wheel matching and autoride

murph · May 7, 2003

Hi, I'm new to the forum but a long time chevy truck owner, what a great resource.

I have a 2001 Suburban 2500 I bought used. This rig has autoride and those skinny little 16x6.5 inch wheels, which limit the upgrade tire sizes.

Two questions I have for the gm truck gurus;

1. Can I put the old steel 8 lug 16-inch wheels from 92 through 98 chevy 3/4 ton trucks on my suburban? I believe these wheels look good and should be available as a low cost alternative to fit larger tires on the rig.

2. With autoride suspension can the torsion bars be turned? Can this autoride be disabled? What exactly does autoride do, add air to the rear shocks to keep the truck at some predetermined angle?

thanks for any help, murph

robsawatsky · May 7, 2003

The standard steel wheel on K2500 of that vintage IS 16 x 6.5. Same as on the Suburban.

Markeaux · May 8, 2003

The Autoride suspension system automatically controls shock damping on a continuous, real-time basis to smooth out the ride and help handling - there are sensors at all 4 corners, plus it takes steering input. It also actively levels the rear - you can sometimes hear the compressor run (especially at startup).

murph · May 8, 2003

thanks for the info, I take it then that it is not a good idea to start monkeying around with the torsionbars?

Murph

Markeaux · May 9, 2003

I don't know what tweaking the torsion bars would do to Autoride, seems like it would affect the computer controlled shock - maybe go ahead and give it a try. I have only really seen the leveling sensor in the rear, it looks sort of like o-o with a rod connected to one of the o's and the - pivots ... I was thinking that moving the rod to the other o might bring the rear down some to help match the front.