the duct, both were dry so i guess somehow those drainage ports at the front of the ram air duct, work.

the only 2 things that could be better is the fitment at the top of the headlights compared to the rest of the body. It doesnt quite line up. It’s a little better now compared to in the pictures as i did make one more adjustment to the latch which sunk it down a tiny bit. And the other is the air vent on the bottom side of the hood doesnt quite line up with the intake. Maybe 50% of it is actually over the intake box.

RSSW Quantum 20x8.5. With 275/60/r20 goodyear sra’s, they are 12lbs lighter per corner compared tocthe 18” gmc rims with duratracs.