BDS 4" vs 6"

Anakalypto · March 22, 2021

[mention=229601]Anakalypto[/mention] I am new to lifted trucks but long time admirer. I just bought 2021 Sierra SLT with 5.3L, same color as yours...and I'm thinking I want to replicate your setup with 4" BDS and 35x12.50 on stock 20s.
Two questions:
1) Should I get the UCA like BDS suggests? (I will do mostly city/highway miles with some light offroading when I go hunting 3-4x per year, plus possibly pull a 23 foot boat on trailer a few times a year at most). I thought you had to get new UCA with anything over 2.5"...but maybe that's just with a basic level lift?
2) Any reason my 5.3L would have trouble pushing the 35x12.50 Toyo A/T III?
Thanks for any insight you have.

I don’t think changing the UCAs is needed. The BDS lift will increase your front track width about an inch or 1.5”. I have a buddy with a leveled AT4 and while he’s about as high as me up front, my front width is noticeably wider and I think looks much better.

The UCAs help with various things but a big one being correcting angles when you lift the front without dropping the front diff, just a matter of geometry because of how the control arms swing in as you increase droop.

I’m running the 6.2 and my tires are about 72lbs each, I could feel the difference but the truck has plenty of power - I’m running the 10 speed tranny though which helps a bunch. If you’re running the 5.3 with the 8 speed I’d probably try to stay in a lighter tire. Just 10 pounds makes a big difference. You’d pull the AT3 ok, but you’ll feel it. My Ridge Grapplers are 12 ply and it hits hard on bumps, kind of wish I’d gone with the AT3, may switch.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Trey Smith · March 23, 2021

10 hours ago, Anakalypto said:

I don’t think changing the UCAs is needed. The BDS lift will increase your front track width about an inch or 1.5”. I have a buddy with a leveled AT4 and while he’s about as high as me up front, my front width is noticeably wider and I think looks much better.

The UCAs help with various things but a big one being correcting angles when you lift the front without dropping the front diff, just a matter of geometry because of how the control arms swing in as you increase droop.

I’m running the 6.2 and my tires are about 72lbs each, I could feel the difference but the truck has plenty of power - I’m running the 10 speed tranny though which helps a bunch. If you’re running the 5.3 with the 8 speed I’d probably try to stay in a lighter tire. Just 10 pounds makes a big difference. You’d pull the AT3 ok, but you’ll feel it. My Ridge Grapplers are 12 ply and it hits hard on bumps, kind of wish I’d gone with the AT3, may switch.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good info. As for tires, looks like the AT3 in 35x12.50 are 72lbs also, but if I go with a 295/60r20 AT3 they are 60lbs and only 34" tire, which may work better with my 5.3L.

But that brings up another question -- if I'm only trying to run 295/60r20 tires would a 3" basic lift kit work better for me? I've read that going above 3" on a basic lift kit can cause issues down the road...but honestly I have no experience with that. It would save a few thousand bucks over the BDS (I'm not installing myself). I'm just wondering the specific drawbacks of these basic kits like Superlift w/ Bilstein or the Rancho (links below). Can anyone with these specific lifts comment on how will it ride compared to 4" BDS? Compared to stock? I believe the 2021 Sierra changed front struts to bolt-on, so all these kits must be modified before they sell a 2021 version.

https://www.bilsteinlifts.com/shop/chevy-gmc/silverado-1500/2019/superlift-3-lift-kit-for-2019-2020-gmc-sierra-1500-4wd-2wd-w-bilstein-shocks/

https://www.gorancho.com/products/suspension-systems/chevrolet-gmc-suspension-systems/2020-2019-chevy-silverado-gmc-sierra-1500-suspension-system-rs66311r9.html

NorCal2020 · March 27, 2021

The difference is, you get what you pay for when it comes to suspension.

Most lifts that aren't purely suspension tend to add lift by adjusting the geometry of the front suspension components. However, most kits are primarily spacers of some sort, and while they do provide lift, they also tend to cause other issues down the road. Accelerated wear on other component that have now had their geometry changed due to the spacer. Plus, from personal experience, spacer lifts tend to ride a bit harsher than stock suspension due to the fact that they are usually compressing the shock, or moving the location of the shock, thereby moving the shock to another part of the suspension travel, which usually causes the ride to suffer.

From what I've seen on the BDS kit, (as its my first time looking in to Drop Bracket lifts), it basically maintains the stock geometry by lowering the LCA mount points (in basic terms) and extending everything else along with it. So the stock geometry effectively stays the same, UCA/LCA angles, CV/Steering shaft angles, all stay the same. A longer shock gets put in to accommodate the increased distance from shock mount to LCA (unless you cheaped out and when for the coil spacer ;( ) and I believe I saw a differential spacer in there along with the front drift shaft spacer.

I watched a couple of their install videos and looked up a bunch of reviews, seems like a solid kit to provide legit lift without having to worry about it causing some other part to fail.

I'm leaning more towards the Camburg AAL now and just putting a 3" or 4" block in the rear since I believe the AAL was supposed to add something like 1" or so of lift.

Waiting on some more funds to come in hopefully soon, might be parking the truck for a bit while it gets a lift and maybe some boost

NorCal2020 · March 27, 2021

Also, to the guy who said Coilovers aren't that great. Well, if you live where it snows, I agree. Salted roads are bad for vehicles in general. Myself, I live on the west coast, and I just traded in a Tacoma with full Baja race suspension, so I beg to differ on coilover performance on road and off road lol. Yes they do ride a bit rougher depending on how they are tuned. Most people that buy off the shelf coilovers don't tune them at all and usually complain of the ride being harsher. If you know a tuner or know how to tune the shocks, you can easily have an amazing ride both on road and offroad. While yes, you can't quite have stellar performance on both, there is a happy middle ground. My on road ride did suffer due to tuning my shocks for jumping the truck and blasting through the desert at about 60+ MPH, I didn't feel like the on road was terrible. Mostly just slow speed stuff.

I fully plan on the Fox shocks with adjusters. I had the first iteration of those on my Tacoma back in the day, with just 8 clicks. I would put them at about 3 when I was just driving around in the truck, but as soon as I hit the dirt I popped them up to like 8 for better compression, and they rode beautifully. With these new DSC things, IIRC they have both low speed and high speed adjustment, Or maybe it was just compression and rebound. Either way, extra adjustment is always great.

Anakalypto · March 27, 2021

The difference is, you get what you pay for when it comes to suspension.

Most lifts that aren't purely suspension tend to add lift by adjusting the geometry of the front suspension components. However, most kits are primarily spacers of some sort, and while they do provide lift, they also tend to cause other issues down the road. Accelerated wear on other component that have now had their geometry changed due to the spacer. Plus, from personal experience, spacer lifts tend to ride a bit harsher than stock suspension due to the fact that they are usually compressing the shock, or moving the location of the shock, thereby moving the shock to another part of the suspension travel, which usually causes the ride to suffer.

From what I've seen on the BDS kit, (as its my first time looking in to Drop Bracket lifts), it basically maintains the stock geometry by lowering the LCA mount points (in basic terms) and extending everything else along with it. So the stock geometry effectively stays the same, UCA/LCA angles, CV/Steering shaft angles, all stay the same. A longer shock gets put in to accommodate the increased distance from shock mount to LCA (unless you cheaped out and when for the coil spacer ;( ) and I believe I saw a differential spacer in there along with the front drift shaft spacer.

I watched a couple of their install videos and looked up a bunch of reviews, seems like a solid kit to provide legit lift without having to worry about it causing some other part to fail.

I'm leaning more towards the Camburg AAL now and just putting a 3" or 4" block in the rear since I believe the AAL was supposed to add something like 1" or so of lift.

Waiting on some more funds to come in hopefully soon, might be parking the truck for a bit while it gets a lift and maybe some boost [emoji6]

Not a longer shock, they space the top of the strut, but everything else is right.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NorCal2020 · March 27, 2021

3 minutes ago, Anakalypto said:

Not a longer shock, they space the top of the strut, but everything else is right.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Depends on the kit you buy. I'll be calling them to confirm, but I've been told you can get extended shocks. And if they don't? I will be confirmed the collapsed and extended length and ordering my own from a trusted source. I don't do spacers if I don't have to.

Anakalypto · March 27, 2021

Depends on the kit you buy. I'll be calling them to confirm, but I've been told you can get extended shocks. And if they don't? I will be confirmed the collapsed and extended length and ordering my own from a trusted source. I don't do spacers if I don't have to.

Yeah no doubt you can order longer Fox shocks, but they don’t come with the standard 4” kit. I’m running Fox rears with custom 5” lift coil overs coming next month

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NorCal2020 · March 27, 2021

https://bds-suspension.com/product?kid=748H

Yes....you can.

Anakalypto · March 27, 2021

https://bds-suspension.com/product?kid=748H

Yes....you can.

What are you looking at? The coil overs?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NorCal2020 · March 27, 2021

Over towards the right you can choose which kit you get. Click on 4" RR CO. Those are Fox Coilovers with preloaded springs for 4" of lift. No spacers.

Anakalypto · March 27, 2021

Over towards the right you can choose which kit you get. Click on 4" RR CO. Those are Fox Coilovers with preloaded springs for 4" of lift. No spacers.

Ok, that’s what I said, you can get the longer shocks for another $2k, but the standard kit comes with spacers. I chose to order custom 5” lift coil overs to pick the front up a bit more instead. Not sure what we’re talking about. [emoji2371]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NorCal2020 · March 27, 2021

Yeah, you replied 'no doubt you can order longer Fox shocks' after I'd said If I couldn't get them from BDS I would order them elsewhere, I thought you were just agreeing with being able to find them elsewhere.

Anyhoo, yeah I'm not putting spacers on my truck if I can help it haha. I'm pretty leery about blocks, but we'll see what deaver says.

Edited March 27, 2021 by NorCal2020