06 Silverado Z71 Leveling Kit Questions

reecep14 · March 22, 2011

Just got a 2006 Silverado yesterday. If I put a leveling kit on it will it harm the gas mileage? I wanna keep the stock 265 tires if it will look right. Has anyone done this? Thanks.

scottmoyer · March 24, 2011

I'm not sure about the leveling kits. I leveled my truck 3 years ago by cranking the torsion bars, getting an alignment and bigger tires. My results are in the sig pic below. Not sure why you *should* buy a leveling kit. Maybe someone else can chime in.

Wingnut · March 29, 2011

I'm not sure about the leveling kits. I leveled my truck 3 years ago by cranking the torsion bars, getting an alignment and bigger tires. My results are in the sig pic below. Not sure why you *should* buy a leveling kit. Maybe someone else can chime in.

X2.

Not sure why you'd want to buy a leveling kit when you can just give a few twists to the torsion bars, get an alignment, then call it a day. All you need is an 18mm socket and 5 minutes.

Vortec-Z71 · March 29, 2011

I'm not sure about the leveling kits. I leveled my truck 3 years ago by cranking the torsion bars, getting an alignment and bigger tires. My results are in the sig pic below. Not sure why you *should* buy a leveling kit. Maybe someone else can chime in.

How muh did you crank your torsion bars? Any issues?

scottmoyer · March 30, 2011

I'm not sure about the leveling kits. I leveled my truck 3 years ago by cranking the torsion bars, getting an alignment and bigger tires. My results are in the sig pic below. Not sure why you *should* buy a leveling kit. Maybe someone else can chime in.

How muh did you crank your torsion bars? Any issues?

I cranked mine until it was 1/4 inch lower than the rear at the edge of the wheel lip. How many turns it was I don't remember. Also, both sides required different turns to be level. I don't think I've had any issues. I do feel a slight bounce when going over larger bumps or man hole covers now after four years. I have been trying to figure it out and just recently thought that maybe the Tbars need replacing, but I don't know what would determine a bad bar. I also bought new hub assemblies in case that's the the issue, but haven't put them in yet. Other than that, the truck is just as it was the day I did the change.

Wingnut · March 30, 2011

I'm not sure about the leveling kits. I leveled my truck 3 years ago by cranking the torsion bars, getting an alignment and bigger tires. My results are in the sig pic below. Not sure why you *should* buy a leveling kit. Maybe someone else can chime in.

How muh did you crank your torsion bars? Any issues?

I cranked mine until it was 1/4 inch lower than the rear at the edge of the wheel lip. How many turns it was I don't remember. Also, both sides required different turns to be level. I don't think I've had any issues. I do feel a slight bounce when going over larger bumps or man hole covers now after four years. I have been trying to figure it out and just recently thought that maybe the Tbars need replacing, but I don't know what would determine a bad bar. I also bought new hub assemblies in case that's the the issue, but haven't put them in yet. Other than that, the truck is just as it was the day I did the change.

99% of the time, it's your shocks. When you crank the t-bars, you're limiting your downtravel and it creates a rougher ride. You need to space your shocks down or buy slightly longer shocks (what I did) to make the ride less harsh.

scottmoyer · March 30, 2011

Wingnut,

I replaced my shocks a few years back with Bilstein's. I was told that the one's I purchased were good for a 2" lift without requiring a different shock. It has been fine for the past few years and just this past year, it seems like a strut is loose even though I don't have struts. I need to look at sway bar bushings, motor/tranny mounts, etc. Certain bumps, I can feel a slight bounce to the impact instead of a solid thud. Almost as if the shock is bad. I will put the factory shocks back in the front for a test. It just seems that something is slightly loose, but the local tire shop said that the front end is tight with no play. Who knows.

Vortec-Z71 · March 30, 2011

I'm not sure about the leveling kits. I leveled my truck 3 years ago by cranking the torsion bars, getting an alignment and bigger tires. My results are in the sig pic below. Not sure why you *should* buy a leveling kit. Maybe someone else can chime in.

How much did you crank your torsion bars? Any issues?

I cranked mine until it was 1/4 inch lower than the rear at the edge of the wheel lip. How many turns it was I don't remember. Also, both sides required different turns to be level. I don't think I've had any issues. I do feel a slight bounce when going over larger bumps or man hole covers now after four years. I have been trying to figure it out and just recently thought that maybe the Tbars need replacing, but I don't know what would determine a bad bar. I also bought new hub assemblies in case that's the the issue, but haven't put them in yet. Other than that, the truck is just as it was the day I did the change.

How many inches would you estimate you raised the front end to get it 1/4" lower than the rear anyway?

Silverado_Monkey · March 30, 2011

I'm not sure about the leveling kits. I leveled my truck 3 years ago by cranking the torsion bars, getting an alignment and bigger tires. My results are in the sig pic below. Not sure why you *should* buy a leveling kit. Maybe someone else can chime in.

How much did you crank your torsion bars? Any issues?

I cranked mine until it was 1/4 inch lower than the rear at the edge of the wheel lip. How many turns it was I don't remember. Also, both sides required different turns to be level. I don't think I've had any issues. I do feel a slight bounce when going over larger bumps or man hole covers now after four years. I have been trying to figure it out and just recently thought that maybe the Tbars need replacing, but I don't know what would determine a bad bar. I also bought new hub assemblies in case that's the the issue, but haven't put them in yet. Other than that, the truck is just as it was the day I did the change.

How many inches would you estimate you raised the front end to get it 1/4" lower than the rear anyway?

Good question... What was you starting measurement? My wife bought me a Truxxx Leveling kit with new keys, shock extenders, and blocks for the rear, a few years back that I haven't installed yet due to the fact that I can't find a T-bar tool to relieve the tension without going out and spending $200 bucks. I'm having a hard justifing a $200 tool to use it once! So it's sittiing till i figure something out. I'm also concerned with the look of it since I run the stock z71 wheels and tires in the winter and have a set of 18" Nitto TG ATs on a set of alloys in the summer (check the sig). I'd hate to install the kit only to find that the tires look like donuts. They're only 285/60 -18s. They look good now, but with more room in the wheel well maybe not... They still have alot of tread on them, so I probably won't be looking to replace them for at least a couple of years since I only run them 6 months out of the year and drive less than 12K miles/year... Thoughts anyone? Anybody have a T-bar tool I can borrow?

cghbuilder86 · March 30, 2011

The only way I've ever heard about leveling these gmt-800's is by torsion bar adjustment. Usually if you look up level lift for a truck of this year it will be torsion bar keys (not really sure what the difference is) But anyways it will always lower your mpg even if it is very slightly. Plus I think it will make the ride a little more harsh. I decided to leave mine stock. Plus I tow, and if I leveled it would sag when towing.

Vortec-Z71 · March 30, 2011

I'm not sure about the leveling kits. I leveled my truck 3 years ago by cranking the torsion bars, getting an alignment and bigger tires. My results are in the sig pic below. Not sure why you *should* buy a leveling kit. Maybe someone else can chime in.

How much did you crank your torsion bars? Any issues?

I cranked mine until it was 1/4 inch lower than the rear at the edge of the wheel lip. How many turns it was I don't remember. Also, both sides required different turns to be level. I don't think I've had any issues. I do feel a slight bounce when going over larger bumps or man hole covers now after four years. I have been trying to figure it out and just recently thought that maybe the Tbars need replacing, but I don't know what would determine a bad bar. I also bought new hub assemblies in case that's the the issue, but haven't put them in yet. Other than that, the truck is just as it was the day I did the change.

How many inches would you estimate you raised the front end to get it 1/4" lower than the rear anyway?

Good question... What was you starting measurement? My wife bought me a Truxxx Leveling kit with new keys, shock extenders, and blocks for the rear, a few years back that I haven't installed yet due to the fact that I can't find a T-bar tool to relieve the tension without going out and spending $200 bucks. I'm having a hard justifing a $200 tool to use it once! So it's sittiing till i figure something out. I'm also concerned with the look of it since I run the stock z71 wheels and tires in the winter and have a set of 18" Nitto TG ATs on a set of alloys in the summer (check the sig). I'd hate to install the kit only to find that the tires look like donuts. They're only 285/60 -18s. They look good now, but with more room in the wheel well maybe not... They still have alot of tread on them, so I probably won't be looking to replace them for at least a couple of years since I only run them 6 months out of the year and drive less than 12K miles/year... Thoughts anyone? Anybody have a T-bar tool I can borrow?

Here's the T-bar tool for half that: http://www.readylift.com/p-65-gm-torsion-b...ading-tool.aspx

Silverado_Monkey · March 30, 2011

Here's the T-bar tool for half that: http://www.readylift.com/p-65-gm-torsion-b...ading-tool.aspx

Nice!!! Thanks man! That's a better deal.

Now If I could only know (for sure) if it'll look rediculous sitting on the tires I have now. I guess I could just mark my adjustment bolt and then crank up T-bars with the stock keys to get an idea what it'll look like. The kit says you can get up to 4", but I'm not going that extreme, I don't want to stiffen the ride up and prematurely wear my front end parts. So cranking up the stock keys should give me a good idea of what it'll look like with the reindexed keys.

Back to Reece's original question, and Scott's response about why buy a leveling kit. From what I read before I got it, the only reason to get a kit is to use a key that is indexed (shaped)differently. I read alot about people getting Ford keys and using those cause they were indexed differently and would allow you to get more ride height in the front. Basically thats what the kits give you, a differently cut porkchop (key) so you don't have the tighten the heck out of that adjustment screw to get the height you want to clear larger tires. With the kit i bought I liked that it also came with shock extensions, so I don't over extend the stock z71 shocks and it came with leaf spring blocks for the rear. I'm looking to get the more height up front (for larger tires) but don;t mind a slight rake. I don't tow all that much (couple times a year), but when i do, i don;t want the back sagging like an old woman...

Hope that helps!

B

Wingnut · March 31, 2011

Ah...Good job then! SOOOO many people on here complained about the harsh ride after t-bar cranking without touching the shocks. I did the same thing you did, but bought Procomp cheapies.

Check your CV's? I know that cranking it up increases the stresses on them. A few people had them fail.

reecep14 · April 4, 2011

For you guys that went up to 285 tires, how much do you notice a hit in your gas mileage? Does it wear on the gears too? I lifted my Jeep 4 inches and it was almost unbearable on the interstate.

Mckenzie · April 4, 2011

I get 10-12 in mainly short commutes/ stop and go and around 14 on the interstate with the stock 3.73's...but as far as speed, the truck still shits and gets