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‘19 AT4 Leveled with Bilstein 6112’s and MotoFab 2” Spacer

mathnerd

By mathnerd
in Modifications, Wheels & Tires

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mathnerd Enthusiast

mathnerd

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So I just got my truck back from having a set of Bilstein 6112’s with a MotoFab 2” top spacer installed along with a set of Rough Country UCA’s.

I already have Bilstein 5100’s in the back. I went with 6112’s simply because I was tired of waiting on the 5100’s for the front and found these in stock.

they are installed on the lowest snap ring groove as I want to keep preload to a minimum for the best ride quality. 
axle angles are ok. I don’t do any serious wheeling so I expect them to last. 
I was going to do the install myself but compressing those big springs gave me the heebie jeebies so I had a local shop do it. 
I also want to be able to easily swap if I ever need to warranty the Bilstein so I went ahead and bought all new top hats, isolators and bumpers so I have a complete set of loaded stockers ready to swap in. 
Truck looks perfect to my eye.
Next up are a set of Bora 1.5” spacers and some RC pocket flares.

Eventually i want to go to some 17x9 -12 Fuel wheels and 34” tires but I haven’t nailed the exact combo down yet.

 

17C2C489-C6FC-4D7D-9FBD-85C3E7E85604.jpeg

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mathnerd Enthusiast

mathnerd

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1 hour ago, BlancoSilverado said:

How's the ride in comparison to the stock struts?

Better. The ride overall is a touch firmer but has none of the pogoing in the front or the choppiness in the rear. I think it makes it much more comfortable. 

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Harv3589 Enthusiast

Harv3589

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Do you happen to have the part numbers for everything you had to buy so you didn’t have to pull the factory struts apart?  Thinking of doing the same on mine and not bother messing with the pulling the factory ones apart. 

 

thanks

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mathnerd Enthusiast

mathnerd

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On 9/30/2021 at 8:40 AM, Rob Maerz said:

Do you happen to have the part numbers for everything you had to buy so you didn’t have to pull the factory struts apart?  Thinking of doing the same on mine and not bother messing with the pulling the factory ones apart. 

 

thanks

 

This list is for a 2019 Sierra AT4 with the 6.2, make sure these are correct for your truck.

 

Two of each are required and you do not need the lower insulator if you are installing 6112’s.

 

84171380 Front suspension strut bumper

23344927 Front spring lower insulator

84171377 Front shock absorber boot

84458268 Strut Mount

11601789 Top Nut

RCF71 Enthusiast

RCF71

Posted
Posted

Honestly, you would have been better off using the 6112’s setting for lift vs the spacer.  When the word “preload” is used, it is only referring to when the strut is off the truck (ie., no weight on the strut/spring).  There is ZERO additional preload when it is mounted on the truck!  The weight of the truck will still cause more load on the spring than the preload placed on the spring by the upper setting on the Bilsteins (in other words, the weight of the truck places more compression force on the spring than is placed on it by an in-strut spacer or a strut with adjustable spring perches, so the spring will sit at the same length once mounted on the truck, and ride will not be impacted).  
 

This is a very widely misunderstood and poorly explained topic, mostly because sites that attempt to explain this are trying to sway you one way or the other and “embellish” on those misconceptions.

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mathnerd Enthusiast

mathnerd

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On 10/3/2021 at 7:47 AM, RCF71 said:

Honestly, you would have been better off using the 6112’s setting for lift vs the spacer.  When the word “preload” is used, it is only referring to when the strut is off the truck (ie., no weight on the strut/spring).  There is ZERO additional preload when it is mounted on the truck!  The weight of the truck will still cause more load on the spring than the preload placed on the spring by the upper setting on the Bilsteins (in other words, the weight of the truck places more compression force on the spring than is placed on it by an in-strut spacer or a strut with adjustable spring perches, so the spring will sit at the same length once mounted on the truck, and ride will not be impacted).  
 

This is a very widely misunderstood and poorly explained topic, mostly because sites that attempt to explain this are trying to sway you one way or the other and “embellish” on those misconceptions.

Thanks! This is good to know.

I still would have had to use a spacer to get the 2” I needed for the level as the Bilstein 6112’s for the AT4 only go up to just over an inch.

 

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