Leveling Kit / Rear Blocks Suggestions

[fire24resque]

2001 Silverado 1500 4x4 ...

I want a lift but don't want to put the money into a full suspension lift, not much just a little (2.5-3"). I was thinking of getting a 2.5 leveling kit for the front and either leaving it there or giving the back a 2" boost or so. Any suggestions on the front, leveling kit, blocks?

What brands/types have you been successful with?

Thanks in advance

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by fire24resque

2001 Silverado 1500 4x4 ...

I want a lift but don't want to put the money into a full suspension lift, not much just a little (2.5-3"). I was thinking of getting a 2.5 leveling kit for the front and either leaving it there or giving the back a 2" boost or so. Any suggestions on the front, leveling kit, blocks?

What brands/types have you been successful with?

Thanks in advance

you cannot lift this vehicle 3inches and ignore the drive shaft angles.

this is not cheap. when the angle of the U joints CV joints is increased these componets fail. to correct for this is costly.

If your vehicle did sag you can bring the height back by adjusting the torsion bars . this is correct when the CV joints are straight.

If you have a heavy load in the bed the use of air bags works great to maintain a level vehicle and extend drive train componet life.

[fire24resque]

I did crank the torsion bars 6 turns each about 5 years ago and leveled the front. It since have sagged back down, I'm assuming it was just natural metal flex and they twisted back. Is it safe to crank them anymore, or what are my options?

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by fire24resque

I did crank the torsion bars 6 turns each about 5 years ago and leveled the front. It since have sagged back down, I'm assuming it was just natural metal flex and they twisted back. Is it safe to crank them anymore, or what are my options?

If you operate this vehicle with bad shocks this will damage these torsion bars. It is possible to adjust for a bar that is twisted .

so your CV joints on level ground are not straight ?

[fire24resque]

Everything looks straight to me. Like I said, 6 turns five years ago leveled it out. It has sagged back down to stock height since then, again I'm assuming this was just the torsion bar metal "wearing" due to the load. Can I re-load them safely with a few more turns is what I'm asking.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by fire24resque

Everything looks straight to me. Like I said, 6 turns five years ago leveled it out. It has sagged back down to stock height since then, again I'm assuming this was just the torsion bar metal "wearing" due to the load. Can I re-load them safely with a few more turns is what I'm asking.

my 2000 sil 4X4 I had to adjust about 2 turns after vehicle break in to level off the front end .. that was 9years ago. since then it is still the same height. I do have bilstein shocks and the originals where still good when I replaced them about 6yrs ago.

six turns is alot . could be you need new bars or componets to the bars need replacing. your truck must ride very harshly on the up bounce as it will hit the stops when too high ..

[Elbert]

they do make leveling kits for some year model trucks. These generally only are for the front. You raise the front end to match the rear. Don't do anything to the rear suspension.

Search the web for leveling kits...I would generally avoid doing this, but if you proceed it would be good to know what "kits" work well. Once you screw with some of hte sterring geometery its really a challenge to get your "drivability" back.

The easy leveling kits apply to trucks with coil springs..... IFS trucks = not so easy.

with IFS generally I've seen new "keys" that are used to alter the lifit at the torsion bars.

Your steering and alignmetns can really be screwed by some of these setups.

[bigbadram51]

Most suspension kits that advertise 6" of lift only drop the front diff 4-4.5 inches. They get the rest by cranking the torsion bars. From my experience running with a couple inches of crank is not that big of deal (60k+ miles with lift, 120k+ total miles) on factory CV's. You can find leveling kits (cognito makes one) that have new uca's that help correct upper ball joint angle, and also come with bolt in ball joints, makes for an easy switch. I do agree with everyone that says it will wear out parts sooner...which is true...but they are parts that wear out anyways. The only suspension components ive had to replace in 4 years are lower ball joints, and a set of tie rods (but that has more to do with the 35" tires.

[4x4junkie]

check out the information on http://chevytruckworld.tenmagazines....ticle&aid=3693 it may help you decide what you want to do. this article deals directly with different types of lifts.

[Streetwise]

I cranked my bars as far as they would go and it leveled the front end even with the rear. It made no difference in handling or suspension. Rides and drives the same. I had to adjust the head lights, however.

[4x4junkie]

a simple reminder: anyone attempting to adjust the torsion bar adjustment screws on their truck should first jack up the front end and set their truck on jackstands before adjusting the torsion bar settings, adjusting the torsion bar height without raising the vehicle can cause the threads to strip out for the bolts and create damage that will be a real pain to repair, and you can rough measure while under the vehicle because on most silverados approximatly 1/4 of an inch of adjustment at the bolt end on the torsion bar equals about 1 inch of height at the wheel well.