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Showing results for tags 'belltech'.
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So after some digging I found the build thread section. What we have here is my 2014 Crew Cab Z71 4WD short bed queen. Bought a few years back as my daily work truck to put my weekend warrior back in the garage. When I first snagged her she was lifted on 34s and by the first drive home I knew the tranny was blown. Worked out a deal with the dealer I bought it from and had a 100k warranty remain installed where they paid for half of T&M. Factory crap struts with spacers front to rear came on her for a "lift". Within a few months I installed ICON Stage 1 kit to give her that quality ride effect. Love me some ICON, ride was supple on and off the road with this kit. When I decided to let go of the weekend warrior to fund the wife's new ride and changed industry's I got the itch to go back to my roots and slam her. I know I wanted to follow the same concept I did with my last mini must haves. Suspension must haves: Adjustable Coil Overs up front Adjustable emulsions in the rear (I went back and forth for months if this was needed on a full-size before realizing it was a MUST HAVE) Control arms up front due to 4wd and limited spindle offerings Flip in the rear 22x10 that sat flush if not almost flush and this go around the wheel set had to be SQUARE After quite a bit of research I came up with the following mods, mind you not all at once Mod weekend 1: IHC 4/6 drop kit Front and Rear, dialed (according to my comparison from ground-to-fender measure on a 19' Z71) she sits right at 4/6 and within spec on alignment. IHC 4" drop arms (Front) Belltech 2-Way Adjustable Coilovers (Front) IHC Axle Flip kit (Rear) IHC 1" lowering shackle (Rear) IHC drop shocks (Rear) Wheels and Tires 22x10 square ET +0 Cosmis racing XT-206R (finish chips easily but they also clean up easily) Lionhart 285/40/22 (Surprisingly nice ply and quieter than anticipated) After the initial mod weekend truck sat with a Carolina Squat , the rear shocks had no ass in them and my measured adjustment on the coil overs were perfect however I did install per IHC instructions with the 1/2" spacers raising the front 1". Trucks rear was as soft as a yellow belly teenager, I would bottom out axle to frame and pumpkin to bed every where I went. This was not my experience on my first go around on a full-size (96' extended cab bow-tie w/ 2/4). I was able to load that rear end up with dirt bikes and motors all day long without issue, guess there was a leaf design change over a span of 18 years . After a week of banging down the freeway I pulled the trigger on IHC helper bag kit and QA-1 shocks within spec of the drop shocks from IHC (eye-to-eye extended and fully compressed). I made the mistake of purchasing Belltech adjustable drop shocks, these only work for 4" rear drops to my dismay . I also noticed that the drop shackle in the OEM hanger configuration was rubbing at ride height, so purchased the shackle flip kit from IHC as well. Mod weekend 2: IHC Shackle Flip Kit (allows for cleaner travel of suspension, simply shoving lowering shackle onto system was rubbing frame) IHC 1" drop shackles IHC Firestone helper bag kit (Rear) QA1 2-way adjustable emulsion shocks (Rear) Designed and Machined custom bushings to accept the OEM bolts (Inventor and Xometry FTW) Once I installed QA1's, shackle flip, helper bags, and removed and readjusted coil overs I got her squatted on all 4 corners EQUALLY. I rub in front occasionally on full lock to drivers only and over excessive dips in road mostly in front. I have bumped coil over adjustment up 2 clicks from factory on drivers and 1 on passenger. I have compression up 2 clicks from middle and run helper bags with 8-10lbs in them when bed is not loaded up. Rarely do I ever bottom out these days, usually if I have the truck loaded up with people to hit work lunch. Sound System: I upgraded the sound system at some point in time between ICON's and slamming. This has been an ongoing mod debacle on my end. Started by building a steel rack behind passenger seat to mount three Memphis amps. I was using 3 Memphis amps I had from my old truck build, however the front amp decided to start sending unwarranted signals to the speakers and the rear amp after about 3 years of sitting and 6 months of using decided to finally die after an overall 10 year party in 3 different rides. None the less the two AB amps were replaced with new Memphis hardware while the class D (knock on wood) keeps trucking along. Doors received focal 3-Ways up front and 2-ways in the rear. Class D memphis runs a sundown 10 under the passenger ina semi-custom box, added some height to the magnet area to accept the depth of the sundown 10 that runs on 1ohm. Memphis feeds it something like 800 watts rms @ 1ohm. Oldy but faithful Pioneer double din is running the show after trying 2 other setups to use the stock head unit. I initially tried pioneers CAN module but making fine tune adjustments or simply turning off the sub for when the kiddo is in the truck was a painful operation. Switched to an AXXES CAN setup, access to this was great, all the adjustments were perfectly accessible, however my trucks CAN did not like this system, I was getting all sorts of weird can signals and issues throughout the truck that I finally ripped that out and sent it back after trying two different AXXES units. Exterior: 2nd year into ownership finally replaced the factory grill with the OEM paint matched honeycomb and updated the fogs and headlights with RIGIDs and paint matched 14-15 style headlights. Also threw in TRLS HID bulbs while I was at it and TRLS rear assembly's as well. I am an avid mountain biker so finding an easier way to load up the bikes was a must, when the pand hit I pulled the trigger on the RIDE88 truck bed system as they were doing a 25% off on preorders. Best investment for a biker ever, so easy to load and lock the bikes up, only painful when I have to fully utilize the bed. Performance: Stock 5.3, that is mostly clapped out, so I have not gone ham under the hood. Initial purchase was an air raid intake using the stock box as most factory units pull outside air vs "cold air" tech. So installed the AirRaid intake tube that ditches the sound deadening box and did a drop in oil filter. After much debate, about a years worth, I pulled the trigger on the MBRP side exit exhaust. I knew from the day I started the truck with it on that I absolutely HATED it but for some silly reason I left it on. Now I am in search of an OEM exhaust so I can throw this junk away and do an electric dump out later on down the road. Eventually I will be swapping the 5.3 out for a LS1 or LS3 depending on what comes available next fall (waiting for prices to drop) and I will replace or rebuild the trans and will 100% replace the transfercase (culprit to my Chevy shakes when auto mode engaged) but first I need to finish my latest weekend warrior so I have a new daily while this ol'gurl is down. More to come
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Does anyone have experience with belltech lift kits? I've seen plenty of positive reviews from their lowering kits. They've been in the suspension industry for a while, just not so much the trail or lift side. Long travel is the end goal, but a $700 coilover kit with a 5 yr warranty vs an extended strut sounds more functional. I'm considering the adjustable 3-4" lift coilovers, part #15203. -Helper spring -60mm damper body -35mm independent valves -20mm piston rod I've got a 2020 z71 with the 3.0 Duramax for those needing an image to work with. Still exploring UCA options. 35*12.5r17 will be the tire size. Probably going to order them next month.
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Long story short, I think I need to buy springs but don't know which ones to select. RockAuto has 27 different "GM Genuine" coil springs for a 2017 GMC Sierra with 6.2L engine. I am wanting to match the spring rate of a 2017 GMC Sierra SLT CrewCab 4x4 6.2L. If someone has this exact truck, maybe they could post their RPO codes please? Or maybe, hopefully, someone has a better idea to get this info? The long story (if you care to read on) is I have the 2017 GMC Sierra Denali CrewCab 4x4 6.2L with MagneRide shocks & struts. The truck has just under 60K miles and the ride quality has degraded over time. I know at least 1 shock is bad due to it leaking, no codes have been thrown on the dash. Due to the mileage and the expense of the MagneRide shocks, I am pursuing replacing them all with conventional shocks and at the same time, getting my truck level. Several options on the market claiming great ride quality but I'm leaning towards the Bilstein 5100's that I've had on past trucks or the Eibach ProTruck kit E80-23-006-02-22 for $704 that sound great too but I'll need to buy strut mounts and deal with compressing those beasts (others have had issues). Or possibly the RoughCountry E2 loaded struts #501029 - inexpensive but not sure on ride quality + reliability or maybe even Fox 2.0's if I can find them for a good price. I would even consider the Belltech coilovers #15102 for $650 /pair if I could find someone running them with a positive review. If/since my MagneRide coil springs aren't the same/compatible, with some kits including the Bilsteins, I'll need to buy new springs, which isn't a huge deal since they aren't too expensive - some as low as $34. I know Eibach's kit comes with springs included but it appears they have a higher spring rate for trucks with extra weight on the front of their trucks. Of course, I'll need to deal with the MRC electronics, cheapest I've found is https://www.magdelete.com/collections/sierra-1500 and I may end up just getting the entire kit from him but don't know which springs are used with his either... It does make some sense that there are so many different GM Genuine coil springs due to there being 3 different engines available, 3 different cab sizes and 4 different trims... I do zero off-roading or towing and am just looking for a nice street ride with a leveled look. I welcome input on anything I've said but I'm mainly looking for the proper conventional OEM spring that will match best with my truck.
