Bilstein vs kyb shocks for 01 tahoe 4wd
I have a 2001 tahoe 4wd that doesn't get much offroad time, its a daily driver and it has 285/75 17 bfgoodrich load e tires. The unsprung load of the tires is making the ride super rough and I have already tried lowering the psi in the tires to 45psi. The pressure being so low is helping me get a whopping 13 mpg.
So i am wondering if anyone can help me find some suspension solution to help get the pressure in tires up and smooth out the ride.
Has anyone ran these different shocks on a similar tire and setup?
Any sales someone has seen?
Posted Aug 19, 2018, 5:34 PM UTC
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Are you running a leveling kit
I do not know. Is there a way to find out? I can take a picture of parts. I bought it used with 198k mi. And runs and looks great.
Your tahoe has torsion bars for the front suspension. Look under your truck and you will see two bars that run to the lower control arm. Follow them bars away from them and you will come to a cross member that your torsion keys sit in. You have two bolts, if those bolts are maxed out then that’s your problem. If they have a bunch of thread showing and the head of the bolt is poking out from the cross member then it shouldn’t be a problem, even if you have aftermarket lift keys. Check your body mount bushings and shocks next.
I checked the bolt that lifts the key and lifts the front end. The bolt was completely bottomed out, showing no threads. I took the bolt out 4 turns and the front end went down about 3/4", measuring from the ground, up to the middle of the fender.
The rake is now noticable and the ride seemed a tiny bit smoother. I checked body mounts and they looked fine. The things i did notice were:
Front has aftermarket white gabriel shocks.
Control arms look ok but the ball joints look torn and greasy.
The bump stops aren't touching but they are torn up and in pieces.
The wheels and tire combo are super tight, no rubbing, just tight clearances.
Do the bump stops serve a part in soaking up bumps? And do i replace the bump stops if i want to get aftermarket keys?
What keys are reputable and seem well engineered? And finally do new keys mean you should get new shocks?
Can wheel spacers make the suspension worse on top of all that?
No matter what torsion keys you Install if that bolt is turned all the way up your suspension is maxed out. Torsion keys are nothing but metal a different brand won’t be much different. My tahoe had the keys cranked I bought a suspension lift to fix that, there is no give in the suspension with torsion bars maxed out. You’ll go threw front end parts, especially CVs a lot quicker. I ran my keys cranked for two years with about 50k miles put on it then and my front end was shot and shocks were destroyed. I had RCX 3 inch shocks. I had to replace all that.
I’d have the bolt half way in and install some bilstein shocks. But 3 inch shocks can only help so much when the front end is maxed out. Wheel spacers put a lot of stress on the wheel bearings and could cause vibrations at higher speeds. Depending on your tire and wheel combo could cause more scrubbing.
Your bumpstops are there for when your suspension is maxed out. In your case your keys were cranked so every bump it hit the bump stops, thus the hard ride. Not much you can do beside do a body lift or suspension lift. I wouldn’t advise running keys cranked but it’s up to you.