Trail Boss Lift Options

lapoolboy · January 20, 2021

The Auto 4WD thing is really no big deal. I never use that setting anyway. I want my truck in 2WD or 4WD when I decide- not my truck.

Even if you use it, it isn't likely to catastrophically self-destruct. ReadyLift just said it "could" cause some vibration in the CVs and/or front diff that some people may find undesirable. This is caused by the varying torque the truck sends to the front diff when it is in Auto 4WD "hunting" for traction.

lapoolboy · January 20, 2021

The Auto 4WD thing is really no big deal. I never use that setting anyway. I want my truck in 2WD or 4WD when I decide- not my truck.

Even if you use it, it isn't likely to catastrophically self-destruct. ReadyLift just said it "could" cause some vibration in the CVs and/or front diff that some people may find undesirable. This is caused by the varying torque the truck sends to the front diff when it is in Auto 4WD "hunting" for traction.

Unclebud87 · January 20, 2021

1 hour ago, lapoolboy said:

I hope so. The customer service gals at ReadyLift just gave the generic "the kit was designed around the stock Rancho shocks and has not been tested with other brands so we can't recommend it....blah blah blah"

If I set the Bilsteins to STOCK height (0" lift) when I put the ReadyLift kit on, there will be no difference from how it installs on the stock Ranchos. A shock is a shock at that point. They are just covering themselves in case I screw something up. I texted the national sales manager for ReadyLift and he said "as long as they are set to stock height, there should be no issues". I'm rolling with it. I'll be the guinea !

I talked with zone about they're kit with the bilsteins. They didn't recommend the combo together because the bilsteins actually have more travel than the stock ranchos and where concerned about the cv joints. Needless to say the zone kit is going on tomorrow lol. I'm just not cutting the droop limiter off the coil bucket. I must say their control arms are BEEFY!

21trailboss · January 20, 2021

57 minutes ago, lapoolboy said:

The Auto 4WD thing is really no big deal. I never use that setting anyway. I want my truck in 2WD or 4WD when I decide- not my truck.

Even if you use it, it isn't likely to catastrophically self-destruct. ReadyLift just said it "could" cause some vibration in the CVs and/or front diff that some people may find undesirable. This is caused by the varying torque the truck sends to the front diff when it is in Auto 4WD "hunting" for traction.

Yeah....I dont use it either was more worried about someone else driving my truck. Im not going to worry about it. Did you watch the youtube video from readylift on this kit?

GMC AT4 Chevy Trail Boss Lift Kits - ReadyLIFT - Bing video

lapoolboy · January 20, 2021

42 minutes ago, Unclebud87 said:

I talked with zone about they're kit with the bilsteins. They didn't recommend the combo together because the bilsteins actually have more travel than the stock ranchos and where concerned about the cv joints. Needless to say the zone kit is going on tomorrow lol. I'm just not cutting the droop limiter off the coil bucket. I must say their control arms are BEEFY!

Yea, the droop limiter removes any issue with over-travel. The Bilsteins may have more travel, BUT the suspension can only droop as far as the mechanical limit (droop stop) allows. You putting Bilsteins on anyway?

Unclebud87 · January 20, 2021

47 minutes ago, lapoolboy said:

Yea, the droop limiter removes any issue with over-travel. The Bilsteins may have more travel, BUT the suspension can only droop as far as the mechanical limit (droop stop) allows. You putting Bilsteins on anyway?

Yes sir. The factory ranchos are terrible lol. I'm pulling one preload spacer from the kit and doing a 1/2" preload on the shock which would probably put me at 2" of lift if it wasn't for the winch. My thinking is I'll actually end up at the 1.75" the kit is meant for.

lapoolboy · January 20, 2021

20 minutes ago, Unclebud87 said:

Yes sir. The factory ranchos are terrible lol. I'm pulling one preload spacer from the kit and doing a 1/2" preload on the shock which would probably put me at 2" of lift if it wasn't for the winch. My thinking is I'll actually end up at the 1.75" the kit is meant for.

My MAN! I expect after me and you do it, everybody and their cousin gonna be doing it!

Somebody's gotta be the first!

lapoolboy · January 20, 2021

@Unclebud87, please be sure to let us know how install and test-drive goes with the Bilsteins soon as you get it done!

Unclebud87 · January 20, 2021

3 hours ago, lapoolboy said:

@Unclebud87, please be sure to let us know how install and test-drive goes with the Bilsteins soon as you get it done!

Will do. Hopefully will have it all together this afternoon. Unfortunately my rear shocks are on back order for 4-6 weeks so I'll only have half the review to give lol.

lapoolboy · January 20, 2021

13 minutes ago, Unclebud87 said:

Will do. Hopefully will have it all together this afternoon. Unfortunately my rear shocks are on back order for 4-6 weeks so I'll only have half the review to give lol.

Damn! Should have ordered from Summit....they have them in stock.

21trailboss · January 20, 2021

On 1/19/2021 at 8:55 AM, lapoolboy said:

I just ordered Bilstein adjustable 5100s for the front and 5160s for the rear. I'm going to set the fronts at stock height and run the ReadyLift 2" SST kit. I just wanted to upgrade to better shocks while I have it all apart installing the ReadyLift kit.

Im going to do this same setup....where did you purchase your shocks and what is the specific part # please? When I'm trying to find these I cant find any for the trail boss

lapoolboy · January 20, 2021

32 minutes ago, 21trailboss said:

Im going to do this same setup....where did you purchase your shocks and what is the specific part # please? When I'm trying to find these I cant find any for the trail boss

Well....I have changed course on my plan....

After speaking more with Bilstein and ReadyLift today, I am NOT installing the 2" SST kit with the Bilsteins. I am going with the Bilstein 6112 kit up front set to the max lift of 1.2" (which should put the truck pretty close to level) and keeping the 5160s in the rear.

This way, I can ditch the 1.5" leveling kit (preload spacer) I have and get better shocks at the same time while maintaining close to the same height up front I have now. I'm not even sure the RC 1.5" leveling kit actually gives a full 1.5" anyway so the difference may not be much. The other good news is I don't have to replace the UCAs with the 6112s either.

Unclebud87 · January 21, 2021

3 hours ago, lapoolboy said:

Well....I have changed course on my plan....

After speaking more with Bilstein and ReadyLift today, I am NOT installing the 2" SST kit with the Bilsteins. I am going with the Bilstein 6112 kit up front set to the max lift of 1.2" (which should put the truck pretty close to level) and keeping the 5160s in the rear.

This way, I can ditch the 1.5" leveling kit (preload spacer) I have and get better shocks at the same time while maintaining close to the same height up front I have now. I'm not even sure the RC 1.5" leveling kit actually gives a full 1.5" anyway so the difference may not be much. The other good news is I don't have to replace the UCAs with the 6112s either.

Well I stuck with the original game plan. I got everything installed. I set the preload on the 5100s to the 1/2" setting and used the large preload spacer from the zone kit (it had to be used the way the kits designed if you wanted the preload spacer). With that and the small top spacer included in the kit I ended up with about a 1/2" rake (I have a winch mounted on a brush guard plus airbags in the rear end which slightly lifted the back). I took it for a short test drive and it's actually pretty darn good. I was pretty nervous about the possibility of adding to much preload but the winch weight seems to have acted as expected. Deffinatly noticing how crappy the rear shocks are in that short drive.

21trailboss · January 21, 2021

55 minutes ago, lapoolboy said:

Well....I have changed course on my plan....

After speaking more with Bilstein and ReadyLift today, I am NOT installing the 2" SST kit with the Bilsteins. I am going with the Bilstein 6112 kit up front set to the max lift of 1.2" (which should put the truck pretty close to level) and keeping the 5160s in the rear.

This way, I can ditch the 1.5" leveling kit (preload spacer) I have and get better shocks at the same time while maintaining close to the same height up front I have now. I'm not even sure the RC 1.5" leveling kit actually gives a full 1.5" anyway so the difference may not be much. The other good news is I don't have to replace the UCAs with the 6112s either.

You have definitely been doing your homework....Great job! I think that all makes good sense

21trailboss · January 21, 2021

1 hour ago, Unclebud87 said:

Well I stuck with the original game plan. I got everything installed. I set the preload on the 5100s to the 1/2" setting and used the large preload spacer from the zone kit (it had to be used the way the kits designed if you wanted the preload spacer). With that and the small top spacer included in the kit I ended up with about a 1/2" rake (I have a winch mounted on a brush guard plus airbags in the rear end which slightly lifted the back). I took it for a short test drive and it's actually pretty darn good. I was pretty nervous about the possibility of adding to much preload but the winch weight seems to have acted as expected. Deffinatly noticing how crappy the rear shocks are in that short drive.

Thanks for posting the pic and the update. Did everything turn out the way you expected? It looks good for sure and your upper control arms look beefy as hell