UCA and CV angles after lift

[Hoopstar]

Just installed bilstein 5100 At4/TB front and rear strut/shocks. 2023 GMC Elevation. Set struts at .55 middle setting in the front and 2 " rear blocks. So total of 2.55" lift in the front. How do these UCA and CV angles look.  Trying to decide if I should upgrade the UCAs to aftermarket. Thx.

[Silverado4x4]

Don't really understand what you're saying, you set the front at .55 which is 1/2" and added 2" rear blocks so that's not 2.55" of lift you have 2" in the rear and 1/2" in the front. If you go 2.5" in the front you're cv and ball joints are going to be over maxed out and will have problems down the road with them. Even 2" in the front is pushing it. 

 

[newdude]

34 minutes ago, Hoopstar said:

Just installed bilstein 5100 At4/TB front and rear strut/shocks. 2023 GMC Elevation. Set struts at .55 middle setting in the front and 2 " rear blocks. So total of 2.55" lift in the front. How do these UCA and CV angles look.  Trying to decide if I should upgrade the UCAs to aftermarket. Thx.

 

 

 

You NEED the longer TB/AT4 axle shafts and new UCAs.  Your upper joints will fail if you leave that alone.  They fail at 2 inch levels already anyway.  Leveled TB/AT4 fail all the time.

 

You should have just done a proper 3 inch lift that would have came with all the parts you need instead of piecemealing parts that are spec'd to AT4/TB:

 

3" Lift Kit - 2019 and Newer Chevy/GMC Silverado/Sierr 1500 | Superlift Suspension

[Hoopstar]

1 hour ago, Silverado4x4 said:

Don't really understand what you're saying, you set the front at .55 which is 1/2" and added 2" rear blocks so that's not 2.55" of lift you have 2" in the rear and 1/2" in the front. If you go 2.5" in the front you're cv and ball joints are going to be over maxed out and will have problems down the road with them. Even 2" in the front is pushing it. 

 

I used the Bilstein 5100s struts that are for a Trail Boss/AT4 on my elevation. So they start at +2" for my truck. Then put them in the middle setting for an additional .55" of lift.

[Hoopstar]

56 minutes ago, newdude said:

 

 

 

You NEED the longer TB/AT4 axle shafts and new UCAs.  Your upper joints will fail if you leave that alone.  They fail at 2 inch levels already anyway.  Leveled TB/AT4 fail all the time.

 

You should have just done a proper 3 inch lift that would have came with all the parts you need instead of piecemealing parts that are spec'd to AT4/TB:

 

3" Lift Kit - 2019 and Newer Chevy/GMC Silverado/Sierr 1500 | Superlift Suspension

OK. I thought I would try this way first and I didn't think the angles looked too bad.

[Gangly]

If your not doing any serious/difficult off road exploring, I wouldn't worry with the longer CV's.  I've maxed out the articulation on my front and rear suspension with a 2" lift while off road and I have had no UCA or CV issues(100K+) to date.  However, that extra half inch of travel that you now have can make a difference so I would be looking hard at UCA replacements to start with, and CV upgrades if you are planning on really testing out your truck and suspension.  If its a street queen, let it be since it seems 3.5" of lift is the general consensus on maximum lift height with stock UCA's.

[Hoopstar]

3 hours ago, Gangly said:

If your not doing any serious/difficult off road exploring, I wouldn't worry with the longer CV's.  I've maxed out the articulation on my front and rear suspension with a 2" lift while off road and I have had no UCA or CV issues(100K+) to date.  However, that extra half inch of travel that you now have can make a difference so I would be looking hard at UCA replacements to start with, and CV upgrades if you are planning on really testing out your truck and suspension.  If its a street queen, let it be since it seems 3.5" of lift is the general consensus on maximum lift height with stock UCA's.

OK thx.  I will get some UCAs on order, off the road sometimes during hunting season. Just got to decide between RC, RL or Cognito.  Like the price point of RC tho..

[Mark Scannura]

Best to follow the advice of new UCAs when front leveling up an AT4/TB even if it's only adding .5 over the factory 2. As I believe has already been said here, the AT4/TB use the same UCA as the non-AT4/TB so GM is using those inside the design margin, but with that extra lift its always better to play it safe. Too many guys are experiencing UCA ball joint failures after leveling up the AT4/TB when keeping the stock UCAs. Those new after-market UCAs for the AT4/TB exist for a really good reason. Not to mention the new UCA will also address the caster alignment issues that may plague an AT4/TB after leveling up. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Mark Scannura

[Dunn]

I had the same setup to a 2021 elevation (vid on youtube)

 

3" in front and 2" in rear

 

Had a cognito UCA up front but was worried about differential, could not find a lowering kit...

 

Had I kept that truck I would have bought TB cv axles

 

Had a tundra with spacer lift that broke my front end and numerous peeps have had problems on the TB/AT4 levels and lifts

 

2" is max for stock....obviously more you push it offroad the more risk....pavement princess less but still.....60k truck a few hundred for piece of mind sounds much better than ****ing it up

 

Wasn't crazy about bilsteins over time tbh....at first they calmed the truck down but dampening was off...I prefer linear or progressive vs digressive for mix of street/offroad

[The Raven]

You should really change both the UCAs and CVs.  However if a CV fails it just breaks and you have to stop.  A UCA failure is very dangerous...so DEFINITELY do those.

[jbr1888]

On 8/22/2023 at 1:05 PM, newdude said:

 

 

 

You NEED the longer TB/AT4 axle shafts and new UCAs.  Your upper joints will fail if you leave that alone.  They fail at 2 inch levels already anyway.  Leveled TB/AT4 fail all the time.

 

You should have just done a proper 3 inch lift that would have came with all the parts you need instead of piecemealing parts that are spec'd to AT4/TB:

 

3" Lift Kit - 2019 and Newer Chevy/GMC Silverado/Sierr 1500 | Superlift Suspension

The kit you shared doesn't seem to include longer CV axels. 

[newdude]

15 minutes ago, jbr1888 said:

The kit you shared doesn't seem to include longer CV axels. 

 

 

Right.  They are in the GM Lift kit.