About To Start Pulling Triggers

[jrrod2004]

I am almost done with paying off the credit card bills and will have a nice $550.00 budget a month for my truck (at least until the end of the year). I have had the exterior mods/upgrades of the truck put on the back burner until now. I need those who have knowledge of suspension/handling items give me truthful opinions on the following modifications. I plan to do them in stages to make sure that there are no real interferences between one mod/upgrade to the next.

 

 

My desired outcome: Improved handling in the corners, reduced squatting under medium loads as well as better grip. Here is how I plan to do it:

 

 

My truck: 2006 Silverado Crew with the short box.

 

Items I am planning to install:

 

Hellwig 7632 FRONT SWAY BAR

Hellwig 7634 REAR SWAY BAR

 

MB Wheels Gunner 6 20X8.5 6-139.7HC25 with Hankook Ventus ST RHO6 tires. (yes Darky I have not gotten around to putting them on yet)

 

I am considering the following to get rid of the squat when the truck is loaded:

Hellwig 9510 LP/25 LEAF KIT/CONSTANT RATE

 

or

 

Hellwig 6012 AIR SUSPENSION SYSTEM

 

 

 

Most here have recommended the airbag system in the past on other threads but I do not want to drill the frame. This is the only airbag system that I can find that would not require drilling (according to the installation instructions of the airbags). Which would you choose? Does anybody know if either one of these systems (leaf kit, airbag) will work with my truck having 2" drop shackles in the back. Now I will be doing the exterior once I complete the installation of the center console so I have some time to collect opinions.

 

 

 

If anyone has any BETTER solutions than what I have above, please post em...

[Darkanion]

How long have you had those tires & wheels?

 

I'll be curious to see the answers you get re: the sway bars, etc.. I have some "ideas" for what I would like to do with mine, but no firm plans for exactly what or when.. Gathering more info is usually a good thing to do.

 

Good luck!

[jrrod2004]

How long have you had those tires & wheels?

 

I'll be curious to see the answers you get re: the sway bars, etc.. I have some "ideas" for what I would like to do with mine, but no firm plans for exactly what or when.. Gathering more info is usually a good thing to do.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Since Feb...discount tire was pretty cool but they gave me looks when I told them to toss the rims/tires in the bed instead of on the hubs . The manager of Discount Tire tried to persuade me into having them installed but I declined at the time saying "it aint summer yet". Total mileage on the tires: 80 feet (me rolling them into the storage unit behind the house)...

 

I had forgotten them since they were stored behind everything else in the unit and they are at the top of the stack.

[Darkanion]

No more harsh than our winters are, why did you wait until summer?

[jrrod2004]

No more harsh than our winters are, why did you wait until summer?

 

They arent on the truck yet, still in storage...I was gonna break em in at the track and they would have been my summer tires only - literally summer, take em off when I go back to school in the fall and spring... I trust no one.

[superjim]

Mike,

 

For what it is worth...Hellwig has been around a long time.

Not as long as "ME"..but since the late 40's or early 50's.

 

Back in the "OLD DAYS" ...when I still played with fast cars, I used their sway bars several times with very good results.

 

About the rear springs...I would lean towards the air bags instead of stiffer springs.

Stiffer springs will / may... cause sideways rear wheel hop on hard cornering.

 

It can get pretty exciting when you are going around a curve...really hard...the truck has taken a set...you hit the apex of the curve..start accelerating...hit a little rough spot and suddenly the back end wants to be in front.

 

GUARANTEED to get your pulse rate up.

 

I have had HD trucks with stiffer springs and I have had HD trucks with air bags.

If I was doing it again...I would use air bags.