In reply to Opti :
The bushingfix is the droid im looking for. The zipties were temporary at best, and tend to die quickly near the header
In reply to Opti :
The bushingfix is the droid im looking for. The zipties were temporary at best, and tend to die quickly near the header
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Zip ties can be found in stainless steel.
Have owned this for about 3 hrs. My 3rd GMT400. This is a 97 2WD with 253K. Previously had an 88 2WD with 106K and 93 4X4 with 180K. Sold both. Needs exhaust leak fixed, drivers door latch replaced and probably should do something about the gas that pours out of the gas line and onto the 
ground whenever the truck is running...
In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :
I get the rear changing leaf springs. I see this as a great option for my OBS. I'm still trying to understand spindles vs springs. My truck is a 91 SWB stepside if it makes any difference. I only want to do this once and I'm not really interested in a 6" rear drop either. The truck will be used for cruising and eventually some drag racing.
Springs can make it lower, but it cuts into suspension travel.
Spindles can make it lower, but it merely relocates the "spindle" on the "knuckle" (thus moving the wheel up) so there is no change in suspension travel.
Spindles are always preferable, but a lot more expensive than lowering springs.
SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:Springs can make it lower, but it cuts into suspension travel.
Spindles can make it lower, but it merely relocates the "spindle" on the "knuckle" (thus moving the wheel up) so there is no change in suspension travel.
Spindles are always preferable, but a lot more expensive than lowering springs.
That was my understanding too but Cousin Eddie seems to have a bit of a counterpoint I'd like more information about.
Yes, previous page he says:
In the front I went with springs because spindles have some issue that you have to work around. They widen the track in the front and you have to do some cutting on the lower arms for wheel clearance. I've done it a lot of times but this truck has a beautiful set of lower arms that I rebushed and ball jointed with top of the line stuff. I just didn't feel like cutting on them so I used a drop spring instead.
Which is true, especially if you want to stay with stock diameter rims. Go bigger, and you likely won't have to cut the control arms to fit the wheel. Some spindles also move the tie rod end to better fit the wheel, reducing Ackerman and increasing the turning radius. Dropped springs in this case is certainly the easy button.
Suspension travel wise, and roll center wise, spindles are better. I'm undecided if the $200 more puts a $200 bigger smile on my face. I've run them both ways, he's run them both ways.
With just coils, I would run shorter shocks and alter the bumpstops to try and maintain decent travel.
For a modest front drop (2 inches or so) I'd run springs and good shocks. I'd only run spindles to go lower than that. Spindles work well, but like the skinny dude said, they hurt turning radius and I hate, hate, hate the wider front track. When I look at my truck I do not like the front end being wider than the rear end. If you're anything like me (picky) you will not be happy with drop spindles unless you compensate for them with either narrower front wheels or different offsets front and rear.
In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :
Thank you and SkinnyG for good info. I think I will go with springs and springs. I already have new Bilsteins for the rear. Time to get fronts too,
Looking to get some rear spring measurements. Would love to get a straight edge from eye to eye with a measurement down to the top of the leafs. Trying to figure out how much sag in my rears so I can replace them and get it leveled up.
So I'm way back here absorbing all this CuzinE glory and I'm gonna throw the lowered control arm curve ball. On my '91 extcab short box I'm running lowered A-arms and lowered leafs from a company I can't recall cuz I'm havin' senior moment but I do know they are no longer in biddness. This is a 3/5 drop and went this way cuz in my minds eye two lowered A-arms is less fussing around than spindles /springs......ooh and I got it aligned in Tomball by a shop that is 'down' with all this.......scoreboard
759NRNG said:So I'm way back here absorbing all this CuzinE glory and I'm gonna throw the lowered control arm curve ball. On my '91 extcab short box I'm running lowered A-arms and lowered leafs from a company I can't recall cuz I'm havin' senior moment but I do know they are no longer in biddness. This is a 3/5 drop and went this way cuz in my minds eye two lowered A-arms is less fussing around than spindles /springs......ooh and I got it aligned in Tomball by a shop that is 'down' with all this.......scoreboard
DJM Suspension still makes lowered control arms in 2-3-4 inch variety.
Yesterday's progress. I'm putting flares over top so it doesn't have to be perfect
Re: spindles and springs and stuff. I had lowering springs and shocks, had a lot of issues with geometry and suspension travel. I put drop spindles on mine, I think they were DJM, hoping to fix it. Horrible, horrible bump steer and tramlining issues with my 275 section tires. Went back to stock spindles with Ridetech coilovers and arms. It's still not perfect, but it's pretty good and much more relaxing to drive. YMMV, I know not every spindle is the same, but at least on the ones I had, when I mocked up the geometry to figure out what was going on, it turned out the drop spindle had dramatically increased scrub radius. I would think the Belltech ones that push the tires out would be even worse, as you kind of need the opposite to happen, to slide the spindle up at an angle along the line drawn between the ball joints to maintain the scrub radius.
Well, that happened....
grandpa truck mode engaged.
Dude.. That's AWESOME!
In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :
Papa spec FTW
Well, here it is. A sad day. The Tahoe Limited is up for sale if any of you are looking for another GMT400:
Swapped my rally's and fat tires on to change it up a little.
Then I switched gears and did a little tune up work on the camper shell. First I pulled it back off and put weatherstrip between the camper and bed rails. Then I put new lift struts and handle on it. Amazon to the rescue for all of those at about 45 bucks for everything.
In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :
I need to do the same thing. Did you have to look up based on the camper shell or is it larger universal stuff
Mine was all universal in nature.
The handle is either clockwise or counterclockwise. They are otherwise very generic. Amazon sells both. About 14 bucks.
The sealing tape is sold by the roll. That was 6 bucks.
the lift struts I just Amazon searched for the part number on the old ones and these turned up. I measured the extended and collapsed dimensions and it all checked out. Those were 19 bucks.
In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :
Nice. Thanks
FEF²
Snapped a picture this morning at the trailhead before my bike ride. It qualifies as a Front End Friday picture I suppose.
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