Adjustable shocks = better ride for passengers? Should I remove the stock Ranchos that came with Z71 and replace with adjustable shocks?

[Behemoth]

Hi there. Happy owner of a 2018 Silverado 2500 HD lt z71 crew cab 6.0l  Vortec 

 

Rancho shocks came with  the Z71 package on the truck I own, and I've heard that the same model truck without the Z71 package rides MUCH better.  I use the 4wd in deep snow/ice as well as in high Sierra mountain ranges so I do appreciate a stiffer suspension for navigating ruts and ditches, but living in the city with all it's potholes as well as that my lady is disabled and needs a softer ride while riding in the truck. I am wondering if there is a way to make my truck ride softer? Are adjustable shocks something I can adjust on the fly or will I have to get out my tools and time?

I am curious to know if adjustable shocks would make my truck ride nice and forgiving when my lady is my passenger and something I can adjust when I need the stiffness to haul for work and for the  truck camper. Maybe a set of Sulastic Springs? 

Will I have to replace the springs or leaf springs as well? I am looking for the easiest way to remedy this issue. Maybe just use the stock shocks that come with the truck without the Z71 package?  Air bags? I don't know, thats why I am asking all of you. 

 

My lady and I use the truck together when we camp, road trip and adventure but the stiff bouncy ride is making our adventures less frequent. 

I would appreciate some straight forward helpful feedback. Will replacing my shocks void any warranties? 

 

and please don't feel the need to blast this post with comments like ;

 

" why'd you buy a truck"

"it's a truck"

"get her a Lexus" 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2019 by Behemoth

[wforrest08]

You’ll spend anywhere from 200 bucks to the sky is the limit (5k+) on this. I would suggest going and finding a twin to your truck in non Z71 form on a lot somewhere and test drive it with your girl and see what you guys think. Swapping the Ranchos is plenty easy and finding a set of new(er) take offs locally shouldn’t be a problem. Mines a 1/2 ton but I sold my factory loaded (loaded means with the springs) black struts/shocks with 3k miles on Craigslist for $150 when I swapped to my Pro Comp set up. In your case DO NOT BUY the Pro Comps she won’t like them for sure ?. I would guess a set of 3/4 ton take off shocks for all four corners would run you about the same? The Pro Comps where 600ish I’ll be doing Kings next on this truck and I’ll have well over 3g in this set up in parts alone just to give you an idea on prices.

 

If if you do a coil over set up your not going to be adjusting them on the fly. Some companies like King do offer ones (upcharge of course) that have a dial on them you can turn by hand to adjust them. Otherwise you have to adjust them with a spanner wrench that comes with them but then your also adjusting the height so not really what you’re after. If you want to do adjustable air on all 4 corners your talking major bucks for a system worth a crap IMO. 

 

I did level “tuned” Blisteins on my 01 2500HD when I did new Congnito keys to level it and H2 wheels/new 10 ply tires. I did A TON of research before doing this cause I didn’t want a sh!t ride and IMO it rides nicer now than it did stock with the factory AC Delcos with 50k on them and crap Nittos. But it definitely ain’t nowhere as nice as my 1/2 ton was on the OEs but about the same as the Pro Comps maybe slightly better. So might be worth check those out in your case also. 

 

Check these guys out they have some good info on ride quality that might help explain some of this stuff you have questions about.

http://www.filthymotorsports.com/default.asp

 

 

[Madcow2020]

So the rumor is the trucks come with anywhere from 700- 900 pound spring rates. Stiff springs = stiff ride. 650 pound springs were to light for my truck 700 pounds was the sweet spot. I would recommend weighing your truck on all four corners.

Now with this data in hand you can contact a company that does shock running and engineering like accutune. They will make sure you get the correct spring rate for the coils and valving. I have Fox shocks on mine with DSC. I love them. I have them on the softest setting for day to day and in Big Bend or anywhere off-road I dial them up a little over half way. I kept my rear springs I have the towing package and they are stiff. If I didn’t actually tow a 25 foot long equipment trailer every now and then I would of swapped them out. For the rear I keep the shocks on softest setting ( a knob adjustment like the front). Towing I put them up 3 clicks. Loaded and off-roading near max.

I ent fox 2.5 but he does king shocks too. I just went with them because I asked what he would put on his truck and he said fox, but he use to work for fox and he gave me all sorts of nerdy engineering reasons.

Good Luck.


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[Behemoth]

Thanks for the solutions and ideas. I've been leaning towards swapping out the Ranchos for the Fox Performance series 2.0 adjustable shocks. What do you think? From what I've read, this greatly improves ride as well as adjustable for off-road or comfort . As long as they can handle heavy loads as I have a 1900lbs truck camper  to haul

[Madcow2020]

They will be able to handle heavy loads with no issues. I do recommend for the best experience to consult someone that can do custom valving. I will always recommend accutune for that. I’m sure there maybe others that are better, but I don’t have experience with anyone else but accutune and icon and the icons don’t even touch the ones accutune built for me. I even bought my sister a set of 2.0 for her Colorado.

 

Oh the biggest thing he will make sure you get right is spring rates. You don’t want too stiff or too light of a spring on the front.

 

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[Snowcamo]

Thanks for the solutions and ideas. I've been leaning towards swapping out the Ranchos for the Fox Performance series 2.0 adjustable shocks. What do you think? From what I've read, this greatly improves ride as well as adjustable for off-road or comfort . As long as they can handle heavy loads as I have a 1900lbs truck camper  to haul

If I had the coin to drop on fox I'd spend/save the extra for king or some other tuned shock. I find used fox shocks and bilstiens on craiglist often. Cant be that comfy. Plus most tuned shocks/ struts can be rebulit, so you get to keep them for the life of the truck.

[wforrest08]

 Lots of positive reviews of the Foxes on here from the 1/2 ton crowd. Might want to check the 3/4 ton forum and see what the guys over there say about them as they will be different between the two trucks struts vs shocks. But I’d guess they’ll say they are happy with them also. Couple guys on here have bought their kits from MTR Motorsports and have had excellent customer service when it comes to questions about set up of their suspensions. Might be worth a call to them or someone similar and ask about the camper and this set up? Think they are a Fox dealer? But I’m sure they would at least point you in the right direction as far as just needing the rears custom tuned, added shock reservoir to reduce fade, add a leaf, or adding something like sulastic shackles. Like the guys mentioned above if your spending the money a custom tuned and/or compression adjusters is the way to go IMO and looks like what you’re planning on. I’m glad I spent the extra couple of bucks for the “tuned” Blisteins on my 3/4 ton I think it helped the ride through adjustables might have been better at least on the rear? 

 

http://mrtmotorsports.net/

 

51 minutes ago, Madcow2020 said:

Oh the biggest thing he will make sure you get right is spring rates. You don’t want too stiff or too light of a spring on the front.

I don’t believe the 3/4 ton kit will have springs in the front since the 3/4 tons are shocks all the way around and not struts on the front like the 1/2 tons? 

Edited April 11, 2019 by wforrest08
Wrong link

[Madcow2020]

 Lots of positive reviews of the Foxes on here from the 1/2 ton crowd. Might want to check the 3/4 ton forum and see what the guys over there say about them as they will be different between the two trucks struts vs shocks. But I’d guess they’ll say they are happy with them also. Couple guys on here have bought their kits from MTR Motorsports and have had excellent customer service when it comes to questions about set up of their suspensions. Might be worth a call to them or someone similar and ask about the camper and this set up? Think they are a Fox dealer? But I’m sure they would at least point you in the right direction as far as just needing the rears custom tuned, added shock reservoir to reduce fade, add a leaf, or adding something like sulastic shackles. Like the guys mentioned above if your spending the money a custom tuned and/or compression adjusters is the way to go IMO and looks like what you’re planning on. I’m glad I spent the extra couple of bucks for the “tuned” Blisteins on my 3/4 ton I think it helped the ride through adjustables might have been better at least on the rear? 
 
http://mrtmotorsports.net/
 
I don’t believe the 3/4 ton kit will have springs in the front since the 3/4 tons are shocks all the way around and not struts on the front like the 1/2 tons? 

You are correct I didn’t catch that he had a 2500.


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[dcarl]

I've watched several of the videos from Filthy Motorsports.  The guy knows his stuff and does a very good job explaining things in his videos.  He claims to take the time with each customer to fully understand their requirements and will build a suspension system around that.  Most shops or on-line retailers will leave it up to you to click and pay and once you get it it's your problem.  I went with Halo Lifts Boss Coilovers on my Sierra but it's a 1/2 ton.  Alex took the time to answer all my questions and I read many reviews on other forums (Ford, Toyota, and GM) about their Customer Service and that to me was very important.  Filthy Mortorsports seems to be that type of outfit as well.

If there is one thing I learned, sometimes saving a few hundred dollars is not always the best deal.  When I recently swapped out my Bilsteins for an Eibach kit the ride went from firm to stiff.  Then I ended up spending another $1300 to replace that kit with the Halo Lifts Boss Coilovers and rear shocks and am a poor happy camper-)

Check out this link for your 2500:

http://www.filthymotorsports.com/King_OEM_2500_Shocks_p/king-25001-302.htm

 

Good luck with your project.

[pewterliftedz]

You might have better luck on the HD forum, most of us only have experience with half ton trucks.  I personally have used Bilstein 5100s with great success.

[Snowcamo]

While i totally agree. I must say theres nothing comfy or easy going about the bilstiens. They are awesome for a cheap sporty shock/ strut, but if your looking for something that will make your truck easy on your body bils are not the way to go.

 

 

[Behemoth]

Thank you all for your great feedback. The link to Filthymortorsports has a great hour long video explaining suspension systems and how complicated it can all be built to exact customer specifications. Seems like I have a long road to travel on  if I really want to get everything dialed in. Of course I wanted a simple fix, possibly spend two grand on a set of new shocks, get them installed, dial them in on the fly and be done with it.  From what I am reading by all of you, is to stay away from Bilstiens, and to drop some coin on a good custom tuned suspension. Now, for the most part, this truck is my daily driver, and I would like to have it handle softer in the city and a bit stiffer with some forgiveness while hauling my camper. I used to have an older Toyota 4Runner and climbed some mighty mountains with it. I never expected to tackle trails anything like what I was taking my Runner on when I bought my HD truck. I do a little off roading here and thereabout I have no plans to lift my truck or throw on larger tires. I have the BFG ta ko2's on it and thats all I need. I live in San Francisco and there's no off-road shops around here that do installs like this on the regular. If want an offload shop to do the install, I'd have to drive at least an hour to find a shop that knows what its talking about. SF isn't a city with a ton of off road enthusiasts. My mechanic is trustworthy, so I figure I'd have him throw them on. Any more thoughts for advice is warmly invited.

 

also some of you mentioned I should try the HD forum. I thought this site is linked to both. Pass on the link if you know of it. Thanks

 

thank you

Edited April 15, 2019 by Behemoth

[wforrest08]

38 minutes ago, Behemoth said:

also some of you mentioned I should try the HD forum. I thought this site is linked to both. Pass on the link if you know of it. Thanks

 

thank you

 

https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/forum/174-2015-2019-chevy-silverado-gmc-sierra-hd/

 

You can also get there from the “home” page. Under Fourms 2014-2019 K2XX platform. It’s the 1/2 tons, then the SUVs, then the HDs. Website doesn’t do a good job of showing that.

 

https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/

 

 

[Behemoth]

I was able to make a similar post on the HD forum, but have yet to get any solid feedback from any HD owners. So I must say I really appreciate all of your solid feedback and answers to my questions. Yes, it's true the HD Silverado's have shocks all around without springs or struts. So this should be an easy fix. I think I will get in contact with Filthy Motor  Sports for a decent build. Thank you all again. 

-Peace

[truckguy82]

On 4/12/2019 at 4:10 PM, Snowcamo said:

While i totally agree. I must say theres nothing comfy or easy going about the bilstiens. They are awesome for a cheap sporty shock/ strut, but if your looking for something that will make your truck easy on your body bils are not the way to go.

 

 

They are so much comfier than the stock rancho’s!!!

 

OP, don’t recommend fox 2.0’s because they aren’t much better than the bilsteins if any for a significant price increase.

 

IMO in order of comfort to price, 10 being a rolls royce

 

stock - free, comfort 0

bilsteins - $320ish - comfort 3

bilstien 6112 $1500ish - comfort 5 (educated guess based on reviews)

fox 2.5 or king/icon - $2400ish  - comfort 6

 

To get beyond that you need custom spring rates, which will effect capability of the truck, depends how important that is to you.

 

If you want the perfect ride, like comfort 9 on my scale, you’re looking at custom spring rates, fox 2.5’s or better custom tuned for the spring rates. Then airbags because you undoubtably have softer rear springs to achieve that.  Maybe $6-7k total I’m guessing. But if you think about it, how much does someone pay for the ride comfort of a range rover.