Zr2 front suspension

Epsilon Plus · April 2

Truck is done. I'll post pictures when I ditch these lame embarrassing 31" stockers and put the 37s on.

Anyone have access to the factory Z Trim Height specs for a ZR2?

215robert · April 2

Complete minus alignment!

215robert · April 5

Alignment complete! Everything pulled right to factory, no special zr2 spec.

Epsilon Plus · April 6

Front & rear ZR2 lift complete!

37x12.5s on GM 18x8s. No rub!

TS423 · April 7

18 hours ago, Epsilon Plus said:

Front & rear ZR2 lift complete!

37x12.5s on GM 18x8s. No rub!

Love how this sits! Thanks for all the info you provided on this topic.

Did you by chance take any before/ after measurements hub to fender or anything of that nature?

TS423 · April 7

On 4/2/2024 at 4:02 PM, 215robert said:

Complete minus alignment!

Your truck is looking on point too! I would simply like, but i cannot figure out how to do that.

Epsilon Plus · April 7

54 minutes ago, TS423 said:

Love how this sits! Thanks for all the info you provided on this topic.

Did you by chance take any before/ after measurements hub to fender or anything of that nature?

Ground to fender lip stock I was ~39.5 and with just the ZR2 lift on 265/75 (31s) I was about ~41 5/8 now I'm at ~44.5. My keys must be up a little compared to stock ZR2 because I'm even with the back and stock ZR2s are about 1.25 higher in the rear. My UCA ball joint angle is flat and perfect so with this lift I've achieved exactly what I sought out. A perfectly leveled look on 37s with no aftermarket wonk or adverse driving characteristics. In my opinion this set up is the best way to fill the wheel wells, the perfect lift height, and the best way to make it all last 200,000+ mi like stock.

For speedo I'm using the Pulsar LT. Running 50psi with lowered TPMS warning threshold, speedo corrected to the 37s, and throttle lag gone on level 3 response setting. It's like I have a brand new vehicle. Love it.

Edited April 7 by Epsilon Plus

Epsilon Plus · April 9

Truck is pretty high now. At almost 6'2" I can stand against the back tailgate and my chin is only an inch higher than the top of the gate.

For the price of the parts and the drive as stock results, I really don't think there's a better way to get the 37s and proper look out of these trucks.

Who's doing it next?

2000M · April 9

Looks great!

Epsilon - Did you keep your stock brake lines and speed sensors?

Epsilon Plus · April 9

2 hours ago, 2000M said:

Looks great!

Epsilon - Did you keep your stock brake lines and speed sensors?

Yes. Almost everything directly ports over. The only thing that didn't was one 10mm bolt for the top brake line bracket. The other bolt on the side holds it on just fine. Someone could zip tie the unused top bracket hole or Loctite purple (low strength) the side bolt if truly concerned but I really don't think it's needed. The bore for the hole is not cast into the ZR2 knuckle. Oddly enough, all other dowel holes and bolt holes are there and work perfect. Unused on the new UCA is two holes on top where the ZR2 re-routed lines go. You can see them used on joe97281s pictures as he was going through the process of line conversion to run the bulky DSSVs.

Cheers to 215robert as we were kind of going at this blind not knowing if it was really going to work and be stuck at the last second after bolting all that stuff on, but we made it through. FWIW he has a diesel so this swap is confirmed for either set-up, same P/Ns (except DSSVs).

Edited April 9 by Epsilon Plus

215robert · April 10

X2 on the above, had my bars turned 3/4 of an inch to level a bit and it did compromise the ride. Completely cured with all oem components and got another 3/4 of an inch of lift! Price comparable to aftermarket arms alone, can't say enough thanks to everyone with part numbers and advice....

Tater86 · April 11

Do we have an all in price for what it takes to do this?

Epsilon Plus · April 12

I spent $1,600 shipped for the full swap including skids and one-time-use TTY bolts/nuts. The only thing left to buy is a couple bolts for mounting the rear of the transfer case skid when I mock it up and decide if I can tap threads or use through bolts.

Figure ~$2,000 if doing it from stock to finished with a set of Bilstein 5100s.

jeetS · April 12

How's the ride compared to stock?

I'd really like to do this but also install the dssvs... Don't want to be the guinea pig for that one tho

Edited April 12 by jeetS

Epsilon Plus · April 12

Ride is softer for me because I went from concrete POS 31" Firestones to 37" Nittos with 30% more sidewall.

Still an HD truck. Still feels most things in the road. Even with DSSVs I doubt it softens up more. People that say they ride great are probably justifying their purchase in their minds. It still has a 3,500+ lb payload rear leaf spring that has to compress before the shock even thinks about controlling rebound.

The OP that started all this was deep into changing brake lines and all that for the DSSVs. Dunno what happened with that. I still think for the same cost and likely better results King remotes that are at least rebuildable are the more prudent route. If I had a factory ZR2 and one of those leak prone DSSVs crapped on me I'd be trying to sell the other 3 and go to Kings before I spent another $800 for a single shock to maybe make it to 50k.

That's just my $.04 (adjusted for inflation).

Edited April 12 by Epsilon Plus