Those that are lowered with 22s, anyone have a near stock ride? What's your setup?

[04blackout]

If your rig is swaying back and forth its a shock issue, especially if its getting worse as time goes by. I would just replace the shocks and go from there. I have not had good experiences with Belltech shocks.

Mike

I know you went with bilsteins, but didn't you have to fab up an extender bracket in the rear? Im really leaning towards the adjustable qa1's

 

[M Hankel]

Yes I did have to extend the shock mounts even more than the stock DJM extenders. If I had more funds I would def go with adjustables. Try to find one where the adjustment controls more than just rebound if you can. I have heard good things about the Ridetech shocks but I have heard the compression settings are a bit soft on the QA1's unless you get the double adjustable versions. But those are close to 300/each. If money were not an issue I would have double adjustable Afcos at each corner.

Mike

 

[04blackout]

ok, i went out and measured tonight... the belltech sp shocks i have now measure about 13" and 20.5", with ride height sitting right at 16". the qa1 ts802 measures 13 and 20.5, but i would need to get the adapter that converts the stud to eyelet at the top, which will add about an inch, so im thinking the ts704 is a better fit, it measures in at 12.25/19 so with the adapter that would make it 13.25/20 which is VERY close to what i have now. still trying to look up a bilstein part # that fits this application as well

edit: just found the ride tech HQ comes in an eye/eye configuration that is 18.8" and 12.15" respectively, and @ $175, its a little cheaper than the qa1's

 

[digitalfiend]

ok, i went out and measured tonight... the belltech sp shocks i have now measure about 13" and 20.5", with ride height sitting right at 16". the qa1 ts802 measures 13 and 20.5, but i would need to get the adapter that converts the stud to eyelet at the top, which will add about an inch, so im thinking the ts704 is a better fit, it measures in at 12.25/19 so with the adapter that would make it 13.25/20 which is VERY close to what i have now. still trying to look up a bilstein part # that fits this application as well

edit: just found the ride tech HQ comes in an eye/eye configuration that is 18.8" and 12.15" respectively, and @ $175, its a little cheaper than the qa1's

I picked up TS802 shocks and top eyelet conversion parts for right at $175 per shock/parts. I confirmed the QA1 measurements at QA1's site

To give you more detail of my experience, I replaced both my rear stock shocks with QA1's TS802 shocks. They have a single adjustment that adjust the compress and rebound at the same time and I've been really happy with mine. The TS802's are a stud-top out of the box so you have to swap on an eyelet on the top. Together with the top eyelet swap parts (SS300LT) I paid $355.92 from summitracing for the rear of my '04 Tahoe. Here's the exact links if you want to see for yourself:

TS802 Shocks
SS300LT Top Eyelet Parts

The swap and eyelet conversion is really easy and I covered it with a bunch of pics in my QA1 swap thread I also have some measurements before and after the top eyelet swap.

EDIT: I just want to be clear that I am not trying to hurt Tony in any way by posting the QA1 details here...I've just been really happy with the adjustable aspect of my QA1's and I didn't see QA1's on his site when I was ready to buy mine. Tony's been really supportive of our community here and I really appreciate the time and work he invests.

 

[04blackout]

Yea I read through your whole thread and thats what got me looking at the qa1's. You dont have the 3/5 drop though do you? Thats why I was thinking the 802 might be a bit long

As for tony, I mean no disrespect either. When I was looking to lower the rig, he answered every question I could come up with, and even when I bought the used kit (not from him) he continued to walk me through the install and some issues I had every step of the way. He has been a great help in getting my rig slammed down, but I just think there might be better shocks out there than the belltechs

 

[digitalfiend]

Yea I read through your whole thread and thats what got me looking at the qa1's. You dont have the 3/5 drop though do you? Thats why I was thinking the 802 might be a bit long

I've got the equivalent of a 5/6. When you add in the drop from shorter tires and the drop from removing the junk stock shocks it's more like a 6-7.

As for tony, I mean no disrespect either. When I was looking to lower the rig, he answered every question I could come up with, and even when I bought the used kit (not from him) he continued to walk me through the install and some issues I had every step of the way. He has been a great help in getting my rig slammed down, but I just think there might be better shocks out there than the belltechs

Yep, Tony's the bomb. I'm running his custom 6" drop springs in the rear and I can't say enough good things about them...which reminds me, I need to do a review thread on here about them now that I've put some miles on them.

 

[04blackout]

i went out and re-measured both the front and back tonight when i got home and i got 11 5/8 up front and 15 3/4 in back at ride height. ridetech has a rear shock with eye/eye configuration that is 12.15 compressed and 18.8 extended, which puts it right in the middle of its travel at ride height, and i wouldnt need any adapters... AND its the same price as the qa1

edit: ridetech also has a front shock stud/eye config that measures 9.05/14.3, which would be just about perfect for the front... $700 for the whole set of adjustable shocks and hopefully make my rig manageable again =\

now, for the front, im still trying to figure out a way to do the coilover conversion, but i really dont wanna sacrifice any drop. so i might just be doing rear shocks for now, and addressing the front later down the road. i really dont wanna ditch my djm arms to have to buy stock lowers and a spindle added onto the cost of the coilovers $$$$$

 

[digitalfiend]

...

edit: ridetech also has a front shock stud/eye config that measures 9.05/14.3, which would be just about perfect for the front... $700 for the whole set of adjustable shocks and hopefully make my rig manageable again =\

What part numbers and prices are you looking at for the front and rear ridetech shocks?

now, for the front, im still trying to figure out a way to do the coilover conversion, but i really dont wanna sacrifice any drop. so i might just be doing rear shocks for now, and addressing the front later down the road. i really dont wanna ditch my djm arms to have to buy stock lowers and a spindle added onto the cost of the coilovers $$$$$

If I understand what you're referring to, it's using the adapter on the top of the front shocks where you lose drop. If this is what you're referring to then there's a thread over on performance trucksDOTnet where a guy used the front shocks with the stud top and he's trying various versions of bushings to figure out which will work. He seems to be a persistent bugger because right now I think he's trying out some delrin and polyurethane bushings that he made from round delrin and polyurethane stock. If he can find a setup that doesn't eat up the top stud bushings then it would be a way to do the conversion and not lose so much drop. As soon as he figures out a setup I'm totally gonna copy it.

 

[04blackout]

Im looking at 22159845 for the front and 22179841for the rear. They are both single adjustable and $175ea

I didnt realize you could get the coilovers in a stud top configuration. I looked at that thread but didnt see what kind of upper reinforcement that guy is using to be able to mount them like that. If he comes up with a solution to use the djm arms and stud top that will actually work, I will climb on board instantly.

For rear sprjngs... are the "new and improved" norcalss 5-6" springs really that much better? If they are, I would have no problem swapping both springs and shocks while im in there, but I dont wanna drop the extra coin if its really not that big of an improvement to the ride

 

[04blackout]

Ok I read through all 30 pages of that thread and heres what I got out of it... coilovers are the shit, and if at all possible I definitely want to go that route. The adapter up top would drop the mount 1.5" so if I used that with my djm lowers (reinforced) I would need a shock thats 1.5" shorter than my current 11 5/8" ride height, or if this guys project pans out, I could use the stud top mount and my djm lowers (reinforced) and have a shock measurement that is the exact same as my current ride height?

Clear as mud right?