2019 - 2021 Silverado Long Travel Gallery

[Ronjon]

As the title says, post your long travel set up with the who and why! I'm tired of not being able to find long travel builds to copy off of. Custom or bolt on, doesn't matter. Post pictures of the before and after glass sides if you got them.

If a thread like this already exists please share below or if you have a thread for your build. Hopefully this gets some serious attention for the full size community, the Toyotas get all the long travel attention. 

[Peter S]

I have a 2020 Sierra 1500. 4x4 SLE trim, came with the X31 package. Was originally going to go with OE replacement King shocks front and rear with an aftermarket upper control arm. After purchasing the shocks, about 5 months into waiting for them I decided to just bite the bullet and go for a full front kit, fiberglass, etc.

 

Choosing parts:

At the time the two kits on the market were from Dirt King and Baja Kits. Everyone I know in the industry says to avoid Baja Kits. They are poorly designed and poorly made. I've heard a number of people have issues with their products. So far Dirt King has been great; their parts are high quality and its always easy to get ahold of them. Here is a short YouTube video that highlights the key differences between the quality of kits. YouTube Video. Mazzulla also offers a kit now and they are known for the quality of parts. The downside is no bypass shock mount and using an OE replacement shock which affects motion ratio which requires you to use a higher spring rate and heavier valving. This in turn makes tuning a little more difficult. At this point I'd recommend Dirt King>Mazzulla>OE Replacement>Baja Kits. 

 

 

I went with King shocks purely because I've always been a fan. Fox and ADS both have similar products, you can't really go wrong with any of them. The pro for Fox and King is that everyone services them and getting replacement parts is easy. ADS is a smaller company so it can be a little more difficult finding someone that has spare parts readily available to service them. 

 

Fiberwerx and ADV are the two manufacturers with fiberglass on the market right now. Something to keep in mind is that no matter what you read, fiberglass is never just a bolt on application. It requires a significant amount of work to get it to fit properly.

 

Future plans:

Already have deavers, bypasses, Dirt King shackles, and bedcage. Just need to install them on my next free weekend. Will be dropping the truck off in a couple weeks to get the frame rails cut back and a bumper made. Just ordered 6 Baja Designs XL80s to go onto the bumper. Eventually a high clearance rear bumper and paint for the fiberglass. Then it should be "done" and I'll be able to move onto my next project.

 

Here are some pictures of the truck, from the first weekend with it, stuffing 34x11.5 on stock suspension, first trip with the long travel kit, and finally with 37s.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2022 by Peter S

[Peter S]

Just some pictures from when the fiberglass was getting installed. Bedsides require cutting the bed apart, front fenders just need to be unbolted. Fiberglass installation can be expensive. I paid around $1500 and there are definitely some uneven panel gaps. My buddy just paid $7000 to have fiberglass installed on his Tundra and painted by an actual composite shop and his is a lot closer to factory quality. It also took 3 and a half weeks vs 3 days. So unless you really shell out some cash, be prepared to accept the fact that it won't fit up as nice as factory. But unless someone is really looking closely, most people won't see much of a difference.

 

[Ronjon]

16 minutes ago, Peter S said:

I have a 2020 Sierra 1500. 4x4 SLE trim, came with the X31 package. Was originally going to go with OE replacement King shocks front and rear with an aftermarket upper control arm. After purchasing the shocks, about 5 months into waiting for them I decided to just bite the bullet and go for a full front kit, fiberglass, etc.

 

Choosing parts:

At the time the two kits on the market were from Dirt King and Baja Kits. Everyone I know in the industry says to avoid Baja Kits. They are poorly designed and poorly made. I've heard a number of people have issues with their products. So far Dirt King has been great; their parts are high quality and its always easy to get ahold of them. Here is a short YouTube video that highlights the key differences between the quality of kits. YouTube Video. Mazzulla also offers a kit now and they are known for the quality of parts. The downside is no bypass shock mount and using an OE replacement shock which affects motion ratio and forces and higher spring rate and heavier valving. At this point I'd recommend Dirt King>Mazzulla>OE Replacement>Baja Kits. 

 

 

I went with King shocks purely because I've always been a fan. Fox and ADS both have similar products, you can't really go wrong with any of them. The pro for Fox and King is that everyone services them and getting replacement parts is easy. ADS is a smaller company so it can be a little more difficult finding someone that has spare parts readily available to service them. 

 

Fiberwerx and ADV are the two manufacturers with fiberglass on the market right now. Something to keep in mind is that no matter what you read, fiberglass is never just a bolt on application. It requires a significant amount of work to get it to fit properly.

 

Future plans:

Already have deavers, bypasses, Dirt King shackles, and bedcage. Just need to install them on my next free weekend. Will be dropping the truck off in a couple weeks to get the frame rails cut back and a bumper made. Just ordered 6 Baja Designs XL80s to go onto the bumper. Eventually a high clearance rear bumper and paint for the fiberglass. Then it should be "done" and I'll be able to move onto my next project.

 

Here are some pictures of the truck, from the first weekend with it, stuffing 34x11.5 on stock suspension, first trip with the long travel kit, and finally with 37s.

 

 

Thats gonna be a dope build, definitely follow up on here. Do you have any issues without a liner or did you fab up any aftermarket wheel well liners? Dirt King has them for 2018 and older, but no T1.

Did you ever run the LT with stock fenders? I've only been able to find one picture with them and it's on Baja Kits last picture.

 

In regards to the cost and fitment of the fenders, I had no idea how much into it. Exact reason why this needs to be a thread.

Edited June 5, 2022 by Ronjon

[Peter S]

34 minutes ago, Ronjon said:

Thats gonna be a dope build, definitely follow up on here. Do you have any issues without a liner or did you fab up any aftermarket wheel well liners? Dirt King has them for 2018 and older, but no T1.

Did you ever run the LT with stock fenders? I've only been able to find one picture with them and it's on Baja Kits last picture.

 

In regards to the cost and fitment of the fenders, I had no idea how much into it. Exact reason why this needs to be a thread.

Never ran without fiberglass, would probably have issues with tires crashing into the fenders. Don't need the oversized inner fenders on the new trucks, 37s clear with the stock ones. I'm probably going to get some ABS to create some splash guards to keep the engine bay a little cleaner.

[Ronjon]

I take it the ABS liners will be a custom job? I wouldn't mind keeping things clean in the engine bay.

[Peter S]

6 hours ago, Ronjon said:

I take it the ABS liners will be a custom job? I wouldn't mind keeping things clean in the engine bay.

Yeah, I'll most likely buy some sheets of thin ABS and use some of the mounting locations the original liners used. I'll just cut/heat the ABS to form them into something to covers up some of the engine bay

[Ronjon]

@Peter S Are any of the 2018 upgrades from moog or kryptonite compatible with the T1's? Such as steering components or wheel bearing hubs? Rock Auto seems to think so. Have you ran into any issues with stock components offroad?

[Peter S]

On 6/8/2022 at 5:11 PM, Ronjon said:

@Peter S Are any of the 2018 upgrades from moog or kryptonite compatible with the T1's? Such as steering components or wheel bearing hubs? Rock Auto seems to think so. Have you ran into any issues with stock components offroad?

I haven't had any issues yet, but I haven't run the truck really hard since I haven't installed the new leafs and bypasses yet. I know the previous gen trucks would have steering rack issues and there were some hydraulic conversions for them.

[Ronjon]

I was able to confirm With BajaKits what stock fenders look like on top of long travel for anyone curious. The specs are 17x8.5 0 offset wheels with 37" BFG Tires. The photos are pulled directly from the website. I could see myself getting away with 35's for a while until i had the time and money for aftermarket fenders and bedsides.

[Delson0]

Kibbetech just made, from what it sounds like, stock length lower arms to pair with their billet uppers. Didn’t look like it was bypass capable but the video mentioned it was their first prototype for 2/4wd. Soon to be online for purchase I guess.

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by Delson0

[Peter S]

On 6/18/2022 at 11:03 PM, Delson0 said:

Kibbetech just made, from what it sounds like, stock length lower arms to pair with their billet uppers. Didn’t look like it was bypass capable but the video mentioned it was their first prototype for 2/4wd. Soon to be online for purchase I guess.

 

Yeah they'll fit an OEM replacement coilover and retain the sway bar. Will be a good option if you want something stronger than stock, but don't want to drop thousands more into a full kit. Still looking for someone to make a 4wd capable aftermarket spindle. That'll definitely be the weak point.

[Ronjon]

11 hours ago, Peter S said:

Yeah they'll fit an OEM replacement coilover and retain the sway bar. Will be a good option if you want something stronger than stock, but don't want to drop thousands more into a full kit. Still looking for someone to make a 4wd capable aftermarket spindle. That'll definitely be the weak point.

Any chance we can gusset them? Are they cast steel?

[Ronjon]

@Peter S have you ran into any GM warranty problems on parts you didn't modify? That they wouldn't fix.

Also do you know of anyone that's gotten their hands on a E-locker from the front for a ZR2?

[Peter S]

On 6/20/2022 at 11:21 AM, Ronjon said:

Any chance we can gusset them? Are they cast steel?

I believe they are cast steel so you should be able to weld a gusset. I've thought of that, but have never gotten around to checking clearances and what would be able to fit. I know Toyota guys have to do it since their spindles are even thinner.

 

20 hours ago, Ronjon said:

@Peter S have you ran into any GM warranty problems on parts you didn't modify? That they wouldn't fix.

Also do you know of anyone that's gotten their hands on a E-locker from the front for a ZR2?

Haven't had to bring the truck in for warranty since I've had parts installed. I'm sure anything transmission or anything after transmission on the drivetrain, they'd really kick up a fuss about. Truck is already at 36k miles so I only have powertrain warranty remaining on the truck now. 

I'm curious if the ZR2 front diff will be an easy swap to non-ZR2 trucks. I'm hoping it means that companies will start making gears for the current generation front differentials though. I'd really like to swap to 4.10 gears, but there still is nothing available for the front differential. I don't personally know anyone that has bought a ZR2 or AT4x though.