2005 Silverado 6.0L, heading to Argentina.
- Thread starter pawleyk
- Start date
pawleyk
Running from Monday..
I got into the bigger tires that way too. I really just wanted the wheels, but they came with a set of H2 BFG's at about 75% for $500. Might as well bolt them on and see, right?
Now with a 2" lift and the re-gear I'm pretty much married to them.
I really liked the 35's when I had them. Let a little air out and the truck would go pretty much anywhere it would fit..
The 285/75 R17's we're running now are just about the perfect size for our setup. Not a whole lot smaller than the 35x12.5's, the truck seems a lot happier. Steering is easier, mileage is a little better. The little bit of rubber that went away with the smaller size seems to have been a fair amount of weight.
Due to the damn weakening torsion bars though, my littler tires are rubbing more than the 35's ever did.
Now with a 2" lift and the re-gear I'm pretty much married to them.
I really liked the 35's when I had them. Let a little air out and the truck would go pretty much anywhere it would fit..
The 285/75 R17's we're running now are just about the perfect size for our setup. Not a whole lot smaller than the 35x12.5's, the truck seems a lot happier. Steering is easier, mileage is a little better. The little bit of rubber that went away with the smaller size seems to have been a fair amount of weight.
Due to the damn weakening torsion bars though, my littler tires are rubbing more than the 35's ever did.
pawleyk
Running from Monday..
So far so good! Sorry I haven't been updating here much. We do a blog every Monday and it's hard to work up the motivation to write even more..
Too many cold beers to drink, sunsets to watch, biting ants to battle, etc.. My wife and I took a break and flew back home to Oregon for the summer. She got a really good job offer, just for a few months and we were honestly ready to visit family and have our choice of cheap bacon and craft beers again!
We're currently in Costa Rica and are crossing into Panama tomorrow am. We have a date with a container to Colombia later this month and don't want to miss it.
We haven't really had any serious (or really ANY) issues with the truck. A couple flat batteries after sitting for a while (which we were able to self-jump from the secondary starter battery), a flat tire, and we had a laser alignment done in Belize. After all the hard dirt miles from Utah to Central America, it was time.
Of course I'm always tinkering, adding, modifying, etc., but so far we've been really lucky when it comes to mechanical failures. I really feel like just typing this post is going to create some catastrophic problem I'll have to deal with in Colombia..
Even after leaving the truck for 4 months, outdoors, in the Costa Rican rainy season (and through a hurricane, apparently) there haven't been issues. I was wary after storing in the wet for so long, figured the moisture never getting heated out of things would maybe fry a sensor or two. Mechanicals all weathered it well, I greased everything, then sprayed whatever I could see with WD-40 before leaving it. The thing even cranked over and fired first try.
Build wise, I find myself wishing I had put more time and money into suspension. I replaced my old 5100 with brand new ones in Baja, but I really think I should have sprung for some 3" King shocks or something. I still get a lot more wallowing from the backend (and a bit from the front) than I'd like. Even with the airbags pressured up to 70 lbs. We have to take it really slow over rough roads and speed bumps, not because things are necessarily too harsh (although the torsion front-end gives up with much speed) but just because of the bouncing. We're still 1000 lbs under GVWR, so we're not necessarily overloaded, just too heavy for the 5100's to handle on a daily basis on roads like this.
I also think I'd spring for a twin Viair setup. I love the single 480c we have, but double the compressors means half the time airing up, right?
I do think I'm developing an exhaust leak either at the manifold or from the collector donut. It's been too muddy and wet to find the motivation to crawl underneath the last few days. It's not terrible, but I'll have my brother fly whatever I need into Colombia next month.
mccustomize
Explorer
Love seeing you guys back at it, I'll be eagerly awaiting IG updates!
Call up these guys, the best in the business, get some Fox 2.5s under there
http://accutuneoffroad.com/
Also I know sway-a-way used to make upgraded torsion bars for the silverados, might be something worth looking into.
*found them
https://swayaway.com/product/torsion-bar-set-hd2500-yukon-tahoe-escalade-hummer-h2-1-47-x-54-0/
Boy they are proud of them... maybe a trip through Texas on the way back for a coilover conversion up front should be planned...
Call up these guys, the best in the business, get some Fox 2.5s under there
http://accutuneoffroad.com/
Also I know sway-a-way used to make upgraded torsion bars for the silverados, might be something worth looking into.
*found them
https://swayaway.com/product/torsion-bar-set-hd2500-yukon-tahoe-escalade-hummer-h2-1-47-x-54-0/
Boy they are proud of them... maybe a trip through Texas on the way back for a coilover conversion up front should be planned...
locrwln
Expedition Leader
So far so good! Sorry I haven't been updating here much. We do a blog every Monday and it's hard to work up the motivation to write even more..
My wife and I took a break and flew back home to Oregon for the summer. She got a really good job offer, just for a few months and we were honestly ready to visit family and have our choice of cheap bacon and craft beers again!
We're currently in Costa Rica and are crossing into Panama tomorrow am. We have a date with a container to Colombia later this month and don't want to miss it.
We haven't really had any serious (or really ANY) issues with the truck. A couple flat batteries after sitting for a while (which we were able to self-jump from the secondary starter battery), a flat tire, and we had a laser alignment done in Belize. After all the hard dirt miles from Utah to Central America, it was time.
Of course I'm always tinkering, adding, modifying, etc., but so far we've been really lucky when it comes to mechanical failures. I really feel like just typing this post is going to create some catastrophic problem I'll have to deal with in Colombia..
Even after leaving the truck for 4 months, outdoors, in the Costa Rican rainy season (and through a hurricane, apparently) there haven't been issues. I was wary after storing in the wet for so long, figured the moisture never getting heated out of things would maybe fry a sensor or two. Mechanicals all weathered it well, I greased everything, then sprayed whatever I could see with WD-40 before leaving it. The thing even cranked over and fired first try.
Build wise, I find myself wishing I had put more time and money into suspension. I replaced my old 5100 with brand new ones in Baja, but I really think I should have sprung for some 3" King shocks or something. I still get a lot more wallowing from the backend (and a bit from the front) than I'd like. Even with the airbags pressured up to 70 lbs. We have to take it really slow over rough roads and speed bumps, not because things are necessarily too harsh (although the torsion front-end gives up with much speed) but just because of the bouncing. We're still 1000 lbs under GVWR, so we're not necessarily overloaded, just too heavy for the 5100's to handle on a daily basis on roads like this.
I also think I'd spring for a twin Viair setup. I love the single 480c we have, but double the compressors means half the time airing up, right?
I do think I'm developing an exhaust leak either at the manifold or from the collector donut. It's been too muddy and wet to find the motivation to crawl underneath the last few days. It's not terrible, but I'll have my brother fly whatever I need into Colombia next month.
I'm glad to hear the trip and truck are doing well. I have King 2.5's on my truck and believe me, the IFS just runs out of travel no matter the shock. It is better than the stock shocks, but how much better than a regular replacement, I can't say. When the wheel travel is only six inches and I see maybe 3ish inches of shock travel, there just isn't enough travel to really matter. Rough dirt roads are great, you can haul the mail, it's the surprise potholes or dip that have you feeling the hit.
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The rear airbags make suspension tuning very difficult. I used them on my f350 and my 80 series landcruiser and I didn't care for the way they rebound, which causes it's own issues offroad. I will avoid them at all costs on mine. My current rear leave pack is a hybrid of my main stock main leaf and the remaining four leafs from a '99 3500 truck. Once I am ready for the camper to go on full time, I have a set of 3500 dually rear springs that will be installed in the rear to support the weight.
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Sorry to hear about the exhaust leak, hopefully, its an easy fix.
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Love the pictures.
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Jack
1stDeuce
Explorer
Thanks for the update Pawleyk!!
I wonder if your exhaust leak is the oh-so-common 6.0L broken exhaust manifold studs... My 6.0L truck has the rear stud broke off on the driver's side, and I get some ticking when it is cold. I've seen a clamp thingy that might work if the gasket is still good, but I haven't tried it...
Interesting to read your (and Locrwln's) take on suspension... I ran my 2500 in Baja, well over GVWR, and thought it did pretty well. I have the same rear spring setup as Locrwln, but with Bilstein 4600's. (rears are the standard non-camper version...)
I'm sure a nice set of King shocks would be better, but the 4300's have been working out. I don't care for the ride with Bilstein's on washboard, but airing down fixes that, and they seem to be good everywhere else. Travel is always an issue. I'm about 1" over stock on the front, and the Bilstein's really limited droop travel. I put 3/8" of washers on the front shocks to space up the mounts, and got ~3/4" more droop. That helped with my perception of ride quality, as it wasn't topping out as much. Note that Bilstein's (and other mono-tube shocks) will have a shorter extended length than a twin tube shock with the same compressed length...
After running the hybrid rear pack for a while, I'm ready to re-hybridize... The rate of the main leaves is really nice, but when I get down onto the lower "overload" leaf, it gets really stiff quickly... Not as bad as with the air bags I had, but it's still a tail kicker if you do compress things... I'm going to have a new "overload" setup made with three or so leaves, so it doesn't stiffen quite so quickly... I'm hoping that'll give me a bit softer rate after the overload gets involved, which would be nice.
I hope your travels continue to be great, and your truck too!!
I wonder if your exhaust leak is the oh-so-common 6.0L broken exhaust manifold studs... My 6.0L truck has the rear stud broke off on the driver's side, and I get some ticking when it is cold. I've seen a clamp thingy that might work if the gasket is still good, but I haven't tried it...
Interesting to read your (and Locrwln's) take on suspension... I ran my 2500 in Baja, well over GVWR, and thought it did pretty well. I have the same rear spring setup as Locrwln, but with Bilstein 4600's. (rears are the standard non-camper version...)
I'm sure a nice set of King shocks would be better, but the 4300's have been working out. I don't care for the ride with Bilstein's on washboard, but airing down fixes that, and they seem to be good everywhere else. Travel is always an issue. I'm about 1" over stock on the front, and the Bilstein's really limited droop travel. I put 3/8" of washers on the front shocks to space up the mounts, and got ~3/4" more droop. That helped with my perception of ride quality, as it wasn't topping out as much. Note that Bilstein's (and other mono-tube shocks) will have a shorter extended length than a twin tube shock with the same compressed length...
After running the hybrid rear pack for a while, I'm ready to re-hybridize... The rate of the main leaves is really nice, but when I get down onto the lower "overload" leaf, it gets really stiff quickly... Not as bad as with the air bags I had, but it's still a tail kicker if you do compress things... I'm going to have a new "overload" setup made with three or so leaves, so it doesn't stiffen quite so quickly... I'm hoping that'll give me a bit softer rate after the overload gets involved, which would be nice.
I hope your travels continue to be great, and your truck too!!
locrwln
Expedition Leader
The Kings provide ~1" more downtravel per them, and it will droop until the upper a-arm is in contact with the "downtravel" frame stop and I have the Z-71 front jounce bumpers as well. I think I am as good as a factory HD front suspension can get without getting into some surgery. But it still runs out of travel and when it does, it hits hard up through the chassis. My stock '02 F350 was worse, so it's not like the SA was better. My 80 series Landcruiser was awesome with 4" springs and OME shocks (I know they are somewhat low rent by today's standards), but that thing could haul on washboard and soak up the surprise holes much better.
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I am tempted to hybridize the Dually 3500 springs as well to keep from using the stock bottom "overload" spring, because like you, when you hit those on a big hit, they hit hard and rebound. I will probably avoid the factory "dual rate" design and stick with a single rate by using the bottom springs from my current setup in place of the overload to act as a "mini-pack" ala Carli etc.
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Jack
General Automag
Adventurer
You mentioned you had your truck re-geared to 4.88 with a locker. This would be for the rear axle. What did you do or what parts did you use to re-gear the front, assuming your truck is 4WD? Thanks.
PGW
Observer
I have the same front suspension setup (when it was stock) on my Yukon XL 2500. I installed a 4" Cognito lift, Fox 2.0 6.5" travel remote reservoir coilovers, and Light Racing jounceshocks (these things are magic). Was originally shooting for 10" of travel but ended up limiting it to about 8.5" travel as durability was more important to me than an extra inch or two of travel. The front suspension is awesome, with the jounceshocks it essentially never bottoms out. The jounceshock/coilover combination is so good that I took off my front sway bar completely and it drives great. It controls sway very well (not as stiff as with the sway bar on) and allows for a true independent front. I just got back from its maiden voyage, 4800 miles or so from the Gulf of Mexico to Northern CO, UT, and a little bit of NV. On rough roads the front suspension vastly outperforms the rear. My rear leafs were custom from Deaver and they have sagged a bit so they are getting into the bump stops too soon. Will need to tweak that. While road testing it I could hit speed bumps/humps at full road speed and the front just soaked it up, the back would kick a bit, but this is a 500lb axle on leaf springs so it is only going to get so good. I have 700lb springs on the front which have settled in with the CV's about level, I may swap springs to get a little more height, but that is the good thing about coilovers, they can be tweaked to your exact needs. Overall ride height is fairly low for a lifted truck but the back end needs a little boost up.
What upper control arms are those? Did you use make your own upper mount for the C/O or is that the one Atomic was making? Did you make your own mounts for the jounce stops? Sorry for the barrage of questions but I like where you ended up. That and I have a cognito 4-6 myself.
PGW
Observer
That is a Kryptonite UCA. I used a Pro comp 690001 shock stem mount for the upper mount and used the stock lower shock mount (welded it to the LCA for extra insurance). The jounceshock mounts were all custom and required a lot of fitting, cutting, grinding and welding to the frame and LCA. I did all of it myself and I'm a relative novice so for an experienced fabricator it wouldn't be too bad. If you use the stock bump stop you will have to cut the corner off on the bracket for the coilover to fit.
pawleyk
Running from Monday..
I had the front re-geared to 4.88 as well.
It's not hard to find the ring/pinion for these, it was listed on Randy's and Yukon. I believe we went with Yukon gears in the end, but this was one of the very few things I had done by a shop, so I don't remember exactly.
I do remember when I was shopping for parts, the front diff wasn't too hard to find replacement gearing for at at all. At least for my 9.5".