Show off your 2015+ leveled Tahoes and Yukons!

[Oh Kee Pah]

I owe people some answers - apologies but trying to wrap-up an overdue home renovation and get the family back to "normal"...

@Tahoe_Rx -> I've put a few links here. Maybe you could snap a photo of the undercarriage/front suspension to see how the sway bar is sitting (level to the ground?)
Depending on this sway bar alignment, the extended sway bar end links may/may not be useful. However, I do believe that the Tie Rod Sleeves will give you immediate feedback in steering ability once they are installed. They can certainly be done on your own if you're comfortable enough. Videos out there on the web for adding a HD Tie Rod Sleeve to your truck...

Tie Rod Sleeves example: Kryptonite Solid Steel Tie Rod Sleeves https://kryptoniteproducts.com/prod...4364550&pr_ref_pid=10324350726&pr_seq=uniform

Extended Sway Bar Link example 1: BDS Suspension Front Sway Bar Link Kit https://bds-suspension.com/products...D1u8misZ4QN2UQj3dAXPpeyODGZmmhthoC5YcQAvD_BwE

Extended Sway Bar Link example 2: Cognito HD Front Sway Bar Kit https://cognitomotorsports.com/cogn...01-19-silverado-sierra-2500-3500-2wd-4wd.html

Don't be afraid to call up the companies and speak with their tech/support departments. In my experience they will work with you and get you the best answers they can...just remember that the front suspension of our SUVs is the same as the 2014-2018 Silverado Front End suspension. Searching for suspension components under the Silverado as your vehicle often works much better than using Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon etc.


@Rustylane7 -> I have the BDS Suspension 4" front kit with the 3" rear. The 3" rear kit includes a 3" coil spacer. I was not a huge fan of the 3" coils spacer, so I ended up installing the SkyJacker C25R Rear Coil Springs. I then have a 3/4" rear coil spacer installed on top of those to get me just over +3" Rear Lift height overall. I have been pleased with the SkyJacker springs and have been running them for well over 18 months now, no problems.
The SkyJacker C25R's are listed for a 2005 vehicle, but our platform supports rear coil springs from 2000-2020, perhaps through 2025, but I have not researched beyond my Tahoe generation...
You can see the rear springs here: https://skyjacker.com/shop/coil-spr...lEX1OhmLeABMhe1p#kor_gamma_woocommerce_tabs|1
In terms of being worried about the weird fitment of rear coil springs for our SUVs; there are a few threads here on the TYForum 2015-2020 Lifted area that discuss rear lift springs. The people that are more in the "off-road" zone are certainly the people that seem to be more interested in adding ride height via springs vs. plain spacers. Here is a link to a spring that is listed for 2000-2023 vehicles: https://www.hdcoilsprings.com/produ...NscY8MPILMztckMWEe1FEPmULu-vTZE-1QjTYlogqLjEc This spring is a OE Replacement, does not increase ride height, but is an example of how our generation can utilize/swap for older model years' rear coil springs.

I also spoke with a company out of Kansas that would build rear coil springs to spec. Basically, tell them what you have, what lift you want and any extra load capacity, and they build the rear coils and send them out to you. The KS company I spoke with a few years ago is called Coil Spring Specialties: https://www.coilsprings.com/off-road-vehicle-coil-springs


I will try to get a few pictures of my front-end suspension undercarriage. You should be able to see the difference between the OE tie rod and then the added bulk of the tie rod sleeve.
I also have the Cognito front sway bar links installed on my Tahoe. They have a couple different sizes, so measuring is crucial and maybe even a call to Cognito to confirm. They are listed for 2500 HD trucks, but as per the recommendation of another TYForum member who has these installed, I followed suit and installed as well. No major issues, aside from they look much different from our OE sway bar links due to the bottom bushing (lack of...) design.

Oh, and if you are really planning on doing some serious off-road/overlanding; I personally feel that comfort and confidence behind the wheel in your steering ability and wheel clearance far outweigh an extra inch in ride height or a "macho" tire size number...hence, I'm running the 34" tall x 11.5" wide tires on the 4" lift.


Safe Travels!

 

[Tahoe_Rx]

@Oh Kee Pah thanks for the reply. I am definitely looking for improved offroad performance hence my switch from leveling spacers to the 3”Cognito/fox coilovers lift. The tie rod sleeves look simple enough, I will knock that out on my own and take a better look at my away bar angles to see if extensions are needed.

Did you re:gear for the 34x11.5s? That has been my only hesitation on going larger than my current 275/70r18 was if the stock 3.08 gearing could handle going much larger or not.

 

[Oh Kee Pah]

@Oh Kee Pah thanks for the reply. I am definitely looking for improved offroad performance hence my switch from leveling spacers to the 3”Cognito/fox coilovers lift. The tie rod sleeves look simple enough, I will knock that out on my own and take a better look at my away bar angles to see if extensions are needed.

Did you re:gear for the 34x11.5s? That has been my only hesitation on going larger than my current 275/70r18 was if the stock 3.08 gearing could handle going much larger or not.

My 2015 Tahoe LTZ has the additional Towing Pkg; this includes the 3.42 gearing. Thankfully.
I honestly believe that just about anything with larger than OE spec tires wants a higher gearing.
I mean, we're not rock crawling, but we are asking something of these machines. Putting the larger, heavier wheels certainly makes a difference. Plus any added front-end hardware that increases OE weight.
At the end of the day, these SUVs are made to run around town and do lots of highway miles, NOT necessarily be running on trails (though perfectly capable of doing so)
The other part of the equation not only has to do with your vehicle's power, but the longevity of your transmission, and engine, in general. Our rigs have a bit of history with poor Torque Converters and rebuilt/new transmissions. (Check that box for me - blown TC at around 98k miles and got rebuilt under Ext. Warranty w/ a $fee, not cheap). Now sitting at 173k and seriously starting to worry about the TC again. Last ATF fluid and filter check was clear, but I'm still always concerned.
So, long story short and a bottomless pocket book at my disposal => YES, I would absolutely change the gearing with the larger tires and off-roading plans.

Check the following website out, pretty cool. I do believe that it is accurate as well. The link is supposed to open an excel document, make sure you are using the "Properly Working" tabbed worksheet in the excel spreadsheet doc. I input my tire specs and those at least checked out. The gearing suggestion also checked out. Otherwise, lots of gearing ratio charts out there to look at aside from this example...
Gearing Spreadsheet (interactive): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...QhyeIcej2U/edit?gid=1370555362#gid=1370555362

Changing the gearing brings up an entirely new topic, and one that I am not very well versed on myself. I do know, that if I were to re-gear my 4" lifted Tahoe, and running AT or MT 34-35" diameter tires, then I would change to a minimum of 3.73 and certainly explore what going up to 4.11 might involve. As the previous generation Tahoe has/offered 3.73, I believe this gear change is possible/easier/cheaper. Again, this is a different beast all around for me and I know there are many more TYForum members that have much, much more to say about gearing and the transmission and lifted trucks. Much more knowledge and experience too. But, I do know that these SUVs can have the gears changed, it's just more a matter of how involved that process is and how expensive it might be.

Regardless of changing your rig's gearing: If you have not already, check out a tuner or getting a custom tune (Black Bear tunes very, very popular on TYForum). I have the "budget friendly" Diablo Predator II and that has certainly made a difference. Plus, it allows me to recalibrate the speedometer for the larger tires...do a few other tweaks and has pre-programmed tunes to choose from to install. Pretty user friendly and I haven't had issues.

All food for thought.

Safe travels