Leveling kit to lower?

[kylers2k]

Hi all,

Wanted to get some thoughts on using this leveling kit, flipped to the bottom of the arm, to lower my Tahoe instead. I would probably opt for the 1" "level" as you will be moving down 1/2" or so just by flipping the strut mount to the underside.

Thoughts? I would use quality grade 10 bolts, not the cheap stuff that comes with it.

https://www.ebay.com/i/382186101807...MI0OLvm9_g5AIVEq_ICh2qRQn7EAQYAiABEgI6HvD_BwE

 

[kbuskill]

Hi all,

Wanted to get some thoughts on using this leveling kit, flipped to the bottom of the arm, to lower my Tahoe instead. I would probably opt for the 1" "level" as you will be moving down 1/2" or so just by flipping the strut mount to the underside.

Thoughts? I would use quality grade 10 bolts, not the cheap stuff that comes with it.

https://www.ebay.com/i/382186101807...MI0OLvm9_g5AIVEq_ICh2qRQn7EAQYAiABEgI6HvD_BwE

Rough Country sells a 2" lowering kit for our trucks that does this very thing using a 1/4" spacer under the lower control arm and Grade 9 hardware.

I mounted my Rancho 9 way adjustable struts under the control arm WITHOUT any spacer and I would say it was a full 2" drop without the 1/4" spacer. I say this because I replaced the Belltech lowering struts that were in there and set at the full 2" of drop and it was just as low.

I also have Belltech 2" spindles up front for a total of 4" up front.

I think the " 1" lift spacer" you are talking about, which is actually 1/2" thick, would give you about 3" of drop up front... although you may have trouble aligning the front end with adding the camber kit or offset bushings in the upper control arms. Spindles are much better for keeping the geometry correct.

How low are you trying to go???

 

[kylers2k]

Rough Country sells a 2" lowering kit for our trucks that does this very thing using a 1/4" spacer under the lower control arm and Grade 9 hardware.

How low are you trying to go???

2-3" in the front for now.. with plans to do spindles etc in the future.

 

[kbuskill]

You should get about 3" of drop by using a 1/2" (actual thickness of the spacer) spacer under the control arm... although your alignment will suffer.

 

[iamdub]

I'd recommend you do most of your planned drop with spindles, which would be 2". THEN if you want more, relocate the strut, use coil relocators, etc.

If you wanna go forth with the relocators now, and you use a 1/2" spacer to net about 3" of drop, you'll probably need the eccentrics ("cams") to get an extra degree of adjustability for the alignment. Or, you can use the Rough Country kit and drop it 2" and SHOULD be able to align it with the stock stuff.

I know- it's a snowball. You try to save a few bucks but it soon costs you more. It's almost always better to just determine what drop you want in the end and go straight to it in one shot.

 

[kylers2k]

Rough Country sells a 2" lowering kit for our trucks that does this very thing using a 1/4" spacer under the lower control arm and Grade 9 hardware.

I mounted my Rancho 9 way adjustable struts under the control arm WITHOUT any spacer and I would say it was a full 2" drop without the 1/4" spacer. I say this because I replaced the Belltech lowering struts that were in there and set at the full 2" of drop and it was just as low.

I also have Belltech 2" spindles up front for a total of 4" up front.

I think the " 1" lift spacer" you are talking about, which is actually 1/2" thick, would give you about 3" of drop up front... although you may have trouble aligning the front end with adding the camber kit or offset bushings in the upper control arms. Spindles are much better for keeping the geometry correct.

How low are you trying to go???

Did you use the original hardware? How much of the front end weight is actually placed on those bolts?

 

[kbuskill]

Did you use the original hardware? How much of the front end weight is actually placed on those bolts?

No I DID NOT AND WOULD NOT.... all of the weight of the front end would be resting on those 4 bolts...

I bought the Grade 9 hardware that Rough Country sells with there 2" lowering kit... it was around $20 if my memory serves me.

Part number for the bolt kit is on the bag in this pic...



Rough Country part #720BAG3

Here is a pic of my Rancho 9 way adjustable struts mounted using these bolts to give you an idea of the bolt length...


Hope this helps.

 

[kylers2k]

No I DID NOT AND WOULD NOT.... all of the weight of the front end would be resting on those 4 bolts...

I bought the Grade 9 hardware that Rough Country sells with there 2" lowering kit... it was around $20 if my memory serves me.

Part number for the bolt kit is on the bag in this pic...

View attachment 231279

Rough Country part #720BAG3

Here is a pic of my Rancho 9 way adjustable struts mounted using these bolts to give you an idea of the bolt length...
View attachment 231280

Hope this helps.

Ended up doing this today with grade 8.8 7/16th bolts. I feel confident in their ability to hold.
It dropped my Tahoe quite a bit. So much that I'm going to need to lower the rear now.
I'll post a picture tomorrow

 

[wjburken]

Ended up doing this today with grade 8.8 7/16th bolts. I feel confident in their ability to hold.
It dropped my Tahoe quite a bit. So much that I'm going to need to lower the rear now.
I'll post a picture tomorrow

You definitely do not want to skimp on these bolts when mounting them this way. When the strut is sitting on top, the bolts basically hold the strut in place against the lower control arm and see relatively low tensile loads. Underneath, they see all the load that the strut sees. Grade 8 and higher have a proof load of at least 120,000 psi so a 7/16” bolt can handle at least 10,000# each before stretching. Considering the impact loads the vehicle sees, it is needed.

I say this not for the guys posting their work here but for others that will come along later and may not appreciate the what all needs to be considered from a strength and safety stand point.

 

[kylers2k]

You definitely do not want to skimp on these bolts when mounting them this way. When the strut is sitting on top, the bolts basically hold the strut in place against the lower control arm and see relatively low tensile loads. Underneath, they see all the load that the strut sees. Grade 8 and higher have a proof load of at least 120,000 psi so a 7/16” bolt can handle at least 10,000# each before stretching. Considering the impact loads the vehicle sees, it is needed.

I say this not for the guys posting their work here but for others that will come along later and may not appreciate the what all needs to be considered from a strength and safety stand point.

My rough math put it at around 800-900 lbs per bolt as a resting load.
If you use 10k as a max I should be good even factoring in suspension travelling down and increasing the downward force (and weight) on the bolts due to real life road circumstances.
Great call out though for anyone stumbling across this from Google etc.