BDS Standard 4" Lift w/ Fox Shocks

[trucknewbie]

Hi all, I am a relatively new member to the forums and a first time truck owner. I've had my truck for about 2 years now and finally decided it was time to upgrade my baby. After months of researching, I decided to start off with a leveling kit, wheels, tires and rode on that for about 8000 miles before I saved up enough to do a lift. 

 

As it stands, I decided to go with the 4 inch BDS lift kit with the fox shocks upgrade. I narrowed my choices to Fabtech and BDS after tons of reading on this forum and the conclusion I came to for the price points, BDS made more sense and appears to be more spot on with the suspension geometry. Given that I am no expert, I could be wrong on that, so definitely don't quote me. 

 

The shop that did my install is an authorized BDS retailer and as a result, they prefer installing BDS kits on their trucks. One thing I noticed is that most people try to jump up to the coilovers right out of the gates in the name of preserving ride quality and Im here to say that you don't need to do that. Even the guy at the shop told me that it wasn't necessary to do and it doesn't guarantee that you will enjoy that ride quality. I was in that same boat until I decided to go ahead and try out what BDS has to offer before I spend more money on the kit itself.

 

Ride Quality

My experience of driving my truck pre-level and post-level - I felt no difference in the drive itself except some amount of additional harshness going over speed bumps. At that point, I expected that amount of harshness, in fact I expected worse based on reading what people had to say about how leveling kits ride. 

 

My experience of driving my truck after going from the leveling kit to the 4" lift - the ride is absolutely beautiful. Having driven a friends Yukon Denali, I can say that the ride of the truck is slightly floaty on the road similar to how the denalis ride, yet still very connected (not sure if that makes sense to anyone else but me). I absolutely love the way the truck rides and I feel that it's on par with stock, if not a little more insulated with the added suspension travel that absorbs some of the bumps and imperfections of the road. As it stands, I have driven with the kit for about 450 miles thus far and I have zero intentions of adding the coilovers to the setup. (500 mile suspension re-torquing coming up soon)

 

Another added point of comfort for me is if my ride quality does deteriorate for some reason and the coilovers become a necessity, getting rid of the front shocks is not like throwing away an expensive pair of shocks. I also potentially have the option of adding kings in the event I ever need to go down that route...

 

I hope that for someone out there, this helps make a decision on the kits with the plethora of information available and I'm happy to answer questions about this lift.

 

Daily Drivability

With this being my first lifted truck and first truck to begin with, I was really concerned about how drivable the vehicle would be compared to stock. The only difference I notice regarding drivability is making a turn when the wheel is at full lock in either direction feels like there is more turning radius involved, but hasn't been an issue. The bed and the bed steps are still very reachable / usable - I'm 5'8". The sidesteps are a little bit taller to get up to than before but it's not a pain in the ass or to the point where I hate the truck or my decision - I'm going to be keeping an eye out for a good deal on articulating running boards from AMP or RBP eventually.

 

For anyone who enjoys driving fast - I haven't felt powerloss in the vehicle, especially being that mine is a 6.2L. I did definitely notice that there are a few moments where shifts take longer, but Im sad to say I need to address an issue that involves the torque converter and creates a shudder when accelerating as though you're driving across rumble strips but that's a different topic for a different time. It drives fast, feels stable, and is fun as hell. 

 

Fuel Economy Impact

I honestly haven't had any impact on my fuel consumption since I began upgrading items on the vehicle. This might change over time, but as it stands I get about 20-22 MPG highway and a range of 13-16 MPG City based on traffic levels.

 

Other Notes

- 2017 GMC Sierra SLT Premium Plus Package with Z71 Package | 6.2L V8

- Denali Cluster Retrofit

- 33" Nitto Ridge Grapplers

- SCA Performance 20x9 Black Widow Wheels | 0 mm offset

- Blacked out emblems

- Rough Country Tri Fold Bed Cover

- GM Borla Exhaust with Dual Outlets (There's actually a tilt downward in the exhaust because the dealer failed to correctly install them with the appropriate hangers to the frame - going to be corrected soon) 

- Black Chrome Exhaust Tips 

- Rear Wheel Spacers soon to come (BDS lifts push the front track width out, I want to even out the stance)

- AMP Research power steps soon to come

- Cold Air Intake soon to come

 

Pictures

 

 

[Joe98]

Wow !!   Truck looks great and tastefully done.  That truck is too clean to take off road, I couldn't bring myself to do it...  Congrats on a well done project.

[Aboogie808]

Nice job. I went with zone lift, sister company to bds and love it.

[15KSChevy]

That's a slick looking truck man, those wheels are really unique and it all goes well with that lift.