Jacob Moody

The Belltech street performance struts are designed to be set in a lowered position which maximizes the range of motion. I called Belltech and the technician confirmed this even though the struts are advertised to run in the stock length. I thought something was a little strange when I jacked up the front of my truck and the wheels only drooped an inch or two before they were off the ground. What is crazy is I had the exact setup on my '08 Sierra and no issues.

Well, since I started this thread, I thought I should give an update on my suspension results and satisfaction. Currently, I have the 2" Maxtrac drop spindles, Maxtrac 4" rear flip kit and Belltech Street Performance shocks all the way around and the front struts are set at the OEM ride height. If I had known ahead of time I would not have used the drop spindles and just lowered the front with the adjustable struts. Reason being is that I am experiencing the front struts fully extending when I hit drops in the road surface causing the front of my truck to dive sharply. Also I am getting some rubbing when I turn lock to lock with the factory wheels. In the rear, the truck is riding super stiff and is causing my truck to dart around the highway because I think the truck is bouncing off of the tire pressure before the shocks react. I have added 2 degree shims to help cure vibration and they didn't completely work. I probably need to go with 6 degree shims, but I haven't gotten around to it. Also, I use my truck as a truck and haul stuff and have hit the bump stops both loaded and unloaded (factory bump stop brackets removed and no C-notch). So, as much as I love the way the truck looks, I have decided to pull the drop kit off and raise the truck back up. I don't want to go back with the factory shocks so I was thinking about the Billstein 5100s or the 4600s and a 2" drop shackle in the back. Does anyone have any experience with those shocks/struts? By the way, anyone interested in buying a drop kit?!

Update on my lowered suspension experience. The front Belltechs have been installed and the alignment done, and honestly I am not thrilled with the results. The ride is very 'busy', meaning that I can feel every dip, bump and imperfection on every road I travel. When I hit a dip in the road, my truck dives immediately instead of letting the suspension drop and floating over it like the factory suspension. Also, I am having the 'drive' the truck using lots of steering wheel correction to keep the it in a straight line. Here in Texas, the interstate speed limit of 75mph is more of a suggestion and I drive it 5 days a week. This is the 4th GM truck I have lowered over the years and none have ridden this firmly. All were done with drop spindles, 2 of them were S-10s that already had the axle over the leaf and my '08 Sierra had drop shackles on the back with Street Performers all the way around. I don't know what I can do to make my truck ride better. I may wait 6 months or so for the sting of how much I spent lowering the truck wear off and then raise it back up, maybe just put drop shackles on the back. It's too bad, I love the way it looks!

3 wide, 1 narrow, which is the OEM height since I used drop spindles.

So, I had my front struts installed and had an alignment done. It is definitely a much more controlled ride, but there is definitely a stiffer ride characteristic that I am trying to get used to. The factory was so plush, it is taking some getting used to. I guess I had the same results when I lowered my '08 GMC though.

Yes, those are the factory 20" wheels that come on the Elevation edition. I've always wanted a Syclone or Typhoon! I settled for putting a 350 in GMC S-15 about 25 yrs ago, that was a fun truck! You could always do this: https://www.topspeed.com/cars/gmc/2021-gmc-canyon-syclone-by-specialty-vehicle-engineering-ar188745.html

So far yes, but I went ahead and ordered the front struts too. The stock front end is way too bouncy. The Belltech shocks are much better than the Maxtracs.

Maxtrac and Belltech shocks side by side, the Belltech has a larger shock body and the collars fit the mounts better:

Nice truck! That blue looks great!

That's why I wanted to go with 4 inch rear drop, so I didn't have to cut the frame. I would also like to add a set of bags, but IHCs are $500 and I'm kind of cheap! LOL! I'm currently trying to find out if Airlift is going to have their Slam Air system available for these trucks. I also haul dirt bikes in the bed, pull a 22ft bay boat and various trailers so I do need tow/haul capability.

Great looking truck, I love the color matched fender trim! What shocks are you running?

My kit came with Maxtrac shocks and I can't say that I'm happy with them. I just ordered Belltech Street Performers because I had really good results with them on my last truck. This is kind of the reason I made this post, I wanted to see what others had experienced with there drops. (Update: I put the Belltechs on the back this weekend and it was a huge improvement! Dont' waste your time or money on the Maxtracs!)

I don't think I have bottomed it out yet, I also haven't put a load on it yet either.

Thanks! Yeah, I am a fan of the no chrome look too, but the AT4 just wasn't in the budget! I would have loved to have the 6.2 also, but you can't get it in the Elevation package. And honestly the 5.3 has really surprised me!... huge upgrade from my '08 5.3...

I had some vibration because my truck did not have the 2 degree shims from the factory. I located some and installed them yesterday and it improved quite a bit, but there is still some vibration at 60mph+. My kit came with 2 transmission spacers with the recommendation to install the thicker of the 2. I am probably going to put the thinner one in and see if that works. And no, I forgot to measure my truck before I dropped it. But, here is a before pic...

So here is my 2020 Elevation I just lowered with 2/4 Maxtrac drop kit. For those of you that have lowered your trucks with a flip kit, how does your truck ride? What shocks did you use? Any vibration issues?