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So you want coilovers (Boss install and review)


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After owning a 2015 double cab silverado, and finding out that the rear seat doesn't fit a car seat very well (or at all), I finally convinced the wife a crew cab was 'necessary' for us. Enter my 2017 Sierra crew cab.

 

I loved my silverado, but with the z71 ranchos and a 2.5" lift kit, the ride was extremely harsh and jarring. I think it was a combination of the shocks and them always being slighly compressed with a over-the-strut spacer. With my new truck, I knew something that harsh was not going to fly, especially with a pregnant wife, and eventually a new baby. Fortunately I was able to find the deal on a set of halo lifts coil-overs and decided to give it a go.

 

This review will be more on the technical side, and as a mechanic, I'll try to give some insight and tips and tricks if your going to do it yourself. So, lets get started on this journey.

 

A little background....my truck is a 2017 Sierra SLT with the max-tow package, 6.6' bed, and 6.2L motor.

 

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With only 1800 miles and everything settling in nicely, from the hub to the fender I got the following measurements:

 

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This is giving me about 3" of rake...which is almost where I was at with my double cab. Now, the goodies have arrived!

 

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The quality is superb. No issues with scratches or dents on the shock bodies, grade 8 hardware, easy and clearly labeled parts. It was packaged well and arrived quickly. First glace and test with the rear shocks,they're pretty stiff! Not sure how this will translate, but we shall see.

 

How does the 1" block measure up?

 

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Right at 2.256" to give 1" of lift.

 

The front came with 4 spacers, to give .50" of lift per side per spacer, for a total of 1" if all 4 were used. Consistancy is key!

 

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I was literally within .003" on all 4 spacers. Not bad at all.

 

Let the install begin!

 

As a mechanic I had access to a lift, but decided to "rough it" and install it with a jack and stands to help anyone thinking about doing it at home. Firstly, raise both sides off the ground and place stands on both sides (takes tension off the sway bar and makes things much easier when both sides are uncompressed). Trust me, save the hassle and don't lift one side at a time. Secondly....loosen the sway bar endlinks. This will help give you a bit more clearance and get the setup installed easier. No need to remove them, leave it threaded to keep it easy to tighten back up, but definitely loosen them (the 2 min it takes will help keep your sanity later) Third, if you have it, use a 18mm deep socket and long extension and take the top strut nuts off from the top. A wrench coming through the wheel well works as well, but its always more of a pain in the ass. If you do....remove the top nuts (3 per side) before raising the vehicle and taking the wheel off, it'll make things easier as you wont have constant tension on the nut.

 

Tools you'll need for the front:

 

-18mm wrench or socket/rachet/extension (top strut nuts)

-15mm socket and wrench (bottom strut mounts/sway bar endlink)

-pry bar

 

With the top loosened, and the truck on stands and the endlinks loosened, I removed the bottom 2 15mm bolts to get the struts out. You need to finagle them, but they'll come out through the upper control arm. Did both sides to give me a little more to work with, then on to the install. Compared with the stock struts, the halo's are narrower, but longer and beefier.

 

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Going in I knew would be more of a pain, but overall with a long pry bar going between the spring and the upper control arm to take a little tension off, I was able to get both bottom bolts started. Don't tighten these till you get the top ones started though. Needless to say, I was a little giddy seeing these in:

 

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Once in, I retightened both sway bar endlinks, then the lower bolts, then the torque stick went on, and zipped the wheels on, and put the top bolts on once down.

 

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It's the small details, but I liked that the new struts top bolts were long enough the wiring loom hold downs snapped back on. They didn't with my old over the top pucks.

 

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Moved to the rears: The shock was a lot different here. Factory, I could easily compress it (70 lbs of force or so), the new ones, they were damn stiff! Id say about 110lbs to compress. They were also noticably longer (1.25").

 

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The rears only need a 21mm socket and 21mm wrench. That'll be all, 2 bolts on top, 2 bolts with nuts on the bottom and out they come.

 

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All said and done, the fronts took me about 2 hours with pictures and beer, and writing down likes and dislikes with the system. Rears took about 1 hous with the lift install. I may have went old school with a floor jack and stands, but I still cheated and used my air tools and impact guns :) .

 

Where does that leave me with stance (and no, not the bad, VW tuner crowd stance!)?

 

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I gained just under 2" with the front kit and no spacers. Would I have liked a little more? Sure, but I'm not a fan of under strut spacers (personal opinion), nor do I like how my 2.5" lift on my old silverado looked in relation to the ball joint and CV joint angles. So in effect, I am happy how it sits. Speaking of which, how do these angles look?

 

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Very nice compared to my old lift. You wouldn't think 1/2" would make a huge difference, but I can tell. Now, will I get 100k out of these ball joints? Maybe, maybe not, but I don't see them wearing as badly as my old ones.

 

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You get a nice little peek of whats behind there without being gaudy or showy. I like that. How's it look all together?

 

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Overall, I love it. I still have about 2 inches of rake, but with the front wheels/tires not shoved in the wheel wells as far, it looks far more closer to level that the 1" change would lead you to believe. How's it drive...that's the big question right? Well...I LOVE IT! I'm not going to lie....but there's a solid range where I wouldn't know if it was factory or aftermarket (not a bad thing, as even a 2" lift usually significantly stiffens the front up). However at very slow speeds over large bumps, curbs, etc., there's a noticeable improvement. My driveway had a 5" high, 45* curb coming into it, and the stock suspension would always hop over it, then kind of "jounce" once or twice till it settled back in.

 

With the new suspension, it floats up over it then has no jounce. The valving is pretty amazing on these. Where they really excel is that mid speed area. 30mph on some of the back roads here and the front and rear would wander and fight each other with some of the bumpy/pothole filled roads. Basically the rebounding and springs would cuase the front end to flutter and jar around, where as the back would dance around and never get planted. Now, those same roads are still rough (make no mistake, I won't magically be able to take them at 60mph), but the rebounding is much better, and the truck stays planted much more firmly, which helps as a driver to not think then back if going to break loose and swing out in a sweeping turn. Is it less harsh? Yes. Will you still notice potholes and bad roads? Yes. This is a 5500lb truck, and these aren't some magic suspension setup.

 

But overall, the price and quality seems hard to beat.

 

Now, if you remember earler, I did say I wrote down likes and dislikes. There are some dislikes. I'm not one to say everything is perfect if I don't believe it. So what don't I like?

 

1.) Those top strut nuts are the serrated flange style (which is a good touch). However, they are barely wide enough to cover the strut tower holes. Maybe 1/8" larger. Now its basically a non load bearing bolt, however I would have liked to see something a bit larger to put my mind at ease. Sure I could've used a fender washer, but that would have defeated the purpose of the locking serrated nut.

 

2.) I didn't use the rear spacers. I actually went with a Motofab set. One, to keep the back down 1/4". but the main reason was the Halo spacers did not have any built in taper. I'm not sure the actual effect (and talking with Alex, he said his testing showed no taper was needed for only an inch), but with the issues these trucks are known for with vibrations both in drive-line and frame, I would have liked to see a bit of taper to keep that pinion angle the same. In my mind, its more costly to build a taper in, so other companies wouldn't do it if there was no benefit, and if everyone else has a bit of taper built in, maybe these should have too. I'm no GM engineering tech, so this is all purely speculative on my part, but I didn't put them in for that reason.

 

3.) I would have liked to see an over the strut spacer setup rather than under the strut in front. Again, I like beefier things, and something sandwiched between a large top strut and frame would give me more confidence than a u-shaped piece between the bottom strut and control arm. I didn't use them for an entirely different reason, and I know there are probably thousands of trucks out there with that same style going on thousands of miles with no issues, but its my personal opinion. All in all, this is the way to go if you want a 2-3" lift/level setup and not get much harsher. I liked the setup and and think it's worth the price for the ride quality alone. Longevity obviously remains to be seen, but if it is built as good as it looks, it would far outlast the OEM stuff anyways.

 

Any questions or install questions, feel free to message me or ask here!

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Looks great and great write up. As far as the BJ angles, I wouldn't have high hopes to get a lot of miles from them.

 

If she's any good, and since she's pregnant I'm guessing she is... no matter what angle the BJ is at, it should only last more than a few miles.

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Personally, the "lifetime sealed" ball joints their using now don't impress me. But thats more a entire movement from all manufacturers.

 

Yup, build them cheaper and charge more, and take away serviceability to promote dealer-service sales. Sounds about right. Thanks for the detailed review, debating throwing a set on my 15, and taking the Rancho's and level kit and putting that set up on my 14. Can't justify the price of Fox2.5's or Kings when I will probably trade the truck in in 2 more years.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

I am new to this forum and joined specifically to find out more about these Boss Coilovers. Great write up here with good info but I am looking for a bit more. I am just about to pull the trigger on a set of these and I have a couple of questions. What is the minimum lift that you think that these could be set up at 0" ? 1"?  I see that the Spring perch can be adjusted down to a lower lift setting and I am just wondering what the effect of that would be on Ride and handling and suspension travel.  I have a 201 GMC Sierra crewcab 4x4 1500 5.3 base model with the cast steel suspension. I am looking at these to improve the ride and handling offroad as I find the stock suspension just too bouncy with a lack of damping in the stock setup. I drive a lot of kms often on rough gravel in extremes of temp and sometimes a lot of mud. I am really wary of lifting this truck due to the limitations of the stock geometry - CV Joints / Upper Ball Joints. I would like to install these at the lowest lift setting as a result. I have thought about getting Cognito arms with ball joints and a small diff drop but would prefer to avoid this but ideally I would like to do the set up first with the minimum amount of lift to see if this improves offroad handling before going to the control arm diff drop lengths. I am not prepared to cut off my droop stops as there would be nothing to stop over extension - the little plastic bumps on these were already broken off during normal driving with stock height. Any thoughts or information would be greatly appreciated. I am pretty sure I am going to buy them as any set up that does not replace the factory front coil spring is not going to help -  but just want some thoughts before install.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...
On 8/13/2017 at 6:37 PM, 1990dtgl98 said:

 

Personally, the "lifetime sealed" ball joints their using now don't impress me. But thats more a entire movement from all manufacturers.

Any updates on these?  Are you still liking them?  I called Halo last week and found they use 700lb front springs. I think I read stock is 560.  Seems like they would ride pretty firm.  

 

 

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10 hours ago, Yondu said:

Any updates on these?  Are you still liking them?  I called Halo last week and found they use 700lb front springs. I think I read stock is 560.  Seems like they would ride pretty firm.  

 

 

 

26k miles later and still love them. No issues, no leaks.

 

As far as stiffness I'd say they ride smoother than my dad's 2018 centennial edition (but to be fair that's also riding on 22 rims). Definately smoother than my old rancho equipped silverado.

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Great post, looking at making a move on these thanks to your details and impressions! I did want to ask if you used the spacers in the rear for additional lift or if you just installed the rear shocks by themselves?

 

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