The Raven
Full Access Member
I almost traded my NNBS Tahoe Z71 in back in February because I had a ton of GM card points to use and the Tahoe needed some TLC. Unfortunately i'm not a big fan of the new Tahoes nor spending near $70k for one and I just wasn't happy with anything smaller. Got real close to a deal on a new LT Trail Boss but I backed out because i've never been a big fan of pickups. So i've decided i'm going to invest some money into the Tahoe and hold onto it for at least another 3 years. The idea is not to build the ultimate Tahoe - just to bring my NNBS more up-to-date with many of the now-available features that the GMT900 didn't offer.
I've got a bunch of threads detailing the different phases of the project - this is the suspension and brakes thread.
This was the catalyst for the whole year really. I knew my ball joints were shot and then I started experiencing a loud THUNK whenever the front wheels hit a bump in the road. I knew I was going to have to put quite a bit of work/money into the suspension so I considered trading up. But, as mentioned above, I decided to keep her and dive into a year of upgrades and fixes. Besides fixing the issues with the suspension I also wanted a small lift to bring the Tahoe up to the height of modern OEM offroad packages. I was always annoyed by how the newer bone-stock Rams/F150s/Silverados made the Tahoe feel like a minivan when they pulled up next to me. I knew i'd only need a couple of inches at most so I aimed for a 2" front 1" rear setup.
I originally settled on Bilstein 5100's, and actually ordered them. But during the teardown process I realized that Bilstein counts on you being able to re-use your factory spring perches...which is pretty ridiculous...mine were rust-welded to the shocks. In setting out to order replacements I learned that the perches aren't offered separately, only with new shocks. WTF Bilstein? Really? That, combined with the reported really-harsh ride of the 5100's and the reported failures of the c-clips that support the perches led to my decision to go with the slightly more expensive Ranchos. They came fully assembled with springs, perches, isolators and mounts.
This was a big project:
- Rancho RS9000XL front coilovers and rear shocks
- Moog LCAs and UCAs
- Moog Outer tie rods
- Moog Front Sway Bar links
- Moog rear stabilizer links
- CCM 1" rear lift pucks
- Powerstop Evolution front and rear brake kits
Who doesn't love the day all the new toys arrive?
Didn't have the brakes in this pic because I didn't know i'd be doing them yet.
So here we go - before:
And what a frikin nightmare it was. Everything was rusted to everything else. The only tools that actually worked for disassembly were my angle grinder, sawzall, and cutting torch. I basically just had to cut all the bolts off because they had completely fused together with whatever they were holding.
During this miserable process I decided to do something about the rust so I stopped the suspension work with the truck apart and put a couple days into cleaning up the front half of the frame and coating it in POR15.
It took me three days (two weekend days and one weekday evening) to tear it down, two weekday evenings to POR15 the frame, and then about three hours to put it all back together. Ha.
All pretty again:
The day I reassembled it:
It was initially a 2.5" lift up front and a 1.75" lift in the rear. But it settled out to a 2.25" front and 1.25" rear within a week. Pretty much exactly what I was going for - i'm now right at eye level with the drivers of those newer pickups.
The RS9000's are adjustable and I love that feature. I've settled on a setting of 5 front and 4 rear. Going higher makes the ride harsher and more unsettled, going lower makes it floaty and bob-y.
I've got a bunch of threads detailing the different phases of the project - this is the suspension and brakes thread.
This was the catalyst for the whole year really. I knew my ball joints were shot and then I started experiencing a loud THUNK whenever the front wheels hit a bump in the road. I knew I was going to have to put quite a bit of work/money into the suspension so I considered trading up. But, as mentioned above, I decided to keep her and dive into a year of upgrades and fixes. Besides fixing the issues with the suspension I also wanted a small lift to bring the Tahoe up to the height of modern OEM offroad packages. I was always annoyed by how the newer bone-stock Rams/F150s/Silverados made the Tahoe feel like a minivan when they pulled up next to me. I knew i'd only need a couple of inches at most so I aimed for a 2" front 1" rear setup.
I originally settled on Bilstein 5100's, and actually ordered them. But during the teardown process I realized that Bilstein counts on you being able to re-use your factory spring perches...which is pretty ridiculous...mine were rust-welded to the shocks. In setting out to order replacements I learned that the perches aren't offered separately, only with new shocks. WTF Bilstein? Really? That, combined with the reported really-harsh ride of the 5100's and the reported failures of the c-clips that support the perches led to my decision to go with the slightly more expensive Ranchos. They came fully assembled with springs, perches, isolators and mounts.
This was a big project:
- Rancho RS9000XL front coilovers and rear shocks
- Moog LCAs and UCAs
- Moog Outer tie rods
- Moog Front Sway Bar links
- Moog rear stabilizer links
- CCM 1" rear lift pucks
- Powerstop Evolution front and rear brake kits
Who doesn't love the day all the new toys arrive?
Didn't have the brakes in this pic because I didn't know i'd be doing them yet.
So here we go - before:
And what a frikin nightmare it was. Everything was rusted to everything else. The only tools that actually worked for disassembly were my angle grinder, sawzall, and cutting torch. I basically just had to cut all the bolts off because they had completely fused together with whatever they were holding.
During this miserable process I decided to do something about the rust so I stopped the suspension work with the truck apart and put a couple days into cleaning up the front half of the frame and coating it in POR15.
It took me three days (two weekend days and one weekday evening) to tear it down, two weekday evenings to POR15 the frame, and then about three hours to put it all back together. Ha.
All pretty again:
The day I reassembled it:
It was initially a 2.5" lift up front and a 1.75" lift in the rear. But it settled out to a 2.25" front and 1.25" rear within a week. Pretty much exactly what I was going for - i'm now right at eye level with the drivers of those newer pickups.
The RS9000's are adjustable and I love that feature. I've settled on a setting of 5 front and 4 rear. Going higher makes the ride harsher and more unsettled, going lower makes it floaty and bob-y.
