Questions From A Rookie

[centex]

I have a 2006 GMC sierra SLE 1500 ext. cab 2wd w/ stock chrome 17" rims (6lug)

 

1. I am putting on 285/70/17 Nitto Terra Grapplers, is a leveling kit necessary, for clearance purposes?

I know that it is necessary to make the truck ultimately level.

 

2. If I go with a leveling kit what brand should I be looking at?

I have heard good things about Truxxx leveling kits.

 

3. If I do put a leveling kit on, would I have to buy bigger shocks as compared to putting new shocks on with no suspension modifications?

 

Any help would be much appreciated,

Thanks & God Bless

[centex]

Would a pic help you guys to help me , need some much needed info, will be greatly appreciated.

[Stevens03]

You don't need a leveling kit. Your 06 has torsion bars and you should be able to achieve 2" of lift out of your stock keys. But remember to get an alignment after you've adjusted the ride height. If your torsion bars are "tired", you can install the re-indexed torsion keys to get the desired lift, but I wouldn't go over 2". It opens you up to more issues and a terrible ride. Also, no new shocks required.

[ruggedlife]

i thought 2wd trucks had coil springs....

 

which means you will need a leveling kit to achieve level. pretty much any brand will work its just a coil spring spacer on your truck and newer slightly longer shocks certainly arent goin to hurt

[Stevens03]

Oops,... my bad

 

Missed that 2wd part...

[stlavsa]

Oops,... my bad

 

Missed that 2wd part...

 

 

Need a leveling kit, get a cheap one off ebay certainly dont spend over like $80 bucks and you can use your stock shocks.

[centex]

Hey thanks, helps out alot to get me going in the right direction.

 

@ruggedlife: I do not have coil springs, i only see a shock there, can i add a coil spring or is one needed, does it help?

 

Has any of you fella's experienced drastic changes in mpg when going from a 265 to 285, or whatever your case?

 

All of you agree on a leveling kit, would Truxxx leveling kits be ok?

[centex]

[ruggedlife]

interesting... i thought all the 2 wheel drive trucks had coil springs, if not, then you obviously have torsion bars, just crank up the stock adjusting bolts and see how much it brings the truck up

 

on second thought im pretty sure all the 2wd trucks have coil springs in the front...... ive decided you're high on crack.

[centex]

rugged: Maybe high, but it would have to be on LIFE.

 

But whenever I flex the wheel hard All i see is a shock, and I am not completely dumb i know what a coil spring looks like.

[ruggedlife]

weird... the shock would be inside of the coil spring. anywho, look underneath behind the trans crossmember, there should be a torsion bar crossmember there, you'll see a bolt on either side goin strait up into the torsion key, if there's threads left just tighten them up and it will raise the truck

[centex]

I will def. be checking on this, i know from research that only 4wd have torsion bars so i left it at that, but i will check. How much can i gain from cranking them, so then a leveling kit is not necessary?

[ruggedlife]

depends on the vehicle and if they've been fooled with before, alot of people can achieve level from just the stock keys, others end up getting a set of rough country keys for fairly cheap

[centex]

Dont believe they have been fooled with, its an 06 and got it back in may of 06 when it was new. I am just trying to level it out before/after i put my 285's on it.

[centex]

Rugged: i have torsion bars, just checked this morning.

 

So i can do away with a leveling kit because i can get the same thing from cranking the torsion bars?