Leveling shocks???

paulny · March 22, 2020

Has anyone purchased the Icon coilover? I believe it can be set to 3" so that it's essentially a 1" additional lift over the AT4 stock 2" lift. I am looking at coilover options instead of a spacer lift.

Kchampagne · March 22, 2020

There is also these rough country 3.5" lifted struts. Theoretically, they should give Trail Boss/AT4's a 1.5" leveling. Not sure of the quality though. I am highly considering the Eibachs.

https://www.roughcountry.com/premium-n3-lifted-strut-500066.html?find=2020-gmc-sierra-1500-4wd-568979

Ryguy · March 22, 2020

1 hour ago, paulny said:

Has anyone purchased the Icon coilover? I believe it can be set to 3" so that it's essentially a 1" additional lift over the AT4 stock 2" lift. I am looking at coilover options instead of a spacer lift.

From what I’ve heard Icons perform best at 2.5” or lower, but at 3” the ride quality is compromised. The Eibach kit is a coilover setup there’s no spacer you’re just adjusting the lower perch not upper. I do like the micro adjustability of the Icons with the washers and spanner wrench.

Dunn · March 22, 2020

2 hours ago, Kchampagne said:

There is also these rough country 3.5" lifted struts. Theoretically, they should give Trail Boss/AT4's a 1.5" leveling. Not sure of the quality though. I am highly considering the Eibachs.

https://www.roughcountry.com/premium-n3-lifted-strut-500066.html?find=2020-gmc-sierra-1500-4wd-568979

its not usually good idea to max out length on any of them.....and most will say do not ride it at max lift, very harsh.....your just compressing the spring a ton, coilbind, just not good unless you are running weight.....winch, bumpers, etc

basically your just preloading the spring for more height.....while it will do it the ride will be shit for lack of better word in most cases

Edited March 22, 2020 by Dunn

Dunn · March 22, 2020

for damn near same money Eibach over RC any day of week...Eibach pretty much makes springs for everyone....and I would trust their shock a lot more than an RC shock

Chad's Trail Boss · March 22, 2020

So if I’m reading all this correctly, the Eibach shocks are actually for the standard Silverado not specifically marketed for the Trail Boss but will work if set up right?
Correct?

If we set the bottom of the spring perch to the middle on the shock body or the top that will add back 1 to 2 inches of height getting us back to the 2” lift of the Trail Boss. We can also add the Eibach springs for an additional 1” of lift correct? So basically 3” total lift over standard Silverado. 1” more over the Trail Boss?

Now at this point I know the factory upper control arm is going to start being at the limits for the ball joint angle.

What if I already have the Ready Lift SST kit for the Trail Boss? It comes with new Upper Control arms with corrected length and angle for ball joint. The Ready Lift adds 2” of lift over the Trail Boss lift by using a 1” preload spacer under the spring so we already have to take the Rancho Strut apart to do this. The kit also utilizes a 1” spacer above the strut assembly and doesn’t require trimming the 3 factory studs up top.

I have this Ready Lift system for my Trail Boss at home still in the box.

What if I used the Ready Lift Upper Control arms (to correct upper ball joint angle) and used the Eibach front struts using the middle or top spring perch position (roughly 2” lift back to what the Trail Boss is from factory) then the Eibach springs (adds another 1” lift) then use the Ready lift top strut spacer (adds an additional 1” lift) all together equaling 4” lift over a standard Silverado (2” more than the Trail Boss)?

This would give me the same amount of lift as the Ready Lift kit would alone but more importantly give me a much much better ride and handling.

Would you agree?

For the rear I would install the 3” block supplied by Ready lift and this will still keep me a roughly 1” rake in the rear. I would then have to use shock extensions on the rear to be able to use the Eibach shock or call them and see if they have longer ones or use some Bilstein shocks in the rear that are long enough.

Thoughts?

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Ryguy · March 22, 2020

36 minutes ago, Chad's Trail Boss said:

So if I’m reading all this correctly, the Eibach shocks are actually for the standard Silverado not specifically marketed for the Trail Boss but will work if set up right?
Correct?

If we set the bottom of the spring perch to the middle on the shock body or the top that will add back 1 to 2 inches of height getting us back to the 2” lift of the Trail Boss. We can also add the Eibach springs for an additional 1” of lift correct? So basically 3” total lift over standard Silverado. 1” more over the Trail Boss?

Now at this point I know the factory upper control arm is going to start being at the limits for the ball joint angle.

What if I already have the Ready Lift SST kit for the Trail Boss? It comes with new Upper Control arms with corrected length and angle for ball joint. The Ready Lift adds 2” of lift over the Trail Boss lift by using a 1” preload spacer under the spring so we already have to take the Rancho Strut apart to do this. The kit also utilizes a 1” spacer above the strut assembly and doesn’t require trimming the 3 factory studs up top.

I have this Ready Lift system for my Trail Boss at home still in the box.

What if I used the Ready Lift Upper Control arms (to correct upper ball joint angle) and used the Eibach front struts using the middle or top spring perch position (roughly 2” lift back to what the Trail Boss is from factory) then the Eibach springs (adds another 1” lift) then use the Ready lift top strut spacer (adds an additional 1” lift) all together equaling 4” lift over a standard Silverado (2” more than the Trail Boss)?

This would give me the same amount of lift as the Ready Lift kit would alone but more importantly give me a much much better ride and handling.

Would you agree?

For the rear I would install the 3” block supplied by Ready lift and this will still keep me a roughly 1” rake in the rear. I would then have to use shock extensions on the rear to be able to use the Eibach shock or call them and see if they have longer ones or use some Bilstein shocks in the rear that are long enough.

Thoughts?

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To simplify you’re just adding a new UCA and 2” top spacer to the Eibach coilover.

Yeah this should work great for the front as long as you don’t go all the way to the top lower perch setting as that would max the strut out and degrade the ride. I would call them about the rears to confirm they would work with a 3 inch block.

I’m looking into upgrading my UCAs in the future but for now they are totally fine. I’ve checked the bind under flex and it’s not that bad. The sway bars are massive on these modern 1/2 tons and they limit the suspension travel quite a bit.

Chad's Trail Boss · March 22, 2020

To simplify you’re just adding a new UCA and 2” top spacer to the Eibach coilover.

Yeah this should work great for the front as long as you don’t go all the way to the top lower perch setting as that would max the strut out and degrade the ride. I would call them about the rears to confirm they would work with a 3 inch block.

I’m looking into upgrading my UCAs in the future but for now they are totally fine. I’ve checked the bind under flex and it’s not that bad. The sway bars are massive on these modern 1/2 tons and they limit the suspension travel quite a bit.

No it would be a 1” top spacer and 1” of extra height using the Eibach springs and 2” of height by way of the lower mounting position of the spring on the body of the strut.

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Ryguy · March 22, 2020

Ah yeah still see no issues on that setup.

Chad's Trail Boss · March 22, 2020

Ah yeah still see no issues on that setup.

Sweet. I’m seriously thinking about going this route. I mean I have to take the strut out and apart anyways. Might as well upgrade while I’m at it right?
Do you really feel it was that much of an improvement over stock using the Eibach?

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Ryguy · March 22, 2020

19 minutes ago, Chad's Trail Boss said:

Sweet. I’m seriously thinking about going this route. I mean I have to take the strut out and apart anyways. Might as well upgrade while I’m at it right?
Do you really feel it was that much of an improvement over stock using the Eibach?

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Yes I do. The ride is stiffer and more controlled now. For the type of driving I do on twisty and hilly country roads they are great. I can’t compare them to the Icons or the kings and I’m sure those are great options too but they cost almost 1,000 more and that’s just for the stage one. I just couldn’t justify spending that much more for pretty much the same setup with a lesser known brand name. Eibach is a great local (to me) company to deal with. I’ve spoken to them a few times over the phone and they have been really good with helping me out, they even offered to do the install the pro truck kit on my TB to make sure everything worked properly but I live like 5 hours from them. In the end I took the chance on it, figured I could always sell them to someone with a non TB if they didn’t work out for me. So far so good.

Chad's Trail Boss · March 22, 2020

Yes I do. The ride is stiffer and more controlled now. For the type of driving I do on twisty and hilly country roads they are great. I can’t compare them to the Icons or the kings and I’m sure those are great options too but they cost almost 1,000 more and that’s just for the stage one. I just couldn’t justify spending that much more for pretty much the same setup with a lesser known brand name. Eibach is a great local (to me) company to deal with. I’ve spoken to them a few times over the phone and they have been really good with helping me out, they even offered to do the install the pro truck kit on my TB to make sure everything worked properly but I live like 5 hours from them. In the end I took the chance on it, figured I could always sell them to someone with a non TB if they didn’t work out for me. So far so good.

That’s great to hear man. I’ve always thought the suspension was to soft on our Trail Boss. A little stiffer would be good to me as well.

Ryguy · March 22, 2020

Here’s how my truck sits with the extra inch in the front. I still have some rake which I’m happy with but not as much as before. That was just a plus for me, I was really looking for the improved ride quality over any lift.

Chad's Trail Boss · March 22, 2020

It looks great. Mine will look basically the same just 1” taller front and rear once I add the 1” top strut spacer and swap the 2” rear block for the 3”.

Actually mine will sit more level once I do all that because I have about 400 to 500 lbs of tools and stuff in the bed in my DECKED bed storage. Also my ARE MX topper will add about 200 lbs on top of that once it’s installed in a week or two. I ordered it 7 weeks ago.

I have Air Lift Load Lifter 5000 air bags on the rear so any squat will be taken care of with those.

Ryguy · March 22, 2020

5 minutes ago, Chad's Trail Boss said:

It looks great. Mine will look basically the same just 1” taller front and rear once I add the 1” top strut spacer and swap the 2” rear block for the 3”.

Actually mine will sit more level once I do all that because I have about 400 to 500 lbs of tools and stuff in the bed in my DECKED bed storage. Also my ARE MX topper will add about 200 lbs on top of that once it’s installed in a week or two. I ordered it 7 weeks ago.

I have Air Lift Load Lifter 5000 air bags on the rear so any squat will be taken care of with those.

Nice sounds like you’re in construction like me. Yeah I’ve been considering getting airbags for the rear as my next mod. I picked up a pallet of bathroom tiles for the job site the other day and the bum stops were completely down on the frame. They jack up the rake on these trucks and then put in weak little leaf springs! I get they are trying to shave weight but I would rather have a proper leaf pack and less factory rake.

Let us know how everything works out!