Yeah, those Canadian trucks are a real problem here, too. They often look gorgeous but the frames rust is atrocious!
ZJ, best Jeep!
I like that Tahoe and the old Suburban
ZJ, best Jeep!
I like that Tahoe and the old Suburban
2006 GMC Sierra aka “granopy”
- Thread starter Smileyshaun
- Start date
Member III
Switching out to the non z71 jounce bumpers to soften the ride a little and give it another 1/2” of uptravel , on the downside I will probably start rubbing the plastic liner .
Member III
oops I forgot about another rig a xterra pro4x that I stuffed 35s with only 2” of lift
Member III
Well I made a mistake I thought I could swap out to the non z71 bumpstops but I forgot the pad for the z71 package is welded to the frame so I’m just going to get a new set and call it good .
Been playing around with the camping setup and think I have things figured out to where it’s quick to load in the truck and quick to deploy . Took me 6.5 minutes to set up the quick shade , get the chairs out set the stove up and get the fire going , add a few min to pump up the air bed that I will roll up with the sleeping bags in it and that’s basically camp . I ordered some actual walls for the quick shade to help keep heat in and not look so Beverly hillbilly .
Been playing around with the camping setup and think I have things figured out to where it’s quick to load in the truck and quick to deploy . Took me 6.5 minutes to set up the quick shade , get the chairs out set the stove up and get the fire going , add a few min to pump up the air bed that I will roll up with the sleeping bags in it and that’s basically camp . I ordered some actual walls for the quick shade to help keep heat in and not look so Beverly hillbilly .
Member III
I love the NBS GM trucks, yours is pretty clean looking still! The paint on our '03 GMC is getting bad... but no rust at least.
Regarding the front suspension...
The biggest thing I found for the making the torsion bar trucks ride better... is getting as much fluid/gas volume as you can for the front shocks and then add at ton more rebound dampening. Fox 2.0's are a good starting point with some additional rebound dampening in the shim stack. I've used some Bilstein 5160's in another GMT800 Tahoe that had a 4" bracket/diff drop lift, and that truck drove really well after, as well. I'm not a huge fan of diff drop kits, but they do help correct the UCA/CV geometry and they help keep the UCA's from slamming into the droop limits. Shocks will end up making SUCH a big difference in the ride that its worth spending a bit more for the front ones.
Our 2wd GMC sierra currently has some pro-comp, pro-runners in the front, which are made by Bilstein and have firmer valving than the 5100's but it works well for our use because we needed something extended length, that'd fit inside the spring and was firmer than most shocks intended for 1/2 trucks. But that truck has aftermarket UCA's much more than stock travel, no swaybar, limit straps to control downtravel, etc.. so its a different beast. Getting the suspension sort of dialed on ours has been a huge saga thus far and we don't have a ton of options for going to bigger shocks with more volume or external resi's unless we really start modifying stuff or go to a full aftermarket pre-runner and throw 8k at it...
The Z71 bumpstops are the way to go on those, the rubber/metal style from the 2wd is not as good (trust me, we're looking for upgrades/improvement on this for our 2wd). You might be able to find a foam one that fits into the welded cups thats a little softer than the solid rubber one.
These trucks are great, but the front suspension on both the 2wd and 4wd versions is majorly lacking for anything other than highway driving... I think going with a softer/smaller torsion bar on yours is a good way to help with the ride quality/off road performance but it does come at the expense of reduced GVWR. I feel ya in trying to get more performance from the front suspension on these trucks, Its a challenge to say the least...
Regarding the front suspension...
The biggest thing I found for the making the torsion bar trucks ride better... is getting as much fluid/gas volume as you can for the front shocks and then add at ton more rebound dampening. Fox 2.0's are a good starting point with some additional rebound dampening in the shim stack. I've used some Bilstein 5160's in another GMT800 Tahoe that had a 4" bracket/diff drop lift, and that truck drove really well after, as well. I'm not a huge fan of diff drop kits, but they do help correct the UCA/CV geometry and they help keep the UCA's from slamming into the droop limits. Shocks will end up making SUCH a big difference in the ride that its worth spending a bit more for the front ones.
Our 2wd GMC sierra currently has some pro-comp, pro-runners in the front, which are made by Bilstein and have firmer valving than the 5100's but it works well for our use because we needed something extended length, that'd fit inside the spring and was firmer than most shocks intended for 1/2 trucks. But that truck has aftermarket UCA's much more than stock travel, no swaybar, limit straps to control downtravel, etc.. so its a different beast. Getting the suspension sort of dialed on ours has been a huge saga thus far and we don't have a ton of options for going to bigger shocks with more volume or external resi's unless we really start modifying stuff or go to a full aftermarket pre-runner and throw 8k at it...
The Z71 bumpstops are the way to go on those, the rubber/metal style from the 2wd is not as good (trust me, we're looking for upgrades/improvement on this for our 2wd). You might be able to find a foam one that fits into the welded cups thats a little softer than the solid rubber one.
These trucks are great, but the front suspension on both the 2wd and 4wd versions is majorly lacking for anything other than highway driving... I think going with a softer/smaller torsion bar on yours is a good way to help with the ride quality/off road performance but it does come at the expense of reduced GVWR. I feel ya in trying to get more performance from the front suspension on these trucks, Its a challenge to say the least...
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Member III
The suspension maxx keys where worth every penny , the ride is so much better and the hight is perfect . I am beyond impressed with the Kenda cleavers in snow and ice . Air down to 20 psi they absolutely helped soak up the horribly rugged roads we’ve had during the storm in Oregon, I honestly know at times I was being a bit of a jack ass with how fast I was driving but not to sound cocky my snow and ice driving skills or what I would say above par so at no point was I being unsafe but I had lots of deliveries to do and going 20 miles an hour was just gonna make things take all day. At times I felt like a Baja truck with how this thing was soaking up the bumps driving by a Tacoma‘s and jeeps that you could see were just bouncing all over the place because for some reason people don’t understand that you need to air down tires when the roads are really rough. I don’t know exactly how many miles I drove but I went through three tanks of gas and I’m so freaking tired and exhausted from working I just want a break at this point LOL. Power was out for three days so it was kind of like we were camping using the camp stove and cooking on the fire pit in the backyard
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Member III
Usually during winter weather I try helping every person I come across but I was just way to busy with work , I’m in the floral industry and it was right before Valentine’s Day. But I still managed to help some with
Moving 4 trees off the road
Pulling out
a truck and trailer
3 Subarus
2 jeeps
4 lifted “bro dozers”
A ups truck
2 suvs
And a semi truck .
Moving 4 trees off the road
Pulling out
a truck and trailer
3 Subarus
2 jeeps
4 lifted “bro dozers”
A ups truck
2 suvs
And a semi truck .
Looks beautiful, but so treaxherous! We had a little of that ourselves this week and my Beagle took me out for a Nantucket Sleigh Ride.
We get ice like this now and then, and you can tell as you drive down the interstates because the trees that are in the dividing grounds will all be bent over from the weight of the ice, especially if it got icy, then cold and stayed that way. Those trees will stay bent for years or forever
I'm kind of like you: it's hard for me to see someone broke down on the side of the road. I sorta size them up, and the situation, but I very often will stop and see what can be done.
While I DO know the reasons behind it, I am still amazed at how few able bodied men will stop and change a tire for some lady on the roadside. It's a shame.
Member III
Member III
i was actually rather set on selling the truck and buying a new midsize but call me cheap or whatever but 35-45k is just a lot of money . So I figure it’s better to just upgrade the things I don’t like about the truck and keep it . Even if I dumped 10k into it with repairs and upgrades including what I payed for the truck it would still be 15-25k cheaper than buying new .
I said the same many times about my 1994 Chevy Blazer k1500 Silverado. Then one day, I thought I'd had just about enough of dogged repairs a d sold it. Now I wish I never had sold it. A couple, maybe 3 grand into it would have gone a long way.
Glad you are keeping it
Member III
I DO love the Tahoes, but that's what's great about trucks rather than Tahoes or Suburbans. You have the option of going back to a pickup configuration for when your neighbor asks you to help him move, or you need that load of gravel of patio bricks
Member III
Actually that’s the reason I pulled the canopy off I had to go get some bark dust
Member III
Headed up to go find a creek to sit by in the snow have a fire and enjoy a couple hours of peace and quiet. In my laziness because we weren’t driving that far off of a plowed road I did not air down which was a huge mistake ended up taking an hour and a half to shovel outs of this horrible concrete spring snow. Sometimes hard to judge exactly how deep the snow is when you’re making fresh tracks on the way in.Once we got unstuck and I air down the trip The rest of the way in and back out was a lot easier
View attachment IMG_6101.mov
View attachment IMG_6101.mov
Member III
Lift is finally in but I’m doing something I’ve never done before ..... I’m letting someone else put a lift on my rig . This will be the first time aside from a transmission Iet someone else touch a vehicle of mine . I just don’t feel like spending 10-15 hours of my free time wrenching on something . Unfortunately I have to wait a couple weeks to get it in but that gives me time to do some winch shopping
No shame in that. I'm no mechanic. Theres a lot I cant or wont do. And dealing with springs sometimes requires some pretty special equipment and a healthy respect for "boing" factor. I had a shop swap out my coil-overs. I dont have a wall mount spring compressor and didnt want to have a coil embedded into my skull.
Glad your stuff is getting done. Interested in seeing it when its done. This weekend I'm doing brakes, brake fluid and transfer case fluid. I'll stick to that and plugs.
