2011 Denali

[biguglee50]

I just bought a 2011 Yukon Denali XL. I am looking for a lift kit for it. Nothing taller than 4 inches. I also am not looking to spend a lot of money on one. Looking more for a budget lift. I also don't care about keeping the autoride. With that said. I am seeing a lot of different lifts. I am only looking for a little more ground clearance for mild trail riding. What kits do people recommend? Also do you recommend getting the upper control arms for the lift? Thanks in advance.

 

[87carl]

The upper control arm depends on the type of lift you get. If you get a simple spacer lift get upper control arms. If you get a lift kit with lift knuckles they have raised upper ball joints and raised tie rods built into the knuckles to correct suspension geometry. so with a knuckle lift you can run stock upper control arms. Spacer lifts are definitely the cheapest option but you get what you pay for going that cheap. they don't normally come with many parts and over 2-3 inches lift your ball joint, tie rod and cv angles typically aren't very happy with them. That causes parts to wear out quickly and then you end up buying extra parts to fix the angles like the upper control arms, diff drop, longer brake hoses, sway links, adjustable rear panhard etc. Try to find a more complete kit that will have most that stuff already As you lift the rear the geometry of the rear suspension links will pull the rear axle forward and towards passenger side and more then 2-3 inches lift will need adjustable links to recenter the axle atleast need the panhard for side to side. for a mostly street truck spacer lifts work great. Most kits lift front more than rear to "level" but if your Yukon sits level before the lift it will have a rear sag after the lift and might need taller springs or spacers in the rear to level it back out. Rough country is one of the cheaper lift companies and they make good products. In mine I have rough country's 3.5 knuckle lift with struts for 07-13 gm trucks in the front and skyjacker 5 inch lift springs and rough country 6 inch lift shocks in the rear. plus I have extended rear brake hoses and rear tie rod links for lifted jeep jk and front brake hose brackets are flipped.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Welcome back. You will need to purchase or fabricate longer rods for the height sensors on the autoride suspension.

 

[biguglee50]

The upper control arm depends on the type of lift you get. If you get a simple spacer lift get upper control arms. If you get a lift kit with lift knuckles they have raised upper ball joints and raised tie rods built into the knuckles to correct suspension geometry. so with a knuckle lift you can run stock upper control arms. Spacer lifts are definitely the cheapest option but you get what you pay for going that cheap. they don't normally come with many parts and over 2-3 inches lift your ball joint, tie rod and cv angles typically aren't very happy with them. That causes parts to wear out quickly and then you end up buying extra parts to fix the angles like the upper control arms, diff drop, longer brake hoses, sway links, adjustable rear panhard etc. Try to find a more complete kit that will have most that stuff already As you lift the rear the geometry of the rear suspension links will pull the rear axle forward and towards passenger side and more then 2-3 inches lift will need adjustable links to recenter the axle atleast need the panhard for side to side. for a mostly street truck spacer lifts work great. Most kits lift front more than rear to "level" but if your Yukon sits level before the lift it will have a rear sag after the lift and might need taller springs or spacers in the rear to level it back out. Rough country is one of the cheaper lift companies and they make good products. In mine I have rough country's 3.5 knuckle lift with struts for 07-13 gm trucks in the front and skyjacker 5 inch lift springs and rough country 6 inch lift shocks in the rear. plus I have extended rear brake hoses and rear tie rod links for lifted jeep jk and front brake hose brackets are flipped.

Thank you!

 

[biguglee50]

Welcome back. You will need to purchase or fabricate longer rods for the height sensors on the autoride suspension.

Thank you!

 

[mrpeterclark]

I used a Suspension Maxx lift for a little while. They have an option to retain the autoride and magneride if you want, but the bracket extension doesn't really fit aftermarket UCAs. I modified it and modified my sensor rods.
shockdeletes.com has autoride and magneride delete kits as well.

This is my set up now:

2007 GMC Yukon XL Denali
Icon 2.5 Coilovers at 2.5" lift front (71505) I really wanted to go the reservoir w/ CDCV route because I drive in really varied conditions and loads/ towing, but availability was really bad at the time, and they're pricy. I'm happy. A little harsh in town if anything. I only got to take them on a trail once prior to adding the winch/ bumper. Might need to change my springs for the added weight.
Icon 2.0 rear shocks (76526) - they aren't anything special. similar to Bilstein's. Rebuildable, but probably not worth it at the price point.
Cognito Upper Control Arms
Dobinson 2" lift rear springs (C09-045) - the stock coils with autoride are quite soft, if you delete those shocks you will sag. Moog springs and a spacer probably work just as well.
I added Air Lift helper bags for towing (you'll need 60912 or 60913 for Dobinson springs)
SDE magneride and autoride delete shockdeletes.com

 

[doc5339]

I used a Suspension Maxx lift for a little while. They have an option to retain the autoride and magneride if you want, but the bracket extension doesn't really fit aftermarket UCAs. I modified it and modified my sensor rods.
shockdeletes.com has autoride and magneride delete kits as well.

This is my set up now:

2007 GMC Yukon XL Denali
Icon 2.5 Coilovers at 2.5" lift front (71505) I really wanted to go the reservoir w/ CDCV route because I drive in really varied conditions and loads/ towing, but availability was really bad at the time, and they're pricy. I'm happy. A little harsh in town if anything. I only got to take them on a trail once prior to adding the winch/ bumper. Might need to change my springs for the added weight.
Icon 2.0 rear shocks (76526) - they aren't anything special. similar to Bilstein's. Rebuildable, but probably not worth it at the price point.
Cognito Upper Control Arms
Dobinson 2" lift rear springs (C09-045) - the stock coils with autoride are quite soft, if you delete those shocks you will sag. Moog springs and a spacer probably work just as well.
I added Air Lift helper bags for towing (you'll need 60912 or 60913 for Dobinson springs)
SDE magneride and autoride delete shockdeletes.com

Apologies for hijacking this thread. Have also seen your build in some overlanding write-ups; really awesome work! Thanks for sharing the details here!

What size 33" tires are you running?

I am considering copying your build and would like to keep my 18" AT4 wheels if possible. My OEM Autoride system is about at the end of its service life (177k miles) and I am thinking of doing some relatively dumb stuff at Uwharrie and maybe even some of the moderate passes in your neck of the woods. We did Imogene Pass last year in a 2020 Defender 110; not sure I'd try that with the Denali mainly due to the large width of the Denali and lack of low range transfer case, approach/breakover/departure angles, etc.

Please advise if anything has changed with your setup. Thanks in advance and have a good one!

 

[mrpeterclark]

Hi

Apologies for hijacking this thread. Have also seen your build in some overlanding write-ups; really awesome work! Thanks for sharing the details here!

What size 33" tires are you running?

I am considering copying your build and would like to keep my 18" AT4 wheels if possible. My OEM Autoride system is about at the end of its service life (177k miles) and I am thinking of doing some relatively dumb stuff at Uwharrie and maybe even some of the moderate passes in your neck of the woods. We did Imogene Pass last year in a 2020 Defender 110; not sure I'd try that with the Denali mainly due to the large width of the Denali and lack of low range transfer case, approach/breakover/departure angles, etc.

Please advise if anything has changed with your setup. Thanks in advance and have a good one!

I'm changing 17" wheels and tires next week, but otherwise it's still the same. Tires are 275 /60 R20 Goodyear Ultraterrain which is right at 33" and about 11" wide. 18" sizes in that range would be 275/70R18 (~33.2"x11"), 285/65R18 (~32.5x11.5), 33x12.50 (32.5x12.5), 265/70R (32.6x10.7), 305/70R18 (33.5x12.2)

Let me know if you need any help with your build. I have some stuff on the website (baselineoverland.com) but email me at [email protected] and I can help you get just about whatever.

 

[doc5339]

Hi

I'm changing 17" wheels and tires next week, but otherwise it's still the same. Tires are 275 /60 R20 Goodyear Ultraterrain which is right at 33" and about 11" wide. 18" sizes in that range would be 275/70R18 (~33.2"x11"), 285/65R18 (~32.5x11.5), 33x12.50 (32.5x12.5), 265/70R (32.6x10.7), 305/70R18 (33.5x12.2)

Let me know if you need any help with your build. I have some stuff on the website (baselineoverland.com) but email me at [email protected] and I can help you get just about whatever.

Thanks, I have scoped out your website and the products look pretty cool.