4 inch Rancho lift, 34 inch tires and steel bumpers front and rear.
- Thread starter Tozan
- Start date
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OP
OP
Tozan
Overlander
Not sure yet, I am still in the measuring stage If needed I might see about a custom set if needed. Baja kits does make a kit with 9 inches travel so it might be possible. They were telling me the shock is what makes the most difference in extra travel.
I was looking under it today I have 2 inches of droop / sag fully extended so I should be able to pick up one inch there.t
Update: Yes it should be no problem at all... with the CV's
Last edited:
OP
OP
Tozan
Overlander
I am in So. California for the holidays visiting from Reno Nevada. I have a set of King shocks for a standard height suspension so their length is 4 inches to short it was not set up for a lifted Tahoe.
I visited King shocks today in Garden Grove Ca. to get my King shocks rebuilt and modified to work with my Rancho 4 inch lifted Tahoe. I was in awe of seeing their place... Just look at all these cool shocks... It was very exciting to see the quality and how professionally things are done here... Very impressive. Just one of these racks could be $250,000 in shocks...
Since it is only a couple days before Christmas I figured they would be very busy and trying to get things finished up for the holidays, I actually did not expect to get much time from them. A very nice gentleman asked how he could help me so, I was thrilled to be able to discuss options and some of my not so good ideas with him. I went over particulars of my set up like what type of lift, shocks, travel, full extended, collapsed length and length of travel. I went over what I was hoping to get out of it for the type of driving and trails I do..
So I explained in depth what I thought I wanted and proceeded to explain the type of terrain I spend most of my time on and type of trails I like to drive ranging from easy to hard levels and how fast I like to run on dirt roads 65mph plus... He said I should be able to go even faster and more comfortably now... Yea! I was getting excited...
Then my real education of off road suspension began. He went over truck modifications, stock shock specifications, King shock specifications and other measurements of my rig and the shock currently on it. He came up with his solution and explained what needed to be done on my King shock for a custom fit.
What will I get out of it? I will be getting more usable wheel travel I am guessing it will be in the 9 inches range or more. Vastly improve dampening characteristics and with a remote it will run much cooler too. This will smooth out my ride over big and little bumps and improve my articulation as well. They will be installing a new rod pistons seals and other wear parts and doing an oil change and getting it back ready to tame the trails all for less than replacing my RS 7000 shocks...
At no time was I feeling rushed, all of my questions were answered politely with explanations when needed so I could understand everything being done and why. It was a very enjoyable experience. King has earned a very good customer from this point on. This type of quality and attention to details is worth the cost of their products.
Now I can't wait to get them back... Expected turn around is 6 weeks..... Ok almost 5 weeks and 6 days... lol
I visited King shocks today in Garden Grove Ca. to get my King shocks rebuilt and modified to work with my Rancho 4 inch lifted Tahoe. I was in awe of seeing their place... Just look at all these cool shocks... It was very exciting to see the quality and how professionally things are done here... Very impressive. Just one of these racks could be $250,000 in shocks...
Since it is only a couple days before Christmas I figured they would be very busy and trying to get things finished up for the holidays, I actually did not expect to get much time from them. A very nice gentleman asked how he could help me so, I was thrilled to be able to discuss options and some of my not so good ideas with him. I went over particulars of my set up like what type of lift, shocks, travel, full extended, collapsed length and length of travel. I went over what I was hoping to get out of it for the type of driving and trails I do..
So I explained in depth what I thought I wanted and proceeded to explain the type of terrain I spend most of my time on and type of trails I like to drive ranging from easy to hard levels and how fast I like to run on dirt roads 65mph plus... He said I should be able to go even faster and more comfortably now... Yea! I was getting excited...
Then my real education of off road suspension began. He went over truck modifications, stock shock specifications, King shock specifications and other measurements of my rig and the shock currently on it. He came up with his solution and explained what needed to be done on my King shock for a custom fit.
What will I get out of it? I will be getting more usable wheel travel I am guessing it will be in the 9 inches range or more. Vastly improve dampening characteristics and with a remote it will run much cooler too. This will smooth out my ride over big and little bumps and improve my articulation as well. They will be installing a new rod pistons seals and other wear parts and doing an oil change and getting it back ready to tame the trails all for less than replacing my RS 7000 shocks...
At no time was I feeling rushed, all of my questions were answered politely with explanations when needed so I could understand everything being done and why. It was a very enjoyable experience. King has earned a very good customer from this point on. This type of quality and attention to details is worth the cost of their products.
Now I can't wait to get them back... Expected turn around is 6 weeks..... Ok almost 5 weeks and 6 days... lol
OP
OP
Tozan
Overlander
Latest upgrade... Custom 2.5 King Shocks for my 4 inch lift... Replacing the Rancho RS 7000 coil over struts that came with the lift kit.
First step in installing front struts lift both sides and put it up on jack stands. Remove wheels, loosen the sway bar bolts (but leave them connected)
Remove upper and lower shock mounts and slide shock out the bottom.
Slide the new shock in and tighten upper bolts to 37 Ft lbs and lower bolts to 40 ft lbs.
Remember to tighten the sway bar bolts when done with both sides. It will be easier to get the shock reservoir bracket on if you install the other two top bolts first. If needed you can use a heat gun to soften the plastic in the wheel well to make things easier too.
Note the rag over the lug nuts... The reason for this is to keep your shirt clean because you are one of those people who regularly puts never seize on your studs so it is much easier when you have to change a tire on a trail... Be sure to torque those lug nuts to 140 Ft lbs.
I set ride height to allow for 3 inches of droop this leaves at least 6 inches for compression until bottoming out. Yes I have over 9 inches of travel now.
How does it feel..... Well amazingly better... It feels just as smooth if not better on the highway and I had to drive across the field with little boulders in it next door and also hit several speed bumps as well... Hit them a lot faster than normal people would too... lol The suspension kind of shrugged it off and felt very smooth. It was much smoother and softer than it was with the Rancho RS7000's and it didn't make any noise... I give these shocks 3 thumbs up...
I also added a 12 gauge shotgun scabbard and small ammo pouch under my front platform today. The molle mounting perfectly attaches to the rack.
Hmmmmm... OK What's next
First step in installing front struts lift both sides and put it up on jack stands. Remove wheels, loosen the sway bar bolts (but leave them connected)
Remove upper and lower shock mounts and slide shock out the bottom.
Slide the new shock in and tighten upper bolts to 37 Ft lbs and lower bolts to 40 ft lbs.
Remember to tighten the sway bar bolts when done with both sides. It will be easier to get the shock reservoir bracket on if you install the other two top bolts first. If needed you can use a heat gun to soften the plastic in the wheel well to make things easier too.
Note the rag over the lug nuts... The reason for this is to keep your shirt clean because you are one of those people who regularly puts never seize on your studs so it is much easier when you have to change a tire on a trail... Be sure to torque those lug nuts to 140 Ft lbs.
I set ride height to allow for 3 inches of droop this leaves at least 6 inches for compression until bottoming out. Yes I have over 9 inches of travel now.
How does it feel..... Well amazingly better... It feels just as smooth if not better on the highway and I had to drive across the field with little boulders in it next door and also hit several speed bumps as well... Hit them a lot faster than normal people would too... lol The suspension kind of shrugged it off and felt very smooth. It was much smoother and softer than it was with the Rancho RS7000's and it didn't make any noise... I give these shocks 3 thumbs up...
I also added a 12 gauge shotgun scabbard and small ammo pouch under my front platform today. The molle mounting perfectly attaches to the rack.
Hmmmmm... OK What's next
OP
OP
Tozan
Overlander
The section above is the front right section to the left of the refrigerator in the below photo. Both front and rear sections are on hinges so I can lift them to access the storage area underneath.
OP
OP
Tozan
Overlander
Follow up:
I took it out this weekend to a popular hot springs along the Carson river. Very rough 2 hour trek in surface composed mostly of 6 to 12 inch rock covered trails with plenty of 18 to 36 inch boulders to squeeze or climb over. A dozen water crossings with 2 to 4 foot deep washouts going in every direction. Plenty of steep climbs and descents along the way too. I watched a ford crawler roll over 3 times down one of them. Fun three day weekend.
The front worked great at crawling speeds the added articulation was good. I had a front tire over 24 inches up and all the tires were still on the ground. They are very good at controlling the bounce in either direction while at crawling speeds too.
On trails I was able to go much faster I often found myself speeding up even in rocky sections because they soak up speed bump size holes like they don't exist. Not a good thing with this trail, the rocks are very sharp and jagged.
They love 70 plus MPH dirt roads and trails. They are very confident inspiring shocks. On paved roads and highways they feel better than ever.
King Shocks are certainly worth the money if you are going to do a lot of harsh surfaces and want something that really makes life more comfortable. They are certainly great for desert roads.
I only have one complaint.. Now I want more travel in the back and a set of King shocks there too. I haven't measured the rear travel yet but, there is only 3 inches before it hits the bump stops installed with the lift kit... Anyone know of a long travel kit for the Tahoe or Silverado?
I took it out this weekend to a popular hot springs along the Carson river. Very rough 2 hour trek in surface composed mostly of 6 to 12 inch rock covered trails with plenty of 18 to 36 inch boulders to squeeze or climb over. A dozen water crossings with 2 to 4 foot deep washouts going in every direction. Plenty of steep climbs and descents along the way too. I watched a ford crawler roll over 3 times down one of them. Fun three day weekend.
The front worked great at crawling speeds the added articulation was good. I had a front tire over 24 inches up and all the tires were still on the ground. They are very good at controlling the bounce in either direction while at crawling speeds too.
On trails I was able to go much faster I often found myself speeding up even in rocky sections because they soak up speed bump size holes like they don't exist. Not a good thing with this trail, the rocks are very sharp and jagged.
They love 70 plus MPH dirt roads and trails. They are very confident inspiring shocks. On paved roads and highways they feel better than ever.
King Shocks are certainly worth the money if you are going to do a lot of harsh surfaces and want something that really makes life more comfortable. They are certainly great for desert roads.
I only have one complaint.. Now I want more travel in the back and a set of King shocks there too. I haven't measured the rear travel yet but, there is only 3 inches before it hits the bump stops installed with the lift kit... Anyone know of a long travel kit for the Tahoe or Silverado?
OP
OP
Tozan
Overlander
Thought I would add a few more things to the rig... Since we sleep inside this rig and also spend a fair amount of time in the desert at very high temperatures and hunting in the colder seasons too. I decided to add some insulation to reduce heating and cooling needs. I used 10mm Uxcell it has fabric reinforced foil on one side and an adhesive on the other. is pretty easy to use and sticks well to a metal surface. It will insulate the hot and cold and also deadens the sound too.
I lined the door panel and also sealed off the factory foam barrier.
I lined the door panel and also sealed off the factory foam barrier.
5strmtrp
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Tozan, I’ve read your entire post start to finish, I’ve acquired the parts needed for the , work for a pharmaceutical company that “retires” their metal carts after they get degraded with bleach and alcohol dunking for new ones. Have started on building the bed.
I’ve got one ?, it may sound stupid but... how do you get out of the back of the truck when the lift gate is down? I don’t have a release button or cable to pop it open from the inside. My key fob only opens the glass and it’s been fun reaching down on the outside to get the gate to release.
Ive been using the back to sleep in during our Boy Scout Trips. Being the Scoutmaster does have its privileges! And the fact I’ve got 4 fused disks in my back.
I’ve got one ?, it may sound stupid but... how do you get out of the back of the truck when the lift gate is down? I don’t have a release button or cable to pop it open from the inside. My key fob only opens the glass and it’s been fun reaching down on the outside to get the gate to release.
Ive been using the back to sleep in during our Boy Scout Trips. Being the Scoutmaster does have its privileges! And the fact I’ve got 4 fused disks in my back.
Tiki
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I had Kings on my old Tahoe, definitely an upgrade. You’d likely see an improvement with some aftermarket UCAs.
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