2020 Sierra 1500 Elevation Lift and/or Level - Please Help An Idiot!

brulosopher · January 15, 2021

I get it, I'm an idiot who should search the forum. As much as I accept this, I have searched the forum and I completely suck at it because I can't find what I'm looking for.

Initially, all I wanted to do was just level my truck. However, after purchasing a leveling kit that gets placed on the bottom of the strut, I read a ton of reviews saying they suck because they put stress on the control arms, so I returned the kit. Since I like the look of the AT4, I figured I'd look at 2-3" suspension lift kits and discovered there are some that aren't that expensive, so now I'm pretty set on going this route. My question is-- do these lift kits also level the truck, and if not, will doing so put the same stress on the control arms as leveling it with the stock suspension? Clearly, my idiocy stretches far beyond searching ****** on this forum...

I was planning to go with Bilstein shocks anyway and found this kit online. Does anyone know if this will also level my truck?

I was also looking at this 3" Superlift that comes with Bilsteins, it's more expensive, but if it does more of what I'm looking for, I'm down.

Call me an idiot, I'm married, so I'm used to it. Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers!

willsep · January 16, 2021

This is my 2020 elevation with a 2” level kit installed by the dealership

Kchampagne · January 16, 2021

No worries. This site can be difficult to find what you are looking for if you don't use the right search words and spend a ton of time reviewing the threads. Just be sure to keep in mind with adding any lift/level you want some rake up front if you plan to haul or trailer.

The Bilstein shocks alone will only level your Elevation up front. I'm not familiar with the Super lift kit, but based on the description it will lift and level your Elevation: 3" in the front and 1.5" in the rear. Plus you get upper control arms. This kit uses your stock front shocks. Do a search on the Superlift kit. Looks nice and priced real reasonable. I have an Elevation also. I went with the GM factory 2" lift, and then added the Zone Offroad 1.75" level and Rough Country UCAs. This was a much more expensive route, but you get the extended AT4/Trail Boss axles, longer Rancho shocks, and gm warranty, which the other lift kits don't have.

Kchampagne · January 16, 2021

Oh, one other thing to keep in mind, some lift kits can cause clearance issues with the UCAs depending on the size wheels and tires you plan to run. You need to carefully research and plan this out before investing in the lift, tires and wheels.

brulosopher · January 16, 2021

15 hours ago, Kchampagne said:

No worries. This site can be difficult to find what you are looking for if you don't use the right search words and spend a ton of time reviewing the threads. Just be sure to keep in mind with adding any lift/level you want some rake up front if you plan to haul or trailer.

The Bilstein shocks alone will only level your Elevation up front. I'm not familiar with the Super lift kit, but based on the description it will lift and level your Elevation: 3" in the front and 1.5" in the rear. Plus you get upper control arms. This kit uses your stock front shocks. Do a search on the Superlift kit. Looks nice and priced real reasonable. I have an Elevation also. I went with the GM factory 2" lift, and then added the Zone Offroad 1.75" level and Rough Country UCAs. This was a much more expensive route, but you get the extended AT4/Trail Boss axles, longer Rancho shocks, and gm warranty, which the other lift kits don't have.

Thanks! My good friend is a GM tech and quoted me his employee price for the Rancho lift plus level at about $1100. I’d be okay with that, but Bilstein is just better than Rancho, so it feels weird spending more than double on Rancho.

I’m planning on running 285/55R20 KO2 tires, which I believe will be more than fine with the 2” lift, no?

amxguy1970 · January 16, 2021

Not an idiot, just lazy. It doesn't matter where the spacer goes it matter how much. The higher you go on stock control arms the worse it is for them. A lift is better but that kit you posted is also just spacers with a new control arm. Note it is a preload spacer so it will make the ride rougher. If this is just a street truck (is it 2wd or 4wd) then the type of lift won't matter too much in terms of failing but if you leave the pavement often and plan to run big heavy tires (which is looks like with those BFG's) then more can fail sooner, just have to pay to play. Either way take your time and research, that is the best way to get info rather than a few responses in your thread. There could very easily be a few that is given incorrect info but the info that you really want is in another thread that they aren't responding to yours. I take weeks looking around, googling and checking different forums and information before making a decision. A search hint, if you type your question and then type forums at the end in google it will bring up a ton of info here and other forums that pertain as well as useful info from other brands to give you the skinny on how things work or particular makes of shocks/company lifts.

Tyler

brulosopher · January 18, 2021

On 1/16/2021 at 3:38 PM, amxguy1970 said:

Not an idiot, just lazy. It doesn't matter where the spacer goes it matter how much. The higher you go on stock control arms the worse it is for them. A lift is better but that kit you posted is also just spacers with a new control arm. Note it is a preload spacer so it will make the ride rougher. If this is just a street truck (is it 2wd or 4wd) then the type of lift won't matter too much in terms of failing but if you leave the pavement often and plan to run big heavy tires (which is looks like with those BFG's) then more can fail sooner, just have to pay to play. Either way take your time and research, that is the best way to get info rather than a few responses in your thread. There could very easily be a few that is given incorrect info but the info that you really want is in another thread that they aren't responding to yours. I take weeks looking around, googling and checking different forums and information before making a decision. A search hint, if you type your question and then type forums at the end in google it will bring up a ton of info here and other forums that pertain as well as useful info from other brands to give you the skinny on how things work or particular makes of shocks/company lifts.

Tyler

A lazy idiot. I accept!

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. At this point, I'm more interested in the Bilstein kit than the Superlift. I also have bags on my truck, and while I understand the downsides to using them for lift purposes, I'd be willing to keep them under 10psi to assist in any leveling needed after adding 2.5" to the front. My hunch based on my personal playing around is 7 psi would likely do the trick. We'll see.

Trey Smith · March 23, 2021

On 1/18/2021 at 1:26 PM, brulosopher said:

A lazy idiot. I accept!

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. At this point, I'm more interested in the Bilstein kit than the Superlift. I also have bags on my truck, and while I understand the downsides to using them for lift purposes, I'd be willing to keep them under 10psi to assist in any leveling needed after adding 2.5" to the front. My hunch based on my personal playing around is 7 psi would likely do the trick. We'll see.

@brulosopher What did you go with? I just bought a 2021 Sierra SLT 5.3L 4WD 8-speed and contemplating the same 3" Superlift kit w/ Bilstein shocks...and 295/60r20 Toyo AT3 (33.9") tires.

I've been doing lots of research online and still not sure if this would be a good kit for me. Mostly city/highway miles, some offroad when hunting in the winter, but nothing crazy. Also towing 23' boat a few times a year at most.

brulosopher · March 23, 2021

6 minutes ago, Trey Smith said:

@brulosopher What did you go with? I just bought a 2021 Sierra SLT 5.3L 4WD 8-speed and contemplating the same 3" Superlift kit w/ Bilstein shocks...and 295/60r20 Toyo AT3 (33.9") tires.

I've been doing lots of research online and still not sure if this would be a good kit for me. Mostly city/highway miles, some offroad when hunting in the winter, but nothing crazy. Also towing 23' boat a few times a year at most.

Hey! I ended up going with this Bilstein kit. What sucks is that I got the rears the week after I ordered in January and put them on, but the fronts just showed up last week, so I haven't had time to install them yet. Hoping to get it taken care of in the next week.

Trey Smith · March 24, 2021

12 hours ago, brulosopher said:

Hey! I ended up going with this Bilstein kit. What sucks is that I got the rears the week after I ordered in January and put them on, but the fronts just showed up last week, so I haven't had time to install them yet. Hoping to get it taken care of in the next week.

Nice! Let us know how it rides when you get them. My biggest question is what type of ride difference you'll feel (on and off road) with the Bilstein 5100 adjustable front strut vs stock struts?

I'd like to get the full 3" in front and 1.5" rear, so I'm considering the 3" superlift w/ Bilstein rear shocks....and ideally I would change front struts to Bilstein 5100, however they only go to 2.75"...so maybe add a spacer? I'm going to call Superlift and ask them. I'm new to all this.

Trey Smith · March 24, 2021

On 1/16/2021 at 1:28 AM, Kchampagne said:

No worries. This site can be difficult to find what you are looking for if you don't use the right search words and spend a ton of time reviewing the threads. Just be sure to keep in mind with adding any lift/level you want some rake up front if you plan to haul or trailer.

The Bilstein shocks alone will only level your Elevation up front. I'm not familiar with the Super lift kit, but based on the description it will lift and level your Elevation: 3" in the front and 1.5" in the rear. Plus you get upper control arms. This kit uses your stock front shocks. Do a search on the Superlift kit. Looks nice and priced real reasonable. I have an Elevation also. I went with the GM factory 2" lift, and then added the Zone Offroad 1.75" level and Rough Country UCAs. This was a much more expensive route, but you get the extended AT4/Trail Boss axles, longer Rancho shocks, and gm warranty, which the other lift kits don't have.

@Kchampagne How much did you spend total on the 2" factory lift, Zone level, and UCAs (installed)? I see the 2" factory lift is $1300, Zone 1.75 level is $130, RC UCA are $400, so that's $1830 in parts and I'm guessing would cost me $1000 to have all that installed, so I'm nearing $3000 with tax. At that price, I could do the 4" BDS suspension lift...I wonder which would be better?

However, I don't want to spend $3k on the lift itself so I'm considering the Superlift 3" w/ Bilstein shocks for $700 plus install. I don't do heavy offroading...so can someone tell me the drawbacks of doing this simple lift?

Kchampagne · March 24, 2021

Hey Trey,

I got my kit for around $1000. Look around online. There are many GM parts stores or even eBay that have the kit. Some of the GM stores use coupon discount codes (%off, free shipping), so search around for those. Just make sure you verify you are ordering the correct part #. I had my dealer install the kit including alignment for $500. Zone kit was $157 and $399 for RC UCAs. I installed those myself, except I had a shop install the Zone spacers onto the shocks since I didn't want to mess around with the spring compressors. That was $150. Plus another alignment $100. So my total was around $2300.

brulosopher · March 24, 2021

4 hours ago, Trey Smith said:

Nice! Let us know how it rides when you get them. My biggest question is what type of ride difference you'll feel (on and off road) with the Bilstein 5100 adjustable front strut vs stock struts?

I'd like to get the full 3" in front and 1.5" rear, so I'm considering the 3" superlift w/ Bilstein rear shocks....and ideally I would change front struts to Bilstein 5100, however they only go to 2.75"...so maybe add a spacer? I'm going to call Superlift and ask them. I'm new to all this.

You bet, man. I'll also be swapping out the tires soon as well. Based on what I can find on this forum and other places, it looks like I should be able to fit 285/65r20 KO2s with the extra 2" up front, so that's the plan.

If anyone has some pics of their trucks with a 2" level and 285/65r20 tires, please do share them as well as your experience!

Trey Smith · March 24, 2021

21 minutes ago, brulosopher said:

You bet, man. I'll also be swapping out the tires soon as well. Based on what I can find on this forum and other places, it looks like I should be able to fit 285/65r20 KO2s with the extra 2" up front, so that's the plan.

If anyone has some pics of their trucks with a 2" level and 285/65r20 tires, please do share them as well as your experience!

I would like to know if your 2" level fits 285/65r20 as well. If not, then maybe the 295/60r20 tires. I think with a 3" superlift and UCAs I should be able to fit either...keep us posted.

loud_pipes · March 24, 2021

Just one other thing to consider. I see you guys are only talking about tires, not wheels. If so, that’s good. But if you are also thinking of wheels, be aware of offset. I have 4” of lift (Ready Lift SST +2) on my AT4 and am running 33x12.5 with 0 offset. Tight fit. I could not fit a 35” on their with my setup - it would need positive offset like the stock wheels have to tuck them in a bit. Throwing it out there for consideration. Good luck!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro