HELP!!! Bilstein 5100s on a AWD Denali with Z55

[malvizar]

@MattC259 Moog 81244 is the front spring to be paired with the Moog 81069 rear spring. When I got my 5100s the part numbers were: front: 24-186940 rear: 24-187237. I hope that helps. I personally installed them on my rig so I am very familiar with the process.

Would installing the moog HD 81069 springs in the rear of a 2007 Tahoe with bilstein 5100s all around, and a rough country 2” leveling kit in the front make the truck sit level or will it still have a slight rake? I’m looking to delete my Z55 auto ride and level the front with the back. Also what settings should the shocks and struts be set at to achieve a leveled stance?

Thanks

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@malvizar With MOOG 81069 in the back, MOOG 81244 in the front, with bilsteins set at the lowest setting I achieved what I would consider perfect rake, just the slightest bit. If you want it to be level I would do what I just said but add a .5 inch or 1 inch spacer block to the bottom of the front strut and that should give you perfect level.

 

[crawdaddy182]

Sorry to dig up a thread, not sure if you figured out your situation, but i used the factory spring seat from my DXL. Dont know why they think you need the other one. I used the 5100 adjustable strut on the lowest ring and put in a 1.5 spacer. My truck is looking awesome. Should have it all buttoned up soon.View attachment 252126

I’m asking only to confirm, you did NOT have to use non auto ride spring seats or hardware? Just used the original springs and hardware?

 

[satsow]

HI, with the Moog springs, will the rear sag during towing or heavy load? I have a 2013 Yukon XL Denali and one of the rear auto leveling airbags is giving up. Read a lot of good stuff on Bilstein but not sure if the Moog springs is able to hold. Thanks.

 

[bobsburban]

Sorry to be late to this answer; just got back from a 3 week trip around Michigan's Upper Peninsula (awesome, btw) with a fair amount of stuff in the back of the truck plus additional weight on the trailer hitch (17' Winnebago w/dual axles) and I'll say I wasn't too happy with the stance when all hooked up, even with the 1250 lb Moog spring rates. To get things closer to level (on a setup matched per the Husky's instructions) I really had to crank on the (1200 lb) sway bars to the point I was wondering if I was going to break a socket on the hitch if we got too far out of kilter. I ended up loosening the bars one notch for half the trip and things were happier, even though the back went back to squatting. As we used up some propane (two 30 pound tanks, not 20s) and used the 10 gallons of gas from the jerry cans on the hitch, things leveled up a little but not greatly.

Added Air-Lift 1000s last Thursday and headed out for a short trip with a full load as if we were going out for a month; they were the ticket at 40 lbs pressure. Highly recommend both the Air-Lift bags with those Moog springs plus a stout weight distribution hitch, even with a 4000-ish pound (loaded) double axle trailer.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@bobsburban Thanks for the update, I have heard people say to not get the Moog 81069 springs because they cannot be used with airbags, glad to see they were wrong.

 

[bobsburban]

@bobsburban Thanks for the update, I have heard people say to not get the Moog 81069 springs because they cannot be used with airbags, glad to see they were wrong.

You can't just order the normal air bags for the truck, Dustin - you'll need to talk with Air-Lift and specify the 4" diameter, 11" long bags, IIRC. Double check me on that if you go that route but I'm pretty sure the ID of the Moog springs is 4.25" and the length is a bit over 11" at rest. The bags were a tight fit. My mechanic and I fiddled with things a bit to get the air lines routed out the top of the bags without crimping anything.

 

[usdlawstudent]

sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I wanted to see if anyone could confirm whether new front coil springs are required if converting the front z55 autoride struts to Bilstein 5100, or if the factory z55 autoride coil springs can still be used with passive front shocks. This thread seems to go both ways (some seem to have used the factory GM auto ride coil springs and others seem to have used the Moog 81244). It seems like since the front oem z55 auto ride struts aren’t auto leveling, the factory z55 auto ride coil springs may work with the passive aftermarket front struts.

I understand that the rear coil springs need to be replaced no matter what if swapping Z55 auto ride rear shocks with Bilstein 5100 (or any other passive shock) since the airbag leveling system will no longer be used.

 

[usdlawstudent]

Also if folks have pics of their rides with the Bilstein 5100s, I’d be interested in seeing them.

I’ve been going back and forth about whether to replace my old worn out OEM autoride suspension components (which are super expensive imo) or go with a passive set up like the Bilsteins with mild lift (which seems to be quite a bit cheaper, although still not quite “cheap” )

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@usdlawstudent this is with bilstein 5100s and moog HD springs